IMAGES: In Context
 

What's it do?

Described as "The Ultimate Right-Click Image Utility", Images: In Context provides a powerful photo editor that is initialized with a right click on photos. With this program you can resize, crop, convert, rotate, lighten, darken, color-correct, add text to photo images, and use 70 other filters and effects. You can create photo gallery Webpages and email slideshows as well.


Does it do what it promises?

Reviewer 1: With Windows Explorer open, right-click on a graphic and an instant thumbnail view of the image appears.. You can also see the properties of the file and convert the image to over 70 different formats, set this image as your desktop wallpaper, or even create Web pages of the images. You can process and edit the image and apply photo effects and filters. Once the image has been corrected send the image to your friends by email or create instant Web pages from your selection.

Reviewer 2: Yes, and more!

Reviewer 3: Images: In Context's main claim from their Web site is: "you'll be able to edit, correct and stylize your digital photos like a pro without having to read a manual or open slow confusing programs". If you allow for a very liberal definition of "like a pro", they hold true to their claim.

Reviewer 4: Images: In Context is a graphics program that you can include in your "right-click" menu. So, if you right-click on an image file, Images In Context will appear along with a thumbnail of the image. If you move your cursor into the Images: In Context section of the context menu, all the functions of Images: In Context will come up, just as items in the Start Menu do. From there, you can do about as many picture-transforming activities on that image as you can do with the stand-alone heavyweight programs. If you right-click on non-image files, Images: In Context does not show up.

Reviewer 5: That would depend on who you ask. For most, the answer would be "yes," in my case "yes, for a while." I'll explain that in 'other comments.'

Reviewer 6: Yes, and it does it in a very user-friendly way providing an unusually significant degree of functionality for a program in this price range.


Was it easy to install?

Reviewer 1: It was very easy to install. Simply click on the executable and let it select the folders and run with it.

Reviewer 2: Yes. A very straightforward, simply, and relatively small 3.42 MB download which even on dial-up will only take approximately 7 minutes. It installs quickly, using the Windows InstallShield Wizard and places no unnecessary icons in your computer.

Reviewer 3: Installation was smooth. They added a twist that I have not seen before. The basic trial download contains a "Help file" that contains only text. If you want the full version with graphics, you need to follow their links to go back to their site to download this larger file. Their stated reason for this is to facilitate the initial download for users with slow connections. I suggest that they consider creating two download links on their site - one for dialup users with the 'Lite' version of help and the 'Full' version for the rest of us. This was not a big problem; just an extra step which could have been avoided. I suggest that you do get the 'full' version of the help file. The graphics are very helpful in understanding the material presented.

Reviewer 4: Yes, it was. Because it is going into the right-click context menu, there are no questions asked about installing icons in the start menu or on the desktop. However, my anti-spyware and start-up monitor programs came to life, asking my permission for it to run at start-up. Since it must operate in the context menu, this is OK.

Reviewer 5: Yes, nothing much to it - installing directly into Windows, there's no particular need to seek user input during the installation. Those with software monitoring changes to the Registry will need to allow the installation program to do so, of course.

Reviewer 6: Yes , but I was very surprised that after completion (not flagged or indicated in any way) that Images: In Context! just disappeared from the desktop. It took me a while to find that it had indeed just installed itself as a mouse right-button context addition. It certainly would have been helpful to have some preview of 'what's going to happen during installation' and where the user should go from there to utilize the program. I agree that there's a lot of excellent tutorial material on the Web site, but it's very abnormal and unexpected to have documentation and descriptive material available only from the parent Web site.


Good points?

Reviewer 1: I like the way you can simply right-click on the desired file and have immediate access to 60+ formats the image can be converted to. Some of the more familiar formats are BMP, GIF, JPEG, PCX, PNG, TGA, TIFF, WBMP. Besides converting to different formats, you can flip, resample, or resize the file. Filters such as Add Noise, modify the RGB colors, Brightness, Contrast, Gamma Correction, Hue and Intensity can be incorporated into the image. To make a Web page, just select the Web Page option and the program will resize and resample them for optimum Web page viewing and downloading.

Reviewer 2: I might as well admit right up front that I love this program. It's not Adobe Photoshop but neither does it take a graduate degree in Graphic Arts to use, the patience of a Methuselah to decipher a 600-page instruction manual, or the finances of Donald Trump to afford! In fact, if you can right-click your mouse you can use this program immediately. Images: In Context integrates right into the cozy, familiar Windows Explorer. It puts a thumbnail preview into the right-click menu of every image. From there, you'll also find options for editing, resizing, red-eye removal, format conversion, and over 70 image effects (and telephone support, updates, help menu, etc.). You can also select multiple images to apply the effects over several at once. You can select multiple images and turn them into a slide show or Web page with a single click. You can even rename groups of images, taking the work out of managing your vacation photos. Images: In Context! makes it easy to copy images, resize them, and convert them among popular formats. You can adjust brightness, gamma, tint, and contrast. It's easy to adjust the color, equalize the brightness or the entire image, create a gradient map, posterize the image, or convert it to grayscale or sepia tone. You can apply pinch distortions, ripples, lens distortions, or a glass effect. In fact, there are dozens of other special effects that you can add to your photographs, without being - or hiring - a graphic artist. I'm just touching the surface here. There is a whole panoply of stylizing effects like adding text, halftone, solarize, spin, watercolor and zigzag (whatever that is). You can crop and flip too. Plus, it does things really fast.

Reviewer 3: Toll-free telephone support! I did not need to call them, but the ability to reach a live support person is not easily available on many more expensive programs. Being able to reach them toll-free is an added bonus. This program attempts to address a frustrating feature found with many digital image programs; i.e. having to open a complex and 'slow to load' graphics program in order to make changes in your digital images. They do this by adding their program as a 'right click' option when you are viewing your file in Windows Explorer or other programs. There is an assortment of editing functions available, including the ability to create custom filters. The help section is written clearly and in simple language. Examples of the visual effects created by each filter are given if you download the full version of the help system. If you edit an image and save it, the original unedited image is also saved in a hidden format. It is nice to be able to get back to the original file, but I do not know another way to determine that the original is available except by right-clicking on the image and clicking again on the "view history" option. The program seems to load quickly by loading just the modules which are going to be used for the function at hand, rather than loading every module as is typically done in traditional image editing software. There are different sets of modules available, depending on whether you are going to edit single or multiple images. In the multiple image editing section are some innovative features including the ability to quickly create a Web page with your selected images, create an animated .gif slideshow, and resize multiple images.

Reviewer 4: This is an excellent program. Not only have the designers managed to build in an impressive number of functions, they have also made them readily accessible, and relatively easy to understand. The Help file is well-organized, with the most common items near the top, to start you off quickly. I recommend that you look at the information concerning JPG files, before doing anything else. Then go on to the Quick Start item, which, as you might suspect, gets you started, quickly. On the Web site, you will find demonstrations of several of Images: In Context !'s most commonly-used functions and effects. I found this to be time well invested. Not only did they give me an easy start; they also made me aware of several of the features of the program that I would not have noticed until later. Except for the red-eye remover, (see below) I found that all the functions I tried worked well, and were easy to apply. I particularly appreciate the ease of selecting a photo to use as wallpaper on your desktop, and set it there with a simple click. Although I do know how to do this in Windows itself, there are many people who may have to struggle a bit to find out how to accomplish this task. Images: In Context not only makes it very simple; it also moves a copy of that particular photo into the correct folder at the same time. So, it will be there for use in the future if you, as I do, move from one wallpaper to another over time. Although I do not have a Web page yet, I easily created a gallery of photos that I can upload to that future project. There are also many other excellent features in addition to the dozens of photo-manipulation functions: easily rename photos, add text, and create slide shows, to name a few.

Reviewer 5: An amazingly simple concept! Why hasn't it been done before (or at least, why is this the first such implementation I've seen)? How many times have I wanted to add a single image to a web page, or email it to someone, or insert it into a document? In how many of those cases have I wanted or needed to modify the image somewhat before using it? How many times have I opened a hefty photo manipulation application - or even a lightweight 'viewer with editing tools' - just to crop or resize a single image? Images: In Context is perfectly suited to those situations. Browse for the image, right-click, make your modification. Need to do several things to the image? Repeat the process. Finally, browse one last time and left-click to send it where you want it to go.

Reviewer 6: Its Web site introductory tutorials are among the best I've seen anywhere: they cover an extensive set of core functions, and they do it effectively and patiently. The new user doesn't just get a glimpse like most tutorials of this sort, but he can also think about and absorb the lesson. I would have appreciated a note somewhere that printable copies of the Help files were available in the Help pull-down menu. Service/support for Images: In Context was evidently an area where they really care. My 'test-case' problem/query was answered within five hours on a Friday with a thoughtful, full-page, clearly specific response. Any way you look at it, a price of $20 for this much functionality is a 'steal', and the program provides a great practice field for newcomers to learn how to massage their digital photographs -- most of whom will never need anything more. Think of it as a 'Volkswagen' for casual digital photographers who need only to label and make small or occasional corrections to their photos, into which its easy-to-use interface, the right mouse-button, fits perfectly. You can't make one any better than that: "Simply right click on any image file in Windows to activate". Its License Agreement allowed use on one1 or more computers by any one person, a definite plus and a beneficial user-oriented policy. Ditto for its 30-day free evaluation period, for which a very thoughtful seven-day extension is offered if one needs more time. Images: In Context allows you to "undo and/or redo up to 20 of your most recent changes to each image, no matter when those changes occurred" a benefit I've found rarely in photography programs, and certainly not in one this modestly priced.


Weak Points

Reviewer 1: It is hard to find weak points in such a nice utility as this but it would be nice to have the ability to view and play video files in a thumbnail view.

Reviewer 2: I have been playing with this software for the past three months and have used it for personal photographs as well as more complicated business/professional graphics. I have yet to find a flaw or, for the price, any needed improvement. I suppose if I must find something to nit-pick, I would suggest the EULA agreement be edited as it states that there is no warranty when, in fact, there is a very liberal 30-day warranty.

Reviewer 3: This program is only called up when you right-click on an image. You can only perform one function on your image and then your options are to save, save-as, or cancel. Once you choose your option, the program closes. This presents numerous inconveniences or potential problems including if you rename the image, you may have to search for it again in Windows Explorer since it will no longer be the highlighted file and it will have a different name and date from the original; it interrupts your workflow to constantly flip back and for the between Windows Explorer and Image in Context as you make a series of changes; and, every time you save a .JPG image there is a new compression algorithm run that loses information and introduces artifacts. The help section does mention this as a problem and suggests that you convert your image to a lossless file format, but those who miss that advice are likely to see their images degrade as they are edited. This program only allows you to work within a limited size window. You can change the magnification and move around within a zoomed-in image, but you cannot display it full screen. I strongly suggest that the company make an option available to view photos in more than just a "snapshot" view.  The speed of the program in calculating/displaying changes in images as well as saving the changed image was often quite slow. A feature I use often in other programs is rotating an image by an arbitrary amount. Often, this is just a few degrees to correct for camera tilt relative to the horizon. This program allows you to rotate images in 90-degree increments but does not allow for minor adjustments. Another feature I use often in Photoshop is changing the gamma, white point, and black point in my images. While this can be done in this program, it is a multi-step process. My "wish list" for Images in Context would include the ability to make these multiple changes directly on a histogram and combined into a single step. The "rename" function in the multiple images editing menu is a bit weak in that it brings up each of the images individually and you have to rename each of them separately. It would be nice to have a batch function that renames all of them automatically.

Reviewer 4: One of the most common fixes that need to be done is the red-eye remover. In Images: In Context !, this is rather tedious, requiring many steps, a lot of fiddling around with the mouse, and some quite precise eye-hand coordination before the red eyes disappeared. It is also one of the least intuitive features; I doubt that I would have been able to find out how it works had it not been for the demo on the web-site.

Reviewer 5: My experience with Support was unsatisfactory. On the Web site there is no 'support' menu. There are no FAQ (at least, of a support/troubleshooting nature). The 'contact us' provides an email form which is introduced as "the best way to contact us" with a promise that "we strive to answer all emails within two business days of receipt." I sent the email on Sunday, and by the end of Friday had not yet received any human response. There is a link to the Liquid Mirror Web site, where there actually are some troubleshooting FAQ and a support email that may be more responsive than the "best way to contact us" email.

Liquid Mirror, producers of Images:In Context!, replied: I am perplexed as to reviewer 5's trouble contacting support. I pride myself on offering support far superior to that of the large corporate software publishers. Please ask him to email or call again so we can troubleshoot his issue

Reviewer 6: Cascading menus, while simple to learn & traverse, are in the long run rather tedious and laborious to use, enough so that I think any more than casual users will soon move on to a program with a more traditional desktop interface with multiple related functions accessible proximate to one another at the same level of hierarchy. Its process - serial application of a multitude of individual small changes to a photo - is cumbersome and will substantially degrade image quality, unless the user sets the JPEG-Save Quality slide bar to 100%. A farm more efficient process is going all set-ups on an image or group of images, as done by DCE AutoEnhance (www.mediachance.com/dce/), a program that automatically batch processes the metadata information the digital camera has recorded with the image. You set the parameters and it batch-processes and improves the image set accordingly. Images needing individual tweaking (less than 10% in my experience) can be reprocessed with adjusted parameters. The crop function needs serious makeover, appearing way down in the menu tree, three levels below the initial menu. In my experience, this function is the most-used, needed on almost all pictures; therefore, it should be moved up and made a top-level menu item. Rather than letting the user click a spot on the picture to create a drag handle frame around just the portion of the picture to be preserved, as provided by most editing programs, Image:In Context requires the user to begin with drag handles surrounding the entire original image that may not even show on the default 25% image displayed. One is forced to find and use the drag handles to frame the desired image, a much more cumbersome procedure.


Other Comments

Reviewer 1: This is a slick small program that installs easily and quickly. If you need to or work an with graphic images and manipulate them without the bulk of adding expensive graphic programs, then this is the way you want to go.

Reviewer 2: This award-winning software (2005 SIAF Best Graphics Editor) seems to be winning over everyone who tries it, and I can see why. For $19.95 you get a near perfect graphic editor; excellent customer support from a company (Liquid Mirror) that has been around for over 10 years-a lifetime in the software industry; a 30-day, 100% money-back guarantee; and you are even allowed the unheard of license to make unlimited copies of the software. What more can you ask for? Images: In Context! Has my full and unrestricted recommendation. In fact, I would suggest you stop reading now and immediately go download the free 15-day, full functional trial. I am sure that you will be ready to buy this software long before the trial is up. It works with Windows 98 through 2003 as well as with MAC.

Reviewer 3: The folks at this company think outside the box. It's a refreshing breath of fresh air to see a program that reflects innovative and creative thinking instead of the "me too" cookie cutter approach. Not everything that they did in this version works for me but I applaud them for all their effort. I look forward to future versions to see how this program evolves. With a 15-day free trial and a $19.99 price, there are few barriers to trying this program to see if it works with the way you edit images. It will probably work best for you if you tend to make just a few basic changes in your images.

Reviewer 4: This is really an unusual program. For one thing, they are not ashamed of the infamous EULA (End User's License Agreement). It is clearly laid out in the Help File, and is not in fine print somewhere, more or less out-of-sight. It is also fair, allowing the user to install it on more than one of his/her own computers. Also fairly, if it is to be used on a network, a copy should be purchased for each machine. I am also very impressed with the program support. As it should be, the links to the support personnel appear in the main menu and are not hidden in several layers of menus or deep in the help file. In addition to the email support, there is also live chat available, prominently displayed on the Web page. And there is a toll-free 800 phone number. This is rare indeed, even for programs that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. Yet this one is priced below $20.00.

Reviewer 5: To make a very long story concise, when I first installed Images: In Context my system was running Windows XP SP1. Having updated quite a few systems to SP2 without any significant issues, I finally bit the bullet and updated my primary system. Soon after, I began experiencing a strange problem - attempting to create a new folder (or as became apparent, attempting to right-click within Explorer) caused Explorer to experience a fatal error. Microsoft had no helpful suggestions upon my reporting the crashes - as with most such errors under SP1, Microsoft's advice was to update my Windows to the latest version. Been there, done that. For some time I lived with the problem, but it became increasingly difficult to manage my system without creating an occasional folder! Posting in newsgroups and forums and Googling the web, I was finally directed to some tools that proved invaluable (more on that on the Neat Net Tricks forums). It's rather amazing how many applications tie themselves to your context menus! Five or six at a time I disabled these, opened Explorer, right-clicked, crashed. After four or five crashes, I disabled a group, opened Explorer, right-clicked, and the context menu opened, no crash!!! One by one I started enabling that group, context menus continued to work. Then I enabled IIC.dll (the Images: In Context library which is called by two Windows Shell Extensions) and promptly obtained the familiar Windows Error Reporting tool! It's really pretty amazing that only one of these dozens of shell extensions was broken by the SP2 update! But broken it is, as is their Help tool, and I'm not able to uninstall it either! While I've lost Images: In Context (at least for the moment), I've got all my other context options back!

Reviewer 6: The License Agreement is not copyable/printable from the Introduction Panel, meaning that one had to 'agree' without having a copy available to read/review first. The License Agreement is available in the documentation. While -considerate and perhaps valuable, I found the following message troubling: "If Images: In Context has stopped appearing on the context menu for one or more of your image types....". Despite its cumbersome user interface, this is a handy little program with extensive functionality at a remarkably good price, particularly for the new or casual digital photographer. It is an excellent "sandbox" in which to learn how to manipulate digital images.


Will you continue to use it?

Reviewer 1: Yes, I will continue to use this program. It is more than just a simple picture viewer. It has many powerful capabilities found in more advanced graphic applications yet all these features are available by simply selecting the file.

Reviewer 2: Most definitely. It has already replaced Picasa and Irfanview on my computer.

Reviewer 3: Yes.

Reviewer 4: Absolutely.

Reviewer 5: If Liquid Mirror responds to my support request and succeeds in getting it all working again, absolutely. For the moment, no.

Reviewer 6: Probably not, but only because I need more functions; however, I'd definitely recommend it to beginners as an easy-to-learn tool.
 

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