Sep 28

Image Preview in the Windows Context Menu

Posted in: Today's Chili

This article was written on August 24, 2011 by CyberNet.

Image previewWouldn’t it be nice if you could see a larger preview of an image without having to actually open the photo? That’s exactly what FastPreview does, and it does a pretty awesome job of it. All you have to do is right-click on the image file and a larger preview will be shown right there in the context menu.

That’s not all it does either. Here are some of the features the developer highlights:

  • Fast Viewer – Showing the image including different scaling types and JPEG rotations
    • Images are scaled to fit the screen when opened
    • Lots of supported file types
  • Shell integration – Integrates into File Context Menus
    • Configurable dimensions of the preview
  • Shell integration – Integrates into File Properties Pages showing:
    • Adobe eXtensible Metadata Language (XMP) information
    • Exif Camera/Image information
    • IPTC Media information

It’s nice being able to adjust the preview size, but using a significantly larger preview will mean that the menu is a little harder to navigate. The good news is that this preview only shows up for image files so you won’t always lose that valuable space.

FastPreview Homepage (Windows only; Freeware)
via AddictiveTips

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Sep 08

Free Cross-Platform Image Editor Similar to Paint.NET

Posted in: Today's Chili

This article was written on July 10, 2012 by CyberNet.

Free image editor

I’ve always thought that free tools like Paint.NET are incredible pieces of software because they drastically simplify the image editing process for most users while still offering a lot of the advanced options for the power users out there. The downside to Paint.NET is that it’s only available on Windows, but a free app called Pinta tries to bring a similar set of features to all platforms.

Pinta takes many cues from Paint.NET, and that’s a good thing in my book. Since the app is cross-platform you can easily edit your images on Windows, Linux and Mac which can help make moving between operating systems an easier transition when you consider the interface will be the same on them all.

There’s not much else to say about the tool because it does what you’d want an image editor to do. Here is an overview of some of the features highlighted on the project’s page:

  • Drawing Tools
    Use easy drawing tools to draw freehand, lines, rectangles, ellipses, and more.
  • Full History
    Don’t be afraid to experiment, Pinta tracks your full history so you can always undo.
  • Unlimited Layers
    Use layers to help separate and group elements of your image for easy editing.
  • Adjustments and Effects
    Pinta includes over 35 adjustments and effects for tweaking your images.
  • Your Workspace
    Like docked windows? No problem. Floating windows? No problem. Pinta will even let you mix and match. 

One thing I do want to note is to take a look at the prerequisites on the download page. For example, Windows users will need to install .NET 4 and GTK before Pinta will work.

Pinta Homepage (Windows/Mac/Linux; Freeware)

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