File -> Image Browser
Photo-Brush already has a cool built-in Image Browser. It will let you see directories of images on your disk, network or even on your digital camera in thumbnail image format. It even has a “Delete” function. It's great for directory clean-up when utilized carefully!
It has the familiar Explorer interface where you select the viewing directory in the Tree control box, and you see a thumbnails/image list with file size and file type info in the list box below.
Clicking on any item will load it into a larger preview window to the right of the list.
You have the option to delete the file or load it into Photo-Brush.
Note: Delete File will ask if you are sure you wish to delete the image. Once the file is deleted you can't get it back unless you have a back-up of that file elsewhere!
There are 2 ways to view directories: As thumbnails (below left) or as a simple list (the default at below right). You can switch between viewing methods with the << Thumbnail or << List button
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Both Thumbnails and List will display the same information for image type and the file size.
Thumbnail view requires creation of a small thumbnail image for each of the files in a given directory. This will be a small *.tmb file saved into the same directory location as the image. Once the thumbnails are created, the Open Dialog box will reuse them for future preview (otherwise it will always load the whole file and then resize - which could be much slower).
Tip: You can enable or disable creating thumbnails in the same directory as images. This setting is available in menu Tools-Settings.
The image browser will update the thumbnails whenever you change the original file or if the thumbnail doesn't exist. It is safe to delete the tmb files anytime you wish.
If you browse images on CD, it is obvious that the thumbnail can't be recorded there. Photo-Brush then saves the thumbnail in the Windows Temporary directory (usually C:\Windows\TEMP\) in the Subdirectory Thumbs. The same applies for Removable Disks (such as Memory stick, Compact Flash etc..)
The tmb files are small in size; however, if you browse many CDs with a lot of images, it may take some space on your disk (around 8MB for 1000 images). It is safe to delete these *.tmb files and the Windows built-in clean up should do it automatically if you are getting low on disk space. You can also do it easily at will by simply clicking on the List/Thumbnails with the right mouse button and from the context menu select “Clear CD Thumbnails.” If you browse many CDs for images within one editing session, this may prove to be a very useful tool.
EXIF and Image thumbnails.
If you only use the browser in normal viewing situations, you don't need to study the text below. Image Browser will always choose the optimal viewing method for whatever you are doing. However, if you are interested in what is behind the image, read on:
Some Digital Cameras save a thumbnail of the original shot in the EXIF info section of a Jpg File. Digital Cameras usually use this thumbnail for display in the Play mode - it is great for fast access.
Image Browser can use this speed advantage by trying to find this type of thumbnail within the image file before creating a thumbnail from the full size image. This method will improve the speed of creating thumbnails. However thumbnails from EXIF information may have lower quality (depending on the algorithm used in the camera when the original image was created) and they are mostly landscape - even if your image is already rotated or cropped. Also if you make any adjustments to the jpg image, the EXIF thumbnail will still reflect the original camera image. EXIF data is not updated during editing. If the thumbnail is from Exif data, then Image Browser will put a small red EX in the top corner.
If you right click on the thumbnails/list you will see a context menu. Here you can adjust the method of loading the thumbnails:
Reload Thumbnail from Image - this will always reload the selected thumbnail from the image itself by resizing the data.
Reload All Thumbnails from EXIF - this will delete all thumbnails in the current directory and reload them from EXIF information of JPG files (if it exists). The thumbnails which come from the EXIF data will have a red EX in the top corner. Exif thumbnails may not reflect the current image data - they will show the original shot recorded by the digital camera.
Reload All Thumbnails From Image - delete all thumbnails and load them from the image data by resizing. This takes significantly longer, but the thumbnails will always reflect the current image data.
Clear CD Thumbnails - These are the thumbnails saved in the Windows Temporary folder for images on CD or removable media (such as memory cards). “Clear” will delete these files - do it if you think they may take too much space (usually 8 MB for 1000 thumbnails).
If you have no images within the EXIF info, any of the options will load thumbnails from the image data only.
To set the default mode you have to go to Settings and check or uncheck "Try EXIF thumbnails in the Browser".