Would you have suggestions for image reading/managing software?
Hey guys
If you only care to read hentai mangas, frankly in my opinion, today in 2017, the best software I can recommend is HoneyView, in its current version 5.25 it does a perfect job, you can read images directly within zips or within folders where the images are extracted, and it will remember your zoom level from an image to another.
However, me, I have more requirements (you could call me an annoying pain in the ass, yeah), I want to read AND manage images. And to this day I still haven’t found better than good old ACD See Classic 2.44. However, the program is now 23 years old (for fuck’s sake, it was released in 1994!!), and I started to wonder if better didn’t appear at some point.
So, here I am, asking you, would you know of programs fitting my requirements
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What I expect from an image program is a long list of nitpicking features, sorry about that ^^;;
– It must be able to show only AND simultaneously (1) a list of the images, displayed optionally either as a detailed file list, or as a thumbnails, and (2) a “fitted to screen” big preview of the currently selected image. Here’s what it looks like in ACD See Classic.
I briefly tested FastStone Image Viewer, and it had a cluttered UI where you couldn’t have only two panels, on the left the list of the files and on the right the big preview, a pity. It’s also where Irfanview failed, for instance.
– The program must show all files, not just images but also archives, text files, etcetera. I don’t ask “by default”, but it has to be a possible option.
– It must allow standard keyboard-commanded file operations such as delete (Del key), copy-paste (control-C/X/V), and rename (F2). The lack of F2 to rename favorite images doomed HoneyView for me for browsing hentai collections, hehe, while the impossibility of hand-picking images one by one (control-space, down, down, down, control-space, down, control-space, you see the idea? Also works with control-click) doomed XnView Classic (but not Xnview MP, I excluded that one for other reasons explained a few lines below here).
– It must allow to flawlessly enter and exit fullscreen mode to view images, and go from image to image within the fullscreen.
For instance, in ACD See, I simply hit Enter or double-click an image, and then, that image is in full screen.
I can browse with PageUp and PageDown arrows.
If the program isn’t configured to automatically shrink images to fit them to screen I can use the up and down arrows to move up and down within the image, and – look at this, this program is 23 years old and it still fucking ROCKS! – the scrolling speed, up and down, can be increased a bit, or a lot, by keeping the Shift or Control keys pressed at the same time as the Up and Down keys! O_o
Anecdote: I remember a Linux image viewing program that had this crazy bug-feature, if you scroll to the bottom of an image and move to the next image, it remembers your scrolling position and loads the image from the bottom, so you have to, first, scroll up to see how the image begins. Some coders are definitely taking cocaine while coding.
– The system’s default context menu (OK, let’s call it the right-click menu, okay ^^) when we select a group of pictures in the file list display must be Windows’s right click, or there must be a way to call the Windows right-click besides the program’s own right click.
For instance, in ACD See, if I keep Shift pressed at the ame time as the List key or a right-click, it calls this: this way, I can instantly command to pack a group of images with WinRar. If I didn’t have this option to use the system’s own context menu, I would need to alt-tab into an Explorer window, paste the current directory location that I would have had to copy first, select the chosen images, and right-click to add them to WinRar, what a chore.
That’s where Xnview MP fails, this image viewer and managing program is superior to ACD See Classic in almost all regards, however it forcibly overrides the system’s context menu and there’s no way to have WinRar added to its context menu, it’s a pity.
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As you can see, yeah, it’s a huge pain in the ass, I demand a lot of things of image viewing programs.
You could suggest I simply use more recent versions of ACD See, but regrettably the program strayed from the righteous path of being an image-dedicated copy of the windows Explorer. The later versions of ACD See override the context menu (me: noooooooo, I want my WinRar T__T) and are packed with gazillions of features I don’t need that make the program slow as hell. I didn’t try the 2018 photo studio version mind you, but apparently it became a full nuclear power plant while what I need is closer to an LR6 battery, you see the idea.
Sorry for the wall of text If you think you know a program that fits the bill, let me know in a comment? Thank you very much ^_^
(Also, try control-F, I named the programs that I tested and rejected.)
i just keep using irfan view till 98
Xnview??? (It’s like a clone of old good ACDSee, plus, Xnshell is a clone of Picaview)
Classic doesn’t take keyboard actions such as control-space down down control space, to selectively add items to selection and perform actions on them.
MP does, but then the second issue comes, it overrides the system’s context menu, so I have no winrar.
XnShell?… it has an option in the config to hide part or all of his context menu
I use picassa…
I also use that one, but for family photos, it doesn’t have the “management” features I need, such as detailed listing, context menu, etc ^^
Fastone Image viewer,it have many features wich can be changed to your choice
Sadly, it also has a clustered UI where you can’t have, only, a panel with the image preview on one side, and on the other side a panel with the file list.
Almost can, the default layer is (folder tree(as explorer), below preview, righ pane the folder only).
You can change the layer of pane using view disposition, explorer view style and resizing or hiding(resize to zero)
I test it seting two pane with the explorer(wich can show the mini icon preview plus folders, list of files, report list) and the preview to the right
I used to use gThumb until I learned about how to make cbr and cbz files.
Now I use comix and mcomix. Both can read regular zip files like cbz’s but I still convert them with a script
Still using good old AcdSee 5.0 from 2002…
And Honeyview
I don’t remember if I tested the 5.0 version, I may give it a go in a virtual machine some day…
Honeyview is dope for simple browsing.
It’s time to upgrade to acdseee 3.0
Heh.
In my opinion, what you’re looking for is a good file explorer. I recommend Q-Dir (www.softwareok.com). Tons of configurations to suit your desired behavior, look, power tool needs, with up to 4 concurrent treeview / folders at once. Be careful, you can’t go back once properly configured !
I tested pretty much all image viewers / managers, including at least 5 different ACDSee. And I always returned to HoneyView. Unmatched viewer.
In HoneyView’s configuration, I have set the image editor to a batch file that allows me to have a windows context menu when I press a button. That menu has pretty much all the scripts I need to transform / edit. http://puu.sh/ysDZk.webp
2 power tools you might want to check: AutoHotKey and Everything (www.voidtools.com). The 2nd one is, in my opinion, a must have for everyone: it’s a real time database of all your files (as long as your drives use NTFS or ReFS). I use it as much as Q-Dir to find my files !
(reply from mobile phone, will check in true later: you were spamboxed, I restored your comment)
OK, I had time to read your answer.
So, thanks =)
I’ll check Q-Dir, if I can choose to not have four internal windows but just two, one for current dir plus one line to browse location above it, and another one with big image preview, it would be the “explorer but image friendly” I need.
Ah no, wait. I doubt the program itself is able to allow to watch images fullscreen once double-clicked, right, it will need to open an external image viewer?
I didn’t know HoneyView allowde that, it’s nice for you. Still, it’s lacking the fundamentals for me, not even F2 to rename? How could I keep my favorite pics from within a set of pictures, usually I simply rename them with an initial 0
To keep favorite pics from within a set, I use the shortcut actions provided by HoneyView (check the “Keyboard” tab in Configuration). You have “Copy to Photo Folder”, “Move to Photo Folder” and “Copy to Photo Folder 2” (no “move to folder 2” for some reasons) you can set these folders in the “Miscellaneous” tab.
And what’s really good about this feature is that you can set relative paths, like “.\fav\” to create a “fav” folder within current folder or “..\” to go up a level, stuff like that, and if it doesn’t exist the folder is automatically created.
About Q-Dir, sure you can settle to 2 folders that retain their viewstyle (thumbnails, details…) vertically, horizontally, with only one treeview for both, or one for each or none, one address bar or 2 or none. You will have to test a lot of options because it’s flooded. And what set it appart from Total Commander and other renown file explorers is that it provides the same windows explorer context menu (right-click).
EDIT: Q-Dir sample (my setup is rather basic):
Notice the filter at the bottom right, it selects files as you type, and if you press enter it will act as a permanent filter and hide everything else. One of the many many features.
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YACReader on Linux (also available for Windows), I think is a great image viewer.
Also if you or anyone here views mangas or comics on a tablet or a phone I
personally love ComicRack.
I was quite fond of Lightroom for organization when I was into photography. But Adobe products are pretty slow nowadays. For a viewer, I use JpegView instead of Honeyview because it’s mostly keyboard driven.
I use ComicRack, it allows to order your library, keep track of what you’ve read, at what page you were the last time you closed the ebook/app, you can get lots of additional information on your comics/mangas automatically like writer, scenarist, penciler, etc…
And best of all, it’s translated in multiple languages… including french =)
lol i also used acdsee and loved it, too bad it’s so old that it can’t read some of the newer .png files which is strange. didn’t know there was a difference between old and new png files. I moved to honeyview and love it, the only thing I hate is that you cannot bind the controllers to a gamepad like you can do with acdsee. Why would I bind the controlls to a gamepad? so I can sit back and have my right hand free…..
jebus christ, a controller
Use rudder pedals LOL!
Dude, get a mouse with programmable buttons. Preferably something with lots of buttons like Razer Naga or Logitech G600.
Please take a look at Directory Opus at http://www.gpsoft.com.au
I use it to view all image from this site and am very happy using it.
It is a very powerful file manager with external image viewer. It also offers various rename methods. And the level of customization is fantastic.
I believe it has most of your requirements if not all.
try one of the latest version of ACDSEE – they’ll just answer your every requirements. just try and download a… user manual so as tocheck precisely but i believe the latest versions just do everything you mention.
ok. i will strongly recommend two or three apps for productivity.
as another user said, everything: it’s an indexed browser. it scans your hdd’s (totally selectable, could be specific folders only) and lets you browse super fast from a great amount of files. the search is live, so when you’re typing, it does the search immediately and show’s you the matching files.
this one is a database/cataloguer: cathy. is pretty old, pretty effective tho, and simple. it makes catalogs of your desired units, being them hdds, cds, specific folders… don’t ask from him too much, it just stores a CAF file with each unit/folder scanned and later lets you search inside that database. search is not live. doesn’t stores previews, doesn’t allow computations. just a simple cataloguer. pretty pretty old but it helpsme maintain my collection (non-hentai) of more than 1000 dvds of games, movies and stuff. they are all labeled with numbers. combination super effective in my case. it does simply catalogues lot of info. one issue: displays the size of the files just in bytes. possible issue: never catalogued japanese kana or another kind fo oriental languague filenames.
another powerful tool is FileMenu Tools. ok, it has A LOT of features that can be added to the contextual menu, but one of the more powerful i’ve ever seen is their renaming tool. maybe im a dumb noob, and kinda John Snow knowing nothing, but the renaming tool is one of my must-have tools on any productivity-needing win os environment/workspace. lot of combinations for renaming, adding numbers, bulk replacing/deleting, use of wildcards and regular expressions.
ath the end, never helped you with the image viewer, for my needs, xnview is (by now) my ultimate selection. hope i can contribute to your daily work at least with one of this tools.
so, resuming, take a look to
Everything
Cathy
FileMenu Tools
first time ever writing, just because saw on the fly the title. i enter here mainly to… ehem, do my homework…
cdisplay and cdisplayex. been using them to read zip, rar, cbz, and cbr. remembers your setting, quite heavy when reading huge files as they load the whole file at once before showing the pages. but perfect for reading small sized files. can read png and jpg and gif inside the archives.
ah actually i didnt read the whole article, cdisplay is only for viewing. not managing.
I’m unsure whether i know a program or programs that would fit your requirements but i use the following
Total commander for file management. It can work with thumbnails
Irfanview as the default image viewer.
CDisplayEX as the compressed archive viewer. It’s configured to the F3 button in total commander
Before windows 10 i used the default windows picture viewer. But Windows 10 screwed up with the Fotos app so I had to find alternatives
You should at least try out the ACDsee photo studio 2018. It has all the things you listed, even the option to use windows “right-click”- menu. I could make almost same kind of UI as you. It had only one different looking toolbar at top, few buttons and win10-ish looking file list.
I have been using it for a couple of weeks and no problems so far. It took few minutes to go through options to tweak it a little to my liking. It usually takes about as much memory and CPU as Discord or qBittorrent.