Part 2 (see Part 1) of my exploration of Mac OS X options for budget ($100 or less) image browsers/batch processors. I basically want something to make it easy for me to generate the watermarked full size/thumbnail pairs I post here in my blog. The premise is that, with a better tool, I’ll spend less time processing and will post photos more often as I’ll avoid that “I don’t have time” roadblock.
My criteria, again:
- Quick rendering in the browser
- Batch creation of copies of the images
- Watermarking
- Sharpening
- A nice simple, clean, elegant UI
Without further ado, and in no particular order:
- iMagine Photo Automator Actions
- First Impression: Batch process images using AppleScript, huh? I think I’m looking for something a bit less DIY.
Usage: I read through the documentation and decided not to actually try any of the sample scripts.
Conclusion: Great level of control, but that isn’t something I need in this tool.
Price: Free
- PicMark
- First Impression: Minimal, clean web page with a couple of screenshots. First launch… where are the windows?
Usage: It isn’t the easiest program to navigate, with all the different little windows. However, it popped up the right window at the right time for me (I need to choose a folder of photos, how do I do that? Ah, it just popped up.). The batch processing worked nicely and as expected.
Conclusion: While this generally does what I want, it has a second step for creating thumbnails (duplicating the original watermarking process) and it doesn’t have any “background color awareness” or variables for the text watermark color so you have to basically pick a mid-tone and hope for the best. Also, there is no sharpening or resizing during the batch watermarking, you’ll have to do that beforehand. A good tool, but still not quite what I’m after.
Price: Free
- MiniBatch
- First Impression: The web site has a feature list along with screenshots that indicate a well-designed application. First launch gave a little “nag” message, then shows a window that lets you set up batch rules.
Usage: After setting up my batch settings, I previewed an image and my .png watermark image worked perfectly! I tried to add the settings to “Favorites”, but got the nagware prompt – turns out this is crippleware. I processed a folder of images and was quite pleased with the results.
Conclusion: So far, this is the best batch processor I’ve used. It can save batch settings and it even supports RAW images. I think the interface could be a little more user friendly, and i wish it would output from 2 batch settings in a single pass, but it works well.
Price: $9.95
I’ll keep working through my list of potential options and posting them here as I go. The comments are open.
Please note: All versions reviewed were the latest available at the time this review was published. Software changes with each release, so these reviews may become outdated at any time.