As the initiator and architect of the Pictomio software I thought I knew quite a lot about software development but I have to admit that I had no idea of the dynamics that a free photo viewer software could unleash.

Everytime I read a blog that mentions Pictomio in one sentence together with one of the major multi-billion dollar players (e.g. Vista Photo Gallery, Picasa, Lightroom or Aperture) it is for me a little piece of a dream becoming real. It is kind of a prove that the net is still free and the universal domination plans of Googles and Microsofties fail to limit the market penetration of free and creative new products.

I want to thank everybody who wrote blog entries, reviews or spread the news about Pictomio in some way else! You give us the motivation and the power to continue our development effort and we will try to bring you the best free digital asset management software that we can create in return. Please don't stop spreading the word!

Of course we do not exclusively listen to positive feedback. For example a lot of voices out there complain that some must-have features are missing in Pictomio. The most frequently requested features are image editing, support for RAW file formats, IPTC-support, photo website uploaders, export features, different skins etc. As you can imagine I am unhappy when I read in a user's comment that he or she has uninstalled Pm because it did not provide a particular function the user was looking for. Shortly after asking myself whether it was the right decision to put so much priority on the user-interface I realize that we surely will be able to offer the requested functionality in the future and we never had got such a overwhelmin response from the community with a dusty grey win95-look photo manager.

Even if the process of software development with our limited set or resources seems indefinitely slow measured in internet-time, let me assure you that we are working full steam ahead on the next version.

I also want to take the chance to drop some lines to potential investors (if you are not Adobe, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, a big photo equipment manufacturer you may safely skip this section): Until end of the year we will probably decide whether to develop a next generation version of Pictomio as an open community project. This means the time-window to contact us is closing - once significant parts of Pm start living in community-space they cannot be "bought" anymore. Fact is that we have an excellent developer team, a clear vision and an incredible market. Fact is also that NON of the big players (to name them: Adobe, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Corel, ACDSee etc.) currently has the perfect end-consumer photo management solution. Provided you have the monetary resources it is your chance to leverage my vision and the brain-power of the Pictomio DevTeam for your brand and position in the digital lifestyle market. Of course most of the mainsteam features have to remain free and we want to continue our way to create a "cutting-edge next-generation" software... but since you are all benefactors (*twinkle* to data-octopussy Google) this will surely not be your major concern... ;-)

OK - now since all major poker-players had the chance to place their bets back to the more realistic future of Pictomio: How are we going to finance the project in ongoing "David against Goliath" mode?
Of course first of all David has to survive to win the fight: This means that not all new features of Pictomio can be offered for free. We will switch to a shareware mode on a per module/feature basis. End of this week we will provide you with a technology preview version of such a shareware feature which will be offered together with some sort of geeky hardware device every photographers needs :-). And the best about it is that we promise to use at least half of the revenue of this and comparable future shareware products to add new functions to the free version of Pm (the other 50% will be eaen up for marketing and development of the pay-feature itself).

Special thanks to the following blog authors:

English:

• http://www.freewaregenius.com/2008/07/08/pictomio-an-image-viewer-with-a-high-coolness-factor/
• http://freewareaddict.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/pictomio-a-souped-up-windows-picture-viewer/
• http://heraldtechnoir.wordpress.com/2008/07/10/pictomio-get-it-if-you-dont-already-have-acdsee/
• http://lifehacker.com/398106/pictomio-makes-browsing-photos-fun
• (potential investors might use http://www.google.com/search?q=pictomio+review)

German:

• http://www.frog-blog.ch/frogblog/archive/2008/07/09/pictomio-wer-ist-schneller-microsoft-oder-yahoo.aspx
• http://www.vista-blog.de/software-tipp-pictomio/ (I was really embarrassed by this one, thank you so much for you positive words!)

And something that is going to make you laugh. Chris Pirillo mentioned Pictomio in one of his recent live web-casts:

And of course special THANKS for everybody translating and testing Pm!

Andreas

Added features

• New languages: Ukrainian, Slovak, Romanian, Chinese
• Import dialog file extension filter now knows more formats (video + audio)
• It's now possible to locate library files in file system via context menu
• Some new default categories have been added
• Changed default parameters for Explode transition
• Renamed 'Dummy' transition to 'Cut'

Bug fixes

• Slideshow: display error in page turn transition
• Keyboard shortcuts 1,2,3,4 now work for switching Thumbnails, Filmstrip, Single Image and Carrousel
• Volume control does not work linear within complete range
• File dialog: Items are not listed alphabetically
• Alt + F4 closes dialog box but Pictomio cannot be operated anymore afterwards
• EXIF tags are not displayed in the set language but in English

Bug fixes and optimizations

• Text rendering shows wrong characters on some systems
• Single Image view sometimes does not show images when indexing
• Optimized application responsiveness while indexing
• Stabilized video playing
• Trying to access Floppy and CD-ROM drives when selecting local drives
• Histogram channels red and blue were inverted
   
  

During the review process for some beta bugs we recognized that in particular our thumbnail image view would require a major rework if we wanted to fix the defects sustainable. In this situation I made the decision to change greater amounts of our code in order to allow a notably higher rendering speed and more visual effects. Unfortunately this means now for our users that we will not be able to release a final version of Pm 1.0 by end of March.

I hope we can bring you a fresh style of presentation that you will feel was worth the effort and release-delay. As soon as our new implementation reaches a presentable stage we will make it avaiable for download.

Thanks for your support and your understanding!

Andreas Köpf
Chief Developer

Bug fixes

• New skimming mouse cursor was not installed correctly

Optimizations + additional features

• Improved loading speed and overal performance by changing the texture allocation behaviour
• Ability to use VSync (will reduce tearing effects when animating, like in the carrousel mode)
• Support of graphic cards without hardware vertex processing capabilities (for example some mobile graphic chips)

Bug fixes

• Crash on exit after using fullscreen slideshow
• Crash when solving a device lost problem while playing a video
• Crash when switching between viewmodes while playing a video
• Crash when exiting the application while decoding an image
• Slides in the slideshow cannot be moved

Optimizations + additional features

• Optimized starting speed by introducing binary file formats for 3D models (PMFS - Pictomio Scene File) and UI elements (BUI -  Binary XUI), will be generated at first start
• Reduced Video RAM usage significantly
• Reduced memory consumption of Slideshow
• Added support of navigation by special keys (multimedia keyboards) and mouse buttons
• Decreased recovery time after fullscreen/screensaver (DirectX device loss)

Bug fixes

• Problem with Undo/Redo in EXIF editor
• Crash when trying to copy/move files from removed media
• Deadlock while indexing and exiting
• Crash when importing and adding to an album
• Artifacts after fullscreen switch and device lost
• Several smaller bugs
• Images disapear from album if they are moved to the same album

After a long period of intensive development and bug fixing we finally released today our first beta version of Pictomio. All main features for the final version are integrated now and we are focusing on bug fixing and perfomance optimization for the next few weeks until we release the final version.

If you encounter bugs or defects please report them in our forum. When we release a new version (beta or final) you should be informed automatically after the application started. You can also check manually for new versions in the help menu.

New Features

• 3D models for album and category
• Improved models for drives
• Album/Category sidebar to quickly drop your images
• Check for new versions at application start or on demand
• Filter drop down menu for thumbnail view
• New container (next to favorites) allows quick access to shortlist items
• Currently indexed images are shown in a floating window
• User settings (positions and sizes of UI elements, view mode, filter settings, etc.) are saved and restored at next start
• Direct rename in thumbnails view now possible
• New option to show and hide hidden files
• Screensaver is deactivated when slideshow plays in fullscreen mode

Bug fixes

• Several menu bugs fixed
• Explode effect improved
• Crash when video is inserted into slideshow
• Crash when trying to access not ready drive