AView

If you happen to have a gift for photography, you most likely want to enjoy the view after downloading them from your camera. Sure enough this can be done with regular Windows features, but a bit more comfort, even visually is provided by applications like AView, with a cool design, and possibility to categorize pictures.

The center of attention here wants to be the application’s visual design. Although the general window is equipped with common elements, the custom skin pack, and cool animations make it stand out from the crowd. Moreover, the preview area of the selected folder shows thumbnails in a 3D environment to spice up things.

Drag and drop is not supported, but nor does it need to be. A side navigation panel lets you quickly access any folder from your computer, or any connected external device. The same panels can be used to switch to categories, and search, to help you easily find specific pictures in your collections, or hard drive.

However, you don’t necessarily have to use the 3D center browser, since it shows only thumbnails, and scrolling gets frustrating at times. Luckily, there’s a second list of files with related details, and interacting with a picture brings it up in a larger panel, for closer inspection. Some related controls can be used to quickly rotate, or flip selected pictures on either axis.

In case neither of the view methods suit your style, the application allows you to add one, or more external viewers to have pictures opened this way. Edit options include functions you’re used to from similar application. These allow you to perform copy, cut, paste operations, and even copy, or move files to specific folders. There’s also a built-in renamer, but it can only process one file at a time.

In conclusion, AView comes with good intentions, but it feel a little overwhelming for what it has to offer. Sure enough, the visual design is pretty neat, with stylish animations for mouseover, and 3D navigator. Collections can be organized in groups, with search function to find items of interest.