It only took a few weeks after the last release for the new PhotoQt v5.1 to be ready with a wide range of bug fixes, improvements, and a couple of additions. Thank you to everybody who tested the previous release and some of the changes since then.
Some of the major additions and changes include:
- Virtual folders: You can now pass multiple files and folders to PhotoQt and they will be put into a virtual folder. That virtual folder thus will contain any files passed and the files inside any folder passed all together. You can also open multiple files/folders from the integrated file dialog and they will also be put into a virtual folder.
- Finding files: In addition to the existing filtering of a folder, it is now also possible to search for files by their name. This will not alter the list of files displayed but simply jump to the next match for the entered search term (if any). You can also set a shortcut to directly jump to the next match for whatever string is entered.
- Extensions: In v5.0 it was possible to automatically build the official extensions together with PhotoQt, but it could result in some unexpected behavior and caused the code to be unnecessarily complex. Thus, the extensions are now required to be built independently, creating a cleaner and more straightforward separation between the two.
There are also a whole range of minor improvements and bug fixes, including:
- All image plugins now check for any orientation information possibly stored in the image's metadata.
- The date/time string read from the metadata is now localized according to the selected locale in PhotoQt. Thanks to @chenxiaolong for this improvement.
- When the available OpenGL features are not sufficient for photo spheres, then PhotoQt will fail gracefully, show a notification, and show the underlying image normally.
- The upper limit for thumbnail sizes have been extended for possible thumbnails up to 4000 pixels.
- Some of the colors have been tweaked slightly for a better and more well-rounded look.
- Building with Qt 6.4 works again.
- The width of the thumbnail bar is properly set when the active thumbnail is kept in the center.
- The popup for deleting an image is now styled properly and always shown in the foreground.
- The default starting folder is now properly set to the home folder (or optionally a custom folder).
- The FitInWindow and the PreserveZoom settings are properly respected again in all circumstances.
- When starting PhotoQt with an image it will always be sized correctly and will always load its metadata.
- For building PhotoQt, the pugixml is now opt-in, by default Qt's built-in XML capabilities are used.
These are just some of the more notable changes of this release, you can find a more complete list in the Changelog.
Get involved
I love to hear from people using PhotoQt. In order to get in touch with me for feedback/support/etc., the best way to do so is by opening an issue over in the GitLab repository: https://gitlab.com/lspies/photoqt
If this is not an option for you, then you can also always send me an email: %EMAIL%
Another way to help PhotoQt is to join the translation team over on Crowdin. If your language is missing you can simply request it directly on Crowdin or send me an email (%EMAIL%) and I can add it to the project.
If you are considering supporting PhotoQt by donation, please consider donating to the humanitarian relief in Ukraine instead, for example to the Ukrainian Red Cross. Otherwise, you can donate directly to PhotoQt through PayPal.
Enjoy PhotoQt,
Lukas