Customizing Views (Galleries, etc.)

You can also customize gallery appearance by choosing View > Customize (Command-D) to open the Customize Gallery window, and then saving the gallery when you are done.

There are five very useful buttons at the bottom of the Customize Gallery window. These are, from left to right, Apply, Save as Default, Factory Settings, Cancel, and OK.

The Apply button immediately applies any changes you have made to gallery appearance in this window. It does not close the window.

The Save as Default button saves the current settings for the currently displayed view tab (Thumbnails, List, or Record) as the default view settings for the catalog. Anytime you open a gallery, it will display under the conditions of the default view settings (e.g., small thumbnails with a two-inch green border and filename in 17-point Palatino font).

The Factory Settings button returns all gallery settings to their factory defaults. This is the reset button for views. Having clicked it, you will not be able to return to any customized views without rebuilding them setting by setting unless you have created Saved Views (see below).

The Cancel button cancels any view settings changes you have made since you opened the Customize Gallery window, and it closes the window.

The OK button accepts and applies new changes and closes the Customize Gallery window.

The Customize Gallery window has one tab for each type of view (Thumbnail, List, or Record) and one tab covering Saved Options. (See images.) Each of the first three tabs offer options for changing the appearance of each type of view; the list on the right side of each of these tabs (see images) shows all of the fields, default and custom, that exist in your catalog. By clicking in the space to the left of each field's name, you can toggle its visibility in a given view. Thus, you could put a check mark next to "filename" under the Thumbnails tab to display each record's filename near its thumbnail in Thumbnail View.

In all three view tabs, you can also adjust the font, font size, and font style for any text in the view. To do so, scroll through the Font, Size, and Style pull-down menus (see images) to find the font, font size, and style you desire.

You can also modify thumbnail background and text colors in all three views. Clicking on the colored boxes next to Background Color and Text Color will open a Colors window containing a variety of palettes for adjusting background and text appearance. These include a color wheel, color sliders, color palettes, image palettes, and select "crayons." Experiment with them to get a color you like.

Both the Thumbnails and the Record tabs allow you to adjust the appearance of a record's thumbnail with similar pull-down menus. The Size menu lets you choose between several thumbnail sizes: 32 x 32, 64 x 64, 112 x 112, and 256 x 256 pixels. The Border menu changes the space surrounding each thumbnail. You can choose from a number of predefined options, or you can create your own or edit your options to your heart's content. Choose the Edit... option from the Border menu, and then click New... to create a new border or select one from the list and click Edit... to edit it. You will have to make your borders outside of Portfolio, using a program like Paintshop or Photoshop or Fireworks or Illustrator, but you can import or paste them into the Borders editing window. PICT, TIFF and JPEG files only.

Note: The Portfolio manual explains in greater detail how to customize borders (see pages 39 and 40). Beyond that, direct additional questions or concerns to Fred Lifton.

The Thumbnail tab also allows you to adjust the space between thumbnails (Space Between field, see image). Just enter a number in the field to change the distance in pixels between the borders of each thumbnail.

The Record tab does not need to concern itself with space between thumbnails, since record view displays only one record at a time. The tab does, however, deal more with the appearance and use of fields in record view. The three options below Thumbnail appearance options control this.

Display as List. Record View automatically shows only one record at a time. By checking this option, you tell Portfolio to display the records in a long list in Record View.

Edit. Checking this option allows Editors, Publishers, and Administrators to edit field values directly in Record View.

Show Field Names. Checking this option displays the name of each field next to its value in Record View.

Saved Options. This tab allows you to control Portfolio's treatment of saved galleries to an extent. Typically, once you save a gallery, it remains unchanged each time you open it unless you save any new changes you make. However, with the options in this tab, you can

• Find Gallery (Load a Saved Find when Opened). You can save finds (see Saved Finds). Then, by checking the Load a Saved Find when Opened option and selecting a saved find from the pull-down menu, once you save the gallery, it will thereafter open containing the latest results of your find.
• Sorting. This option enables you to keep galleries sorted in a specific way each time you open them. It is most useful in combination with the Load a Saved Find when Opened option.
• Show Gallery when Opening Catalog. The most straightforward option, checking Show Gallery when opening Catalog opens the current gallery everytime you open the catalog.

You will need to save a gallery to keep any of the customizations you apply to it.

You may change the size and method of obtaining Thumbnails and Previews if you are an Administrator. You may create Keywords and categories from a directory path or extract keywords from a file.