# The Edit section

Welcome to JAlbum's brand new image management section. This section has an intuitive Explorer-like user interface. Before using this section you need to drag and drop an image folder onto the "Image directory" field of the Main JAlbum section.

In the example below we have arranged some images from a trip to Vienna in four subfolders (outside of JAlbum). We then dragged and dropped the top level Vienna folder onto the "Image directory" field and selected the Edit tab. JAlbum now allows you to navigate between these images and folders with either the mouse or keyboard.

The new Explorer-like user interface. Image IMG_2080.JPG is excluded

Things you can do here include:

- Use drag and drop to visually arrange images
- Arrange images in predefined ways per folder (camera date, file date, file name)
- Use rubberband selection and keyboard selection (control/shift) to select multiple images.
- Exclude images you don't want included in an album without deleting them from disk
- Permanently delete images
- Edit properties on images and folders (Hint: Use ctrl+enter to save a comment)
- Rename images and folders
- Run slide shows
- Set images to indicate album folders instead of using folder icons
- Rotate images safely and losslessly (only adjusts an image orientation flag)

Let's investigate these features, one at a time.

## Selecting images

Images can be selected one by one by clicking on them with the mouse (or arrow keys) or in groups by dragging a "rubberband" around them with the mouse (see below). The keyboard SHIFT-key in combination with mouse clicking can also be used to select ranges of images. The keyboard CONTROL-key (command key on Mac) allows you to select or deselect individual images.

Selecting a group of images with the "rubberband" technique

When selected, you can apply different operations to those images (could be other file types too). You could for instance choose to rotate them or exclude them from the album (but leave them on disk). More on that later.

## Arranging images

Images can be arranged/ordered in several ways:

- According to the image ordering set on the Main JAlbum section (default)
- According to file date, camera date or file name on a per folder basis
- Arranged manually by dragging and dropping images

Arranging images manually by drag and drop

When arranging images manually, JAlbum keeps track of your desired image ordering by writing a file called albumfiles.txt to the current folder. This is also the case if you select a per-folder image ordering. To have the images in a certain folder ordered per camera date for instance, right click on the current folder in the folder tree to the left. (You can also right click between two images.) JAlbum now displays the Folder context-sensitive menu.

Displaying the folder context sensitive menu by right-clicking a folder

This menu has a submenu for arranging images in different ways. You can also reset the image ordering to the ordering set on the Main tab of JAlbum. JAlbum then removes the albumfiles.txt file, so this operation cannot be reversed.

## Folder operations

You access the Folder context sensitive menu (displayed above) by right-clicking on a folder, or between two images. This menu has the following set of functions:

- Select all -Select all files in this folder
- Run slideshow -Run a full-screen slideshow on all images in this folder. More on this below.
- Large thumbnails -View large versions of the thumbnail images. Note, this doesn't affect the final album. This is just for this Edit section
- Hide excluded -Hide images that have been tagged for exclusion. Note this does not affect the final album. More about excluding images under Image operations below.
- Order by -Arrange images for this folder automatically. See Arranging images above.
- Update -Refresh the current folder view (in case files have been added or removed from disk)
- Properties -Open the Folder Property Window which allows you to edit a custom title and description for each folder.

## Image operations

By right-clicking on an image (or selection) the Image context sensitive menu appears. There are several options available here. We will now go through them one by one.

Displaying the Image context sentitive menu by right-clicking an image. Large thumbnails showing

Menu options:

- Open -For images: Open the property editing window (see Properties below). For folders: Step into the folder. For other file types: Open the file in the default tool for that file type.
- Invert selection -Selects deselected files and deselects selected images.
- Run slideshow -Run the slide show starting from the currently selected file and ending at the last image, unless a group of images are selected. More on slide shows below.
- Rotate 90° left -(JPEG images only) Rotate images 90° counter clockwise. Note, the original images are never rotated. They only have their "orientation" TIFF/EXIF flags adjusted. When JAlbum generates an album, this flag is read and the generated images are rotated accordingly. Note also that an image that is already left rotated cannot be left rotated again
- Rotate 90° right -(JPEG images only) Rotate images 90° clockwise. See description for the left rotation.
- Exclude -Flag the file for exclusion. That is, don't include it in the final album. It stays on hard disk though. JAlbum implements the exclusion by writing a note to a file called albumfiles.txt in the current folder.
- Include -Includes excluded files again.
- Use as folder thumbnail -To keep all of your images organized, JAlbum albums can contain "sub albums", that is image folders under the main image folder. These "sub albums" are usually indicated by a folder icon in the generated album, but you may prefer a more descriptive image -one of the images from that folder, to represent that "sub album". With this option you indicate that the current image is to represent this folder.
- Delete -Delete the selected file (or files) permanently from disk. As a security measure, only files can be deleted. Not directories.
- Rename -Rename the selected file. You can also click on the name of an already selected file to rename it. Press Enter when done. It is preferred to rename files from within JAlbum as JAlbum then doesn't lose track of comments applying to the renamed file.
- Properties -Open the property editing window where a larger version of the image is displayed and various image properties can be viewed and edited (currently only comments). See the "Editing properties" section below.

Remember to go to the "Main" section and press "Make album" after making changes to have them show up in your generated album.

## Editing properties

The Property window allows you to edit comments on files and to edit comments and titles on folders. It shows when you double click an image or select Properties from the context sensitive menus (right-click to display). In a future release it will allow you to view/edit more properties like camera metadata, IPTC data and Windows File Properties (title, subject, author, keywords and comment)

Editing the properties of an image. Currently only comments and titles (for folders)

You can have several property windows open at the same time, but a more convenient way to edit comments for multiple images is probably to use the Back and Next navigation buttons. When a comment has been entered, a comment symbol will show next to the thumbnail for that file. If you hover the mouse over the thumbnail, the comment will show in a ToolTip

An even more convenient way to navigate between is to use the PgUp and PgDn keys. You can also use CTRL+ENTER as a shortcut for the Ok button.

As you submit your comments to JAlbum, they are stored in a file called comments.properties in the current folder. You can also have JAlbum write directly to each image file (JPEG images only). To do that, check the "Write comments to images" option on the Advanced->Preferences section of JAlbum. Note however that JAlbum will move away from writing comments to images in the way it does today (using the "JPEG comment" field). Future releases will use more standardized fields.

## Understanding thumbnail symbols

The Edit section adds certain symbols to the thumbnails to ease understanding:
Excluded. Commented image. Image representing a folder. Folder with representing image

- Excluded files and folders are shown with an "X". Note, you can hide these files from display too.
- Files and folders having comments are shown with a small bubble. Hover the mouse over such files to display the comment.
- Images can be set to represent the current album folder in the parent album (instead of just showing a folder icon). Such images carry a small folder symbol.
- Folders that are represented by an image are shown with the image + a large folder icon on top. Note, folders aren't neccesarily shown like this in the final album. That depends on the chosen skin.

## Running slide shows

Slide shows on the Edit section will let you flip through your images in full screen mode. You can use the mouse or keyboard to navigate the slide show. Here is how:

- Move to the next slide by pressing the left mouse button, space, Enter, PgDn or right/down arrow keys.
- Move to the previous slide by pressing the right mouse button, backspace, PgUp or left/up arrow keys.
- Move to the beginning or end of a slide show by pressing the Home or End keys
- Quit the slide show by pressing the Escape key (Esc).