aliases?

Scrivener Scrivener for macOS
1

I use many images & like to keep them located centrally in one hierarchy where various programs can access them. I’d prefer not to duplicate them & waste precious disc space by copying them into programs. I realize that Scrivener links will open the files in another program, but I would like the images to display within Scrivener. Is there any way to do this without copying (ie by using aliases)? Thank you.

2

You could drag them from the Finder and into the Project References (or Document References if they apply only to a particular document) in the Inspector. Anything that gets dragged into the binder gets copied in, but anything placed in the references area in the inspector is just that - a reference to another file. You can drag supported files (such as images) from the inspector to the document header bar, or just double-click on their icons, to open them in Scrivener.
Hope that helps.
All the best,
Keith

3

Thanks for the input, Keith. I had already tried what you suggested (dragging file from Finder to Doc Refs), but when I dbl click the icon, the original app launches to display the image. What I am trying to do is have it display within Scrivener where I can add text, have it become part of projects, etc. Is there a way to have the image simply display in Scrivener automatically when the section with which it is associated is clicked in the binder without actually duplicating the file on my hard drive?

4

Have you tried dragging, rather than double clickig, the file from the list in the Inspector into the Scriv editor pane? This works for me.

5

My apologies, I told you wrong. Double-clicking does indeed open it in the default application. Instead, ctrl-click on it and select “Open in Current Editor” or “Open in Alternate Editor”. Alternately, as I said in my previous e-mail, drag the row from the References pane onto the document header bar.
Best,
Keith

6

Yes I have, spinningdoc; all that does for me is transfer the link from the Inspector which, when clicked, displays the folder in the Finder. I’m trying to have the image display in Scrivener automatically via an alias (with the little arrow at the lower left corner).

7

Keith, when I control-click the Open in … Editor options are grayed out & when I drag the row to the doc hdr, it just bounces back. It’s just a simple png file. Any other ideas?

8

That usually means it can’t open the file, but it should accept .png files. Can you send the PNG file to support AT literatureandlatte DOT com so that I can see what is happening?
Thanks,
Keith

9

Keith, at the very genuine risk of making a fool of myself …

I had a series of exchanges with Richard Knight, the creator of PhotoComplete, over a similar kind of problem, where JPGs would not open, very often if the photo was taken with a Canon camera or if it had been processed by certain software such as LightZone. It turned out that it was the formatting of the EXIF data that was causing the problem.

Since I imagine you are both basically using the same Apple graphics routines in your apps, if the OPs problem image is a photo, it might be worth starting by looking at the structure of the EXIF data.

Mark

10

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the suggestion, but actually the problem in this case was that the image the op was using had no .png extension, and Scrivener (unfortunately) has to rely on extensions to determine file type (there is no one solid way of determining file type in Cocoa).

All the best,
Keith