gtk-image-selector
This is an attempt to restore Gtk Image Chooser "lost functionality": displaying an image preview when selecting images...
This is a simple python script; its only dependency is the gobject module.
When an image file is selected, its filename will be printed on stdout.
How it all works
The script will read its parameters from 3 sources:
- Hardcoded values
- Configuration file(s)
- Command line parameters
in this order.
It will display an image preview (either of the selected image or the default "no preview" image), and will exit when the "Select" button is clicked (or when "Enter" is pressed).
Parameters
The following are the command line parameters:
$ gtk-image-selector -h
usage: gtk-image-selector [-h] [-n] [-m DEFAULT_IMAGE] [-f FILE]
[-d DIRECTORY] [-p POSITION] [-r PREVIEW_SIZE] [-s]
[-i ICON] [-w WINDOW_TITLE] [-o OK_LABEL]
[-c CANCEL_LABEL] [-t FILTER_LABEL] [-l SIZE_LABEL]
[--dump-config]
A Gtk Image Chooser with Preview
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-n, --no-config do not attempt to read any config file; just use the
command line parameters
-m DEFAULT_IMAGE, --default-image DEFAULT_IMAGE
the image to display when no preview is available
(proposed size: 512x521)
-f FILE, --file FILE default file to select
-d DIRECTORY, --directory DIRECTORY
default directory to show
-p POSITION, --position POSITION
set window position, either as X,Y of "center"
-r PREVIEW_SIZE, --preview-size PREVIEW_SIZE
set preview image size (100-1000)
-s, --show-scale show scale widget (hidden by default)
-i ICON, --icon ICON set window icon
-w WINDOW_TITLE, --window_title WINDOW_TITLE
set window title
-o OK_LABEL, --ok-label OK_LABEL
set OK button label
-c CANCEL_LABEL, --cancel-label CANCEL_LABEL
set Cancel button label
-t FILTER_LABEL, --filter-label FILTER_LABEL
set filter field label
-l SIZE_LABEL, --size-label SIZE_LABEL
set size field label
--dump-config print a sample config file (can be saved to /etc/gtk-
image-selector.conf or ~/.config/gtk-image-
selector/config)
The default image
When no image is selected, or the selected image is broken, gtk-image-selector will display its default image instead.
This image can be any valid image one can think of, but having a size of 512x512 or 256x265 (depending on preview size used).
gtk-image-selector will by default use "image-x-generic.png" of the "Adwaita" theme; when this is not found (and no other image is specified) the following message will appear and the script will terminate.
To use a different image, one would use the -m (--default-image) command line parameter. For example, using the "no-preview.png" file provided in this repo
./gtk-image-selector -m no-preview.png
would give this result.
Finally, the image can be specified in the configuratio file, parameter "default_image".
Using a configuration file
gtk-image-selector can read two configuration files
- /etc/gtk-image-selector.conf (system wide settings)
- ~/.config/gtk-image-selector (user settings)
To see the default settings, just execute the command:
$ gtk-image-selector --dump-config
which prints:
# the default folder to browse
folder =
# the default size of the image preview
preview_size = 256
# the image to show when no image file is selected
# or when the selected image is broken
# please make sure this image actually exists
default_image = /usr/share/icons/Adwaita/512x512/mimetypes/image-x-generic.png
# the icon to use as a window icon
icon = /usr/share/icons/Adwaita/16x16/mimetypes/image-x-generic.png
# set this to True to display the image scaling widget
show_scale = False
# window title and labels
window_title = Select an Image
ok_label = _Select
cancel_label = _Cancel
filter_label = Images
size_label = Size:
As you can see there are three types of settings:
- working settings (folder, preview_size, show_scale)
- icon and image settings (default_image, icon)
- localization settings (window_title, ok_label, etc.)
Combining these settings in the system wide config file and user config file and command line parameters, one can achieve various results.
Using the scale widget
The application can display a scale widget, which will help you set the preview image size on the fly.
The scale widget is enabled using
- the -s (--show-scale) command line parameter, or
- the "show_scale" configuration option
In this case, the window will be as shown in the image below.
Please keep in mind that, changing the preview size will probably also change the window size, which is something that one has to get used to.
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