FastPictureViewer is a small and very fast application, so simple that it's purpose might not be immediately apparent. As a minimalist picture viewer, the program is optimized to do just one task: browse entire folders of digital photos in the shortest possible amount of time, while allowing for quick sharpness checks by instant flipping to 100% view and enabling single-click, fast copy of the keepers to a preset folder and single-keystroke Adobe XMP rating/labeling. That's about it. Of course FastPictureViewer can also be used for speed-browsing, rating or labeling an existing picture collection, but it does not offer any image editing, enhancing or cataloging function.

The entry-level, free-to-try Home Basic edition supports JPEG and the new Microsoft HD Photo (*.hdp, *.wdp) image file format along with Adobe XMP metadata for rating and labels, in embedded and/or sidecar file form, and DirectX hardware acceleration on select graphic cards.

This product was inspired by a 2004 article by Eamon Hickey published on Rob Galbraith's DPI website about Sports Illustrated's unbelievable digital workflow. The article is an amazing read for sports photographers and photo enthusiasts alike, it also helps understand the motivation behind the creation of FastPictureViewer and some of its design choices. Very recommended.
FastPictureViewer helps you work faster by taking advantage, when available, of the power of modern multicore processors and the incredible speed of DirectX graphic accelerators, all working in concert to speed up viewing experience to unprecedented levels.

We can say with confidence that FastPictureViewer is by a large factor the quickest image viewer in existence today on the PC platform, we've put fast back into fast image viewing :-)

Main features:

- Instant flip to the next image using either the keyboard, a mouse click or the mouse wheel.
- Easy browsing of tens of thousands (yes!) of images, even in deeply nested sub-folders.
- Instant switch between fit-to-window and 100% mode view from a single key press, with optional high-quality image scaling.
- Adobe XMP sidecar files creation (stores rating, labels, urgency settings in XMP-compliant metadata format).
- Embedded metadata writer for JPEG files (Adobe XMP rating/labeling and Windows Vista rating).
- Click-and-hold instantaneous 100% zooming and configurable 50%-6400% right-click magnifier.
- Seamless multiple-subfolders browsing, in one single continuous sequence (easily browse an entire drive at once).
- Drag & drop support, drop a folder or a set of files on FastPictureViewer to quickly view them.
- Single-click or single keystroke background copy of the "keepers" to a preset folder, without disruption of the viewing flow.
- Plug'n'play integration with optional automatic browsing of inserted media or digital camera - quickly view images straight off the camera.
- Shell integration with "Open with FastPictureViewer..." context-menu options for local folders and drives.
- Instant automatic detection of new images added anywhere to the folder tree, while you browse ("hot folder" concept).
- Multi-monitor awareness and huge monitor support, with full-screen borderless kiosk mode available at the press of a key.

FastPictureViewer does all of the above in style, with the slickest, most uncluttered user interface you've seen in ages. But wait, there's more: the Home Basic edition, which supports JPEG, Microsoft HD Photo (*.hdp, *.wdp) and Adobe XMP rating/labeling metadata creation out-of-the-box, is available free of charge for personal use in renewable 90-days trial periods!

Unlike some very well known and well-established digital photo viewers, commercial and free alike, FastPictureViewer was deliberately kept as simple as possible, it has one menu with six commands including Exit and three buttons on the task bar, so you'll learn how to use it in 30 seconds flat instead of weeks. We think an image viewer does not need 200+ menu options and a dozen pages choke full of configurations buttons and choice lists, typical of applications that began as great ideas and eventually grew totally out of control. Of course, FastPictureViewer will evolve and functions will be added in the future, but we strive to keep it as minimalist and simple to use as possible (beside also being the fastest). We won't fall into the usual feature creep and bloat traps so common nowadays and we also seek to keep the bug count as low as possible, instead of adding as many features as we can.

FastPictureViewer Professional (scheduled for Q2 2008) will feature first class TIFF support with metadata embedding, enhanced multiple file format awareness (image stacks, where JPEG+RAW+TIFF, for example, are treated as one), optional display of essential shooting data from EXIF and XMP metadata, and RAW image previewing for select top digital cameras, including the newest and greatest such as Nikon's D3, D300 and Canon's EOS-1D MkIII, EOS-1Ds MkIII[**], along with Olympus, Pentax, Sony and Adobe DNG format through manufacturer or 3rd-party supplied image decoders. A list of codec developers is available on the Microsoft Pro Photo website.
How fast is it?

It depends on a number of things, such as the computer speed, memory amount, disk speed and of course the image's sizes. For multimedia-sized photos or so-called web-ready images, a user reported that the program appears to be quicker than his keyboard auto-repeat set to 'fast', that is, FastPictureViewer is seemingly able to display more than 30 such images per second. How fast is that?

On a 3-years old 2.66GHz dual processor machine with 2GB of memory, another user was able to display 4MP images - such as those obtained when shooting RAW+JPEG Small, a popular setup with pro photographers - at a sustained rate of approximately 5 images per second, with short 30 images per second bursts after letting the program breath a short bit from time to time. This is a lot quicker than any editor or reviewer could ever dream of on any platform.

Settings are everything. Learn how to configure FastPictureViewer for best performances: check out the FAQ!

Of course your mileage may vary as many factors influence the display and loading speed, but FastPictureViewer was engineered for maximum performances from the word go, it should perform well on any recent computer.

Don't take our word for it, see what others are saying about FastPictureViewer:

"Incredibly fast image viewer..." http://ptforum.photoolsweb.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=39369
"Comme l'�clair!!!" (literally: lightning fast) http://www.photocool.fr/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=17903 (French, translate)