[Shotwell] Wishlist: Database updates, lighttable, easier deletion, aspect ratio

[Adam Dingle]

Mark,

here's a quick response to some ideas you sent to the Shotwell mailing 
list some time ago.
> * When I delete an image in the filemanager or the terminal, it is still
> existing in shotwells database. Add a single-button refresh database
> function to get rid of these phantoms. 
>   

We could do that, but I think we'd rather make Shotwell smart enough to 
notice when images have been deleted and react automatically - this is 
http://trac.yorba.org/ticket/374 , more or less.

> * Add some kind of lighttable-area (maybe in the left panel?), to which
> images may easily be drag-and-dropped. A lighttabe could open like an
> event and could be used for ordering prints for example. Maybe it could
> make sense to save a collection in the database for later use? 
>   

Tags (new in Shotwell 0.5) are sort of like this: once you've created a 
tag, you can drag as many images onto it as you like, and you can open a 
tag just like an event.

> * deleting images is not simple in shotwell, because shotwell asks how
> to handle imagefiles every time. eog for example gives an option to keep
> the way it deletes for the session. Browsing and deleting images using
> the keyboard is not easy fun because ALT-L is way more complicated than
> single button removal.
>   

Right.  We're considering implementing a trash can in Shotwell; once we 
have this, you'll be able to delete images simply by pressing Delete, 
which will move them to the trash without confirmation.  This is 
http://trac.yorba.org/ticket/594 .

> * add a single way to change the aspect ration - many digital cameras
> take pictures in a ratio 4/3 instead of traditional 3/2. An automatic
> funktion to switch the ratio whith the possibility to adjust the image
> would be great! (something like a frame of the full width of an photo
> that could be moved to the top or the bottom)
>   

Shotwell's crop tool allows you to choose an aspect ration for 
cropping.  It sounds like you'd like to be able to crop a set of photos 
to a given aspect ratio in one batch operation.  That's a reasonable 
idea; feel free to create a ticket for this in our bug database at 
trac.yorba.org .

Thanks for the suggestions!

adam