PhotoQt v2.0 - Beta Release

Published: 8th of November, 2020

After a rather long time it is finally here: The beta release of v2.0 of PhotoQt!

For the next release PhotoQt will jump from version 1.7.1 to 2.0. The reason is quite simply that the next release of PhotoQt is not only a complete rewrite of PhotoQt, but it is now also based on the second version of the QtQuick Controls. This allows for more reliability and flexibility in its interface and fewer glitches.

Since almost everything in PhotoQt has been re-written, every part of the interface has been changed, a lot of it looks a bit different now (and better in my opinion). The engine responsible for loading images has been rewritten and is now even faster than ever before. Overall, speed has been one of the major focuses of this new release. Version 2.0 will be one of the most exciting releases in the history of PhotoQt up to now.

There are a few new features that might be worth pointing out (there are many more than just those of course):

- Pop out elements: All elements can now either be shown as before inside of the same window, or they can be set to be shown in their own window ('popped out' from the interface). This allows PhotoQt to adapt even better to whatever workflow you have.

- Video support: PhotoQt can now show Videos as part of the images. The exact selection of supported videos depend on which codecs are available on your system.

- More animations: Instead of simple one image into the next, PhotoQt now also supports sliding animations (both in the x and y direction). It even changes the direction of the slides depending on if you go forwards or backwards in a folder.

- Create multiple thumbnails at the same time: You can now choose how many threads PhotoQt should use for creating thumbnails (1 to 8 threads), each thread will create one thumbnail. This can improve the speed of creating thumbnails vastly, however, be careful to not set this value to high or it might slow down your computer while loading thumbnails.

I hope to release v2.0 in about one month, at the beginning of December. In the meantime, please consider testing this beta version (you can find an AppImage of a nightly build right here) and let me know of any bug you find or any other feedback you have. If you want to help translate PhotoQt check out the project on Crowdin.

Enjoy PhotoQt,

Lukas