I have a parent folder named "Pictures" containing tens of thousands of pictures that are organized in sub-folders that are named by date such as "2020-04-07". Some of these pictures have been taken by DSLRs, mobile phones or are just computer screenshots. As a practice, I dump these pictures using a script that transfers the images to a folder with the date it was created and tags it via ExifTool Exiv2 based on the source (e.g. mobile, screenshot, etc.). I take pictures so often that there are many I've never seen before.
My goal is to have an image viewer application that works like a digital photo frame your desktop and randomly displays images based on filters as a slide show in a resizable window. I have tried and bought many applications but they either function exclusively as a screensaver or lack critical functionality to be useful. I am looking for an application with the current features:
ISO A paid or free application compatible with Microsoft Windows 7/8/10 that can:
Display images as a slideshow in a resizable window on the desktop and maintain aspect ratio (NOT as a screensaver).
Note: I have a multi-monitor setup and would like to be able to place the application on any monitor and view images as I work in other applications.
- Display images recursively from a folder and its sub-folders.
Filter images by exif data and or tags (e.g. mobile, screenshot, etc.).
Note: I want to be able to include or exclude images with tags such as "screenshots" or photographs with tags such as "onsite" that denote pictures for work.
- Randomly display images.
- Displays the displayed image filename -or- provides an option to open the location of the image.
- Provides on-screen controls (i.e. previous image, next image, pause, play) -or- provides hotkey shortcuts to do the same.
Out of the 20 or so applications I've tried the closest I've come to achieving the desired result is gPhotoShow and forcing it to resize with a specific monitor position using AutoSizer. I would prefer that the software be a standalone or portable application but I understand that processing thousands of images may make that impractical.
Here are some of the titles I've already tried: XnView, FastStone Image Viewer, Wega2, gPhotoShow, Artsee, FastPhotoTagger, ImageEye, ImageGlass, HoneyView, VoidImageViewer, Able Photo Slide Show, IrfanView, ArtSage, AmoK Exif Sorter, Imgv (Image Viewer), QuickViewer, SuperSlide, PhotoSift, WildBit Viewer, Random Photo Screensaver, Adobe Bridge, DigiKam, FastPictureViewer, Zoner Photo Studio, etc.