I tried to scroll around an image initially using a Mac and then a Windows PC. It seems the only way to do this is by dragging the scrollbars and moving them up and down or left and right (shown by red arrows)?
Firstly, the Mac; when I have an image open in the RootsMagic viewer, moving two fingers around on the trackpad seems to initially centre and then enlarge or reduce the image depending on the movement of the pointer.
I tried dragging the image but it doesn’t do anything using the internal trackpad. I also attached an external mouse and found holding the mouse button whilst moving the pointer didn’t move the image around, whereas the mouse wheel (quite nifty) enlarged and reduced the image.
I tried the Windows version of RootsMagic and noticed similar behaviour (no trackpad, using external mouse attached).
Is there a keyboard button that needs to be held down to scroll an image without using the scrollbars?
As an aside, scrolling an image opened in Apple Preview from RootsMagic, the image scrolls around by using two fingers on the mousepad.
Thanks for your reply and it is good to know I am not missing something obvious.
I didn’t want to edit the image, just move around document images to read the text using a trackpad. I find dragging on the scroll bars tricky - old age I guess.
(As an aside, I found Preview mostly, but not always, able to open images from RootsMagic using the pencil icon for unknown reasons. I think a glitch in Preview but not sure).
An alternative is to click the pointer into the blank space of the scrollbar path to move the scrollbars in increments. Single clicks anywhere in that blank space moves a preset increment. Pressing and holding the pointer causes a incremental scroll TO that pointer location. The closer to the scrollbar (within the blank path) that You click towards a direction, the smaller the movements.
At least for Windows, there has to already have been a Default apps setting (from Windows Start menu) specified for particular file extension types to open in an associated application for viewing/editing.
I never view images using RM’s image viewer. Instead, I click on the Edit icon (the pencil/crayon) to “edit” an image. That causes RM to open the image using the default Windows image editor. That’s usually the Photos app. I have changed it on my computer to be IrfanView.
I don’t actually edit the images with IrfanView. I only view them. I find using the Windows default editor to be a much more positive experience than is using RM’s viewer.
IrfanView seems a very popular choice for Windows. Based on those that went from a Windows PC to a Mac, I decided to try XnView. By holding the shift key, I can zoom an image and scroll around with the trackpad.
That can be done with a Mac (under “Get Info > Open with” followed by “Change All…”), but the issue was consistency. The default app would sometimes be non-responsive (had to be forced quit) when opening (edit icon) a file from RootsMagic. Quite strange given it could happily open the same file itself.
Unfortunately, “sometimes” means that it ~works~ other times. That implies RootsMagic is doing its job of calling into MacOS and handing off a file handle (path) for it to act upon. That’s really all it does and CAN do.
Don’t know about MacOS, but in Windows… there ARE some programs that are not coded to open files from external calls (ie. they ONLY allow using the internal File>Open capabilities once the program has been started) but those are less popular or more rarely used.
Yes; the issue is clearly with the Preview app. It (was) a workhorse so I was surprised to see it being non-responsive. I am trying another image viewing app which is multi-platform and free so I can install it on Windows and Mac. Fingers-crossed. Thanks for the feedback; much appreciated
Pardon me for infusing myself in this feed, but I just wanted to tell you that those slider bars on the RM viewer make me CRAZY! The trick using the edit button (why didn’t I think of that?) just fills me with joy! Thank you!
I agree with the OP, the RM image viewer is very unintuitive compared to most apps. And it’s annoying when after using the scrollbars to position it, zooming just a little bit recenters the image and you have to position it again. I understand you can open it in an external editor, but why is that necessary if you just want to look at it?
