gThumb 3.8.3

Overview

gThumb is an open-source image viewing application for the GNOME desktop that is designed to simplify the process of importing images from cameras and other external devices.

Installation

The process of installing this program is remarkably simple, and the entire setup only takes a few minutes. It is compatible with Linux, Solaris, and other UNIX based operating systems. gThumb is available in the majority of Linux distributions, and can therefore be easily installed within the package manager.

Interface

The user interface is primarily occupied by self explanatory button icons located along the left side of the top navigational pane. There are several different uniquely designed modules – browser window, viewer window, crop tool, print options, import photos, and web album. The browser window gives you easy access to folders and catalogs, and lets you easily create a slideshow. Once you've chosen an image to look at, or have built your own slideshow, you can view it in the viewer window, which lets you zoom in and out, and adjusts photos with and other properties.

Pros

• With an open-source design structure, there are plenty of extensions available that expand the functionality and add new features to the software. Willing developers can also create their own plug-ins.

• View images in full-screen mode, or easily rotate, flip, and view in black and white

• Supports several image formats, including BMP, GIF, JP EG., TIFF, PNG, XPM, and ICO.

• Convenient image browser lets you preview images with thumbnails, and bookmark folders and catalogs

• Image organizer lets you add comments to images, categorize photos into separate libraries, and create media libraries based on search criteria

• Integrated image editor lets you adjust scale, hue, brightness, saturation, color vibrancy, and contrast. You can save edited images in four different formats – JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and TGA.

• Useful crop tool lets you adjust the exact size of a photograph using a convenient click and drag box and/or attributes like X-Y ratio, width, and height.

• Web album feature lets you integrate your image library with a web directory to instantly share your photographs online

• Easily import images from digital cameras or export them to CDs/DVDs

• Adequate help documentation makes it easy for anyone to learn all of the features quickly

• Rename multiple images simultaneously with batch processing

• Set images as desktop backgrounds with a few mouse clicks

Cons

• No major complaints to be listed by me, although other users have experienced minor bugs as reported on the author's bug tracker - this is to be expected though as with all under development products.

Alternatives

Notable alternatives to gThumb include Picasa (Windows, Linux), IrfanView (Windows), XnView (Windows, Linux), Shotwell (Linux), and F-spot (Linux). Of these competitors, F-spot is the most similar because it is also designed for the GNOME desktop. Picasa is one of gThumb's strong competitors, taking into consideration  the fact that it is a multi-platform product as well.

Conclusion

If you're looking for a convenient way to import, organize, view, and share all of your photos within the GNOME desktop, gThumb provides a user-friendly, intuitive software interface to help you do so.