[Leica] FAQ that are not FA

[reid at mejac.carlsbad.ca.us (Brian Reid)]

Sometimes LUGgers ask me questions about the gallery, and I'm not very 
good about answering. Here are some Frequently Asked Questions that are 
not (alas) Frequently Answered. I will try to post this periodically and 
update it as I learn more.


Q: When I upload a picture to the gallery, it doesn't give viewers the 
option of "Full size" display (an icon with two overlapping rectangles). 
What should I do?

A: Make sure that the image you are uploading is big enough for there to 
be a larger size. It can only display a full size image if you upload 
your photo in that full size. Figure out a size that you want people to 
see when they ask to "see it large", and then upload it in that size. I 
have shamelessly uploaded 3400x4000 images from my Q2 to show off its 
resolution and sharpness.


Q: When I click on "Full size", the resulting image is too big for my 
screen. How can I tame it?

A: I have no idea how to do this on a machine that is not a Mac. If you 
know how and tell me, I will put your explanation here. On a Mac, 
control-click the image that is too large and select "Open image in new 
window". Then you can make it any size you want.


Q: When I upload a picture to the gallery, the camera information (EXIF) 
isn't included. What can I do?

A: Check carefully to make sure that the EXIF information has not been 
stripped out of the image you are uploading. Many "Export" commands from 
tools like Lightroom or Photoshop give you the ability to remove EXIF 
information during an export. I usually use Bridge to look for EXIF 
information because I usually have it open, but if I want to get serious 
about examining or editing EXIF information, I use an app called EXIF 
Tool.


Q: I can't get the "Panorama" mode to work on pictures that are 
panoramic.
Q: Is there any way you can modify the Gallery software to do XXX?
Q: My favorite way to upload images stopped working. Can you fix it?

A: Same answer to all of these. The Gallery software is pickled in time. 
It was written by Bharat Mediratta, whose skill is so great that no one 
was able to continue the development work when he was lured away by 
Google in 2009 to work on the Picasa project (remember Picasa?). I think 
of the Gallery software as being like my IIIf camera: it is what it is, 
and it isn't ever going to change.

Software like Windows and MacOS and Linux evolves because people are 
changing it and they need something to do. Sometimes they will make a 
change that is incompatible with older apps. Like so many of us on the 
LUG, the Gallery software is an older thing, and if an upgrade to a new 
version of MacOS or Windows makes your favorite upload scheme stop 
working, I recommend that you find a new favorite.

Every year or two I survey the world of free or affordable software to 
see if there is something that I could install as a successor to the 
Gallery software that we use. There never is, except new systems that 
can't import the 110,000 images that are in the LUG Gallery. I fear that 
if there is ever a new LUG Gallery, it will start out being empty.