GUI: BreezeBrowser has five different view configurations available in the GUI. The first view is the thumbnail file browser, which looks like a classic light table view. The second view is 'filmstrip' which shows a thumbnail film strip along the left side and a user selected image in a larger view. The image's EXIF information is available to scroll through just below the film strip. The third window is the main view window where you see your selected image in large size and some of the EXIF data. If you click on the 'full details' tab in the main view, you will see all of the EXIF data for that image in a floating window. You can begin a conversion from the thumbnail view or from the main view. The fourth view is the 'compare view'. In this view you can select up to 4 images to view at one time as larger high quality previews. The fifth and last GUI view is the 'convert raw image' view. In this view you see your image at about the same size as in the main view and all the adjustable conversion parameters and tools. Breezebrowser Pro does not have real time previews of image adjustments. It regenerates the preview image after each image modification you perform. BreezeBrowser does not have 'before and after' editing views.You can also view a 'slideshow' of the images in the folder that is open in BreezeBrowser.

BreezeBrowser has a very full featured image browser with quite a few file handling extras, including several different batch operations. BreezeBrowser Pro will decode and thumbnail all of the most popular photo image file formats. Some folks will find BreezeBrowser Pro's ability to export and/or copy EXIF data useful. You can copy EXIF info from files in one folder to similarly named files in another folder. Or, you can copy individual EXIF data from one file to another.

If you want to see a RAW file at 100% magnification, BreezeBrowser must decode the entire RAW image before it displays the image. I'm an image sharpness freak. I want to make sure my images are properly focused and have no softness due to camera movement before I go to the time and trouble to adjust and convert them from RAW. To accomplish this I need to see my RAW files at 100% before conversion. There is no capability to view images at any other preset magnifications. See some screen shots of BreezeBrowser's GUI at the bottom of this page.

Breezebrowser does not have any type of database driven search or sort features. However, you can rank the thumbnail images and sort by ranking. You can also sort by just about any meta data parameter. You can also 'tag' images. When you tag an image it retains its tag whenever that directory is opened again. You can save a list of your tagged images and reopen them later by selecting 'load tags' from the file menu. BreezeBrowser has an excellent searchable help document.

Editing Tools: BreezeBrowser's tool set is more than adequate but I would prefer to be able to fine tune my images with slider adjustments while viewing real time previews with adjustable magnification. BreezeBrowser Pro has the same type of preset adjustment choices and regenerating preview found in Canon's EOS Viewer Utility . BreezeBrowser 'remembers' image adjustment tool settings for previously edited RAW files. If you open previously edited RAW files, the tool settings will be where they were when you last edited that image. BreezeBrowser does not have shadow recovery or highlight recovery 'smart tools'. You cannot copy/paste image adjustments from one image into another or save image adjustments as presets for later use.

Color management: BreezeBrowser supports an ICC color managed workflow. You can select the monitor profile of your choice. This is nice if you calibrate your monitor and happen to like to switch profiles now and then. Most of the rest of these RAW converters use the OS default monitor profile. Camera profiles are embedded and not accessible. At the time of conversion you can embed any color space or profile that is in your computer's color management folder. I have a wide gamut monitor. This makes monitor color management a little more important for me since my monitor displays colors well out of the sRGB range. There is a flaw in BreezeBrowser's visual color management on my PC. Thumbnails and the main view large image do not have my monitor profile properly applied. The only view that was properly color managed was the convert raw image view that you see when editing before conversion. This is the most important view so I suppose the rest of the views not being properly color managed on my system is not a fatal flaw.

Output:: There is no way to name files individually before conversion unless you are willing to rename the original RAW file. BreezeBrowser supports both batch renaming and batch processing. The same tools settings must be used when batch processing a group of images. Breezebrowser Pro can generate user configurable html based 'picture pages' with 'clickable' thumbnails. This is a very cool feature with options that include making a Java Script driven html slide show. BreezeBrowser can output to TIFF, PSD, PNG and JPEG 2000 in 8 or 16 bit, and of course, regular 8 bit JPEG. For conversion type you can select a normal conversion, linear or combined. The 'combined' conversion is for Canon cameras only. Combined is Breezebrowser's own version of a high dynamic range conversion. The raw file is converted twice using different exposure compensation settings and combines the two to extract more highlight detail from the image.

Printing:: Printing is available using whatever color management tools your printer driver has. BreezeBrowser has a provision for printing a contact sheet. You can set some of the page preferences within BreezeBrowser for printing the contact sheet and for printing a single image on one sheet of paper.

Comments: BreezeBrowser is currently the only RAW converter in the bunch to support image Geo-tagging. Geographic location information from a GPS device can be stored in a JPEG or RAW file's EXIF data. BreezeBrowser Pro can generate a track log file of your geo-tagged images that can be viewed using Google Earth or online using Google Maps. This could be extremely useful for certain types of professionals working in the field with their cameras. Obviously it has some usefulness to casual travelers too.

BreezeBrowser Pro is an image file browser and organizer that also does RAW conversions. I like Breezebrowser Pro as an image file manager. However, I have some issues with BreezeBrowser Pro as a competitive RAW converter when compared with current available technology. The GUI and tool set have changed very little over the years. BreezeBrowser's image editing tools aren't in the same league as the rest of these RAW conversion programs. With some of the images I used in this article the lack of depth in the image editing toolbox hindered output quality to some degree. However @ $69 USD BreezeBrowser is the least expensive of these programs by far. So maybe my criticisms are unfair. If I was a camera owner on a budget I'd seriously consider BreezeBrowser. I downloaded Nikon View, Nikon's bundled RAW software, and it was sadly lacking to the point of being almost useless. Nikon wants you to buy their full featured RAW converter. BreezeBrowser has a history of very timely upgrades and updates for new camera models. Read more about BreezeBrowser and see a list of supported cameras here.

To print this web page correctly you will need to set your printer's page setup properties to 'landscape' paper orientation

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