Change the default context menu EDIT entry for Image Files

Help & Support
1

Hello ,

A couple of queries, would be thankful for your input.

Whenever i right click any image file (JPxx/BMP) the context menu with 'Edit" option is shown as below.

If I click the edit button the file is opened by default in MS Paint, which I dont want to use. I have installed Paint.NET and I want to use it as the default editor for any image file. So I want to change the right click context menu entry "Edit" for all image files.

For my limited understanding I went to the filetypes option and selected system file types and then "JPG" file type and then context menu. However I cannot find any entry for "Edit" and where to specify what program is used for editing images. The context menu and the drop menu are blank for these and other image file types.

So how to edit or define which program by default to be used for image editing.

I have the pictures collection in my pictures folder. I have created text based named folders usually related to the event for the photos. All of these folders are at the same level within the main My Pictures folder and have images contained within them. However now I find it a bit difficult to keep track of event with respect to dates. A simple solution would be to sort the lister details window on dates .

I was thinking what is the way to organize the picture folders with respect to year and months, and how could Opus help me automate the procedure.

A sample in my mind would be

root--|
_____2009--
__________|-> Jan
_________________|-> Birthday Party
__________|-> Feb
_________________|-> Family Dinner

So is there a way in Opus to find all folders/files inside the main folder (My Pictures) within particular date range and move/split them into folders based on year number (numerical) and then month name (alpha). Is there any automated script for that.

Based on your experience, do you think that making actual folder is necessary inside the main folder. I mean can we use 'File Collection" or "Virtual Folders' for this sort of organizing and grouping of image files. Which is I would not change the folder/file positions manually, just let the file collections or any other option display them upon access according to the hierarchy we want. Seems like that some file collections can be made and then some rules can be configured behind then on what to show within the file collection and how to display/arrange it. I am really not sure how.

I also need to know any suggestions or ideas about this scheme. I guess this is widely used and generally accepted order based on filenames and file dates. Sorting based on meta-data needs a lot of organized effort which I can opt in later. If anyone has any better practical idea then please share.

Is there a web based plugin available for directory opus. One which makes the opus interface available via a web sever on any specified port. I need to access and do file operations on my PC at home by accessing it from office. For using Opus I have to connect the remote desktop to my home PC and then run Opus as desired. It is heavy on bandwidth at times and is very slow.

I was wondering that if a web based plugin is available then maybe we can access the home PC opus interface (a stripped down version) via web browser (homepcIPaddress:Opus port) and can do the job.

An stray idea anyways.

Thanks for reading and your support.

2

There are multiple spots you can add context menu entries for images... The one you want to "modify" (the default 'Edit' action for images) is probably not showing up in the Opus FileType editor because (I presume) it's coming from an area of the registry that is NOT specific to the .jpg filetype - but rather the "image" PerceivedType defined in the registry under:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\image\shell\edit\command

I haven't tried Paint.NET in awhile - but I'm surprised it doesn't have an option to modify the system wide "Edit" action for you...

If you'd like to figure that out later and just add a separate "Edit in Paint.NET" menu item in Opus, then I'd suggest you do that under either the Directory Opus File Types->Recognized Images or File Type Groups->Images items in the Opus FileType Editor. This way - you have a single action defined that will affect multiple filetypes - similar to how the "image" PerceivedType registry definition is doing.

If you're comfortable in the registry though - you can also just edit the registry location above to use Paint.NET if you'd like :slight_smile:...

3

Note: It's often suggested that you post new topics for separate unrelated questions (i.e. your number 2 and 3 - though I'd say the answer to 3 is "no")...

4

The Edit 'verb' should be on the Actions tab of the filetype editor.*

The first items in most context menus are those special 'verbs' shown on the Actions tab, which can be called by name from programs, below which are the things you see on the "Context Menu" tab.

(* At least if the verb has been assigned via a filetype class, which is what the Opus filetype editor shows. Unfortunately, the filetype registry is an absolute mess and there are multiple other ways that verbs can be assigned to file extensions. Opus only has a GUI editor for the most commonly used method with the others still requiring manual registry editing.)

5

Yup... so it gets even worse for alot of the popular 'types' of files that have multiple extensions, like media/audio/video/images, etc etc - where different things are stuffed all over the damn place just by the "system" - not to mention third party apps using any and all sorts of those different ways of doing things - arghhh. And I rather imagine these things are probably changing between Windows versions as well.

On my WinXP Pro system(s), there are no 'Edit' verbs on ANY of the most common image file type 'Actions' tabs... though mysteriously the Bitmap Image (.bmp) does actually have an 'edit' item listed on the 'Context Menu' tab.

6

The second question is answered (more or less) in the Rename Scripting forum. Have a look at the post with lots of examples of various rename presets.

7

I wonder if Leo meant "Open" rather than "Edit".

Isn't the process that you Open the file in whatever you use to edit it?

In many years poking around in the entrails of Windows, I don't recall seeing "Edit" in there.

Then again, my memory is quite possibly shot. Nearly time for a stiff drink to accelerate the process.

8

You (or programs you install) can add any verb you want but Edit is one of the standard (or at least quite common) ones that a lot of things use, often when Open might mean "view readonly" and Edit might mean "actually edit the file."

Images are the obvious example, where Open might use the Windows picture & fax viewer and Edit might open MSPaint by default. (Not sure if that is actually the case but it's a good example of what I mean even if not technically true.)

9

That's odd. On a quick check, I see not one "Edit" in the set of "Actions" that Windows offers me. Never have, as far as I can recall.

All I ever get are "explore, find, open, print and printto"

Then again, I am now using Windows 7, which seems to have hidden access to that bit in Windows Explorer.

Probably been moved to somewhere else, but there isn't much need to track it down now that DOpus handles grunt work like that.

10

Hello Leo,

Can you please send me the link for the renaming forum. So i can start my quest to find a solution to my specific problem. Would be needing your help though.

Also i did ask about the file collections in my original question. Please have a look and tell me can they or any other feature be used to acheive the desired results.

Thanks for your usual support.

11

I don't think using file collections for that would make sense. It might be possible but it'd be a lot easier to just move the files into the hierarchy you want.

The Rename Scripting forum is part of this site. Just click back to the site index and you'll find it. Note that it's not for posting questions in new threads (that's what this Help & Support area is for), but if you have questions about any of the examples posted in the Rename Scripting area then feel free to add them to the existing threads.