Image Expert CE

Sierra Imaging (www.sierraimaging.com) has been making graphics products for a long time and their Image Expert CE product is one of a comprehensive range of software products. Not only do they support Windows CE devices like the Handheld PCs, Palm-size PCs and the new Pocket PCs, they have versions of Image Expert for Windows 9X, NT, 2000, and the Apple PowerMac.

Image Expert CE lets you view images from digital cameras and other sources. You can create digital image albums, annotate images with voice, ink or text and share them via e-mail and IrDA. Users can also synchronize their Pocket PC version of Image Expert with the Windows 95/98/NT desktop PC version of Image Expert.

I reviewed Image Expert CE on a couple of different Windows CE devices, including the HP Jornada 545 and the Casio E-115 Pocket PC. The application performed equally well on both devices, but the images looked better on the higher resolution screen on the Casio device. The screen of the HP machine was originally listed as a 64K color screen, but because of an internal design characteristic can only display 12- bit (4,096 colors) images. Image Expert CE does a good job compensating for the lower resolution.

Strong support for digital cameras

Image Expert CE is a feature packed product with the ability to edit and annotate images. You can even record and attach voice notes or typed memos to your images. One of Image Expert’s strongest features is its ability to download images directly from a digital camera. Image Expert CE provides a direct serial interface to many of the best selling brands of cameras including: Agfa, Epson, Nikon, Olympus, Polaroid, and Sanyo. (For a comprehensive list of supported digital cameras visit www.sierraimaging.com/support/supchimgex.html) In addition, many digital cameras store their images on CompactFlash cards. You can use these to transfer images to Pocket PCs and other Windows CE devices.

In addition, it supports the .JPEG and .BMP formats used in many other digital cameras. With the ability to easily download, sort, and delete images straight off the camera or its storage card, digital camera users won’t run out of image storage space as quickly. Instead of carrying a laptop around it’s possible with Image Expert CE to take a digital camera and Pocket PC, take pictures, download them onto your device and edit / annotate them, and then e-mail them to friends or business associates.

Managing digital photo albums

You may end up with a lot of digital images stored on your Pocket PC, and managing them could become a problem. Fortunately, Image Expert has easy to use folder options. Save images in any folder, including folders on your CompactFlash storage card. And when you select a folder (see Screen 1) Image Expert displays thumbnails of the images in that folder. You don’t have to remember obscure file names – just look at the image.

Screen 1: Image Expert CE lets you organize images in folders anywhere on your Pocket PC, including the main memory and a CompactFlash Card. Select a folder and the images in that folder are displayed as thumbnails.

In image view the thumbnails of a particular folder are displayed in the top window. A single tap on a thumbnail at the top and a larger version of the image is displayed at the bottom. Tap on the larger image again and it will increase to occupy the entire screen (see Screen 2). Keep tapping to toggle through the different views. This makes it nice and quick to switch views.