# Multi-image-viewer tool

**URL:** <https://forum.defold.com/t/multi-image-viewer-tool/11991>\
**Category:** Dev diaries\
**Created:** [September 28, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/multi-image-viewer-tool/11991 "2017-09-28T16:27:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ross.grams](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/cab0a1/32.png) [@ross.grams](https://forum.defold.com/u/ross.grams)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/multi-image-viewer-tool/11991/1 "2017-09-28T16:27:57Z")

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Hey all,

I made this little thing entirely for my own use, but who knows, maybe someone else will find it useful too? It’s a very simple program for viewing multiple images at once. Specifically for assembling a sheet of art references to paint from (or just “inspiration boards”). There are a couple popular programs (Kuadro and PureRef) for the same purpose that have tons of features, but they both annoy me for various reasons, so I made my own.

Even if it’s useless, maybe it can serve as an example of image loading, dealing with file extensions, and so on.

You can grab [the source here](https://github.com/rgrams/multiviewer) and build it for yourself.  
_Note: It does use the Def-diags native extension, so it won’t build for Linux yet. Hopefully soon!_

Demo gif:  
 ![MultiViewer](https://defold-forum-bucket.nbg1.your-objectstorage.com/original/2X/6/65b3bb071a006da7c834f519fa02b55646d410db.gif)

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**Author:** ![britzl](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/britzl/32/23_2.png) [@britzl](https://forum.defold.com/u/britzl)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 6:12pm UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/multi-image-viewer-tool/11991/2 "2017-09-28T18:12:54Z")

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Nice! I love that you’re using Defold for this!

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**Author:** ![Mathias\_Westerdahl](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/mathias_westerdahl/32/228_2.png) [@Mathias\_Westerdahl](https://forum.defold.com/u/Mathias_Westerdahl)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 8:43am UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/multi-image-viewer-tool/11991/3 "2017-09-29T08:43:42Z")

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Nice work!  
And, yes, the Linux support is coming soon!

_I’ll also make sure to tell Viktor (that makes PureRef) about this ^^_

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**Author:** ![ross.grams](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/cab0a1/32.png) [@ross.grams](https://forum.defold.com/u/ross.grams)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 1:09pm UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/multi-image-viewer-tool/11991/4 "2020-06-06T13:09:33Z")

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A blast from the past!

I don’t know if anyone ever used this other than myself, but I have now rewritten it in Love2D.  
[GitHub - rgrams/multiviewer-2: Another basic multi-image viewer, intended for displaying art references. Made with Love2D. · GitHub](https://github.com/rgrams/multiviewer-2) (Windows executable included in “Releases”.)

### Main missing feature from Defold version:

- No native file dialogs (which only worked on Windows and MacOS anyway).
  - Instead, you now drag-and-drop images or folders onto the window to add images, and saving projects is more limited.

### Main added features from Defold version:

- No CPU cost at rest
  - The window is only redrawn when you interact with it, so the CPU load should be pretty much zero when the program is just sitting there.

- Can accept a command-line argument to open a project file on startup.
  - Therefore you can associate the “.multiview” file type with the executable and then double-click on those files to open them.