Image viewer - standard gui controls, bottom-up or what? - user-interface

Question

I need to make a basic image viewer.
The main concern is how to implement (in terms of gui components and image manipulation) such features as: zoom in-out, scroll and 'hand tool'.
There seems to be several options for achieving this goal, differing mainly in degree of putting responsibilities on the graphical interface framework as opposed to manually implementing things.
Two solutions that are obvious to me are:
1) Resizing and cropping the visible part of the image is crafted on its own using functionality of some image manipulation library. The image (or it's part) is then drawn on some window/control in an overridden onPaint() method. Scrollbars updating (when 'hand tool' used) and operation (when used directly) code needs to be written.
2) An oversized control (StaticBitmap or whatever) containing the image is put inside a window with automatic scrolling. Then one needs to figure out how to convert image coordinates to scrolling coordinates.
Both ways look awkward. Any ideas how to do it in a neat way? Or is what I feel as being ugly just the only way to go?
I'm using Python with wxPython/wxWidgets and PIL, but the question is to a large extent language- and platform- independent.
Sample code and links to sources (of something that is not too bloated) are welcome.

Answer 1

Here's a tutorial that might help. Build a wxPython Image Viewer
I didn't actually watch all the videos, so I can't speak to how well it address's your specific problems.
Also, here's a blog post by Jeff Atwood on Coding Horror that could apply. Programming Is Hard, Let's Go Shopping! It speaks to when you should take the time to write your own code and when to just use a third party solution.

Answer 2

I'm new here, and after searching for a while I still can't find a way to upload files. Oh well, here's the code in a post. Sorry for the non-descriptive variable names and lack of comments. I guess the main functions you'll want to look at are processPicture and showPicture.
Edit: and just to reiterate, I started this with the example in this tutorial.
import wx, os, string, sys
from PIL import Image
# Scroll wheel and +/- do zoom in/out. f toggles full screen. r rotates.
# m changes PIL mode from low quality (fast) to high quality (slow).
# Images under 1000x1000 are automatically on high quality.
# Middle button down while dragging moves image around, as do arrow
# keys (if image is bigger than window).
# Left and right mouse buttons are next and previous image.
# There is no functionality to load an image. When an executeable is made, the
# viewer is started by opening an image with it.
# To run this file from command line, comment out line 55 and uncomment
# line 54, then do "viewer.py sampleImage"
# There are several lines that are Windows specific. They (probably) all have
# to do with paths, i.e, "/" vs "\".
class ImageFrame(wx.Frame):
def __init__(self):
wx.Frame.__init__(self,None,title = "viewer")
self.Centre()
self.Size = (450,450)
self.imageBox = wx.Window(self)
self.vbox = wx.BoxSizer(wx.VERTICAL)
self.CreateStatusBar(5)
self.SetStatusWidths([-1, 70, 50, 50, 30])
self.cursor = wx.StockCursor(wx.CURSOR_ARROW)
self.moveCursor = wx.StockCursor(wx.CURSOR_SIZING)
self.vbox.Add(self.imageBox,proportion=1,flag = wx.EXPAND)
self.SetSizer(self.vbox)
self.Show()
self.sbm = 0
self.sbmList = []
self.name = ''
self.url = ''
self.dir = ''
self.factor = 1.0
self.rotation = 0
self.width = 0
self.height = 0
self.count = 0
self.size = 0
self.numOfPics = 0
self.mc = False
self.fs = False
self.mode = 0
self.SetStatusText(str(self.mode), 4)
if len(sys.argv) == 2:
#self.url = os.getcwd() + '\\' + sys.argv[1]
self.url = sys.argv[1]
self.name = self.url.split('\\')[len(self.url.split('\\'))-1]
self.dir = self.url.replace('\\' + self.name,'')
self.loadDirectory(self.dir)
self.processPicture()
self.imageBox.Bind(wx.EVT_SIZE, lambda evt: self.rescale(evt,1))
self.imageBox.Bind(wx.EVT_MOUSEWHEEL,self.zoom)
self.imageBox.Bind(wx.EVT_KEY_DOWN, self.keyEvent)
self.imageBox.Bind(wx.EVT_MIDDLE_UP, self.endDrag)
self.imageBox.SetBackgroundColour((0,0,0,0))
self.imageBox.Bind(wx.EVT_LEFT_DOWN, self.next)
self.imageBox.Bind(wx.EVT_RIGHT_DOWN, self.prev)
def nameFromUrl(self,url):
name = url.split('\\')
name = name[len(name)-1]
return name
def processPicture(self, factor = 0):
img = Image.open(self.url)
self.width = img.size[0]
self.height = img.size[1]
ogHeight = self.height
ogWidth = self.width
xWin = self.imageBox.Size[0]
yWin = self.imageBox.Size[1]
winRatio = 1.0*xWin/yWin
imgRatio = 1.0*self.width/self.height
self.factor = factor*self.factor
if factor == 0:
self.factor = 1
mode = 0
if (ogWidth <=1000 and ogHeight <= 1000) or self.mode == 1:
mode = 1
if imgRatio >= winRatio: #match widths
self.width = self.factor*xWin
self.height = self.factor*xWin/imgRatio
img = img.resize((int(self.width),int(self.height)),mode)
else: #match heights
self.height = self.factor*yWin
self.width = self.factor*yWin*imgRatio
img = img.resize((int(self.width),int(self.height)),mode)
label = str(int(100*self.width/ogWidth))
name = self.nameFromUrl(self.url)
index = self.sbmList.index(name)
self.SetStatusText(name, 0)
self.SetStatusText(str(ogWidth) + 'x' + str(ogHeight), 1)
self.SetStatusText(label + '%', 2)
self.SetStatusText(str(index+1) + '/' + str(self.numOfPics), 3)
if self.rotation % 360 != 0:
img = img.rotate(self.rotation)
self.width = img.size[0]
self.height = img.size[1]
wximg = wx.EmptyImage(img.size[0],img.size[1])
wximg.SetData(img.convert("RGB").tostring())
wximg.SetAlphaData(img.convert("RGBA").tostring()[3::4])
self.showPicture(wximg)
def showPicture(self,img):
bmp = wx.BitmapFromImage(img)
x = (self.imageBox.Size[0] - self.width)/2.0
y = (self.imageBox.Size[1] - self.height)/2.0
tmp = wx.StaticBitmap(self.imageBox,wx.ID_ANY,bmp,(x,y))
tmp.Bind(wx.EVT_LEFT_DOWN, self.next)
tmp.Bind(wx.EVT_RIGHT_DOWN, self.prev)
tmp.Bind(wx.EVT_MOTION, self.drag)
tmp.Bind(wx.EVT_MIDDLE_UP, self.endDrag)
tmp.SetBackgroundColour((180,180,180,180))
if self.sbm:
self.sbm.Destroy()
self.sbm = tmp
self.imageBox.Refresh()
def loadDirectory(self,dir):
self.sbmList = []
for image in os.listdir(dir):
if image.lower().endswith('jpg') or image.lower().endswith('png') or image.lower().endswith('jpeg') or image.lower().endswith('gif') or image.lower().endswith('bmp'):
self.sbmList.append(image)
self.numOfPics = len(self.sbmList)
def next(self,event):
if self.name in self.sbmList:
n = self.sbmList.index(self.name)
if n == len(self.sbmList) - 1:
n = -1
self.name = self.sbmList[n + 1]
self.url = self.dir + '\\' + self.name
self.rotation = 0
self.processPicture()
def prev(self,event):
if self.name in self.sbmList:
n = self.sbmList.index(self.name)
if n == 0:
n = len(self.sbmList)
self.name = self.sbmList[n - 1]
self.url = self.dir + '\\' + self.name
self.rotation = 0
self.processPicture()
def rescale(self,event,factor):
if self.url and self.GetStatusBar(): #close is seen as a size event.
self.processPicture(factor)
def zoom(self,event):
factor = 1.25
if event.GetWheelRotation() < 0:
factor = 0.8
self.rescale(event,factor)
def keyEvent(self,event):
code = event.GetKeyCode()
if code == 43: #plus
self.rescale(event,1.25)
elif code == 45: #minus
self.rescale(event,0.8)
elif code == 82 and self.url: #r
self.rotation = self.rotation + 90
self.processPicture(1)
elif code == 70: #f
self.toggleFS()
elif (code == 314 or code == 315 or code == 316 or code == 317) and self.sbm:
#left, up, right, down
self.scroll(code)
elif code == 77: #m
if self.mode == 0:
self.mode = 1
else:
self.mode = 0
self.SetStatusText(str(self.mode), 4)
self.processPicture(1)
def scroll(self,code):
boxPos = self.imageBox.GetScreenPositionTuple()
imgPos = self.sbm.GetScreenPositionTuple()
delta = 20
if code == 314 and self.width > self.imageBox.Size[0]:
compare = boxPos[0] - imgPos[0]
if compare <= delta:
delta = max(compare,0)
self.imageBox.ScrollWindow(delta,0)
if code == 315 and self.height > self.imageBox.Size[1]:
compare = boxPos[1] - imgPos[1]
if compare <= delta:
delta = max(compare,0)
self.imageBox.ScrollWindow(0,delta)
if code == 316 and self.width > self.imageBox.Size[0]:
compare = imgPos[0] + self.sbm.Size[0] - boxPos[0] - self.imageBox.Size[0]
if compare <= delta:
delta = max(compare,0)
self.imageBox.ScrollWindow(-delta,0)
if code == 317 and self.height > self.imageBox.Size[1]:
compare = imgPos[1] + self.sbm.Size[1] - boxPos[1] - self.imageBox.Size[1]
if compare <= delta:
delta = max(compare,0)
self.imageBox.ScrollWindow(0,-delta)
def drag(self,event):
if event.MiddleIsDown():
if not self.mc:
self.SetCursor(self.moveCursor)
self.mc = True
boxPos = self.imageBox.GetScreenPositionTuple()
imgPos = self.sbm.GetScreenPositionTuple()
if self.count == 0:
self.x = event.GetX()
self.y = event.GetY()
self.count = self.count + 1
if self.count > 1:
deltaX = event.GetX() - self.x
deltaY = event.GetY() - self.y
if imgPos[0] >= boxPos[0] and deltaX > 0:
deltaX = 0
if imgPos[0] + self.width <= boxPos[0] + self.imageBox.Size[0] and deltaX < 0:
deltaX = 0
if imgPos[1] >= boxPos[1] and deltaY > 0:
deltaY = 0
if imgPos[1] + self.height <= boxPos[1] + self.imageBox.Size[1] and deltaY < 0:
deltaY = 0
self.imageBox.ScrollWindow(2*deltaX,2*deltaY)
self.count = 0
def endDrag(self,event):
self.count = 0
self.SetCursor(self.cursor)
self.mc = False
def toggleFS(self):
if self.fs:
self.ShowFullScreen(False)
self.fs = False
else:
self.ShowFullScreen(True)
self.fs = True
app = wx.App(redirect = False)
frame = ImageFrame()
app.MainLoop()

Answer 3

And there is Cornice an open source image viewer written in wxPython which might help you

Answer 4

You can try Document/View architecture.
I think it should be available in Python. You can take a look at this tutorial, it is for C++ but approach should be similar. It also shows how to implement selection rectangle.

Answer 5

I actually just made a simple image viewer with wxPython and PIL. I didn't want to, but I was having a hard time finding a viewer as simple as I wanted. Anyway, I started from this page and worked myself up to an app that zooms, rotates, and browses all images in the folder it was started from. When I get home I can post the full code if you like.