The Bottom Line
iView Media is a limited but capable media catalog for organizing and managing all your pictures, music, and video files on the Windows or Macintosh platform.
Pros
- Catalogs image, audio, and video files
- Well-documented with PDF manual
- Cross-platform for Macintosh and Windows
Cons
- No image editing or conversion functions
- Limited printing and Web export options
- Catalogs limited to 8,000 media files
Description
- iView Media allows you to catalog and manage your digital media files--images, audio, and video.
- Supports 70 formats including movies and sound files; requires QuickTime for some media types.
- View your media as a list, thumbnail, slide show, or actual media; play audio & video within iView.
- Info panel shows embedded metadata (EXIF, IPTC, QuickTime, etc.) and an entry field for comments.
- Organize and sort files with custom categories and color-coded tags, by date, and by media type.
- Folders panel shows the directory structure of your media as it is organized on disk.
- Manage files with copy, move, rename, delete, rotate, zoom, and batch rename functions.
- Generate Web photo gallery pages and print single images, contact sheets, and media lists.
- Backup your media along with the iView Media Catalog and folder structure.
- iView MediaPro, an advanced version with extra features, is available for Mac (and soon, Windows).
Guide Review - iView Media Catalog for Windows and Macintosh
iView Media is easy to get started with; just drag & drop your pictures onto the application window to start building your catalog. The interface is clear and easy to learn, and it has a well written, detailed manual in PDF format. iView Media does a decent job of doing what it does, but it does so little compared with other media catalogers in this class: it doesn't offer format conversions or image editing; Web galleries and print templates have limited formatting options; slide shows can't be shared. But if you want a single, basic program to organize and display your music, videos, and pictures, give this one a try. (If you plan to burn backup CDs, be sure to try before you buy--it didn't work on my system.)
