The Pictures Toolbar for Microsoft Internet Explorer is first of all an easy-to-use image downloader.
The image downloader has been integrated into the Internet Explorer because the Internet Explorer is typically where you find the pictures you want to download. With the pictures toolbar you don't have to startup another application to download the pictures - just click the download button and wait while the toolbar handles the rest.
Once downloaded the pictures can be viewed inside the Internet Explorer, either individually or as a slideshow.
The toolbar does not present you with a list of all the links found on the current web page and ask you to select the relevant links. Instead the toolbar uses a build-in logic to select the links that are most likely to lead to the pictures you want and follows them automatically.
The toolbar will not just download the pictures on the web page you are viewing - it analyzes the web page and searches all links until the pictures you want have been found and downloaded. If the links on the first page lead to new web pages instead of to pictures then the new web pages are analyzed and processed in the same way.
By changing the download settings you can make the toolbar either download a single thumbnail gallery, all pictures on a web site or all the pictures that can be found by surfing from any given web page (limited only by the size of your hard disk).
To enable the toolbar start the Internet Explorer, select the View menu, then select Toolbars and then select Pictures.
If the toolbar isn't fully visible after enabling it then move the toolbar to a new position by clicking the left edge of the toolbar and dragging.
If the toolbar can't be moved then the toolbars in the Internet Explorer may be locked. To check if the toolbars are locked select the View menu and then select Toolbars. The toolbars are locked if a check mark is displayed next to Lock the Toolbars. To unlock the toolbars select Lock the Toolbars.
The toolbar consists of the pictures menu, the viewing area, the information area and the download area.
The pictures menu contains a number of functions, including Help, Options and Uninstall.
The viewing area lets you navigate through and view downloaded picture galleries. The navigation buttons in the viewing area are disabled until you have downloaded your first gallery.
The information area displays information about the downloaded pictures. The buttons in the information area are also disabled until you have downloaded your first gallery.
The download area controls downloads and slideshows. The download button is the button to the far right on the toolbar. It is the only enabled button when the toolbar is opened for the first time.
To open the pictures menu click the Pictures button in the toolbar.
The pictures menu contains the following functions:
To uninstall the toolbar either select Uninstall in the pictures menu or open Add/Remove Programs from the Control Panel and choose to uninstall Pictures Toolbar.
Exit the Internet Explorer while uninstalling, otherwise the uninstaller will ask you to reboot your PC.
The download area of the toolbar contains the status window and the download button.
The status window and the download button are context sensitive:
starts a new gallery download.
.
..To create a new gallery from the current web page
click the download button
.
When a download starts the toolbar creates a new directory on the local hard disk named after the current web page. The downloaded pictures will be saved in the new directory. A text file called Gallery.txt is created in the directory. Information about the gallery and the downloaded pictures is written to this file.
The toolbar analyzes the current web page. The number of interesting links on the web page is displayed to the right in the status window. The links considered interesting depend on the current download settings. See options for details.
The number to the left in the status window counts up as links are checked. It may take a while before the first picture is found. This depends on the current web page. Often thumbnails don't link directly to a picture but to other web pages containing the pictures.
The total number of links to check may increase as the download progresses. This will surely happen if the links on the start page link to other web pages instead of to pictures.
When the download stops the status window shows the total number of pictures found to the right, and the index of the current picture within the gallery to the left. The pictures are sorted alphabetically based on their filenames.
A slideshow over the downloaded pictures is automatically executed while the toolbar is downloading. This slideshow can not be disabled. If you wish to continue browsing while a download is in progress you must open another instance of the Internet Explorer.
When a download is started the
download button changes to the stop button. To cancel a download click
the stop button
.
The download may not stop right away. The "Stopping..." message is displayed in the status window while the toolbar waits for outstanding requests to either complete or time out.
You can start as many downloads as you like by starting multiple instances of the Internet Explorer.
The viewing area of the toolbar contains 6 navigation buttons and the fit to window button. The navigation buttons are disabled until the first gallery has been downloaded.
The first three buttons navigates through the pictures in the current gallery.
The previous picture button
navigates to the previous picture in the gallery. The next picture button
navigates to the next picture in the gallery. The delete
picture button
deletes the
current picture from the hard disk. The deletion can not be undone.
The next three buttons navigates between the downloaded galleries.
The previous gallery button
navigates to the
first picture in the previous gallery. The next gallery button
navigates to the
first picture in the next
gallery. The delete gallery button
deletes the
current gallery from the hard disk. The deletion can not be undone.
Hint: To go to the first downloaded gallery click the next gallery button while viewing any web page.
Hint: To go to the last downloaded gallery click the previous gallery button while viewing any web page.
When the Internet Explorer is showing a downloaded picture the status window displays the index of the current picture within the current gallery to the left and the total number of pictures in the gallery to the right.
The fit to window button
resizes the
pictures to fit the height of the Internet Explorer window. The button is a
toggle button. When the button is enabled the toolbar resizes pictures before
displaying them. When the button is disabled the toolbar displays the pictures
in their original sizes.
A slideshow can be started when
the Internet Explorer is displaying a picture from a downloaded gallery. To start a slideshow click the start slideshow button
.
When a slideshow starts the
download button changes to the stop button. To stop a slideshow click the
stop button
.
The information area of the toolbar contains the information window and the go button.
The information window displays information about the current gallery and picture.
Four different types of information is available:
The information window is updated automatically as pictures are downloaded and as you navigate through downloaded galleries. To view another type of information click the drop down button and select the desired type. The selected type will be active until another type is selected.
The go button
navigates the
Internet Explorer to the page displayed in the information window.
Hint: To check if a gallery has been updated since it was downloaded select start page in the information window and click the go button.
Hint: To view the web page originally linking to the current picture select referrer in the information window and click the go button.
The toolbar allows you to change a number of parameters controlling downloads and slideshows. This is done from the Pictures Toolbar Options page. The options page is opened from the pictures menu in the toolbar.
The picture does not show the entire options page.
Each option is described in detail in the following.
and select another
directory.A thumbnail gallery is a web page with small versions (thumbnails) of the actual pictures in the gallery. Clicking a thumbnail will either open the full size picture directly or another web page containing the full size picture.
The full size pictures are usually located on the same server as the thumbnail gallery. The number of links the downloader must follow to find the pictures is one or two. To download a thumbnail gallery use these settings:
The toolbar can download all pictures on a single web site if the pictures can be reached by following links from some start page.
To download all pictures on a single web site use these settings:
To download all pictures anywhere on the web use these settings: