no decent native image viewer in os x?

[alex_ant]

I converted to the Mac in late 2001 and ever since, I've been continually frustrated at the image viewer/management options that exist. It's the one sore spot in my Mac experience. There must be 20 different image apps out there that do PART of what I want, but not all of it, or that totally suck, or that do some specialized thing the way 3 people on earth think it should be done but nothing else. Like this PhotoReviewer app... it's a nice idea, but why can't I browse thumbnails with it? Why do I have to look at each image individually? And CocoViewX... it's close to being good, but why can't I make the thumbs bigger, and view the images in separate windows???? And gBrowser... ohhhh mannnn, it's SOOO close to being exactly what I need, but it hasn't been updated since 2002! It's abandonware! GraphicConverter - it has a browser, but I don't want to open a paint program to browse images. Photoshop - it costs a fortune, and same deal. JView & Preview - not enough features. Shoebox - bizarre interface, too expensive. Extensis/Cumulus/iView - too expensive, too featureful. QPict - nice, but more of a photo database than a photo browser. There are many more apps than these, and it just goes on and on.

I just want to browse my images happily! I want decent-quality thumbs that I can double-click on to open the image in a separate window, and zoom in and out, and rotate... that's ALL!! Are my wishes really that bizarre?

Meanwhile, Apple is breaking new boundaries in computer science research by engineering iPhoto to break the record for most memory gobbled up in the shortest amount of time by a photo browser program. I swear, by the time 6.0 comes out, a thousand gigabytes of RAM will not be enough. If you want me to store all my photos in iPhoto, Apple, maybe you should design it so that it doesn't balloon to fill my entire memory and swap space and then explode violently, ejecting shrapnel into my library and killing it.

 

[slooksterPSV]

I converted to the Mac in late 2001 and ever since, I've been continually frustrated at the image viewer/management options that exist. It's the one sore spot in my Mac experience. There must be 20 different image apps out there that do PART of what I want, but not all of it, or that totally suck, or that do some specialized thing the way 3 people on earth think it should be done but nothing else. Like this PhotoReviewer app... it's a nice idea, but why can't I browse thumbnails with it? Why do I have to look at each image individually? And CocoViewX... it's close to being good, but why can't I make the thumbs bigger, and view the images in separate windows???? And gBrowser... ohhhh mannnn, it's SOOO close to being exactly what I need, but it hasn't been updated since 2002! It's abandonware! GraphicConverter - it has a browser, but I don't want to open a paint program to browse images. Photoshop - it costs a fortune, and same deal. JView & Preview - not enough features. Shoebox - bizarre interface, too expensive. Extensis/Cumulus/iView - too expensive, too featureful. QPict - nice, but more of a photo database than a photo browser. There are many more apps than these, and it just goes on and on.

I just want to browse my images happily! I want decent-quality thumbs that I can double-click on to open the image in a separate window, and zoom in and out, and rotate... that's ALL!! Are my wishes really that bizarre?

Meanwhile, Apple is breaking new boundaries in computer science research by engineering iPhoto to break the record for most memory gobbled up in the shortest amount of time by a photo browser program. I swear, by the time 6.0 comes out, a thousand gigabytes of RAM will not be enough. If you want me to store all my photos in iPhoto, Apple, maybe you should design it so that it doesn't balloon to fill my entire memory and swap space and then explode violently, ejecting shrapnel into my library and killing it.

Picasa2 for Windows sadly, that is the one Photo App I do like on Windows. You can preview tons in an instant, rotate, sepia, color balance, etc. etc. etc., + its free + its offered by google.

 

[PCheese]

Like someone mentioned earlier, if you open a group of pictures in Preview you get them all in one window (they show up in the drawer) so you can move through them easily. Preview does rotating, it shows decent-quality thumbnails in the drawers, you can zoom in... alex_ant, looks like you're set with Preview (except for double-clicking and getting a new window, it's all the same window)...

 

[slooksterPSV]

Like someone mentioned earlier, if you open a group of pictures in Preview you get them all in one window (they show up in the drawer) so you can move through them easily. Preview does rotating, it shows decent-quality thumbnails in the drawers, you can zoom in... alex_ant, looks like you're set with Preview (except for double-clicking and getting a new window, it's all the same window)...

You can select over what you want to copy from an image click file->new and it'll crop it to there in a new file.

 

[Mechcozmo]

Hmm, I don't use Windows regularly, so I don't know what that viewer is. But it sounds like it's just an application as well, just more integrated into the OS. Is that it?

Bingo. It sucks, too.

I use max. res thumbnails and leave Preview open. Click for more detail, blah blah blah.

 

[alex_ant]

Like someone mentioned earlier, if you open a group of pictures in Preview you get them all in one window (they show up in the drawer) so you can move through them easily. Preview does rotating, it shows decent-quality thumbnails in the drawers, you can zoom in... alex_ant, looks like you're set with Preview (except for double-clicking and getting a new window, it's all the same window)...

Except the drawer doesn't hold enough thumbs. They're all in a single column which is too much scrolling. They also take too long to load if I I have 500 images in a folder. I need something that will save the thumbs into the resource fork. Plus the Preview window doesn't automatically resize to fit images, and I can't open more than one image at once from the drawer. Trust me, Preview doesn't work for me

 

[PCheese]

Except the drawer doesn't hold enough thumbs. They're all in a single column which is too much scrolling. They also take too long to load if I I have 500 images in a folder. I need something that will save the thumbs into the resource fork. Plus the Preview window doesn't automatically resize to fit images, and I can't open more than one image at once from the drawer. Trust me, Preview doesn't work for me

Hehe, I agree with you there. But as for saving thumbs into the resource fork, I doubt you'll find something that does that since on OS X resource forks are on their way out. Saving a thumb as the icon also won't help because it's basically equivalent to Finder previews.

So... Apple, please give us more image viewing options!

 

[Mechcozmo]

Hehe, I agree with you there. But as for saving thumbs into the resource fork, I doubt you'll find something that does that since on OS X resource forks are on their way out. Saving a thumb as the icon also won't help because it's basically equivalent to Finder previews.

Where do you get "resource forks are on their way out"? Heck, if anything, there have been MORE data/resource forks in programs than before. Everything generates them. And for good reason, too. They work!

 

[bzollinger]

I'm in the same boat as alex_ant and others. One more thing that windoze has, the ability to rotate one or multiple images through the right-click menu. I've got PS and my right-click menu is jam packed of stuff....but no stinkn' rotate??? I've just downloaded CocoViewX (http://www.stalkingwolf.net/software/cocoviewx/#Features) and I'll post back with my findings. If anyone else has any more ideas, let's here it!

later,
bz

 

[Counterfit]

Preview can also rotate images.

 

[bzollinger]

Preview can also rotate images.

Maybe so, but not with a right-click or control-click option, like XP.

 

[Will Cheyney]

Easy method get a slide show and index sheet of desired images.
Select the images you want to view > ctrl click > Slideshow

Move the mouse and options fade in for 'Previous', 'Next', 'Pause', 'Index sheet' 'Actual size' and 'close'.

Simple, quick, easy and awesome.

 

[Platform]

I agree here.....the mac does not rally have any good viewer

I mean even the Windows Picture and Fax viewer is good

 

[dogsbody]

I'm in the same boat as alex_ant and others. One more thing that windoze has, the ability to rotate one or multiple images through the right-click menu. I've got PS and my right-click menu is jam packed of stuff....but no stinkn' rotate??? I've just downloaded CocoViewX (http://www.stalkingwolf.net/software/cocoviewx/#Features) and I'll post back with my findings. If anyone else has any more ideas, let's here it!

later,
bz

I don't have my Powerbook here at work with me, but what about using Automator to create a Finder Plug-in to rotate images. Then you can right-click on the selected images and perform the action! Ta-da! Mac's almost as good as Windows at something (what a horrid concept).

 

[madmaxmedia]

Graphic Converter is a nice app, but if you just want something quick and clean for image viewing, ViewIt is a nice app (also shareware):

http://www.hexcat.com/viewit/index.html

It's pretty fast in my experience, and has a nice fullscreen mode.

 

[Marky_Mark]

this is all of that too:

http://www.iview-multimedia.com/mediapro

 

[dogsbody]

Definitely possible in Automator

Well, I tried making this when I got home last night and it's do-able.

In Automator, add the "Get Selected Finder Items" action from the Finder library, then the "Rotate Image" action from the Preview library. Set the rotate to the direction you want, then 'Save as Plug-in' from the File menu.

Choose Finder plug-in (or extensions or whatever it's called) and save as 'Rotate Left' or whatever you've rotated it as.

Right-click on an image and go to the Automator option and pick your action.

Dunno if that was useful, but it sure passes the time of day....

Db.

 

[motulist]

I have to mention GraphicConverter again. It does everything that has been mentioned except having rotate as a right click menu item but it has it as a key command (apple - R) so it's just as good. The browser is awesome and highly configurable so it can look exactly the way you want and display as much or as little as you want. It also has a batch convert called "convert & modify" that lets you select a whole folder or individual items in a folder and do anything under the sun to them. Like add resources to all of them so everything will have a preview, or rotate them all, or convert to another file format, etc. The only thing it doesn't have is a great user interface, but once you know how to do something in it, you know how to do it. Give GraphicConverter a chance and you wont regret it. I have no affiliation with the company or anything, I just think it's a great program.

 

[ingenious]

Sorry, I actually forgot you can change the size of the icon. But even at its biggest size it is hardly an efficient preview. I dont want to open an app specifically. I?am probably thinking of how windows does it and am hoping OSX could do it better.

Why not just turn on Column view? That gives you a preview of most things in the farthest right column.