fotoARRAY Manual

Thank you for your interest in fotoARRAY.

 

fotoARRAY is a program that allows you to experience your pictures in a whole new way.

 

With the integrated file browser you can search a directory and its sub-directories for image files. No database is used and the cache is automatically cleared when the program is closed.  The browser has been optimized so that images and directories are read in the background if possible, so that the application is not blocked. The function key F4 opens the browser at any time.

 

Otherwise fotoARRAY uses a database to manage your images. For this, the images must first be "imported", but then you can access the images in a flash and have these advantages:

 

  •  Lightning-fast display of preview images, even if the original image files are not available at the moment
  • Albums - each image can be in multiple directories at the same time
  • Albums can link to external directories to show the images there
  • Keywords that can be organized hierarchically
  • Fast filter function
  • Assigning properties does not change the original files
  • Search 100,000 images in fractions of a second

 

But the possibilities of fotoARRAY are far from being limited to management:

  •  Fast built-in slideshow mode
  • Different layouts for the table view
  • Export of the view in the table as JPEG or to a PDF file
  • Export of your images as HTML gallery
  • Publishing the images to the local network so that your friends can download copies on their cell phones.
  • Lossless editing of images via development recipes

 

Because we want to give you the freedom to choose which program you use for editing your photos, fotoARRAY supports the connection and integration of other software in many ways:

  •  Calling programs with image files as parameters
  • Copy selected images to external directory
  • Copy image parameters from external directory back to original directory
  • Drag&Drop of file paths or virtual image files into other programs

 

The functionality is rounded off by

  •  built-in tool for renaming files
  • Copying of image files from a path with automatic directory generation by shooting date
  • Export of images to a new catalog
  • Powerful ability to change the timestamp of images
  • Management of external image files: For example, the built-in slideshow or PDF export for each image can first search for a version in a configurable directory which will then be used.

 

Comparison of "Free Edition" with licensed Edition.

 

With fotoARRAY Broadcast a function is included to transfer images immediately to a mobile device. Unlike other solutions, no service registration, subscription or APP is required. Thus, this function can be used to share pictures with friends immediately.

 

Working with fotoARRAY is intuitive and fun. You can simply select entries in the tree view of the albums or keywords, the associated images are then immediately displayed. If you then want to browse the images by date taken, one click is enough to activate the timeline. Here, too, you can simply select entries so that only the images for the respective dates are displayed.

 

Please also visit the fotoARRAY internet forum to see further information, show-cases and hints.

 

Immediately you can start the slide show with F1 or view the current picture in large with SPACE . In this way, you can immediately immerse yourself in the memories associated with the photos.

 

 

Due to the specialization of individual software companies in image processing it does not make sense to me to provide more complicated processing functions in a management software. These companies more often bring new software that can bring out previously unsuspected details from old image data. Once you"re locked into a single solution, it"s hard to take advantage of these new offerings. Special attention was paid to the interaction with other programs. So it is not only possible to send an image to a program (every file manager can do this) but also to optionally copy the image(s) including side files into another directory beforehand. Newly created side files as well as developed versions of the images can be copied automatically. This also works if the images were automatically renamed during copying.

 

The interface of fotoARRAY, has been kept as simple as necessary. Nevertheless, it offers direct access to the properties of the images, and the selection of visible images can be changed intuitively and quickly, by simple clicks in the tree views. There are tree views for the directory structure on the hard disk(s), albums, keywords and a time-line. In all views, several entries can be selected at the same time, and thus the assigned images can be selected for the view.

 

 

By simply pressing a button, you can immediately switch to a slide preview in which you can switch between the images at lightning speed. There is also a comparison view available, in which the current selection of images can be refined in the exclusion process.

 

Basis of the view is in any case the database of fotoARRAY, which contains thumbnails of all files. I have tried to keep this database as small as possible, so that it can fit on the system disk of a notebook. This makes it possible to have all images always available in the notebook, even if the hard disk with the raw data of the images is not connected. I like to use this with a collection of 350,000 images that I can search and view at any time.

 

FotoARRAY offers the possibility to copy selected images from the database to another directory. Optionally existing parameter files (sidecar files) are copied with it. With the best possible image editing program, the selected files can now be changed without having to open several directories on a hard disk.

 

The advantage is that the other program does only have to work with one folder. Some applications will start to create thumbnails and proxy files which can take very long and consumes a lot of space if the folders are filled with files.

 

Also the directory for the copied files can be a speed SSD, while the original files were on a rather slow USB hard drive, which also sometimes needs quite a while for start-up. When the images have been edited, new preview images can be created in fotoARRAY, and new parameter files can be copied back into the respective original directories. Depending on the program, this requires only a single keystroke, the rest is done automatically.

 

FotoARRAY also offers the possibility to export selected images into a new database. The preview is taken along, as well as all the properties of the images, keywords as well as albums. This function makes it possible to create a special catalog that can be shared. For example, to relatives to whom you want to show important events from your own life.

 

FotoARRAY is free in its basic version. In this version, some functions for management tools are missing, there are limitations with "Broadcast" , but the viewing and export of the images is not limited. Of course, fotoARRAY is also not a software subscription and the licensing is kept very simple. The activation of the software via the Internet is requested, but it is not a prerequisite for it to function.