DropIt Review - Automated File Manager for PC Wizards

excellent
key review info
application features
  • Enhanced file management
  • (9 more, see all...)

Specially designed for PC wizards who always seem to be in a hurry to get someplace, DropIt proposes a convenient method to quickly perform all sorts of file management operations, by simply dropping files or entire directories in a small box which can be positioned anywhere on the screen.

This way, you can skip all the steps and confirmation dialogs that Windows usually prompts you for, like where you would like to move specific files. Naturally, this type of program comes in handy in situations which require repetitive actions.

By just taking the time to configure all the initial app settings, you can instruct the operating system to automatically organize photo, music or movie collections. For instance, after you drop a directory with various file formats of images, videos and audio tracks, DropIt can automatically organize the files by extension and move them in their appropriate folders, such as BMPs, JPEGs and PNGs to "Photos", MP3s, WAVs and FLACs to "Music", or AVIs, MPEGs and MKVs to "Movies".

Feature highlights

The software utility is free and highly intuitive, so you don't need to be a masterful computer user to tinker with DropIt's configuration. It can copy, move, compress, rename, delete, split, join, encrypt, decrypt, or upload files.

Moreover, it can extract files from archives, open them with any external application installed, send them via email, copy them to the Clipboard, change file properties, ignore items, as well as create galleries, lists, playlists or shortcuts.

Apart from managing file associations with rules, you can create multiple profiles, as well as monitor folders to skip drag-and-drop and perform operations automatically.

Installation and interface

The setup procedure is fast and requires minimal user intervention. It doesn't contain any third-party components, so there's no risk of unwillingly installing browser toolbars or other unwanted software. Those who want to bypass the installer and launch DropIt on any computer may resort to its portable counterpart with identical features, Portable DropIt.

Once launched, the application shows a small blue box with an arrow in right in the center of the screen, which can be moved anywhere on the desktop (it stays on top of other windows). Double-clicking it hides the box and sends DropIt to the system tray.

As previously mentioned, it's necessary to take care of the initial configuration before dropping files and folders in the box. Therefore, you can create as many file associations as you want with different settings, and then organize them into different profiles.

Create and manage file associations and profiles

New file associations can be put together by indicating a display name, rules, action, and additional parameters which depend on the selected action. For instance, you have to indicate the destination folder when moving, copying, compressing, extracting, splitting, joining, encrypting or decrypting items. Plus, you can mark associations as favorites to give them priority in case of multiple matches.

DropIt: Customize and manage profiles
DropIt: Customize and manage profiles

File associations and profiles can be edited, copied, duplicated or deleted. Additionally, you can assign custom images to profiles from GIF, JPG or PNG files, as well as set their dimension and opacity level.

You can show a progress window during the process, integrate the profiles into the SendTo menu, process folders without scanning them, start the process right after loading, ignore unassociated files and folders, and use an automatic choice for duplicates. Profile configurations can be exported to file with the INI, CSV or XLS extension.

A wide range of rules and conditions

There is a very long list of conditions that can be met for files and folders. For example, DropIt is able to filter files by format or name (e.g. include or exclude files that begin with...). You can restrict the file size, date of creation, modification or last access, and attributes (archives, hidden, read-only, system, temporary), as well as filter file content (e.g. must contain at least one of the words.., all words in casual order - case sensitive).

DropIt: Set up numerous rules and conditions
DropIt: Set up numerous rules and conditions

The program's versatility doesn't end here, though. It lets you reconstruct the original directory structure and write file renaming patterns using various kinds of information, such as owner, file type, image properties (e.g. brightness, flash mode, light source), media parameters (e.g. bit rate, song duration, genre), hashes (MD4, MD5, SHA-1, CRC), current system date and time, and so on. New abbreviations can be added to the list with custom values.

Extra file processing parameters which depend on the actions

The application can be asked to compress files into ZIP, 7Z or EXE archives, and you can pick the compression level and method, as well as password-protect the new files and automatically remove the source items afterward.

Files can be deleted by sending the items to the Recycle Bin, securely erasing them, or permanently removing them from the computer. Plus, they can be split by size, encrypted by picking a preferred security algorithm (DES, 3DES, RC2, RC4, AES 128-bit, 192-bit or 256-bit), uploaded via FTP or SFTP, or emailed via SMTP (without using an external email client).

DropIt puts several themes at your disposal for creating photo galleries, and also gives you the possibility to select the image quality, edit the image titles, and insert custom abbreviations. Furthermore, you can create sortable lists in HTML format and add filters, lightboxes and column titles, as well as change file properties regarding the date, time and attributes.

During the file processing task

After dropping files and folders in the box, DropIt brings up a panel with the progress bar that requires your confirmation to continue. Before doing this, you can study the name, action, destination and status for each file, view detailed files properties, as well as instruct the application to skip any selected file. If files with the same name already exist, you can overwrite the original items, rename the new files, or skip the files. The selected action can be applied only to the current conflict or to all duplicates.

Configure general program settings

A lot of general parameters can be configured. For example, you can lock the target image position, automatically hide the target image on the nearest side of the screen, use an automatic choice for duplicates (e.g. skip, overwrite, overwrite only if newer), or disable confirmations for large loaded files.

One or more folders can be monitored so that DropIt will automatically perform actions when identifying supported files with associated profiles. You can set the checkup frequency and minimum file size to take into account, as well as enable or disable the progress window.

The software utility can be asked to automatically run at every Windows startup and start minimized to the tray. You can integrate it into the SendTo menu, allow multiple instances, select the ordering mode when processing files in groups (e.g. file name, date created), encrypt profiles with a password when exiting DropIt to restrict the access of other users, back up and restore settings, enable automatic backups, as well as enable log files to inspect program activity when leaving the PC unattended for a longer period of time.


The Good

The application worked smoothly in our tests, without hanging, crashing or prompting error dialogs. File management options were carried out swiftly while CPU and RAM usage remained minimal.

It supports multiple UI languages. Apart from the fact that it contains a complete help manual, it displays hints throughout the interface.

It is free to use.

Those who want to bypass the installer and launch DropIt on any computer may resort to its portable counterpart with identical features, Portable DropIt.

With the aid of this application, you can tinker with a wide range of settings to automatically copy, move, compress, extract, rename, delete, split, join, encrypt, decrypt and upload files, launch them with specific applications, email them as attachments, copy them to the Clipboard, edit file properties, as well as create photo galleries, lists, playlists and shortcuts.

You can make numerous kinds of file associations, as well as put together, manage and customize multipurpose profiles.

The Bad

Since there are so many numerous patterns listed as rules and conditions (which are not intuitive for less experienced users), it takes a while to figure all of them out.

The Truth

Taking into account the fact that this is a free application, DropIt proves to be a reliable desktop assistant to significantly speed up common file management operations.

NOTE: You can also check out our previous review for DropIt 0.9.4.

user interface 4
features 5
ease of use 3
pricing / value 5


final rating 5
Editor's review
excellent
 
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DropIt (14 Images)

DropIt: Drop files into the box to easily process themDropIt: Apply rules for filesDropIt: Apply rules for foldersDropIt: Customize additional filtersDropIt: Set up file associations easily
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