by Wren McMains
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With MaxView as my default viewer, I now see these icons (but that's not really any better):
What I really want to see are Thumbnails. If I look at the same folder from another machine on my network I see:
And if I click on an image I start to see more information, like the dimensions, in the Details Pane:
And if I grab the border between the thumbnails and the Details pane and expand the Details pane, I really see lots of information:
The images in the folder above haven't been keyword tagged. For Tags, you see it says "Add a Tag".
Update (4/2012): Last time I looked neither Nikon or Canon offerred 64-bit versions of their codec's (described below). Microsoft now offers 32 and 64-bit versions of a codec that works for almost all cameras, but it does not allow editing keyword tags, although you can view them. Google "microsoft raw codec" or download from here.
If I click on an image in another folder where I've added keyword tags, you can see all the tags applied if you hover over that field with your mouse:
If I go back to the other folder and click on the field it opens up a box where I can enter tags. Also note that Save and Cancel buttons have appeared so you can confirm or abandon your edits:
When adding keywords, be consistent in the names you use and separate keywords by semicolons.
(It will even let you change some of the EXIF information it probably shouldn't, so you can lie about the technique you used when taking the image.)
OK, Why does this work on this machine and not others?
The answer is I installed a codec on this machine. What's a codec? A codec is a device or computer program capable of encoding and/or decoding a digital data stream or signal. The word codec is a portmanteau of 'compressor-decompressor' or, most commonly, 'coder-decoder'.
Many camera manufacturers provide codecs for their RAW files which you can download and install. Here are links to the Nikon and Canon codecs (but note that both only work with 32-bit operating systems, one of the many reasons I've advised against anyone getting a 64-bit system for now):
Update (4/2012): Last time I looked neither Nikon or Canon offerred 64-bit versions of their codec's (described below). Microsoft now offers 32 and 64-bit versions of a codec that works for almost all cameras, but it does not allow editing keyword tags, although you can view them. Google "microsoft raw codec" or download from here. There are also other freeware codecs, but as far as I know none of the free ones allow you to edit keyword tags. If you're willing to pay $20 you might want to checkout the codecs offerred by www.ardfry.com.
The Nikon link gets you right to the download page. The Canon link requires you to fill in some blanks:
Next I had to select an operating system (no idea why since I think you download the same program for both XP and Vista):
Next you have to click on the program name:
Finally you should see:
Scroll down to the bottom and click on "I agree - begin Download"
If you scroll down on the Nikon link you'll see this:
The "I agree - begin Download" is above these details.
Save the file you download where you save all the software you download and install (normally in a Downloads folder). You see that both are huge downloads. The Canon one is 60MBs, the Nikon one 30MBs. After the download is complete double-click on the file to start the install and follow the directions. You probably have to reboot after the install is complete to see thumbnails.
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