ACDSee vs. Thumbs Plus vs.Ulead Photo Explorer

I am new to digital photography and would like to start using a thumbnail program to help me decide quickly which photos to save/delete. Any thoughts on these programs?

I have never used the ULead program but the other two are superb.

I use ACDSee for everyday file printing & veiwing & Thumbs+ to keep track of the images (especially ones that are archived to CDR).

Editing is done in Photoshop6 & I also use QImage for printing.

JohnM said:

I have never used the ULead program but the other two are superb.

I use ACDSee for everyday file printing & veiwing & Thumbs+ to keep
track of the images (especially ones that are archived to CDR).

Editing is done in Photoshop6 & I also use QImage for printing.

Click to expand...

I have Thumps Plus but I prefer my own simple file system better.

I have and have used ACDSee. I also have Ulead Photo Explorer 7.0 and I like it much, much, much better that ACDSee. Tasks are simplier to perform in Photo Explorer. The picture viewing quality is noticably better in Photo Explorer.
I highly recommend Ulead's Photo Explorer.

Tom F>
Pro 90

Karen said:

I am new to digital photography and would like to start using a
thumbnail program to help me decide quickly which photos to
save/delete. Any thoughts on these programs?

Click to expand...

I have tried many such programs and have settled on ACDSee. One of the alternates I looked at was Thumbs+ but found it very expensive for what it does.

Bob said:

Karen said:

I am new to digital photography and would like to start using a
thumbnail program to help me decide quickly which photos to
save/delete. Any thoughts on these programs?

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I would suggest downloading a copy of Irfanview (www.irfanview.com). You can get a copy for free, register for future upgrades for small money.

IV has some excellent features including thumbnail viewing, moving/copying photos to other folders, batch processing/renaming/resizing, etc. It's become somewhat of a 'must have' for many of us.

Next, be very conservative about deleting. Storage (CD) is cheap. As photo editing software (and your skills) increase you may find that some on those shots can be 'fixed'. I saved many poorly composed/exposed slides from many years of photography. When I got the ability to scan them into my computer and work on them I turned some into very good pictures.

BobTrips said:

Bob said:

Karen said:

I am new to digital photography and would like to start using a
thumbnail program to help me decide quickly which photos to
save/delete. Any thoughts on these programs?

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I would suggest downloading a copy of Irfanview
(www.irfanview.com). You can get a copy for free, register for
future upgrades for small money.

IV has some excellent features including thumbnail viewing,
moving/copying photos to other folders, batch
processing/renaming/resizing, etc. It's become somewhat of a 'must
have' for many of us.

Next, be very conservative about deleting. Storage (CD) is cheap.
As photo editing software (and your skills) increase you may find
that some on those shots can be 'fixed'. I saved many poorly
composed/exposed slides from many years of photography. When I got
the ability to scan them into my computer and work on them I turned
some into very good pictures.

Click to expand...

Hi;

do you like irfanview better than ACDsee and ulead? if so why? Does ACDsee do things that are important in the opening of and databasing images. Also i noticed a bunch of plugins at irfanview...i guess i would download all of them and there is also a window that asks to select the different file extentions ..i guess select all is the thing to do? I am trying to pick a program and stick with it to avoid all the frustration of learning different ones. thank you

Allen M said:

Hi;
do you like irfanview better than ACDsee and ulead? if so why? Does
ACDsee do things that are important in the opening of and
databasing images. Also i noticed a bunch of plugins at
irfanview...i guess i would download all of them and there is also
a window that asks to select the different file extentions ..i
guess select all is the thing to do? I am trying to pick a program
and stick with it to avoid all the frustration of learning
different ones. thank you

Click to expand...

Can't speak to ACDsee. Downloaded it some time ago and didn't continue using it. Irfanview has become my standard for quick work (resizing, renaming, moving, copying, etc.). Ulead has the 'drag, drop, and rename' feature that I haven't found elsewhere. This is helpful for putting scanned slides and digital images from travels into a sequence I want.

I don't think you are likely to find a single program that does it all (for a reasonable price - maybe the $600+ one does). I just have a toolbox of different tools for different jobs. Thumbsplus for database, Camedia for a 'quick fix', Ulead PhotoImage for involved editing.

ACDSee seems to be faster.

JTGraphics
http://www.jtgraphics.net

Karen said:

I am new to digital photography and would like to start using a
thumbnail program to help me decide quickly which photos to
save/delete. Any thoughts on these programs?

Click to expand...

Which program works best for storing and retriving images on off-line CD

JTGraphics said:

JTGraphics
http://www.jtgraphics.net

Karen said:

I am new to digital photography and would like to start using a
thumbnail program to help me decide quickly which photos to
save/delete. Any thoughts on these programs?

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Glenn Patch said:

Which program works best for storing and retriving images on
off-line CD

Click to expand...

Thumbs+

Karen said:

I am new to digital photography and would like to start using a
thumbnail program to help me decide quickly which photos to
save/delete. Any thoughts on these programs?

Click to expand...

Karen,

If you already use a retouching/editing program, and all you want is to view the images in "real time", then I strongly recommend PowerDesk from Ontrack, which is completely free with no catches.

This is what the Ontrack site says about PowerDesk 4:

"This version is a free download with no time or usage limits on the user. It includes PowerDesk File Manager -- the world's best file manager! The file manager provides you with single or dual pane file management windows, a powerful file finder, zip and unzip capabilities, a dialog helper, plus many other features. If you have QuickView or QuickView Plus, you can view many different types of files directly in the integrated PowerDesk viewer pane (QuickView comes with Windows® 95, 98 and NT)."

I have used PowerDesk for years as my alternative to Windows Explorer in Windows 95, 98, 98SE and now Windows 2000. (Indeed I'm a little peeved that having paid for it and several upgrades over the years, it is now free!!)

It has an amazing set of features missing from Windows Explorer, not least the ability to display any image file simply by pressing F9. You can set the viewer pane to be a separate window, or to appear alongside or below the "explorer" panes; and to set the image view size to be original, fit to window, full screen, etc.

I do a lot of image-related work, and have found PowerDesk absolutely invaluable for this. While still viewing an image you can rename it on-the-fly (press F2), delete it, copy or move it to another folder, and so on. You can also rotate (portrait-oriented) images.

I use PowerDesk alongside the built-in browser function of PaintShop Pro, often for the very reasons you mention.

And of course don't forget the raft of other functions included with PowerDesk.

Go to this site to download a copy:

http://www.ontrack.com/powerdesk/

Regards,

Robin [Redbreast]

Hi Karen

have used both ACDSee and Thumbs plus but now use ACD all the time and very happy with it. Got an email from ACD the other day and they will be releasing a new version on Sept 28 with a lot of great new features. If you are heading that way I'd look to the new version of ACD and make sure you don't get the old one without a free upgrade.

hope that helps

regards

MJP

Karen said:

I am new to digital photography and would like to start using a
thumbnail program to help me decide quickly which photos to
save/delete. Any thoughts on these programs?

Click to expand...

I agree fully with JohnM. I simply archive my photos on CDR's using the year and suffix (a, b, ....) to label the cd's. The photo shoots are filed by date and subject. Than I simply keep the file names my Oly 3030 gives the photos (includes dates and sequence number). When I edit a photo I simply add a title to the camera file name. This is routine for my and I have well over 200 cd's from my last two years of family and business shots. I've tired ACDSee but didn't like it. I mostly use Ulead photo explorer to view folders and print, the way it handles multiple photos is superb and it's the only software I've found that will allow me to use legal size photo paper to print out four 4x6 photos with very little wastage. This way any of my family that insists they have real 4x6 photos are fooled by my HP970 prints.

I have Thumbs+ and it is useful for archiving purposes and I've gone through all my photos, but so far I'm more sussessful at finding my photos using Ulead and/or Olympus Camedia software to navigate through my cd's . I also use THUMBER to create web pages for sharing my photos or posting on my personal web space for viewing by my clients. For distributing the photos I use PicturetoExe to create self executable slide shows on cd's.

So my vote is for: Ulead Photo Explorer on your list.

Tom F> said:

JohnM said:

I have never used the ULead program but the other two are superb.

I use ACDSee for everyday file printing & veiwing & Thumbs+ to keep
track of the images (especially ones that are archived to CDR).

Editing is done in Photoshop6 & I also use QImage for printing.

Click to expand...

I have Thumps Plus but I prefer my own simple file system better.

I have and have used ACDSee. I also have Ulead Photo Explorer 7.0
and I like it much, much, much better that ACDSee. Tasks are
simplier to perform in Photo Explorer. The picture viewing quality
is noticably better in Photo Explorer.
I highly recommend Ulead's Photo Explorer.

Tom F>
Pro 90

Click to expand...

Member said:

..... For distributing the photos I use
PicturetoExe to create self executable slide shows on cd's.

Click to expand...

Jim,

Do you have a URL for "PicturesToExe" ?

Many thanks

Regards,

Robin [Redbreast]

Pictures to Exe is available on: http://www.wnsoft.com/apr/

Redbreast (UK) said:

Redbreast [UK] said:

..... For distributing the photos I use
PicturetoExe to create self executable slide shows on cd's.

Click to expand...

Jim,

Do you have a URL for "PicturesToExe" ?

Many thanks

Regards,

Robin [Redbreast]

Click to expand...

Thanks, Jim!

Regards,

Robin [Redbreast]

Try FotoAlbum, it's free.

http://www.fototime.com/

Jim T said:

I agree fully with JohnM. I simply archive my photos on CDR's
using the year and suffix (a, b, ....) to label the cd's. The
photo shoots are filed by date and subject. Than I simply keep the
file names my Oly 3030 gives the photos (includes dates and
sequence number). When I edit a photo I simply add a title to the
camera file name. This is routine for my and I have well over 200
cd's from my last two years of family and business shots. I've
tired ACDSee but didn't like it. I mostly use Ulead photo explorer
to view folders and print, the way it handles multiple photos is
superb and it's the only software I've found that will allow me to
use legal size photo paper to print out four 4x6 photos with very
little wastage. This way any of my family that insists they have
real 4x6 photos are fooled by my HP970 prints.

Click to expand...

Maybe I mistunderstood, but do you use ULEAD Photo Explorer to catalog thumbnails from offline CDs? How do you do this?

Is there also a way to set the properties of all downloaded photos to "Read Only"?

Thanks.

I have been using CompuPix for years and like it for archiving and slide shows.

My gripe with all these programs is that none has a wipe transition feature. This is where one slide fades out, while at the same time the next one fades in.

Is not a computer capable to do this?

I have used Fast Videomachine for Video. It could do this with motion or still images, but not jpg. Also you had to convert the images to motion jpeg format.

Ludwig