Software Overview: Notepad++

A wonderful software to have in the digital projects toolbelt is Notepad++. Notepad++ (pronounced “Notepad plus plus”) is a text editor. It’s like the stock Notepad program on Windows, but it has much more capabilities. Notepad++ is highly useful when working with text and/or metadata.

It is a source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages. It supports tabbed editing, which allows working with multiple open files in a single window. And it is completely FREE.  

Output can, of course, be saved as the usual text file (TXT), but Notepad++ can also be used to work with many other file types (like HTML, JavaScript, JSON, Python, and XML). 

Because it’s open-source, Notepad++ has a powerful help presence (through a manual, documentation, and an online community). And don’t forget about the option for plugins, or add-ons. One plugin that is particularly useful is DSpellCheck. When enabled, DSpellCheck offers a built-in spell checker. 

For information on additional software that Digital Initiatives recommends, consult the Hardware & Software page on LibGuides. 

Software Overview: Image Composite Editor

One of my favorite image software, and one that I use quite frequently, is Image Composite Editor. I’ve highlighted other image software before, such as GIMP (editor), Nomacs (viewer), XnConvert (batch converter), and Bad Peggy (validator). Each of these is unique and serves a specific purpose. Image Composite Editor fits right along side them in the “tool bag.”  

According to its now-archived webpage (we’ll get to that), says Image Composite Editor “is an advanced panoramic image stitcher created by the Microsoft Research Computational Photography Group. Given a set of overlapping photographs of a scene shot from a single camera location, the app creates high-resolution panoramas that seamlessly combine original images… finished panoramas can be saved in a wide variety of image formats, including JPEG, TIFF…” 

So, in short, Image Composite Editor is an image stitcher or splicer. This is particularly useful for large, panoramic photographs. Digital Initiatives has come across many panoramic photographs, particularly during a ScanDay. How do you digitize a photo that is 1-2 feet in length when most flatbed scanners can only accommodate an 8.5 x 11 size?  

Image Composite Editor to the rescue! If you scan the photo in segments, Image Composite Editor can be used later to put the pieces together. The key thing to remember when scanning a panoramic photo is to overlap the scans. Scan it in 2-4 pieces/ images that overlap each other. In order for Image Composite Editor to work properly, it must detect an overlap between images. If there is no overlap, it won’t put the images together. 

Image Composite Editor was created by Microsoft, so it is a reputable software. However, Microsoft has since discontinued the product and no longer supports it. This is unfortunate because it is a useful product. Even so, there are still ways to download the software. The former webpage and downloader can still be accessed via the Wayback Machine, which is an amazing web archive managed by the Internet Archive. 

For information on additional software that Digital Initiatives recommends, consult the Hardware & Software page on LibGuides. 

Software Overview: Viewers

Continuing with the occasional overviews of software, this month’s column will focus on viewers. A “viewer” is a basic software with limited capabilities. Its main focus, you guessed it, is to view or display the item. Most operating systems (like Windows) will have their own default viewers for you to use. However, these can often be underwhelming.  

There are many free and open source viewers available that are more robust or user-friendly than the stock ones. Some of them even offer numerous plug-ins or add-ons for additional features. Most of these viewers focus on particular formats: image, audio and video, and documents. 

For images, Nomacs is a wonderful option, and it draws you in with its martini glass icon. It supports many image formats, and it can also be used for RAW and PSD images. Within the program, there are many adjustments, viewing panels, and tools to choose from.  

For many years now, the go-to audio/visual viewer has been VLC media player. It continues to reign supreme. According to the VLC website, it is “a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.” 

For documents (PDFs), Sumatra PDF is handy. When working with PDFs, I typically use Adobe Acrobat. However, when Adobe is busy running a task, it often refuses to open another PDF. This is where Sumatra PDF comes in. Sure, most internet browsers have built-in PDF views, but I’ve never been a fan of those. Sumatra PDF is simple, fast, and free. 

For information on additional software that Digital Initiatives recommends, consult the Hardware & Software page on LibGuides. 

Software Overview: Bad Peggy

For this month’s column, we turn our attention back to software. Useful image editors, converters, and renamers have already been covered (GIMP, XnConvert, and Advanced Renamer). Now, let’s look at validation software.

This type of software supports the validation of digital files by scanning specific file formats for errors, data loss, corruption, etc. I recently spent time researching and testing various validation programs. There are many available, and most of them focus on certain formats (TIFF, PDF, JPEG, etc.).

One program specifically designed for JPEG, PNG, and GIF caught my eye. It’s called Bad Peggy. I wish I knew more about the origin of the name. I also wish I knew more about the program’s logo/ icon (a corrupt image of a foot in high heels that is turned sideways). The name and logo are certainly intriguing.

According to the Community Owned digital Preservation Tool Registry (COPTR), which is a fantastic resource, Bad Peggy “scans images (JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF) for damages and other blemishes, and shows the results and files instantly. It enables you to find such broken files quickly, inspect and then either delete or move them to a different location.”

JPEG (or JPG) is an abbreviation for Joint Photographic Experts Group. It is a very common image format. JPEGs typically have manageable file sizes which makes them easy to share, email, upload, etc. The reason for the small file size, however, is the lossy compression process associated with the format (see the “JPG vs. PNG” article for more information). In the digital preservation world, JPEG is not a preferred format for originals because of its data loss (see NDSL’s “Digitization Standards”), but JPEG is still widely used. This is why Bad Peggy can be useful for both institutions and citizens since both will likely use JPEG extensively.

One of the best things about Bad Peggy is its simplicity. You add images and then scan. That’s about it. There are no confusing settings or add-ons. It is short and sweet. Bad Peggy quickly scans images (or entire folders of images) and checks for irregularities, such as corruption.

Although Bag Peggy has been tested and authenticated by others, I wanted to do a test for myself. Believe it or not, there are websites that will corrupt files for you. Although I do not support the reasons the website mentions for corrupting files, it was a rather useful site for my test. Of course, NEVER run tests like this on the original file. ALWAYS make a copy to play around with.

Back to the experiment. I corrupted a copy of a JPEG with the website and then used Bad Peggy. The program detected the issue right away. Nicely done, Bad Peggy! If you use JPEGs (or PNGs) and you want to keep an eye on them for long-term storage, Bad Peggy is a great option. Did I mention it’s free? I probably should have led with that.

For information on additional software that Digital Initiatives recommends, consult the Hardware & Software page on LibGuides.

Software Overview: Advanced Renamer

Software for digitization projects or digital collection management can get expensive, particularly when you need multiple programs for different purposes (editing, converting, renaming, etc.) and formats (images, documents, video, audio, OCR, etc.). The Digital Initiatives department is all for low-cost options when it comes to software.

So far, this “software overview” subseries of the Digital Dimension column has covered the image editor GIMP and the image converter XnConvert. This month, we’ll look at Advanced Renamer.

As the name suggests, Advanced Renamer is a batch file renaming program. It allows you to rename multiple files or folders instantly. No more manually renaming each individual file or folder.

Advanced Renamer has multiple renaming methods. You can add or remove text, change the case of a letter (like from lower case to upper case), replace specific parts of the filename with something else, or give the files a brand-new name. Once you’ve set your parameters, there is a built-in preview that displays the new file name. And for accidents, there is a handy undo option.

For example, an image with the stock name of “IMG_1234” is a horrible filename. It tells you nothing about the image. At a glance, you should be able to tell what the image is. A filename should be clear and concise (consult NDSL’s Digital Collection Toolkit for more information on best practices for file naming). A better filename for this hypothetical image would be “SmithWedding1923” or “1923_Smith_Wedding.” If you have many images from this hypothetical Smith wedding in 1923, you could use Advanced Renamer to give the images incrementing numbers at the end: SmithWedding1923_001, SmithWedding1923_002, etc.

There are countless possibilities with Advanced Renamer. Admittedly, the software is not the most user-friendly and might be a little intimidating at first. However, once you get the hang of it, you’ll discover that Advanced Renamer is not so bad after all.

The Advanced Renamer website has a useful user guide that includes examples and information on getting started. There is also a video available on YouTube that highlights the basics.

Advanced Renamer is free for personal use and $30 per license for commercial use.

To learn more about Advanced Renamer or to download the latest version, go to https://www.advancedrenamer.com/. For information on additional low-cost software that Digital Initiatives recommends, consult the Hardware & Software page on LibGuides.

Software Overview: XnConvert

Software for digitization projects or digital collection management can get expensive, particularly when you need multiple programs for different purposes (editing, converting, renaming, etc.) and formats (images, documents, video, audio, OCR, etc.). The Digital Initiatives Department is all for low-cost options when it comes to software.

Last month, an overview was provided of how awesome GIMP is as a free image editor. This month, we’ll examine another useful image software: XnConvert. According to its website, XnConvert is “a fast, powerful and free cross-platform batch image converter.” All common image formats are supported.

When it comes to image conversion on a budget, there is nothing better than XnConvert. The software can quickly run batch conversions of image files. For example, if you want to convert many TIFFs to JPEG in bulk, XnConvert can easily perform this task. There is also the option to select the output location, so you don’t accidentally overwrite the original images.

XnConvert also comes equipped with batch editing features (rotate, crop, adjustments, filters, effects, etc.). You can also make bulk edits and conversions at the same time. One particularly useful edit is to batch convert color images to grayscale, which can help reduce file size (since the image would be going from 24-bits to 8-bits, for example).

Digital Initiatives put together a guide for XnConvert that provides instructions on the basics: converting and editing.

XnConvert is free for private or educational use (including non-profit organizations), and it’s roughly $10-20 per license for commercial use. The cost depends on how many licenses you are purchasing.

To learn more about XnConvert or to download the latest version, go to https://www.xnview.com/en/xnconvert/. For information on additional low-cost software that Digital Initiatives recommends, consult the Hardware & Software page on LibGuides.