ACDsee's Little Sister Picaview Gives Mindblowing Quickies!
Written: Nov 24 '00 (Updated Apr 12 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Inexpensive, small, quick, convenient, easy to install and use,offers wondrous options in your context menu
Cons: Limitation on number of file types and sub-types supported
The Bottom Line: This is a handy little photo viewer, and makes your context menu that much more useful. If you are into photos you should get it.
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| JMB623's Full Review: ACDSee |
ACDsee's little sister Picaview is so way cool you absolutely have to see her to believe she can do all the things I describe here. This little 800Kb Windows Explorer add-on let's you see thumbnails of photo images just by right clicking on the file. It adds wondrous possibilities to your context menu, and if you already own any ACDsee program you can download it at a big discount.
Because ACDsee 3.1 has an option that will connect you to their web site, you can obtain messages about tips, updates, new products, and news from inside the application. In one message I received an advertisement for Picaview, and though I'd seen it on their web site when I ordered ACDsee, I didn't pay any attention to it. This time I did pay attention, and when I found out I could get this little wonder for a nearly five-fingered discount, I downloaded it right away.
It's so small it installed in about 10 seconds after double-clicking the executable. I tried it out in the venerable Windows Explorer file manager that I never use. After right clicking on a jpeg file, here's what I saw in my newly expanded context menu: Open with ACDsee, Print with ACDsee, ACDsee Photo Enhance, then a 100 X 200 pixel thumbnail. Below the thumbnail is the size of the file in pixels, which cascades into a submenu showing view, print, copy, convert, rotate, wallpaper, options, and help. Click on options and you can adjust gamma correction, engage auto zoom, and open the thumbnail to a full screen display.
I was so totally blown away I decided to try it in Powerdesk 4, which is the world's greatest file manager (see my review of Powerdesk in "File Management"). It worked just as well with Powerdesk 4! You can get a freeware version of Powerdesk 4 at www.ontrack.com as a less than 2 Mb download. It doesn't come with Jasc's latest Quickview 6 file viewer application like the paid for version. You can upgrade it, but even if you don't it's still far better than Explorer.
Why is this so cool? You can look at thumbnails of your entire image collection with just a right-click, and without opening a separate application. If you need to open ACDsee to get up close and personal, to have your way with the image, or to print it, you can do all of that inside the context menu. The downside is that it doesn't support as many types of image files as ACDsee 3.1 does. It supports 15 of the most common and popular types, a few less well known, but has limitations on sub-types of some. That is apparently the price you pay for convenience and speed. If you're interested in finding out more go to www.acdsee.com. 3/6/01 UPDATE:There is a new version that is a free upgrade if you already have Picaview 1.32. Be aware that this new version 2.0 is 5.19 Mb, not 800 Kb like the original. It's still cool!
Recommended:
Yes
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JMB623
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Member: Joel
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