ACDSee
Encyclopedia
ACDSee is a shareware
image organizer
, viewer
, and editor software for Microsoft Windows
and Mac OS X
10.5 and higher developed by ACD Systems
. It was originally distributed as a 16-bit application
for Windows 3.0
and later supplanted by a 32-bit version
for Windows 95.
ACDSee displays a tree view
of the file structure for navigation with thumbnail
images of the selected folder, and a preview of a selected image. Although primarily an image organizer, basic image editing capabilities are also provided. The thumbnails generated by ACDSee are cached so that they do not need to be regenerated.
The photo manager is available as a consumer version, and a pro version which provides additional features primarily such as raw image format
file processing, and additional image editing capabilities.
, with the interface built using MFC
.
algorithm which significantly improved the quality of RAW processing. Its new features included:
Shareware
The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...
image organizer
Image organizer
An image organizer or image management application is application software focused on organizing digital images. Image organizers represent one kind of desktop organizer software applications.- Common image organizers features :...
, viewer
Image viewer
An image viewer or image browser is a computer program that can display stored graphical image; it can often handle various graphics file formats...
, and editor software for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
10.5 and higher developed by ACD Systems
ACD Systems
ACD Systems Ltd began as a software developer for the CD-ROM cataloguing industry. ACD products include JPEG decoder, image viewing and image management software.-Products:...
. It was originally distributed as a 16-bit application
16-bit application
A 16 bit application is any software written for MS-DOS, OS/2 1.x or early versions of Microsoft Windows which originally ran on the 16-bit Intel 8088 and Intel 80286 microprocessors. Such applications used a 20-bit or 24-bit segment or selector-offset address representation to extend the range of...
for Windows 3.0
Windows 3.0
Windows 3.0, a graphical environment, is the third major release of Microsoft Windows, and was released on 22 May 1990. It became the first widely successful version of Windows and a rival to Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga on the GUI front...
and later supplanted by a 32-bit version
32-bit application
On the x86 architecture, a 32-bit application normally means software that typically uses the 32-bit linear address space possible with the 80386 and later chips...
for Windows 95.
ACDSee displays a tree view
Tree view
A tree view or an outline view is a graphical user interface element that presents a hierarchical view of information. Each item can have a number of subitems...
of the file structure for navigation with thumbnail
Thumbnail
Thumbnails are reduced-size versions of pictures, used to help in recognizing and organizing them, serving the same role for images as a normal text index does for words...
images of the selected folder, and a preview of a selected image. Although primarily an image organizer, basic image editing capabilities are also provided. The thumbnails generated by ACDSee are cached so that they do not need to be regenerated.
The photo manager is available as a consumer version, and a pro version which provides additional features primarily such as raw image format
RAW image format
A camera raw image file contains minimally processed data from the image sensor of either a digital camera, image scanner, or motion picture film scanner. Raw files are so named because they are not yet processed and therefore are not ready to be printed or edited with a bitmap graphics editor...
file processing, and additional image editing capabilities.
ACDSee Pro
ACDSee Pro was released on January 9, 2006 to provide a software program for professional photographers. ACD Systems decided to separate its core release, ACDSee Photo Manager, into two separate products; ACDSee Photo Manager, aimed at amateur photography enthusiasts, and ACDSee Pro which would target Professionals by adding a new package of feature sets. ACDSee Pro’s development team is based out of Victoria, British Columbia and was originally led by Jon McEwan and more recently by Nels Anvik who oversaw ACDSee Pro 2.5 through to Pro 5. The original ACDSee software was created by David Hooper who also added a number of features to ACDSee Pro such as Lighting correction (formerly known as Shadows and Highlights) and Develop Mode (in version 2.0). ACDSee Pro is written in C++C++
C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
, with the interface built using MFC
Microsoft Foundation Class Library
The Microsoft Foundation Class Library is a library that wraps portions of the Windows API in C++ classes, including functionality that enables them to use a default application framework...
.
Version 1.0
The first version was simply known as “ACDSee Pro” without any version number. However, in the “About” box, it was identified as being “Version 8.0”, the same version number used in the ACDSee Photo Manager product released around the same time. Future versions of ACDSee Pro restarted the version numbers, beginning with 2.0. It retail price was $139. The first version of ACDSee Pro included:- Interactive and batch RAWRAW image formatA camera raw image file contains minimally processed data from the image sensor of either a digital camera, image scanner, or motion picture film scanner. Raw files are so named because they are not yet processed and therefore are not ready to be printed or edited with a bitmap graphics editor...
processing (non-destructive RAW editing) - Color management
- Patented Lighting and Contrast Enhancement (LCE) / single-exposure HDR (High Dynamic Range) technology, created by David Hooper (known as “Shadows and Highlights” in the product itself.
- Image comparison tool for comparing multiple images, including their histograms and metadata.
Version 2.0
ACDSee Pro 2 was released on September 11, 2007. It included a new demosaicingDemosaicing
A demosaicing algorithm is a digital image process used to reconstruct a full color image from the incomplete color samples output from an image sensor overlaid with a color filter array...
algorithm which significantly improved the quality of RAW processing. Its new features included:
- More advanced Lighting (LCE) technology including the “Light EQ”, which was also built into the raw image processor
- Highlight recovery for recovering blown highlight detail in raw images
- Improved raw viewing performance through the use of raw image previews
- Selections, opacity and blending in Edit mode
- Advanced red-eye correctionRed-eye effectThe red-eye effect in photography is the common appearance of red pupils in color photographs of eyes. It occurs when using a photographic flash very close to the camera lens , in ambient low light. The effect appears in the eyes of humans and animals that have no tapetum lucidum, hence no...
in Edit mode
Version 2.5
ACDSee Pro 2.5 was released on September 10, 2008. New features include:- Ability to organise and catalog images while importing
- Protecting and sharing custom metadataMetadataThe term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...
via XMPExtensible Metadata PlatformThe Adobe Extensible Metadata Platform is a standard, created by Adobe Systems Inc., for processing and storing standardized and proprietary information relating to the contents of a file....
fields - Saved searches
- Custom borders, drop shadowDrop shadowIn computer graphics, a drop shadow is a visual effect consisting of drawing that looks like the shadow of an object, giving the impression that the object is raised above the objects behind it. The drop shadow is often used for elements of a graphical user interface such as windows or menus, and...
s and edge effect - Slideshows
Version 3.0
ACDSee Pro 3 was released on September 29, 2009. It made significant improvements in its handling of RAW files and enabled full non destructive editing. It also improved the interface and added more online publishing tools. New Features included:- ACDSee Online storage and sharing
- Advanced color
- Non destructive developing of RAW files in Process mode
- Fimstrip in View mode
- Noise reduction
Version 4.0
Released 5 April 2011, ACDSee Pro 4 increased in price to $239. Pro 4 saw a major improvement in its rendering of RAW images which were closer to the manufacturer's default settings. New features included:- A new raw image processing engine which significantly improved the color conversion and tone mapping of raw images
- Full IPTC Core 1.1 support
- New metadata panel
- Map view and geotaggingGeoTaggingGeotagging is the process of adding geographical identification metadata to various media such as a geotagged photograph or video, websites, SMS messages, QR Codes or RSS feeds and is a form of geospatial metadata...
- Vignette correction
- Chromatic aberration and defringe correction
Version 5.0
Released on September 27, 2011. ACDSee Pro 5 was released just 6 months after ACDSee Pro 4. As a result, users of ACDSee Pro 4 could upgrade to ACDSee Pro 5 for $30. New features included:- Dodge and Burn
- Color Labels
- Batch Export
- Split Toning
- New Special Effects: OrtonOrton-Places:England*Orton, Carlisle**Great Orton in Cumbria **Little Orton in Cumbria **Orton Rigg*Orton, Eden in Cumbria*Orton, Northamptonshire*Orton, Peterborough in Cambridgeshire*Orton, StaffordshireScotland*Orton, Moray...
, LomographyLomographyLomography is the commercial trademark of Lomographische AG, Austria for products and services catering to the Global Modern art community of Lomographic photography. The name is inspired by the former state-run optics manufacturer LOMO PLC of Saint Petersburg, Russia...
, Collage - Advanced Sharpening
- Remove Metadata
- Drawing Tools
Beta Versions
ACDSee Pro 2, 2.5, 3 and 4 all participated in a Beta program which incorporated feedback from users into the full releases.Easter Eggs
- ACDSee Pro 2.0 was the first version of ACDSee known to include an “Easter Egg”, which can be seen every April 1 by holding down the Ctrl+Alt+Shift keys while ACDSee starts up. It was hidden in some obfuscated code by the original developer of ACDSee and can still be found in the latest edition of ACDSee Pro.
- Since ACDSee Photo Manager 6.0, if you save an Edit mode preset with the name 'tonywashere' (a reference to one of the lead developers, Tony Luchin) then a credit dialog box will appear.