Author Topic: Any freeware alternatives to Instant ThumbView? (Read 69,078 times)

sri · « **on:** May 04, 2007, 09:33 AM »

http://www.contextmagic.com/instant-viewer/

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It is an instant image viewer that displays thumbnail (reduced picture), of selected file in a tooltip window next to the mouse pointer. It supports a lot of popular image file formats, including BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, WMF, EMF, TIFF and so on.

As Instant ThumbView is a Windows shell extension, it is always ready and available to use. To bring it up, open any folder with image files in Windows Explorer, and then hover an image file with your mouse pointer. You will see the tooltip saying Extracting Thumbnail..., and then the image thumbnail should be displayed as shown on the screenshot.

I am not looking for a separate program, but rather a free app which adds the above functionality to the regular windows explorer. Any ideas?

Nighted · « **Reply #1 on:** May 04, 2007, 07:39 PM »

I asked about this here ages ago and found nothing. No one here seemed to know of anything at that time either.

The author of Color Set used to have a freeware program that did this, but of course I can not find it anywhere on the net, and I spent a fair amount of time searching. Searching finds tons of hits, but mostly for web based script for performing thumbnail actions in browsers.

It's too bad there's no alternative to Instant ThumbView as it's not a reliable program. Definitely not worth the money.

crono · « **Reply #2 on:** May 05, 2007, 01:43 AM »

Would a "Thumbnail-in-Contextmenu" Tool do th job?
If yes, try XN Shell View (http://perso.orange.fr/pierre.g/xnview/endownloadwin32.html)

Curt · « **Reply #3 on:** May 05, 2007, 11:56 AM »

Is it the instant effect you are going for, meaning that you don't want to click the file, but only hover it? If so, you don't want to use XnView or BAxBEx or _, as they'll all tell you first to right-click the file. Explorer can do that a lot faster itself - just activate the file (in View > Details or what the English term might be). Is not this feature a part of XP, or did I get it from some third-party program, and have forgotten?

[attachimg=#]

No, you must mean that it is the instant thumb at mouseover, you are going for?
I believe Instant ThumbView is one of a kind, though. Is it really unreliable, or just too expensive?

Curt · « **Reply #4 on:** May 05, 2007, 12:33 PM »

Quote from: Nighted on May 04, 2007, 07:39 PM

I asked about this here ages ago ..(...).. no alternative to Instant ThumbView as it's not a reliable program. Definitely not worth the money.

I have been trying it for ten minutes only, but so far it has been working okay.
Do you remember what was wrong, Nighted, and how many ages ago it was - I mean, before or after last update Jan. 2006??

Darwin · « **Reply #5 on:** May 05, 2007, 01:01 PM »

... FMView 2.0 is another alternative that requires you to click on the file to view it, but it is more robust. It will allow you to preview all sorts of Office and other productivity apps' file contents, in addition to viewing most graphics formats, and is a bit cheaper at $16.50 vs. $19.95. I used to use version 1.x (still have a licence for it somewhere) with Win 3.11 and really liked it. I haven't tried version 2 with anything newer, though...

Curt · « **Reply #6 on:** May 05, 2007, 01:34 PM »

Quote from: Darwin on May 05, 2007, 01:01 PM

... FMView 2.0 is another alternative ...

I am surprised by FMView's installation procedure:

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Installation for new users

If you have NEVER installed FmView before then follow these instructions:

Create a new directory on your hard disk (for example c:\fmview)
Move the self extractor FMVIEW20.EXE (or FMVIEW14.EXE) there
Double click FMVIEW20.EXE (or FMVIEW14.EXE) in the FmView directory
Double click INSTALL.EXE in the FmView directory to install FmView

Why must I create a new directory? This is strange to me. But then again, I have no idea of what is going on inside a computer, so who am I to even ask?

Darwin · « **Reply #7 on:** May 05, 2007, 02:07 PM »

I *think* that the instructions for FMView installation date back to Win 3.x days! It's been a very long since I ran Windows for Workgroups 3.11 (ah, happy days)... I suspect that the installer will simply unpack all of the files into whatever folder it is run from, so if you have a folder C:.../my documents/downloads and you run it from there, it will install there. It seems to me that that is the way things worked in 16-bit versions of Windows.

Curt · « **Reply #8 on:** May 05, 2007, 02:20 PM »

Yes, they do mention Win 95 more than once, and they still have a version for 16 bit.

One interesting feature, at least:

Quote from: FMView

Q: Can I use FmView as stand alone program or add it to a File Manager or Explorer replacement?

A: FmView 2.0: You can simply copy the file fmvapp.dll and give it the new name fmvapp.exe.

tomos · « **Reply #9 on:** May 05, 2007, 05:12 PM »

Quote from: Darwin on May 05, 2007, 01:01 PM

... FMView 2.0 ... will allow you to preview all sorts of Office and other productivity apps' file contents, in addition to viewing most graphics formats, and is a bit cheaper at $16.50 vs. $19.95.

even at that price you'ld probably be better off buying a file manager that does the job ?

Darwin · « **Reply #10 on:** May 05, 2007, 05:21 PM »

No doubt you're right, Tom. I started writing about FMView before I took a look at the price (it's not that bad compared to, say, QuickView Plus). I stopped using it because when I moved to Win98 and Office 97 somewhere along the way I wound up with MS' dumbed down version of QuickView (or was it 95 that introduced it? I no longer remember).

I *think* that sri is primarily interested in the mouse-over preview function. I half wonder if a plug-in for DOpus (or one of the other File Managers out there) is available/possible for something like this? I guess in a round-about way I've simply rephrased sri's original request... All we're looking for is a plug-in (even for Windows Explorer) that will tap into the view feature Curt talks about above...

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Explorer can do that a lot faster itself - just activate the file (in View > Details or what the English term might be). Is not this feature a part of XP, or did I get it from some third-party program, and have forgotten?

Maybe this is a good candidate for a coding snack request?

tomos · « **Reply #11 on:** May 05, 2007, 05:57 PM »

Quote from: Darwin on May 05, 2007, 05:21 PM

I *think* that sri is primarily interested in the mouse-over preview function. I half wonder if a plug-in for DOpus (or one of the other File Managers out there) is available/possible for something like this? I guess in a round-about way I've simply rephrased sri's original request... All we're looking for is a plug-in (even for Windows Explorer) that will tap into the view feature Curt talks about above...

Dopus does do that - "mouse-over preview function" - via plugin but couldnt tell you anything beyond that ...

Darwin · « **Reply #12 on:** May 05, 2007, 07:10 PM »

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Dopus does do that - "mouse-over preview function" - via plugin but couldnt tell you anything beyond that ...

Dang! I *thought* that it did but couldn't find it before I posted (I did check, honest!). Anyway, irrespective of DOPus

, I still think that this is a good coding snack candidate for a Windows Explorer add-in. Right off to tinker with DOpus...

tomos · « **Reply #13 on:** May 05, 2007, 07:35 PM »

DOpus "preview function"

Settings/filetype/all files/edit/info-tip
should include "{thumbnail}" (no inverted commas!)
You may have to activate plugin in preferences as well but i dont think so

Nighted · « **Reply #14 on:** May 05, 2007, 07:56 PM »

Curt, Instant ThumbView is unreliable because it does not always render the thumbnail. For instance, it can be something as simple as the file name that creates this behavior (not an unusual filename either).

Personally, I'll just use thumbnail view or when that's not possible, I have Xentient Thumbnails installed, which basically creates the file icon from the actual image.

Thanks Crono, I was unaware that the XnView team had a context menu viewer...I will check this out. I currently use FirmTools ShellExtension.

If anyone needs to have thumbnails set as the default view in Open dialogs, you can use OpenWide, Viewtify (add programs to an ini file to have separate views for each application), and Direct Folders (HORRIBLE, if not non-existent customer support and unstable behaviour...I see the guy has had time to release a new app, but not respond to my support request of many moons ago - DO NOT buy anything from this guy, support your friend Nighted, ok?

).

Darwin · « **Reply #15 on:** May 05, 2007, 09:09 PM »

Thanks Tom! All you have to do is select "Image" from the samples and it displays the syntax. Nice...

Curt · « **Reply #16 on:** May 06, 2007, 01:05 AM »

Quote from: Nighted on May 05, 2007, 07:56 PM

Curt, Instant ThumbView is unreliable because it does not always render the thumbnail.

I found out some hours ago and have already removed the app from my PC. But, as you said, its a pitty, because there seems to be no other of the kind; I have been searching the net for hours today (tonight, locale time), and found none. I found several that will display in the context menu, but no other that would show the thumb in a fast popup. Who's gonna code this snack? - or is it too big a meal?

Curt · « **Reply #17 on:** May 06, 2007, 01:50 AM »

Quote from: Nighted on May 05, 2007, 07:56 PM

..., and Direct Folders (HORRIBLE, if not non-existent customer support and unstable behaviour...I see the guy has had time to release a new app, but not respond to my support request of many moons ago - DO NOT buy anything from this guy, support your friend Nighted, ok? ).

Thanks for the warning; I really liked the description of the (supposed) features of this program and was thinking about giving it a try, but now I will hold my breath and stick with DM2 and PowerDesk DialogHelper and PS Hot Folders and SendTo Toys and True LaunchBar and PS Tray Factory and and
...

[attachimg=#]

[After-edit]: oh yeah; and with RecentX, that beauty...

Nighted · « **Reply #18 on:** May 06, 2007, 07:00 AM »

This is what we have all been looking for! It's about freakin' time too!

It works beautifully and fast on my machine too. Doesn't work in Open/Save dialogs or on the desktop though, but works brilliantly in explorer windows.

Newest version of QTTabBar 1.0.16 released maybe minutes ago just so happens to now have this feature. Maybe the author reads these forums?

Thanks again Curt for letting me know about this software. It just keeps getting better.

When I move to Europe, you can buy me a beer (or 10).

Darwin · « **Reply #19 on:** May 06, 2007, 08:43 AM »

Whoa, Nighted - you need to get to bed! Wait a second... it's now 1:41 am here, I guess I should take my own advice

Anyway, brilliant news about qttabbar. I hope this does whar sri was after. I'm happy with the DOpus solution Tom pointed out to me and as I NEVER use Windows Explorer anymore, I probably won't bother with qttabbar, but it looks VERY nice.

sri · « **Reply #20 on:** May 06, 2007, 08:51 AM »

Nighted: What do I do to enable the previews of images on hovering over the file names? I have QTT installed and can see the tabs and its buttons. But mouse over on picture files doesn't show the preview.

Nighted · « **Reply #21 on:** May 06, 2007, 08:57 AM »

Sri, right click beside a tab (not directly on the tab) and select Options. Go to Misc. and make sure to check "Show preview tooltip".

Darwin, ok, I'm going to bed now! Good night!

Curt · « **Reply #22 on:** May 06, 2007, 09:18 AM »

You fellows are strange; why do you go to bed when it is almost high noon? Maybe you are situated the 'wrong' place? Move to Europe so I can buy you a beer (a genuine beer, that is: a pilsner!), and we can look at all the blondes and make sure they do have more fun...

Sleep tight!

---

Quote from: Nighted on May 06, 2007, 07:00 AM

Newest version of QTTabBar 1.0.16 released maybe minutes ago just so happens to now have this feature. Maybe the author reads these forums?

Fantastic timing!

I am impressed with this new feature of QT Tab. The popup thumb even shows animations. Cool!

Here is an animation of the animation of an animation:
[attachimg=#]

sri · « **Reply #23 on:** May 06, 2007, 09:36 AM »

Thanks Nighted. QTT is indeed nice. If only I can figure out how to have both folders and favorites show up in the left bar at the same time..I can uninstall XYPlorer then.

Curt · « **Reply #24 on:** May 06, 2007, 10:16 AM »

The only way I can think of right now is to create a new folder in C:/ and place a shortcut to Favourites in it (I have done so). But its not quite the same you are asking for - its not as fast to use.