Cerious Software's ThumbsPlus application has been around since 1992. It's more of an image management system than an image editor, but some of its key features make it the right application for some tasks.
Twenty-six years ago, the program was called ThumbsUp and applications such as Lightroom didn't exit. It was revolutionary at the time because it displayed small thumbnail images and made it possible for users to browse, view, edit, and crop picture files. Since then, digital photography has almost entirely replaced film photography and numerous image editing and organization applications have been developed.
A recently released service pack for version 10 includes an option to increase an existing ThumbsPlus database from a maximum of 400 thousand thumbnails to approximately 5 million thumbnails. Simultaneously, users can increase the size of the thumbnail images from the long-time default (160 pixels) to a size that's easier to see on modern monitors. It's possible to store the database on drives other than the computer's C drive and this can be important if the computer has a relatively small solid-state drive for the operating system and uses lower-cost mechanical drives for data.
ThumbsPlus Customization is surprisingly robust with a total of 13 tabs that control everything from the display of confirmation messages and warnings, to which directory and database the application uses at startup, which file types the program will open by default, what happens when you select a thumbnail image, and a lot more.
Nearly every photo editing application has a method by which one or more images can be modified and this is where ThumbsPlus is outstanding. These processes are called "sets" in ThumbsPlus and both the creation of sets and their operation is faster and easier than in most other completing application.
Creating a set is easy. Select Image > Batch Process from the menu or just press F12 and you'll see a drop-down list of any sets you've already created. To create a new set, click the New button and then add a name for the action and a description that explains what it will do. The next screen determines whether the set will apply to files you have selected, all files in the current folder, all files in the current tree, or files with names that fit a specific template.
Then it's time to add one or more actions to modify the image. These are in 5 categories.
The final step in defining the set involves determining what kind of file will be output (the most common are JPG, PNG, and GIF), specifying the extension for the file and whether there should be a prefix or suffix on the main part of the file name, whether you want to overwrite files with the same name, whether you want to copy key words from the original file, where to save the new files, and (if you're creating a new set) what its name should be.
Having added all the necessary steps, you can then run the set or just save it without running it. Whenever you need to repeat the defined process, just select the files to process and run the set. Many other applications have similar functionality, but ThumbsPlus is one of the easiest to use when defining new processes and running sets is fast.
Sets can be used to automate simple or complex processes:
ThumbsPlus 10 is an effective photo organizer, but it has limited ability to share images automatically on social media. It's easy enough to use a set to create an image that's properly sized and formatted for Facebook or some other on-line service and then to have the modified image stored in a specific directory, but some other photo applications make sharing more automatic.
Although primarily a photo organizer, ThumbsPlus has a selection of standard photo editing tools. Unlike most competing applications, modifications to camera raw files don't create sidecar files and this is a significant shortcoming. After modifying a raw image, you'll need to save it as a JPEG (small, but lossy) or as a TIFF (large). There is an option to save as a raw file, but I have never been able to get this to work. Ideally, a future version of the software would offer to save raw images in Adobe's open-source digital negative (DNG) format that can be read by nearly all image editing applications.
Information about images is stored in a relational database and this adds flexibility and power to the process of searching for images. When searching, the user can specify keywords, full or partial file names, metadata values, and more. Additionally, an advanced tab allows the use of SQL statements. This requires a certain amount of advanced database knowledge, but learning the basics isn't particularly difficult.
ThumbsPlus is available in 4 versions: Standard, Pro, Network, and Home Network. Trial versions work for 30 days before requiring a license code.
Unlike Adobe, AlienSkin, OnOne, ACD, and others, ThumbsPlus developer Cerious Software is a tiny company with few employees. This means that the development process is slow, but it also means that one or two people have a clear view of the application from top to bottom. But it also means that some things are missed. The most recent news release on the company's website, for example, is from July 2005 -- almost 13 years ago.
Customization and automation are worthwhile features, but some parts of the application seem dated.ThumbsPlus is a highly customizable application that hasn't kept up with similar applications, but still excels in certain areas. Programmed image manipulation is a particular strength. The minimal documentation that exists is outdated, though, and this hampers usability.
Additional details are available on the Cerious Software website.
GPS used to be a luxury that required an expensive add-on from the manufacturer of your automobile or a single-purpose and expensive GPS device. Now every smart phone has GPS and you can choose a service to use and even a voice -- from generic male and female voices in various languages to specialty voices such as Mr T from the old A Team TV show (now discontinued).
Now the technology is being expanded to include buildings and campuses. Google has mapped the interiors of some large buildings and campuses, but one of the larger integrated projects is in Minneapolis where the 9-mile-long skyway system that spans 80 city blocks has been mapped using what Honeywell calls "GPS-like technology" to help users navigate the system.
This video is essentially a commercial for Honeywell and was provided by the company's public relations department, but it clearly illustrates how the system works. Whether it's Honeywell or some other company, it's likely that we'll see more systems like these in large and complex buildings.
The Minneapolis Skyway System is unique because of its size. Enclosed pedestrian walkways span 80 city blocks above street level so that users can walk to more than 30 buildings in downtown Minneapolis. In addition to the indoor navigation feature, the "Vector Occupant App" also includes a location-based feature to rate spaces so that users can alert the building's staff about problems.
Honeywell has partnered with Insiteo, a French company, to create the app. The French company provides the indoor navigation feature that offers accurate indoor location, mapping, routing, presence, proximity notifications and analytics. The app offers turn-by-turn voice assistance and location accuracy to approximately feet and allows users to share their location with an associate to arrange a meeting.
The new capabilities have been added to Honeywell's Vector Occupant App that has the ability to communicate temperature problems to building management. The app works with Android and IOS devices.
We humans like to individualize things. When we buy a new car, we select colors and options. When buying a house or renting an apartment, we choose paint colors and furnishings. Possibly you've changed the colors your computer uses or the background image. These are part of the system's theme.
Themes aren't new, but they weren't included in the early days of Windows. Instead, users had to purchase "Plus" packs that had themes. They've been part of the base operating system for quite a while now, though, and changing the look of the operating system to make it yours might be a fun way to spend a weekend afternoon, at least if you're a geek. I am, of course.
Before making changes, it's a good idea to make a copy of the current theme just in case your Windows re-design turns out not to be exactly what you want. Start by choosing Personalization from Windows Settings, then select the Themes tab. You might think that the "Save theme" button would allow you to save the current theme, but it won't. Or it didn't in my case, but this seems to be a bug. Try that first and if it doesn't work, make a minor change to the existing theme (I changed the background color and then changed it back), then save the theme.
Where does Microsoft store these saved themes, you might ask. You'll find them here: %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\, which is equivalent to C:\Users\{YourUserName}\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\. Once you've saved the theme, you can right-click the theme in the panel and choose Save Theme for Sharing so that you'll have an opportunity to save it in any location of your choice.
When you save a theme for sharing, it includes any images you've specified for use by the Desktop background (in my case that was more than 50MB) and the file will have a ".deskthemepack" extension.
Themes saved in the Themes directory have a ".theme" extension and are much smaller (only a few KB) because they contain only links to images. The only reasons to create a theme for sharing would be to install it on another computer or to share it with someone.
Once you have a saved theme, make changes to the background, sounds, colors, mouse cursor, lock screen, start menu, task bar -- whatever you want. If you like the changes, save them as a new theme. But if you don't like the new theme, just return to the Themes panel and click the tile for the theme you saved to restore all the settings.
