AcidImage Pro
Click any image to enlarge it.
One of the reasons I originally started using a Palm device was to avoid carrying around photos in my wallet. Now that I’ve been strictly digital for years, I wanted to see how AcidImage Pro could help me show off pictures on my Treo.
I never particularly cared for the built in photo viewer for any of my Treo smartphones. So I have tried a number of third party options. There are features of AcidImage Pro that really make it stand out, and then there are a few that just make it confusing, at least for an average user.
For starters, AIP reads most standard formats: .jpg, .bmp, .tiff (fax format!), and .gif. AIP is fast. While there is a slight delay loading the program, photographs (depending on size) open lightning fast. While I prefer a traditional thumbnail view, the program provides you with several options for image selection screens.
You can view all your photos as thumbnails or individually. The detail view provides 4 per page which you can sort by name or date, which comes in handy when you only want to see what you’ve recently added. Of course, you can view a text list which can be sorted by name, date, file type, or location (internal or sd card).
What is a photo viewer without slide show capabilities? AIP gives you a no frills slideshow view. Unlike many other viewers, there is no option to add in background music, and the transition is limited to cross fade. On the other hand, how often do you actually use a slideshow with all the trimmings on your Treo?
Folder and Photo options
Whether you are in the initial folder view, or already viewing thumbnails, AIP makes use of the Treo’s touch screen by popping up option windows when you tap and hold on an image. Unfortunately, tap and hold is the only way to access these menus without opening a photo. Once a photo is open, the menus can be accessed without needing the stylus.
Zoom feature
One of my favorite features is the zoom. Rather than preset increments, AIP gives you a slider allowing you total control of zoom. As you can see in this example, the quality is excellent even at 279%, and gives you the option of showing a large photo in great detail.
General Preferences
While I would have liked a preference option to “always open on the thumbnail view,” I am content that AIP always opens to the view where I last left it.
The single feature that makes me not totally love AIP is the folder view. The first time I ran AIP, I couldn’t figure out where some of the folders were even coming from. I actually had to put my sd card into my card reader to get a better concept of the file structure. I did some rearranging. It still leaves me cold. A feature that allows you to move pictures to different folders, or create new folders is definitely useful, just not one that fits my Treo photo browsing style.
One last feature I want to be sure to mention is the fact that since AIP can view .tif images, you’ll be able to view faxes on your Treo. If you are an e-fax user, it’s a simple matter to set your account to email your fax as a .tif attachment, rather than the default .efx. When the image arrives as an email attachment, all you have to do is save to your card, or open from the email (depending on your email client). I have used it successfully with Chatteremail, and the (extensive) AIP documentation assures that it will work with Versamail, Snappermail, and Goodlink as well.
The bottom line for me was that Acid Image Pro opens my photos quickly, and renders them beautifully. It doesn’t hurt that you have to tap the x to exit a photo either – this means that there’s no chance of closing a photo when I hand my Treo to a friend to look at, and he accidentally touches the screen in the process!
If the price seems a bit excessive, Acid Image does come in three flavors: Basic ($17.95), AcidImage ($29.95), and Pro ($49.95). The Basic version only views .jpg images, the Pro version is the only one that does .tif images. The other features are identical, so if you are not using your Treo for faxes, the Basic or AcidImage versions should be adequate for most people.
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Filed under: Software reviews
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Thanks for the review Alli - I haven’t looked at AcidImage for quite a while - Very Nice features.
However I really like the Splashphoto Conduit that allows me to easily add photos from my desktop and sync them to my Treo 700p.
I checked the AcidImage Website, but didn’t see any mention of a conduit.
Chuck
A nice pic reader software, (without even a conduit?) for fifty dollars? I look at pictures too, but at that price I’ll muddle through with the free one built in. I think some features of this are nicer than Splashphoto (which as Chuck mentioned includes a conduit), but the price is way out of scale for what I’d spend for this “casual-use” utility.
If it’s true that 80% of Treo users really don’t install *any* third party software (according to Palm?), the percentage of us 20% remaining that are purchasing at this level (plus I’d imagine updates, too) has to be very slim.
Too much good software goes barely licensed at the $25-50 level (about 5-10 hours minimum wage), when that same software would probably become a “best seller” if priced in the $10-15 range (about 2-3 hours minimum wage). The economics of pricing non-essential software so high that few sales will result makes no sense to me, especially when there’s more profit (and good word-of-mouth exposure) in selling LOTS of licenses rather than just to the elite few that can part with fifty dollars on a photo viewer.
That said, AcidImage does do a top-notch job on the programs I’ve seen. I just encourage them and other developers to price Palm software so they make their money in quantity and popularity rather than milking the few customers that can pony up 10 gross hours of pay. I can buy the entire Godfather collection - physical discs and all - for about half of what the pro version of this viewer costs - just a reality check on entertainment budgets.
Surely there are licensing fees to be paid to the jpg,bmp,tiff cabals, but maybe those codec licensors also need to price things as differently when they’re being used to view gramma’s knitting photos and not for preparing Photoshopped graphics for a national print rollout.
A nice pic reader software, (without even a conduit?) for fifty dollars? I look at pictures too, but at that price I’ll muddle through with the free one built in. I think some features of this are nicer than Splashphoto (which as Chuck mentioned includes a conduit), but the price is way out of scale for what I’d spend for this “casual-use” utility.
If it’s true that 80% of Treo users really don’t install *any* third party software (according to Palm?), the percentage of us 20% remaining that are purchasing at this level (plus I’d imagine updates, too) has to be very slim.
Too much good software goes barely licensed at the $25-50 level (about 5-10 hours minimum wage), when that same software would probably become a “best seller” if priced in the $10-15 range (about 2-3 hours minimum wage). The economics of pricing non-essential software so high that few sales will result makes no sense to me, especially when there’s more profit (and good word-of-mouth exposure) in selling LOTS of licenses rather than just to the elite few that can part with fifty dollars on a photo viewer.
That said, AcidImage does do a top-notch job on the programs I’ve seen. I just encourage them and other developers to price Palm software so they make their money in quantity and popularity rather than milking the few customers that can pony up 10 gross hours of pay. I can buy the entire Godfather collection - physical discs and all - for about half of what the pro version of this viewer costs - just a reality check on entertainment budgets.
Surely there are licensing fees to be paid to the jpg,bmp,tiff cabals, but maybe those codec licensors also need to price things as differently when they’re being used to view gramma’s knitting photos and not for preparing Photoshopped graphics for a national print rollout.
The high dollar version supports .tif for faxes. You’re paying for business use here, and not the casual user experience.