Preview.app and image ordering

Question

Preview.app and image ordering

Lately, I've noticed that opening a bunch of images in a folder with Preview (in a single window) results in a weird re-ordering of the images. Typical behavior: I have a bunch of digital camera photos in a folder and I select them all and open them with Preview. I get a single Preview window with the sidebar listing the images. They are mostly in order by file name, which I want. However, Preview will skip around the list. So, the sidebar list might start with images 1-3, then images 8-20, then go back to 4-7. Very annoying since the filenames represent chronological order. Any suggestions?

All software up to date, using a MacBook 15.4"

Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Posted on Jul 23, 2006 6:50 PM

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Answer 1

Oct 8, 2006 1:32 PM in response to cyclopticgaze

Right (or Control) clicking one of the thumbnails gives you a context menu in which you can choose a sorting order. Choosing 'by name' re-sorts the images in the correct order.

Chris

Mac Pro Dual 2.66 Mac OS X (10.4)

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Answer 2

bdmarsha

Level 4

2,580 points

Jul 25, 2006 9:57 AM in response to cyclopticgaze

Brett,

I think this has to do with the way (order) that you select them. On my machine, if the files are in filename order in the window and I select all of them by Edit->Select All or Command-A, then Preview lists them in the same order. If I click on them in some other order then Preview lists them in that order. Maybe I am missing something?

bd

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Answer 3

Sep 17, 2006 8:37 PM in response to bdmarsha

I have the same problem and it doesn't matter how I select the photos- opening any more than 20 or so pictures in Preview causes the application to group them randomly. Does anyone have any idea what causes this?

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Answer 4

bdmarsha

Level 4

2,580 points

Oct 5, 2006 7:50 AM in response to Chris Paluszek1

Playing around a bit more, I agree that there is a problem here. It appears that Preview sometimes decides for itself what order to display items in. If this is bothersome, document it as best you can and submit it to Apple as a bug.

bd

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Answer 5

Oct 21, 2006 5:01 AM in response to Chris Wild

Thanks Chris - your solution works great... Simple but effective!

Right (or Control) clicking one of the thumbnails
gives you a context menu in which you can choose a
sorting order. Choosing 'by name' re-sorts the images
in the correct order.

Chris

Intel iMac 20" Mac OS X (10.4.8)

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Answer 6

Jul 25, 2006 8:03 AM in response to cyclopticgaze

I can't find a way to make Preview order images correctly, but an easy work-around would be to use the Finder with Preview. In the Finder, open a new window and switch to column view. Navigate to the folder where your images are stored, and they will be listed in the correct order. You can click on each image to see a preview in the column to the right. For images that you want to see full-size, you can double click on to open in Preview or another image viewer such as JView or Graphic Converter.

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