TTNview: User's Guide

TTNview: User's Guide

Version 0.7.34 Alpha

This user's guide is for the latest version of TTNview. You can download the latest version using the link below.

Downloading
Download latest version of TTNview from http://myalpha.dls.net/ttnview

Installation
TTNview is a single executable file. After downloading, place it wherever you like on your hard disk. You can then create a shortcut to it in the start menu or on the desktop. Alternatively, you can put it into a directory contained in your PATH to be able to call it from Windows' Run dialogue just by typing "ttnview".

The directory where you place ttnview.exe must be allowed to write. Otherwise, TTNview will work, but will not be able to save column settings.

Running
Run ttnview.exe from the directory where you placed it. TTNview will show the directory last viewed. TTNview will show an empty window when the last viewed directory is not available or when TTNview is running first time.

Choosing columns
TTNview allows you to choose which columns to see. Currently, there are 25 columns to choose from. On the first run, TTNview will display initial set of 10 columns including time and shooting conditions.

To choose columns:

Click "View", "Select Columns";

Select columns to view in the desired order:

To add a column to the view, click on column title in "Available Columns" list box and then click "Add" button;
To remove a column from the view, click on column title in "Selected Columns" list box and then click "Remove" button;

Columns appear in TTNview in the same order as you see them in "Selected Columns" list box. To change the order of columns,
Click a column title in "Selected Columns" list box;
Click "Up" or "Down" button to move it either up (e.g. left in the main window) or down (e.g. right in the main window);

Click "Ok" or press Enter. To cancel selection, and continue with the columns selected before, click "Cancel" or press Esc.

After making changes in columns set, TTNview will re-read the current directory to fill the new set of columns.

Saving columns set
After you modify the set of columns to view, you can save this set to see it on next run of TTNview.
To save columns set,

Click "View", "Save settings".

TTNview writes a file with settings into the same directory where ttnview.exe resides. If the directory is not allowed to write, you'll get an error message.

If you don't save column settings, TTNview will prompt you to do so on exit.

Choosing directory to browse

Click "File", "Change Directory" or Press Ctrl+G.

Choose a directory containing files. Special folders (Desktop, My Computer, Control Panel, etc.) cannot be selected. Double-click on a directory or press right arrow to open it. Click on directory name or navigate the selection by using arrow keys.

Click "Ok" or press Enter. To cancel selection, and remain in the directory currently chosen, click "Cancel" or press Esc.

Navigating directory tree

To enter a directory, double-click the directory name or navigate the selection to the directory and press Enter;

To browse parent directory of the current directory, click "File", "Up one level" or press "Backspace"

EXIF information presented

Every file is analyzed, not only those having ".jpg" extension;

JPEG and TIFF files containing EXIF information are presented with picture icon;

If a JPEG or TIFF file does not contain EXIF information, an empty frame icon is shown;

If a file is not a JPEG or TIFF image file, an empty document (white sheet) icon will be shown.

EXIF columns meaning is described below:

Column Title Description Comments

Shooting conditions

Speed Shutter speed, aka exposure time, seconds Either a fraction of a second (like 1/250) or a number of seconds (like 2")

F-Stop Aperture value, aka F-Stop The value is the fraction of the Focus Length, e.g. value of 11 means the aperture was F/11

ISO Camera sensor sensivity, in ISO units, similar to film sensivity Some Nikon and Canon cameras use proprietary format for this setting. In files from those cameras, the value may be missing if they were processed by a software that only preserves standard tags

WB White Balance setting aka Color Mode, aka Light Source Type, aka Color Temperature; Similar to kind of film (daylight, incandescent, etc). Some cameras use proprietary format for this setting.
In addition to standard format, proprietary formats of this setting are currently analyzed for Canon, Nikon and Olympus cameras.
The actual value depends on how the manufacturer calls the respective setting

Focal Length Focal Length of the camera lens; For zoom lenses - the Focal Length used for this picture The value is in millimeters. In this version, the value is not converted to 35mm equivalence

Flash Flash - just "Fired" or "Not fired" This does not depend on flash setting on camera (Auto/On/Off/Red-eye/Slow Sync, etc). For example, if the flash was set to ON, but was not fired because it was not fully charged, the value will be "Not fired".

Camera/Software information

Maker Camera maker

Model Camera model

Software Name and/or version of the software that recorded this image For unmodified digital camera files, this should be a version of camera's firmware (important when checking for upgrade availability)

EXIF Version EXIF version

Camera settings for the shot

EV +/- Automatic Exposure (AE) compensation, aka Exposure Bias. The value is a correction applied by the user to the exposure selected by the camera. The value is measured in photographic "steps" aka EV. For example, +0.25 means a quarter of the step brighter, -1 means one step darker. "none" - no correction applied

AE Program Automatic Exposure (AE) program. Some cameras just call it "Mode". Determines how the camera chooses the exposure (Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual and the like)

Metering Metering mode. Which part of the frame is used to measure the exposure: Average, Center-Weighted, Spot and the like

Information about the image

Date/Time Date and time the image was recorded

Time Shot Time when the picture was shot This field is expected to be always preserved by processing software

Time Digitized Time when the picture was digitized

Description Image description

User Comment Comment recorded by user EXIF supports user comments in many character sets; TTNview will only show user comment if it's in ASCII code.

TTNview will take the comment into the square brackets ([]) in order to distinguish between missing comment and comment containing white spaces.

File Source File source; The value is either "digital camera" on nothing Not all cameras write this value, therefore you can't rely on this setting to distinguish between original and scanned/processed image. Please check images from your particular camera.

Scene Type Scene Type; The value is either "photographed" on nothing; "Photographed" is intended to designate that the scene was directly photographed Not all cameras write this value, therefore you can't rely on this setting to distinguish between original and scanned/processed image. Please check images from your particular camera.

Height Image height, in pixels

Width Image width, in pixels

Res Unit Unit in which X and Y resolution are measured Either "inch" or "cm"
Res X X Resolution, measured in pixels per Resolution Unit
Res Y Y Resolution, measured in pixels per Resolution Unit

Opening files

To open a file, double-click on its name or click on the file name and then "File", "Open..." or navigate a selection to it and press Enter. The file will be opened in the same manner as if it would be clicked in Explorer. If a file is not associated with an application, nothing will happen.

An application opened by TTNview when a file is clicked is not closed when TTNview is closed.

Quitting TTNview

Click "File", "Exit"
or

Press Alt+F4
If the column set was modified and was not saved, the program will ask you whether you want to save it at this point. Answering "Yes" will save settings, answering "No" will quit without saving, answering "Cancel" will prevent exiting.

TTNview writes a file with settings into the same directory where ttnview.exe resides. If the directory is not allowed to write, you'll get an error message. In this case, the only way to quit the program is to answer "No" to the question.

Column Title	Description	Comments
Shooting conditions
Speed	Shutter speed, aka exposure time, seconds	Either a fraction of a second (like 1/250) or a number of seconds (like 2")
F-Stop	Aperture value, aka F-Stop	The value is the fraction of the Focus Length, e.g. value of 11 means the aperture was F/11
ISO	Camera sensor sensivity, in ISO units, similar to film sensivity	Some Nikon and Canon cameras use proprietary format for this setting. In files from those cameras, the value may be missing if they were processed by a software that only preserves standard tags
WB	White Balance setting aka Color Mode, aka Light Source Type, aka Color Temperature; Similar to kind of film (daylight, incandescent, etc).	Some cameras use proprietary format for this setting. In addition to standard format, proprietary formats of this setting are currently analyzed for Canon, Nikon and Olympus cameras. The actual value depends on how the manufacturer calls the respective setting
Focal Length	Focal Length of the camera lens; For zoom lenses - the Focal Length used for this picture	The value is in millimeters. In this version, the value is not converted to 35mm equivalence
Flash	Flash - just "Fired" or "Not fired"	This does not depend on flash setting on camera (Auto/On/Off/Red-eye/Slow Sync, etc). For example, if the flash was set to ON, but was not fired because it was not fully charged, the value will be "Not fired".
Camera/Software information
Maker	Camera maker
Model	Camera model
Software	Name and/or version of the software that recorded this image	For unmodified digital camera files, this should be a version of camera's firmware (important when checking for upgrade availability)
EXIF Version	EXIF version
Camera settings for the shot
EV +/-	Automatic Exposure (AE) compensation, aka Exposure Bias. The value is a correction applied by the user to the exposure selected by the camera. The value is measured in photographic "steps" aka EV.	For example, +0.25 means a quarter of the step brighter, -1 means one step darker. "none" - no correction applied
AE Program	Automatic Exposure (AE) program. Some cameras just call it "Mode". Determines how the camera chooses the exposure (Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual and the like)
Metering	Metering mode. Which part of the frame is used to measure the exposure: Average, Center-Weighted, Spot and the like
Information about the image
Date/Time	Date and time the image was recorded
Time Shot	Time when the picture was shot	This field is expected to be always preserved by processing software
Time Digitized	Time when the picture was digitized
Description	Image description
User Comment	Comment recorded by user	EXIF supports user comments in many character sets; TTNview will only show user comment if it's in ASCII code. TTNview will take the comment into the square brackets ([]) in order to distinguish between missing comment and comment containing white spaces.
File Source	File source; The value is either "digital camera" on nothing	Not all cameras write this value, therefore you can't rely on this setting to distinguish between original and scanned/processed image. Please check images from your particular camera.
Scene Type	Scene Type; The value is either "photographed" on nothing; "Photographed" is intended to designate that the scene was directly photographed	Not all cameras write this value, therefore you can't rely on this setting to distinguish between original and scanned/processed image. Please check images from your particular camera.
Height	Image height, in pixels
Width	Image width, in pixels
Res Unit	Unit in which X and Y resolution are measured	Either "inch" or "cm"
Res X	X Resolution, measured in pixels per Resolution Unit
Res Y	Y Resolution, measured in pixels per Resolution Unit