First, I have no affiliation with Cerious Software at www.cerious.com other than being a customer... a long time and very satisfied customer.
I've been a customer since the very earliest releases of ThumbsPlus in the mid-90s and I've provided a lot of feedback to them in the form of recommendations. I'm delighted to say that not a few of those recommendations have been implemented.
I've been a member of TechLore for less than a day and have read several requests for help that could have been addressed by ThumbsPlus, so I thought I'd write this quick review just to let people know about it.
What I like about ThumbsPlus as an image/media management software package is that it is written for computer people, not for artists. Not JUST computer people... the User Interface (UI) is straightforward and intuitive, but it does not mask the file system; it portrays it in an easy to understand fashion. So it's not just for computer people, but is it not designed to mask away image file fundamentals and remove the techology of image files so as to better appeal to those less or not interested in these details.
TP let's you deal with image files as is. It uses a File Manager type (Windows Explorer) UI and at first glance might be confused with WE with the View>Thumbnails option selected. But that's where the similarity stops. What's good about that similarity is that it's familiar: one uses it as they would WE to know where one's image files really are, how big they are, etc. All the File Management metadata is readily presented (although highly configurable).
The program operates in two window types: the Main Window (like WE) and the View Window (an opened image file). (See the picture above.) The former has many file functions that WE doesn't have, such as mass file renaming, and time/date stamp manipulation. And many image functions can be executed from the Main window as well. In the latter, the View Window, one can execute a huge variety of image manipulation functions, down to pixel level management, including a very good red-eye removal feature. I won't try to summarize features here; the website does a better job of it.
I will say that it's a solid program with very solid support from a small private company in Charlotte, NC. One for of support is through several newsgroups they manage to provide highly responsive help while letting other users chime in with either related assistance or question variations of their own giving support a very community feel.
I used ThumbsPlus originally to manage old photos I was scanning and miscellaneous images I found myself collecting as PC graphics began to support them. I've yet to run across an image or media file type that TP doesn't either support directly or indirectly via plugins. So this is really the only media management software I've ever needed in over 10 years of experience.
About 5 years ago I bought a good Olympus digital camera and have never needed to use the software that came with it or any other software: I already knew how to do whatever I needed in ThumbsPlus.
Oh, one function does deserve mention: it is the easiest and most comprehensive image file-type conversion utility I've ever seen: open the file as the type it is, save it as the type you want. Done!Oh, and one more: it is drop dead easy to change your wallpaper right from within either the Main or View windows. (These "one more's" could keep going, so I'll stop. Read the website; especially the Publicity>For the Record... page to see some really heavy duty testimonials from names you'll recognize more than mine! Get the product! It's a price-performer and then some!!!
Questions: ask me or ask the newsgroup!
RickR
