[scrumper]

My word this is fast!

My use case is probably not the one you intended it for, but I've pointed it (the beta) at my folders of contracts and spreadsheets to see if it can replace finder/QuickLook. So far, I'm just thrilled I can QuickLook two files side by side!

I don't really understand what dragging a folder in does though. Does that set it up as some permanent link?

What is "Staging"?

Is there any way I can get a view of a folder as a list, so I can choose which files to compare? My files generally have very long names, so these always appear truncated when in icon view.

Very good work. Will keep up with the beta for a few days's real work then buy if it remains useful. $29.99 is above impulse purchase value for me, but I certainly want to support you as an independent developer.

[kennycarruthers]

Thanks for the support. Using Fileloupe as a document browser is definitely a use-case that others have discovered (and one I didn't originally plan for).

Dragging a folder into Fileloupe just loads all of the files in that folder (and all sub folders). The original files are left in place and nothing is copied, duplicated or moved. If you have a folder full of documents (maybe your Dropbox folder), then you can easily drag your entire Dropbox folder into Fileloupe, filter by type (PDF, iWork, MS Office) and then easily browse just the documents you're interested in. (You can, of course, drag in as many folders as you want.)

There is currently no "list view" mode, but others have asked for one as well. I might add one down the road, but there's no immediate plan for one.

Staging is a way to "pin" a single file to the left of the viewer, allowing you to continue previewing other files while a single one stays "staged". Actions where staging is of interest:

* Finding the best photo out of a group (just keeping staging the better one).

* If you're dealing with multiple documents, you might want to keep a certain document staged while you browse through the others. (Maybe an itinerary, index, presentation, agenda, table of contents, glossary, etc...)

* Staging a document is also a quick way to open the same document in two separate viewers. This is helpful when you need to look at separate sections of the same document or movie. (Like non contiguous pages of a PDF document.)

Thanks for the kind words and offer of support. If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to email me directly or post here for others to see.

[scrumper]

Great, thanks for the reply. I commend you for staying focused on your main use case.

Only other thing - I'd like to be able to hit the "Close viewer" button with a keyboard press; not sure if Esc or Space is more appropriate.

[kennycarruthers]

The keyboard shortcuts are still very much influx. The Escape key used to close the viewer, but then enough other people wanted the Escape key to take them back to the grid view, so I changed it. People really seem to like to use the Escape key and the space bar which causes a lot of usability issues because their functionality gets so overloaded. (Escape is also overloaded to exit from full screen mode, while the space bar both switches from grid mode to the viewer and toggles play/pause on the media controls.)

I doubt I'll ever get a sequence of shortcuts that makes everyone happy. Maybe something like "Command-Period" might work for closing the viewer so long as the embedded PDF viewer doesn't swallow any shortcuts.