Digital cameras are so fast and easy that a single photo shoot can generate lots of similar images. Going through all those pictures to find your favorites is a lot of work unless you have a tool that's quick and efficient and makes it easy to review your images...
Loupe is that tool!
I wrote Loupe to support my own workflow and make me more productive; I'm sharing it so people with similar interests can also benefit. Loupe is deliberately simple and minimalistic and there are many things it doesn't do yet.
Loupe is simple to use!
FREE!
(No ads, either!)
Click to download Loupe from the Windows Store:
Email Loupe@dlaa.me with any comments or questions!
What image formats are supported by Loupe?
Loupe uses the operating system's Windows Imaging Component (WIC) infrastructure to decode images.
By default on Windows 8, WIC includes support for JPEG, TIFF, GIF, PNG, BMP, ICO, and HD Photo images.
The Microsoft Camera Codec Pack (installed automatically by Windows Update in most cases) adds support for raw images for most of the popular digital cameras made by Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, etc..
Codecs are also available from third parties and can be downloaded and installed to provide support for additional image formats.
To see which decoders are installed, check the About dialog.
Are my image files ever modified by Loupe?
Never!
One of the golden rules of digital photography is to never modify the original version of an image.
Almost anything you do to retouch an image loses some detail, so keeping the original copy makes it possible to start over with a different approach.
EXIF metadata supports captioning images in-place, but Loupe doesn't do that because it changes the file.
Instead, Loupe saves the list of favorite images and captions in a simple Favorites.txt file alongside the images in each folder, thereby keeping the original images untouched and providing an open, easy way to track changes.
Why does my caption disappear when I deselect a photo?
Captions are stored in Favorites.txt as part of the selection list; if an image isn't selected, its caption won't be saved.
But if you've accidentally deselected a captioned image and want to get the caption back, just re-select the image and the caption will be restored automatically!
Why does the Windows 8 FolderPicker make me click "OK" after I've already clicked "Choose this folder"?
I have no idea.
Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a way to avoid it; the official sample has the very same behavior.
Loupe doesn't collect any information about you, the images you view, or anything else! No data ever leaves the machine unless you use the Share charm, in which case only the images and captions you've selected are shared with the program you choose.
Copyright © 2012-2013 by David Anson