Image Browser / Preview Software

[Aaron Bernard]

I dont know if this is the right form but software is an Accessorie isnt it?

Ive got Photoshop CS2 and have been using the Browser / Bridge tool to look over my shots and weed out the photos I dont want before I convert the Raw's in CS2.

The Bridge tool works ok but runs like a pig on my PC when browsing 200+ shots. Ive been trying out Breezbrowser Pro (eval) and I like the fact that its light weight and can quickly view raw files (D200 files). Before I pay the 70 bucks for the full version are there any other apps I should be looking at?

Criteria:
1. Be quick!
1. View raw files from the D200
2. Give a ranking to photos
3. Launch CS2 for editing.

Any other ideas?

[DavidTO]

1st I would experiment on how you're using cache files in bridge. Caches can really speed things up.

Check out the demo of iView Media Pro (http://iview-multimedia.com/).

[Bob Bell]

I dont know if this is the right form but software is an Accessorie isnt it?

Ive got Photoshop CS2 and have been using the Browser / Bridge tool to look over my shots and weed out the photos I dont want before I convert the Raw's in CS2.

The Bridge tool works ok but runs like a pig on my PC when browsing 200+ shots. Ive been trying out Breezbrowser Pro (eval) and I like the fact that its light weight and can quickly view raw files (D200 files). Before I pay the 70 bucks for the full version are there any other apps I should be looking at?

Criteria:
1. Be quick!
1. View raw files from the D200
2. Give a ranking to photos
3. Launch CS2 for editing.

Any other ideas?

I have a bunch of apps for working with RAW and right now Photo Mechanic is my fav. I just open the folder, it makes thumbnails of the images and I just scroll through til I find something I want to edit. Open the file in ACR convert and go. I cut my time in half using something to review the images as opposed to opening every RAW file.

[binghott]

Ive been trying out Breezbrowser Pro (eval) and I like the fact that its light weight and can quickly view raw files (D200 files). Before I pay the 70 bucks for the full version are there any other apps I should be looking at?

:thumb i love my breezebrowser! it makes it easy for me to mark the good ones from the bad ones then sort out the bad. it's the fastest program i've used and it doesn't hog your resources. i also love the quick b&w preview option so i can see if a pic will look good in b&w.

[AlpineMan]

If you're running Windows XP w/ Service Pack 2, check out the free "RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer". It's part of Microsoft's Power Toys. Free for download here (along w/ other Power Toys): http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

[Red Baron]

In addition to those already mentioned, the following are free and worth checking out:

Pixort
Pixort is an affordable/free tool for reviewing, comparing, sorting and culling photographic image files. It is not yet another photo archiving and organizing tool: it is dedicated to the initiation of a digital photography workflow where a photographer reviews his or her 2000 photos from the vacation or latest wedding assignment.
Pixort is designed to be easy to use, fast and offers an efficient workflow for culling and ranking lots of photos.

http://www.pixort.com/

Picasa
Picasa is software that makes it easy and fun to view, organise, edit and share the digital photos on your PC. Picasa will not delete your pictures or put them online without your permission.

http://picasa.google.com/download/index.html

[wxwax]

The demo ran like a pig on mine, too. It's a big part of why I haven't upgraded to CS2.

How much memory do you have?

[wxwax]

1st I would experiment on how you're using cache files in bridge. Caches can really speed things up.

Any suggestions?

[Aaron Bernard]

The demo ran like a pig on mine, too. It's a big part of why I haven't upgraded to CS2.

How much memory do you have?

Ive got a P4 2Ghz with 785MB of RAM. Its not a graphics killer but it works. With PhotoShop CS2 and Bridge going at the same time Im low on RAM thats for sure. What I dont like about Bridge is that when you open it up its starts to chew on all the images in that folder. So if you have 300+ images in a folder the CPU is pegged during the time Bridge is doing its thing. Im going to look at the above software titles and see how they work. So far Breezebrowser Pro is pretty nice...

Thanks for all the input!

[wxwax]

Ive got a P4 2Ghz with 785MB of RAM. Its not a graphics killer but it works. With PhotoShop CS2 and Bridge going at the same time Im low on RAM thats for sure. What I dont like about Bridge is that when you open it up its starts to chew on all the images in that folder. So if you have 300+ images in a folder the CPU is pegged during the time Bridge is doing its thing. Im going to look at the above software titles and see how they work. So far Breezebrowser Pro is pretty nice...

Thanks for all the input!

You need more memory! Mine has 1GB and was sluggish.

With that many thumbnails open, I wonder whether any program you try, will also run more slowly than optimum. :dunno

FWIW, I use Canon's Digital Photographer Pro. But when I want to save RAW settings and treat a batch, I'll use CS' browser. That's rare, for me, though.

[Bob Bell]

You need more memory! Mine has 1GB and was sluggish.

With that many thumbnails open, I wonder whether any program you try, will also run more slowly than optimum. :dunno

FWIW, I use Canon's Digital Photographer Pro. But when I want to save RAW settings and treat a batch, I'll use CS' browser. That's rare, for me, though.

CS2 + OS use about 700 megs of your system memory to run. With 1 gig total the system will be sluggish. I would recommend 2 gigs min.

[cmason]

CS2 + OS use about 700 megs of your system memory to run. With 1 gig total the system will be sluggish. I would recommend 2 gigs min.

I have 1GB on an AMD Athlon 2900+, WinXP...I have no problems running CS2 and Bridge. I do have a second harddrive designated as a scratch disk/cache. I read it is important to have your scratch on a different disk from the app/OS.

HD and memory are so cheap now....

[Aaron Bernard]

Ive got dual hard disks now but I am going to take a trip to the memory shop this weekend and buff that dude out whith as much memory as the motherboard can handle.

Ive looked at all the software so far and I think Im going with BreezeBrowser Pro. If you have not used it its pretty quick and easy to flip through a lot of photos quickly:

http://www.breezesys.com/BreezeBrowser/index.htm

My basic workflow with this app:

1. open the folder (or go right to the cam over USB)
2. view thumbnail or double click to view at 100%
2. rank the photo (for me 1,2,3,4 = keeper - 5 - delete)
3. Sort by rank and blow away the 5's

Aaron