|
ImageViewer Intro
|
Topics
|
Introduction
Registering ImageViewer
Technical Support
Demo Version
Password Problems
Window Controls
Drag & Drop
File Lists
Introduction
ImageViewer is a Mac application perfect for locating, displaying, organizing and printing GIF, JPEG, PICT and TIFF images. Use it to convert files from one graphic format to another and create previews and icons. View and play movies as well!
One of ImageViewer's most useful features, is the ability to navigate among numerous image files. You can browse from image to image in a folder or volume--forward or backward--with a single click or keystroke. Choose a "list" view to see multiple images displayed as previews, icons or text, and double-click an image to see it fully displayed. It even has an Auto-Browse (slide show) feature that automatically displays images one after another. You can auto-browse a window(s) or in full screen view.
ImageViewer offers a number of view modes. Single image viewing modes include: Full Screen, Fit To Window, and scaled between 25% and 800%. List viewing modes include: Gallery, Gallery Small, Icon, and Text. All view modes support file ordering by name, size, type, date, random, and custom.
You can customize, from a number of choices, the appearance of the view displays. Choose a background color or pattern, a border style for the image or between previews in list views. You get to define, to a great degree, how images and previews will be displayed!
Access digital cameras(QTIC savy) or scan images(PhotoShop® Import Plug-ins) directly from ImageViewer!
ImageViewer works in combination with other applications like PhotoShop and MS® Word. Copy images to your favorite application via Drag And Drop or with the Transfer command. ImageViewer spares you the tedium of locating individual files via the Open command.
ImageViewer also contains simple editing features like crop, scale, rotate, and invert, so you won't have to open an advanced editor to do a simple editing task. Further, you can adjust brightness, contrast and sharpness.
To help organize your images, ImageViewer has commands to Copy To Location, Move To Location, Move To Trash(or Delete), Remove Resources, and Rename files. You can also automatically create previews and icons, or add comments/keywords to better identify images for future use.
If you work with graphics on the Mac you'll find ImageViewer indispensible. Give it a try!
Registering ImageViewer
ImageViewer can be downloaded and used in its demo state for as long as you'd like. To get the full benefits of ImageViewer(i.e. all features enabled), please pay the low shareware fee of $25.
Registering your copy of ImageViewer not only supports the work to continue improving the product, but also allows you free technical support (via email) and free updates. This is the fourth free update since the initial release in October '96.
To register Online:
Open location http://www.imageviewer.com and follow the registration instructions.
You can open this location by double-clicking the "Register ImageViewer" URL files in the "Registration & Tech Support" folder(Netscape Navigator® and Microsoft Internet Explorer).
To register by mail:
Mail check or money order to:
ImageViewer Registration
Plato Grande Software
P.O. Box 3394
Tucson, AZ 85722
**Please specify a username of at least 4 characters and a return address or email address when registering by mail. I can't send a password without this information!**
Technical Support
Registered users can email technical support questions to kevinw@imageviewer.com. Generally, you can expect a response within a day or two, often times the same day. If you don't have access to email, you can send a SASE to:
ImageViewer Tech Support
Plato Grande Software
P.O. Box 3394
Tucson, AZ 85722
See www.imageviewer.com for online versions of the help documents.
Sorry, there is currently no phone technical support.
Demo Version
As of ImageViewer 4.5, there is no longer a 30-day trial period, rather, certain features have been "locked-out" until the product is registered. This change was made with some reluctance, but, the trial period was simply too problematic. I've tried to maintain the basic viewing and browsing abilities of ImageViewer in its demo state, the "locked-out" features pertain to File manipulation. All features are available upon registration. The "locked-out" features are:
1. Saving
2. Copy or Move To Locations
3. Move To Trash(Delete)
4. Remove Resources
5. Batch
6. Printing
7. Apply Order Index
8. Drag & Drop
Password Problems
If you need to change your password, send email to kevinw@imageviewer.com. The new password method, as of version 4.4, should lessen password related problems.
Note: As of version 4.43, there were still some problems with the new password method, mostly involving re-registering(i.e. changing the username/password). I am confident these problems have been resolved.
Window Controls
ImageViewer has a number of controls built into its windows. You can use these controls to locate files, change the view mode, or change the list ordering.
The four larger buttons at the top left of the window select the view mode, clicking on them will switch the view mode. From left to right they are: Gallery View, Gallery View Small, Text View, and Single Image View(whatever its current state is). You can also choose the list view from the List menu, which includes an additional view (i.e. Icon view).
The slider control allows you to "jump" to a file in the list. You can drag the slider or click on its base to jump to a given file. The slider base also doubles as a progress bar when ImageViewer is busy (e.g. reading a file or copying files).
There are a group of three smaller buttons to the right of the slider. From left to right they are: decrement current file, start Auto-Browsing, increment current file. If Auto-Browsing is on, from left to right they are: left direction, stop Auto-Browsing, right direction.
To the right of the controls is a message box to inform you of ImageViewer actions. Message text defaults to the current view mode. If you type characters, they will appear in the messages box and, after a brief pause, the first file whose name matches(or most closely matches) the letters you typed, will become the current file.
Below these controls are a number of text buttons for setting the list ordering. From left to right they are: Name, Size, Type, Date, and Random. The current list order is underlined, similar to the pre OS8 finder. If a Custom ordering is current, no order will be underlined.
At the bottom of the window, to the left of the horizontal scroll bar, is the view popup. You can switch between single view modes (e.g. Fit To Window, 200%) by using this popup menu.
At the bottom of the window, to the right of the view popup, are the multi-image or "frame" controls. These controls allow you to step through image frames and turn play on or off(animated display). Currently, these controls are only active for multi-image GIF files.
Drag & Drop
ImageViewer has full support for Drag & Drop, allowing you further ease in managing your image files.
If you are in a single image view mode, you can drag a selection to the finder(creates a clipping) or to another application which supports receiving a drag. If the destination application can receive the drag, dropping into its window should behave like Copy and Paste.
If you are in a list view mode, there are a variety of ways to use Drag & Drop. If you Drag within an ImageViewer window, you are essentially changing the ordering of the list to a Custom specification(See List & Window, List Ordering). If you Drag from one ImageViewer window to another, the dropped files are added to the file list in the destination window(the destination window's ordering becomes Custom if its not already).
Dragging to the Locations window, allows you to Copy or Move files to that specific location. The default operation is Move, to Copy, hold the Option key down when you Drop.
Dragging to the Finder, will behave as though you were Dragging file icons in the Finder. ImageViewer gives the file specification data to a Drop receiver, such as the Finder, when it is requested to do so.
Note: Due to problems encountered with past OS versions, to use Drag & Drop with ImageViewer, OS 8 is suggested. You can use previous system versions, but Drag & Drop behavior may not be correct.
Limitations: When Dragging outside of ImageViewer, if a Drop occurs, the current file list must be rebuilt, as the location of the Drop and the operation(Copy or Move) is unknown. The Drop may have moved files out of the current list or to a new location within the current list. Rebuilding can take some time if the current list is large(See File Lists below).
File Lists
Central to ImageViewer is the concept of a File List. When you Open Folders with ImageViewer, a file list is "built" which specifies all the viewable files. You control wether the list should include subfolders(See File, Opening Images). Currently, the file list is a direct reference to files and their physical location on storage media, such as hard drives and CD ROMs.
A file list exists for each ImageViewer window, even if that list only contains one file. File lists aren't static and ImageViewer attempts to insure the file list accurately reflects the files on your storage media(i.e keeps itself in sync). The file list has a directory list associated with it, which reflects all the directories that were searched when building the file list, which may be a single directory. Periodically, the directory list is checked to see if any modifications have occurred, if so the entire file list is rebuilt.
Building the file list can be slow if there are many folders included that aren't contributing to the file list. For example, if you Open a volume, and the volume has many folders containing non-image files, if sub-directories are searched, much time is wasted looking at files that won't be part of the file list.
Hint: If you build lists with Search Sub-Folders checked, use the Open Folder command on folders that--for the most part--contain images. Further, if you plan on making changes that require the file list to be rebuilt(e.g. Move by Dragging to the Finder), its best to work with smaller groups of files. Speed of rebuild will vary, but a good rule of thumb is to limit such lists to 300-400 files.