Easy way to auto arrange thumbnails?

laer wrote on 2/17/2009, 3:31 PM
If I drag a number of stills onto a menu page, they come in at a preset size, resulting in them being arranged in a 3x3 type arrangement (resulting in many overlaps with all the other images past the 9th one). Is there a way I can either set the thumbnail size so that it arranges them in a 9x9 (or so) arrangement when I drag them on.... OR... can I select all of them on the screen (after scaling them all down), and then somehow tell DVDA to arrange them in neat rows? Seems right now, you have to manually place each one!

Also, is there a way to (automatically) have all thumbnails space themselves out so there's no overlap?

Comments

autopilot wrote on 2/17/2009, 7:08 PM
Next to the Menu Window ( in the middle ), on the left side is two rows of buttons. If you highlight ( put a box around ) the buttons in the Menu Window, you can align them with the buttons on the left. Know where your Undo button is, as you'll be using it alot.
bStro wrote on 2/17/2009, 7:29 PM
Become good friends with the alignment tool mentioned above. They're very useful. Also keep in mind that it matters which thumbnails you have selected when you use a particular tool. For example, if you select all thumbnails and hit the Align Top, then all of your thumbnails will have the same vertical (Y) value -- not ideal, obviously.

By the way, if you double-click videos in the Explorer instead of dragging them to the menu, DVDA will arrange them according to the theme's settings. It will even re-adjust their positioning (depending on the theme) when you add additional videos.

Rob
laer wrote on 2/17/2009, 7:31 PM
Ya, I've been using those (vertically line up selections to themselves, and the horizontal centering). I was thinking more of something where you could just specify (for example) a 5x5 grid and have it set itself up with no overlaps. Kind of a pain manually arranging each thumbnails so they don't overlap. Would be great if you could just roughly arrange them, and then click a button that straightens them all out AND spaces them evenly and without overlaps. The alignment and centering is a nice start, though... Should be a general 'tidy this up' button (that incorporates centering, lining up and spacing as close to each other as possible without overlaps all in one go).
bStro wrote on 2/17/2009, 8:28 PM
Thumbnail layout is determined by the theme being used by the menu. To get existing (but disheveled) buttons to straighten up, reapply the theme you are using.

To devise your own layout (for example, a 5x5 grid), arrange one menu the way you want (including background, text arrangement, etc), Then go to File > Export Menu as Theme. Type in a name. Click the Advanced button and change Theme Type to "Grid." Adjust any other settings you want, and click Save.

Your new theme will be available in the Themes window. You can then apply (and reapply) it by navigating to a menu an double-clicking that theme.

Rob
laer wrote on 2/17/2009, 10:11 PM
Ah! That sounds good! Okay, I missed that feature somehow. Okay, that sounds like what I need. Excellent, thanks!