14 DAY TRIAL // I can't think of an image viewer that does not come with the slightest image editing options; be they the trivial red-eye removal or just the humdrum rotating function, there has always been something you can do to your pictures in a viewer. Things have evolved in this category as well and from the common application that loads the images one at a time or in a slidewhow we have come to witness the 3D view of entire image galleries.
MobaPhoto comes with an interesting approach in this regard. With a modern, slick looking interface to anyone's liking, there is no need for installation as a simple run of the downloaded executable will do. The application is still in beta stage, but it is hard to believe it once you take a look at the interface. At the first launch of the app, the user needs to agree to the settings of the software in order to continue. It is just a simple task of selecting the desired options so there should be nothing complicated.
The three sections available for configuring MobaPhoto run from general settings to viewer options and context menu. Main Options enables the display of balloon tips in the main window, show the rotation buttons and keep EXIF in modified pictures. Viewer Options section allows adapting large pictures to fit screen size, enlarging the small ones to fit screen and adapt picture size to screen width in case of a widescreen.
With the third section, Right-click Menu, the range of choices is richer and all choices are designed to appear in Explorer's context menu. As MobaPhoto is an application of many talents, you can easily create a web photo gallery just by right-clicking a bunch of pictures directly from Windows Explorer.
Main application window is composed of four modules, each with specific purposes, from batch resizing the photos and converting them to JPEG format, creating a web photo gallery or batch editing to batch renaming. All operations are launched separately and you can always return to main screen once the job is done. Picture browser is available for all four menus and it is extremely easy to handle and work with, being constructed of a tree view, file view area, selected picture preview and the section where the files to be processed are added.
Resize options involve either strict values imposed by the user or predefined settings optimized for CD/DVD/HD storage, for printing or for uploading online. In order to avoid a disproportionate result, users can enable the maintain aspect ratio option; quality settings during resize process are adjustable only by setting the JPEG compression ration on a scale from 4 to 99. Output location can be the same with the home of original files or the user can go for a different destination.
Making a web slideshow or uploading images into an online web gallery is no challenge for MobaPhoto as the result will be a complete wrap-up of the pictures into web content, ready to place on a website. After choosing the images, all that's left to do is name the gallery, make the right choices regarding the frame, text and background color as well as decide upon one of the nine frames available. An additional option permits uploading the gallery automatically to the website.
After the operation is complete, the application will run you the slideshow in the default browser. Viewing the images can be done in three ways: by running the slideshow (you have no control over choosing transitions and effects - actually, there is only one effect), by clicking on the desired image or by downloading them all as a ZIP archive. The web gallery will bear the MobaPhoto mark in the top right corner and its name straight in the middle. One drawback of the entire deal would be the lack of user input into deciding whether the gallery should be available for download or not, but transition effects should also not be forgotten.
Editing section of the application is not much, but comes with the strictly necessarily and slightly more on the side. You have cropping possibilities, rotation choices (by 90 degrees to the right or to the left), red eye removal or adjusting colors, brightness and contrast. The pictures are dealt with one at a time and can be saved either to a separate location or by overwriting the original.
Renaming is the last module on the menu and it preserves the same simplicity and ease of use. Just like the rest of the application, there are no complicated options, but only a set of presets for automatic renaming thoroughly explained. Users can proceed to manually rename the images, but in the case of larger groups automatic options may come in handy. File name, folder name, count, day, month, year, hour, minute and second are all criteria to rename your photos. Additional choices permit replacing a constant word with another in each file name. Immediately after making a setting, preview area will show all modifications before saving them.
MobaPhoto is still in beta stage, so not all options and function may work correctly. It needs no installation and functions very well from a portable device. There aren't many settings to deal with and none of them are soliciting, regardless of the users' skills. One major advantage consists in the interface which perfectly fits Vista environment having glossy tints and appealing gradients.
The Good
MobaPhoto is extraordinarily designed both in terms of interface and the organizing of its features. It could not be a simpler way to process groups of images easily and effectively.
Web photo gallery is the twist in this batch image processor making the operation extremely comfortable, time saving and offering simple but appealing results.
The Bad
We had trouble with adding context menu shortcuts for different operations in Windows Explorer in Vista Home Premium. On Vista Business Edition, however, there were no problems with this matter. Yet we have to take into account the beta stage of the product and not judge it too harshly.
The Truth
With all the bugs and drawbacks resolved I am sure that MobaPhoto will garner interest, as its interface is beautifully designed while joggling with the different features is a breeze. There is plenty of room for improvement, but for this stage is does a great job and from now on it can go only one way: up.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
