Over time, PhotoLibrary and Customize zoom behavior can become erratic

I left PhotoLab 4 open for several days. All I did was start it and open a folder I’d been working in for a while (and only with PhotoLab 4). When I returned to it tonight, PL4 was still viewing the folder in the PhotoLibrary. I selected the image I wanted to work on (I’d been working on this image previously). The zoom was set to 27%, which fills the image viewer vertically. I used the mouse scroll wheel to step it back slightly - to 26%. Then I selected Customize. Normally, that retains the zoom magnification - but this time, it didn’t. I was suddenly looking at this image at 100%! I could go back and forth between PhotoLibrary and Customize, and each was retaining its own zoom magnification separately from the other.

I had previously copied the whole image folder to my desktop for some testing, so I pointed the PhotoLibrary there. I selected the same image: it was zoomed in to 27%, filling the image viewer vertically. I used the mouse scroll wheel to zoom out slightly - and the amount of change to the zoom was much greater than before: to 22 or 23%, leaving a lot of blank area above and below the image in the image viewer. This time, switching to Customize didn’t change the zoom factor. However, what I saw couldn’t be correct, because it was filling the same percentage of the image viewer even though the image viewer is larger in the Customize workspace!

I closed PL4 and restarted it to view the image file I’ve been working on in its original work folder. (Back to where I started.) Now everything is working this way: the zoom factor does change when switching between PhotoLibrary and Customize in order to maintain the same relative proportion between the image in the image viewer and the image viewer itself. When the image fills the whole vertical space in PhotoLibrary, it’s zoomed in to 27% and the image browser below shows almost two full rows of thumbnails. When I switch to Customize, the top and bottom borders of the RAW image I’m working on are still touching the top and bottom borders of the image viewer - but now the zoom factor is 31% because the image viewer is now much larger, with the image browser below only showing one row of thumbnails. Stepping the zoom out by using the mouse wheel changes the zoom to 25% (PhotoLibrary) and 27% (Customize). Different amounts than before, when zooming had become erratic.

If I zoom in to 100% in Customize and drag the canvas around in the image viewer, I can then switch to PhotoLibrary without that changing.

Obviously, I can’t reproduce these problems at will. But I can say that all I had to do to make them happen (I think) was to launch PhotoLab 4 and leave it alone for a day or two.

That said, it’s possible, though unlikely, that PhotoLab 4 was open when my computer crashed and powered off a week ago. I have to wonder if that might have contributed to all this strange behavior. But I don’t know, as there was neither a power outage nor a crash screen. The computer simply shut down unexpectedly while I was out of the room. (Might be a faulty power supply/battery backup.) PL4 gave no indication that it had shut down unexpectedly. I’m providing my log files in case they are helpful.

The file I was working on is P7240256.ORF.

DxO PhotoLab 4 logs.zip (116.0 KB)

On my Macs, DPL will not change the preview size when I change zoom level by one percent. It has always taken a few percent, before the preview changed. Also, zoom level can change, depending on orientation or tool used.

DPL seems to have magnetic behaviour: As soon as the preview’s edges come close to the preview area edges, e.g. when it changes position due to a tool adding a toolbar below the preview, the preview snaps to fit and stays there, tool open or not, until I change zoom level again.

Annoying!

Good morning,

Greg (@Egregius ), the only explanation that comes in mind is that, as PL was open for several days, the Windows display resolution has changed and that could lead (maybe) to this kind of incorrect zoom level calculation. Do you have 2 screens ?

If you face this issue once again, can you, please run
DxO.PhotoLabDump.zip (859.3 KB)
and collect the dump?

Thank you

Regards,
Svetlana G.

Thanks, Svetlana. Yes, I do have two screens. The main monitor is where I run PhotoLab and most other applications. Its resolution (WQHD) has stayed constant throughout this period of time - though the monitor does go to sleep automatically after 10 minutes of inactivity. The other monitor, to the right of this one, extends the Windows desktop constantly even when it’s off. It has a lower resolution (Full HD, 1920x1080). I also use it more as a TV (by switching to another HDMI input) than as a PC monitor and often have it off. It’s possible that the second (right-hand) monitor sometimes undergoes a change of resolution when I switch which input is being displayed (PC or Cable TV) or when I turn the monitor off. But I don’t notice that and am much more in control over what happens with the main display.

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