Default save folder and Auto Move

[JohnQSmith]

Default save folder and Auto Move

I'm using SCP in portable mode on Windows 7 (can't "install" software on work computer). In Edit > Preferences, under The Basics > Saving and Loading Files, I have my Screenshot folder set to C:\Users\myusername\Pictures\Screenshots. I want this value to remain where it is when I set it. I use the Thumbnail Panel to browse and subsequently edit/manipulate my screenshots, including sub-folders, and when I change to sub-folder SCP changes my default save to folder and also disables the Auto Move Older Screenshots setting. I found this post from 5 years ago and it explains that changing the save to folder resets the Auto Move which is apparently happening when I change directories in the Thumbnail Panel.

What happened was that I got cold feet about using this option when the user changed directories, so the new SC will auto uncheck this option whenever you change Screenshot Folders.  At least that's what's supposed to happen.  So if you just re-enable this option on the "Saving and Loading Files" tab, it should stick until you change screenshot folders.  However it will also now only be applied when you startup Screenshot Captor.  See answer below for manually triggering.

-mouser (April 25, 2013, 10:07 PM)

I'd like to request a change in the way SCP works (maybe an option I can enable so it doesn't affect other users)...
(edit: By other users, I mean other SCP users, not other users on my computer. I'm the only one using my computer/)

1. When the main SCP window is displays, set the Thumbnail Panel back to the folder I have selected in Preferences.

• Yes, it will put me back where I started, but as long as I keep the window open it will stay where it is.
• Yes, it will put me back where I started, but that's where new screenshots are going to be put anyway.

2. Allow me to change folders using the Thumbnail Panel without changing my default save folder.

3. Do not reset the default save folder unless I manually configure it in preferences.

4. Do not reset the Auto Move setting unless I manually change the default save folder.

[mouser]

Sorry I didn't notice this post earlier!

Ok let me think on this and come up with a reply.. The one tricky part of your request is the idea of saving in a different directory than what it is showing in the thumbnail panel, because SC does not contemplate these being different.
That's not to say it couldn't be done, just that I have to think about it..

It might not be too hard to have an option that tells SC to reset back to a specific folder on certain occasions (startup, when showing main window, before capturing), so that could be an overall solution..

I have to remind myself about the idea of changing automove folder.. i don't remember that.

[JohnQSmith]

Have you had time to think about it?

[SamPe]

I'm also interested in a fix for this problem.

Having the application's default working folder (as opposed to the current working folder) and auto move preferences changed every time the user performs a "Save As..." is really annoying behavior.

[Jeffrey Klute]

I'm also interested in a fix for this problem.

Having the application's default working folder (as opposed to the current working folder) and auto move preferences changed every time the user performs a "Save As..." is really annoying behavior.

-SamPe (July 06, 2020, 02:41 PM)

I have also been mystified and annoyed by this behavior. It seems that the SC architecture needs a paradigm shift. It also looks like nothing is going to change )))

[mouser]

Ok let's see what kind of options or changes would be feasible.

One solution would be to simply divorce the notion of what folder is shown in the main interface and what folder is used for saving new captures.  This would mean that moving around to subfolders would not have any effect on where new captures are saved.
For most people that don't jump around folders, they wouldn't notice any change.
Other people could simply check the option that says to preserver the capture folder setting and not change it when you browse and move to different directories.

Would that be a solution for those of you in this thread?


A separate issue when this setting is engages is what should happen if you are in a different folder and a new capture is made -- should SC simply leave you where you are and not load the new capture? Or should it jump you back to the capture directory and show you the new capture; presumably an option for this would make sense but I'd like to hear what option those of you here think you would be using?

[Jeffrey Klute]

Jesse, I was born in Champaign, IL, so I am sure I can help your thinking )))

First of all, Auto Move should not be disabled and should always apply to the default capture folder. I use SC sometimes to move around, and am bewildered when I find Auto Move is no longer working.

At the very least, I think that whenever SC is started it should start at the default capture folder, and not where it was the last time it was used. This will help reduce the confusion and mess that is caused when new screenshots or scans go into some folder where I've focused SC, as by the time SC is restarted (in my case at reboot) that location is no longer important.

It has been an annoyance to me when I've edited files in other folders with SC and then later took a screenshot to find it was put in that other folder. I've had to mentally remember, countless times, that if I move to another folder I MUST REMEMBER to move back to the default folder for subsequent use. This has actually caused me to be hesitant to use many of the navigation features of your program because just looking around changes where the captures go! If it is any help, in my opinion, new screenshots don't need to go wherever the program is focused, as I don't use the program to create screenshots in other folders than the default folder. I use it save or manipulate images in other folders, but not to create new ones in other folders. So the default folder is where I want new screenshots or scans to go, and from there I may navigate elsewhere only to manipulate or save images.

I vote for "moving around to subfolders would not have any effect on where new captures are saved." But as for the separate issue "what should happen if you are in a different folder and a new capture is made" I would vote for a new capture leaving the current folder and going to the new capture in the default location. You can spruce that up for people who want to put screenshots in all sorts of different places with a configuration option to disable the default screenshot directory which is always used for new captures. In conjunction with that Auto Move should always apply to one directory only (specified on that configuration page).

I hope this helps.

[erikts]

I vote for "moving around to subfolders would not have any effect on where new captures are saved." But as for the separate issue "what should happen if you are in a different folder and a new capture is made" I would vote for a new capture leaving the current folder and going to the new capture in the default location. You can spruce that up for people who want to put screenshots in all sorts of different places with a configuration option to disable the default screenshot directory which is always used for new captures. In conjunction with that Auto Move should always apply to one directory only (specified on that configuration page).

-Jeffrey Klute (July 13, 2020, 05:17 PM)

I second this Thanks