Difference between revisions of "How to preview images"
(Link to instructions on integrating Überzug) |
(Reorganize general structure and apply some minor updates) |
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− | + | Vifm v0.8 onward provides four macros describing preview area that can be used along with external applications to preview images in a terminal, they are: | |
* <code>%px</code> x coordinate of top-left corner of preview area; | * <code>%px</code> x coordinate of top-left corner of preview area; | ||
* <code>%py</code> y coordinate of top-left corner of preview area; | * <code>%py</code> y coordinate of top-left corner of preview area; | ||
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* <code>%ph</code> height of preview area. | * <code>%ph</code> height of preview area. | ||
− | + | Note that because terminals were built to display text rather than images, making them display images can be problematic. Some solutions work better in some environments than in others and none of them is perfect. | |
− | + | ||
− | + | == Überzug == | |
For an instruction on how to use [https://github.com/seebye/ueberzug Überzug], which is likely to work better than <code>w3m</code>, see [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgxsduCO1pE this video]. | For an instruction on how to use [https://github.com/seebye/ueberzug Überzug], which is likely to work better than <code>w3m</code>, see [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgxsduCO1pE this video]. | ||
The video is based on [https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/aviu08/ueberzug_v1810_released/ehfj0s4/ this thread]. | The video is based on [https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/aviu08/ueberzug_v1810_released/ehfj0s4/ this thread]. | ||
+ | |||
+ | == iTerm2 == | ||
+ | |||
+ | See [https://github.com/vifm/vifm/issues/299 issue #299 on GitHub] for a command for OS X in iTerm2. | ||
+ | |||
+ | == w3m == | ||
+ | |||
+ | Below is a description and an example of making this work using <code>w3m</code> on GNU/Linux. | ||
+ | Mind that the support is lacking and you might have trouble making this work in many terminals. <code>xterm</code> without double-buffering tends to work better than others. | ||
=== Prerequisites === | === Prerequisites === | ||
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Replace "imgt" with path to preview script or just update name if | Replace "imgt" with path to preview script or just update name if | ||
script is available in your <code>$PATH</code> (which is the case if you put it | script is available in your <code>$PATH</code> (which is the case if you put it | ||
− | under <code> | + | under <code>$VIFM/scripts</code>). |
=== Notes === | === Notes === | ||
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* [https://github.com/vifm/vifm/issues/82 Issue #82 on GitHub] for similar description and some discussion of some issues. | * [https://github.com/vifm/vifm/issues/82 Issue #82 on GitHub] for similar description and some discussion of some issues. | ||
* [https://github.com/vifm/vifm/issues/102 Issue #102 on GitHub] for report on image clearing issues. | * [https://github.com/vifm/vifm/issues/102 Issue #102 on GitHub] for report on image clearing issues. | ||
− |
Revision as of 12:03, 29 September 2020
Vifm v0.8 onward provides four macros describing preview area that can be used along with external applications to preview images in a terminal, they are:
%px
x coordinate of top-left corner of preview area;%py
y coordinate of top-left corner of preview area;%pw
width of preview area;%ph
height of preview area.
Note that because terminals were built to display text rather than images, making them display images can be problematic. Some solutions work better in some environments than in others and none of them is perfect.
Überzug
For an instruction on how to use Überzug, which is likely to work better than w3m
, see this video.
The video is based on this thread.
iTerm2
See issue #299 on GitHub for a command for OS X in iTerm2.
w3m
Below is a description and an example of making this work using w3m
on GNU/Linux.
Mind that the support is lacking and you might have trouble making this work in many terminals. xterm
without double-buffering tends to work better than others.
Prerequisites
1. w3mimgdisplay
which might be part of w3m
package or a separate one.
2. Terminal emulator without double buffering, otherwise w3m
will fail to display images properly.
Setup
1. Create script that invokes w3m
. w3mimgdisplay
executable might reside in
different locations depending on the distribution. Below is a sample script, which can be used
after correcting several parameters at the top.
#!/bin/bash
#
# Based on script by z3bra -- 2014-01-21
W3MIMGDISPLAY="/usr/libexec/w3m/w3mimgdisplay"
FONTH=15 # Size of one terminal row
FONTW=7 # Size of one terminal column
X=$1
Y=$2
COLUMNS=$3
LINES=$4
FILENAME=$5
read width height <<< `echo "5;$FILENAME" | $W3MIMGDISPLAY`
if [ -z "$width" -o -z "$height" ]; then
echo 'Error: Failed to obtain image size.'
exit 1
fi
x=$((FONTW * X))
y=$((FONTH * Y))
max_width=$((FONTW * COLUMNS))
max_height=$((FONTH * LINES))
if [ "$width" -gt "$max_width" ]; then
height=$((height * max_width / width))
width=$max_width
fi
if [ "$height" -gt "$max_height" ]; then
width=$((width * max_height / height))
height=$max_height
fi
w3m_command="0;1;$x;$y;$width;$height;;;;;$FILENAME\n4;\n3;"
echo -e "$w3m_command" | $W3MIMGDISPLAY
2. Update vifmrc with preview command like the following:
fileviewer *.bmp,*.jpg,*.jpeg,*.png,*.gif,*.xpm
\ imgt %px %py %pw %ph %c
Replace "imgt" with path to preview script or just update name if
script is available in your $PATH
(which is the case if you put it
under $VIFM/scripts
).
Notes
State of terminal support
One should be aware that this is kinda hack as terminals weren't made to display pictures, thus there might be some difficulties (like double buffering or incomplete clearing). That said, it does work in sufficient amount of configurations.
Positioning
When running inside terminal emulators, coordinates known to applications are relative to pane/window position. This should be taken into account, because without applying proper offsets images may appear in unexpected locations.
Clearing
Depending on your terminal this may be enough or require additional
script for clearing image leftovers (below), development version of vifm and changed :fileviewer
command like this:
fileviewer *.bmp,*.jpg,*.jpeg,*.png,*.gif,*.xpm
\ imgt %px %py %pw %ph %c
\ %pc
\ imgc %px %py %pw %ph
Where imgc
is a script that clears background of the terminal (it's configuration is at the top):
#!/bin/bash
W3MIMGDISPLAY="/usr/libexec/w3m/w3mimgdisplay"
FONTH=15 # Size of one terminal row
FONTW=7 # Size of one terminal column
X=$1
Y=$2
COLUMNS=$3
LINES=$4
x=$((FONTW * X))
y=$((FONTH * Y))
erase="6;$x;$y;$(( FONTW*COLUMNS ));$(( FONTH*LINES ))\n3;"
echo -e "$erase" | $W3MIMGDISPLAY
This is the case at least for urxvt
.
See also
- Images in terminal for base of the script above.
- Issue #82 on GitHub for similar description and some discussion of some issues.
- Issue #102 on GitHub for report on image clearing issues.