Manually sorting folder contents

JG Here wrote:

I need to manually sort items in a finder folder. They are images to show in a Preview slideshow. I can sort them in the sidebar in Preview but I can't save the order in that app either. What a pain.

You can use Photos or iMovie to create an ordered slideshow, sequencing the photos in any order you want.

If you want to manually order image files in a Finder folder you will have to prepend sequence numbers to the file names.

Sort by what? You don't say.

Let's say I have a folder (Test) of random images on my Desktop. From the Terminal command line with a Zsh shell, I can open Preview with images sorted in ascending order by name, though there are other options:

open -a Preview $(echo ~/Desktop/Test/*(.Non))

Or descending name order:

open -a Preview $(echo ~/Desktop/Test/*(.NOn))

Or limit the number of files passed to Preview. In this case, 5:

open -a Preview $(echo ~/Desktop/Test/*(.NonY5))

Another approach is to place the sorted ascending, full path image names you want into a text file that you provide as follows:

print -l ~/Desktop/Test/*.(png|tif|jpg)(.Non:a) > ~/Desktop/Test/imgList.txt
open -a Preview $(< ~/Desktop/Test/imgList.txt)

And these will open in Preview in that order sorted in the imgList.txt file.

JG Here wrote:

Really? Re-read my post AND title. Clearly stated.

When people who are voluteering their time to help you ask clarifying questions, it's polite to answer them. Politely. It also increases the chances someone will stick with you long enough to get you to the answer you're looking for.

JG Here wrote:

Pretty unbelievable. That's not even close to making sense. I don't know why you continue to argue with me. This is cut and dry.

What doesn't make sense, is why, if you want help, you won't participate in the process. In the time it has taken you to write your non-responsive replies, you could just have given VikingOSX some information. VikingOSX is not the person who is arguing.

These are not mind reading communities and did not explicitly state ascending/descending by name, or any other sort criteria. Just sorting…

The are multiple ways to sort manually. You were not clear about that. Bye.

Question, why did you even post if you don't want help???