new feature request - paste image support

dhdurgee · 11-07-2015, 10:19 AM

At present Sigil image support allows you to incorporate existing image files into your epub. I would like to request that support be added to create a new image file in an epub from the clipboard. This would in particular facilitate incorporating images from the internet by copying them from the browser into the clipboard for pasting into an image file in the epub.

The two logical places I can see for such a feature to be implemented would be to add a "Paste from Clipboard" button to the "Add Cover" dialog or to add a "Paste from Clipboard" option to the pop-up menu for the Images folder. In either case there would either need to be a dialog to establish the file name or the feature could create a default one that the user could then rename if necessary.

I assume that such a feature could be added to Sigil via a plugin, but while I am enough of a programmer to make minor tweaks to an existing plugin creating one from scratch is far beyond my current skill at this art.

Thank you for your consideration of my request.

Dave

KevinH · 11-07-2015, 11:02 AM

Assuming the image is in a web browser and not as an existing file on your computer ... in your browser, right click on image and choose save to disk. In Sigil use Add Existing File. This should work with svg images as well. Please note, make sure you have the correct rights to use the image from the image author, if needed.

To add more explanation - the underlying problem is that many browsers and even many OS's never actually copy the binary image data to the clipboard no matter how hard you try. All you get is a link. By saving the image to disk, you prevent all of these issues and you have a consistent cross-platform gui. Also since it is binary data, there is no such things as a blank jpeg or png image file (unlike svg) to paste it into.

KevinH · 11-07-2015, 11:44 AM

BTW: If you are doing this repeatedly for a website with large numbers of images and text, you would be much better off using wget or curl to download recursively the entire website and adding the html files which will pull in the images, or adding the image files directly.

dhdurgee · 11-07-2015, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinH

Assuming the image is in a web browser and not as an existing file on your computer ... in your browser, right click on image and choose save to disk. In Sigil use Add Existing File. This should work with svg images as well. Please note, make sure you have the correct rights to use the image from the image author, if needed.

To add more explanation - the underlying problem is that many browsers and even many OS's never actually copy the binary image data to the clipboard no matter how hard you try. All you get is a link. By saving the image to disk, you prevent all of these issues and you have a consistent cross-platform gui. Also since it is binary data, there is no such things as a blank jpeg or png image file (unlike svg) to paste it into.

I currently have to save to disk, add file in Sigil and then I have to remember to remove the file. If copy/paste were available it would save time and actions required to complete the task.

I have tested and confirmed with gimp on my system that seamonkey does place the image in the clipboard, as I am able to copy/paste an image from it to gimp. Given this I would expect to be able to do so in Sigil. Yes the binary data would simply need to be written as the entire file within the epub, as Sigil is not intended to be a graphics/image editor. I am just looking to simplify the process I am going through.

Dave

dhdurgee · 11-07-2015, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinH

BTW: If you are doing this repeatedly for a website with large numbers of images and text, you would be much better off using wget or curl to download recursively the entire website and adding the html files which will pull in the images, or adding the image files directly.

Agreed. If this is a large production a bulk download makes sense. In my case in point, this is an occasional situation. I might be creating one file once a week.

Dave

KevinH · 11-07-2015, 03:34 PM

Then having to delete one image file should be no issue.
Sorry,

KevinH

dhdurgee · 11-07-2015, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinH

Then having to delete one image file should be no issue.
Sorry,

KevinH

Deleting the file, no problem. REMEMBERING to delete the file, problem.

Dave

KevinH · 11-07-2015, 07:55 PM

Then save it to /tmp and it will be autocleaned on boot

AlanHK · 11-08-2015, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dhdurgee

At present Sigil image support allows you to incorporate existing image files into your epub. I would like to request that support be added to create a new image file in an epub from the clipboard.

With Firefox at least, if I "copy image" I can then paste it into a painting app, like Photoshop or Irfanview.

What I get is a rendered bitmap, not a file. The app then has to encode it to save it as a file.

If the original image was losslessly encoded, like gif or png, and you also save it to a lossless format, it's all fine, if a bit circuitous.
But if it was a jpeg, saved to a jpeg, the version you save will be degraded by the process.

So I think it's preferable to save the file and then import the file.

However, this does remind me of an idea I had:
I often extract an image, enhance it (or just reduce it from 800 kB to 80 kB, e.g.), or whatever, then replace it.

Easier if in Sigil's file browser, when you select an image have the option to edit the image in the app you set in preferences, or the default Windows app otherwise.

Sigil would extract the image to a temp folder, open the image editor on it, and when it was saved, replace the image with the edited version.

So in effect you can make Irfanview a Sigil plugin.

KevinH · 11-08-2015, 01:24 PM

Doesn't right click on image in BookBrowser and selecting "Open with..." do this for you?
KevinH

AlanHK · 11-13-2015, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinH

Doesn't right click on image in BookBrowser and selecting "Open with..." do this for you?
KevinH

Well, that was dumb of me not to notice it was already there.

Thanks.

DiapDealer · 11-13-2015, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlanHK

Well, that was dumb of me not to notice it was already there.

Not dumb at all. I'm one of Sigil's maintainers and I still forget some of those context menu features.

blackest · 11-20-2015, 12:33 PM

I just came here to make the same feature request really. I tend to use sigil as a notebook

So I might often select data from a web page including images and paste in. which does bring in the images as long as your online when you open the epub. thats when you bring in formatted data anyway. it is kind of tedious to have to download the images and replace the links. maybe a localise plugin might be possible to automate the task.

Of course there is more than just webpages as source material docs and pdf files can also be used. So if you can get an image on the clipboard it would be easier for a user if the image could be brought directly into sigil as a localised resource.

Maybe I should be linking to the url of the source material where its available, but sometimes you do want it at your fingertips in a field in ireland with no mobile signal.

dhdurgee · 11-20-2015, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackest

I just came here to make the same feature request really. I tend to use sigil as a notebook

So I might often select data from a web page including images and paste in. which does bring in the images as long as your online when you open the epub. thats when you bring in formatted data anyway. it is kind of tedious to have to download the images and replace the links. maybe a localise plugin might be possible to automate the task.

Of course there is more than just webpages as source material docs and pdf files can also be used. So if you can get an image on the clipboard it would be easier for a user if the image could be brought directly into sigil as a localised resource.

Maybe I should be linking to the url of the source material where its available, but sometimes you do want it at your fingertips in a field in ireland with no mobile signal.

This has been implemented via plugin. See the thread in the Plugins sub-forum. I have made extensive use of it and it works well.

Dave

Doitsu · 11-22-2015, 03:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackest

So I might often select data from a web page including images and paste in. which does bring in the images as long as your online when you open the epub. thats when you bring in formatted data anyway. it is kind of tedious to have to download the images and replace the links. maybe a localise plugin might be possible to automate the task.

BTW, there are a couple of apps/add-ons/bookmarklets that allow you to save websites as .ePub or .mobi files. For example, dotepub and Instapaper.

For websites with lots of images, a dedicated browser extension, e.g. DownThemAll, might also be helpful.

11-07-2015, 10:19 AM	#1
dhdurgee Guru Posts: 877 Karma: 2580688 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: K3W, PW4	new feature request - paste image support At present Sigil image support allows you to incorporate existing image files into your epub. I would like to request that support be added to create a new image file in an epub from the clipboard. This would in particular facilitate incorporating images from the internet by copying them from the browser into the clipboard for pasting into an image file in the epub. The two logical places I can see for such a feature to be implemented would be to add a "Paste from Clipboard" button to the "Add Cover" dialog or to add a "Paste from Clipboard" option to the pop-up menu for the Images folder. In either case there would either need to be a dialog to establish the file name or the feature could create a default one that the user could then rename if necessary. I assume that such a feature could be added to Sigil via a plugin, but while I am enough of a programmer to make minor tweaks to an existing plugin creating one from scratch is far beyond my current skill at this art. Thank you for your consideration of my request. Dave

11-07-2015, 11:02 AM	#2
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,485 Karma: 5703586 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	Assuming the image is in a web browser and not as an existing file on your computer ... in your browser, right click on image and choose save to disk. In Sigil use Add Existing File. This should work with svg images as well. Please note, make sure you have the correct rights to use the image from the image author, if needed. To add more explanation - the underlying problem is that many browsers and even many OS's never actually copy the binary image data to the clipboard no matter how hard you try. All you get is a link. By saving the image to disk, you prevent all of these issues and you have a consistent cross-platform gui. Also since it is binary data, there is no such things as a blank jpeg or png image file (unlike svg) to paste it into. Last edited by KevinH; 11-07-2015 at 11:36 AM.

11-08-2015, 01:24 PM	#10
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,485 Karma: 5703586 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	Doesn't right click on image in BookBrowser and selecting "Open with..." do this for you? KevinH Last edited by KevinH; 11-08-2015 at 01:51 PM.

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11-07-2015, 11:44 AM	#3
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,485 Karma: 5703586 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	BTW: If you are doing this repeatedly for a website with large numbers of images and text, you would be much better off using wget or curl to download recursively the entire website and adding the html files which will pull in the images, or adding the image files directly.

11-07-2015, 03:34 PM	#6
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,485 Karma: 5703586 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	Then having to delete one image file should be no issue. Sorry, KevinH

11-07-2015, 07:55 PM	#8
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,485 Karma: 5703586 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	Then save it to /tmp and it will be autocleaned on boot

11-20-2015, 12:33 PM	#13
blackest Connoisseur Posts: 67 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2014 Device: sony prs 2	I just came here to make the same feature request really. I tend to use sigil as a notebook So I might often select data from a web page including images and paste in. which does bring in the images as long as your online when you open the epub. thats when you bring in formatted data anyway. it is kind of tedious to have to download the images and replace the links. maybe a localise plugin might be possible to automate the task. Of course there is more than just webpages as source material docs and pdf files can also be used. So if you can get an image on the clipboard it would be easier for a user if the image could be brought directly into sigil as a localised resource. Maybe I should be linking to the url of the source material where its available, but sometimes you do want it at your fingertips in a field in ireland with no mobile signal.