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November 03, 2005
[ ACDSee8 Photo manager ]
Price: $50 [US] from www.acdsystems.com/
Rating: 4.5 stars
The goods: ACDSee8 Photo Manager is the latest version of a photo cataloguing and editing program at what we might call the elementary end of image editing software. It is for people who want an application that will recognise a camera attached to the computer, download the files and provide basic manipulation functions.
What makes ACDSee8 special is that the editing functions are fundamentally quite advanced but they can also be used in simple automated routines. In fact ACDSee8, at $50 US, is not far off the function set of Adobe Photoshop Elements ($152).
ACDSee8 has such advanced functions as Levels and Healing/Clone brushes. It also runs batch routines for renaming, reorienting or fixing brightness and contrast. Surprisingly for such an economical package the program can display and control hue and saturation and it does a very good black and white conversion with a single click on a Grayscale (pardon the American spelling) button.
There is a free add-on for the program that creates slide shows as MPG movies or as Flash slide routines for inserting into web pages. This is an impressive and useful function that is totally unexpected in a program at this price.
Using ACDSee8 pictures can be uploaded as a slide show to the on-line gallery ACD SendPix and emails are sent to anyone invited to view the show. This service is free to ACDSee customers and is just about the ideal way of quickly sharing holiday or family snaps.
Like this: ACDSee8 and all its functions work blindingly quickly. It is so fast that the program can well be used as a default image viewer.
Dislike that: There is nothing to dislike about ACDSee8, although it is possible to see some functions that might be added without increasing the cost. A selection of cute picture frames and mattes would make a nice plug-in.
Parting shot: This little program represents extraordinary value for money. For many people it will provide all the tools necessary to rescue or improve digital images. It goes beyond the crude automated routines of most freeware or cheap commercial programs. ACDSee8 is highly recommended.
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Posted by terry at November 3, 2005 07:25 AM
Comments
Hi Terry,
I read with interest your weekly digital photographic articles, in particular the recent ACDsee v8 article. I'm currently scanning, processing and disseminating photos for both family and Aircraft Museums. I currently use Photoshop and ThumbsPlus. As I handle large numbers of photos I like the idea of IPTC and use to file info on all photos. For printing I use ThumbPlus so photos printed with IPTC captions. NOW I WOULD LIKE TO SEND ALBUMS TO PEOPLE ON CD/DVD SO THEY CAN PLAY ON TV AND HOPEFULLY SEE IPTC CAPTIONS ON SCREEN.
Whilst ACDsee can do this for running on PC, I have not been able to resolve with TV option.
Many of the people I deal with are older and not every one has a PC. CAN YOU PLEASE ADVISE AS TO POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS?
Posted by: David Devenish at November 15, 2005 10:45 AM
David:
You've got me stumped. I use Memories on TV for making slideshows on DVD and with that you have to enter any caption info by hand. I don't know of any slideshow generator that takes the IPTC or EXIF info and displays it as a caption.
You have alerted me to an interesting issue. I will keep an eye out for a solution to your problem and if I find one I will post it here.
Terry L
Posted by: Terry at November 15, 2005 02:58 PM
Hi Terry,
Thanks for your reply and offer.
I will also post response if I find solution.
David
Posted by: David Devenish at November 17, 2005 01:10 PM