ACDSee 3.1: Professional Image Slinger
Written: Aug 20 '00 (Updated Nov 24 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Feature and option laden, works well, very professional
Cons: Cost, more features than most users will need or use
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| JMB623's Full Review: ACDSee |
ACDSEE 3.1 (8/25/00: there is a 5.4 Mb update for version 3.0 to 3.1, free to registered owners) is a very sophisticated digital content manager competing at a higher level than Photodex Compupic (my review of Compupic at http://www.epinions.com/cmd-review-A10-1228DF36-387AB930-prod5). They are generally similar in features and operation, but ACDSEE is about $20 more expensive than Compupic (more than adequate for most users) and only a little bit cheaper than Compupic Pro. I had Compupic for nearly two years until I replaced it with Compupic Pro, so I am somewhat biased toward Compupic just because it does most of the same things, I am much more familiar with it , and Compupic is updated every 4 months or so for free during your first year as a registered owner (that includes version updates, not just patches and bug fixes).
I installed ACDSEE from a CD, but you can purchase and download it from the manufacturer's web site. It comes with the file viewer and its own browser. With the browser, which can be opened separately from the viewer, or from within it by double-clicking the file, you see the name of the file, type (jpeg, bmp, etc), size (1152X768, Kb, Mb, etc.), though it does permit viewing of non-photographic files.
If you don't like buying downloaded software because you don't get the user's manual, you can download the user's manual from their web site in either HTML (over 2 Mb), or in PDF format (1.8 Mb). I prefer PDF because loading Acrobat Reader (pdf reader) is not as big a project as loading a browser to read HTML. Just put the user's manual in the folder with the downloaded program (like on a Zip disk until you burn a CD for all that stuff). It's a free download, so you save money by not paying shipping and tax, plus you get a portable copy of the manual.
This feature is especially valuable to professional graphics artists and web designers because it automatically catalogues all your graphics files for you. I am a dilettante photographer, and don't store hundreds or thousands of images, so I've made little use of this feature. The left pane of the GUI shows a folder tree from which you select the folder that opens and is catalogued in the right pane.
It has one-click creation of wallpaper or slide show presentations from the menu bar. It will send files/images to e-mail. There is a built-in photo enhancer, though most people will use their graphics editor before saving a photo. Users can preset parameters for creating presentations, including the order in which they run, the length of time each slide shows, and whether it reads ahead to have the next image in memory, or keeps the old image in memory.If you prefer viewing thumbnails of your files, you can set the size with sliders to the exact number of pixels desired. Double-clicking the thumbnail will display the image full-screen against a black background if you set it to do so. It will also zoom in on small photos for display.
This application has so many features that most of us will never use that I recommend you read Ladyvamp's review of it at http://www.epinions.com/cmd-review-217-5527B48-38B8EB11-prod1 for all the details (Ladyvamp is a professional programmer, just the person for whom ACDSEE is designed). If you're like me, a person who does some photography (ACDSEE will connect to your digital camera and download images), and plays with images for fun, this application has more features than you'll ever need or use.
At $60 a pop, compared to Compupic's $40, it is too costly and sophisticated for most average users. But don't get me wrong, if you have the dinero and the need, ACDSEE 3.1 is just your number. It has worked for 4 months now without locking up itself or my OS, and is clean and tight. I highly recommend it to professionals and wannabe professional hobbyists, but have to go with Compupic for the rest of us mere mortals.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
JMB623
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Member: Joel
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