Note
Due to technical constraints, the program can process a maximum of 1,000 images at a time. If you try to add more files, you will see the following message:If you need to optimize more than 1,000 images, we recommend creating separate subfolders with each containing a maximum of 1000 files. You can then process each folder as a separate project.
Overview
1: The thumbnail browser is used for folder navigation and displays miniature previews for the contained images.
2: The preview pane provides a preview of the selected picture. Here, you may supervise the success of the optimization and access the optimize controls.
3: These are the available function categories.
4: Functions from the currently selected category appear here.
Split screen
The view bar offers a special functions to customize the split screen that offers an integrated before-and-after view. This makes it easy to compare the before and after states of an optimization as demonstrated in the screenshot above with the original dull image on the left and the optimized vivid image on the right. The separator line is draggable to adjust the split view as needed.
Split screen display modes
The split screen view supports four different display modes accessible through the arrow symbol next to the star icon.
- Original (no effects preview)
- Result (effects preview only)
- Tile horizontal (top-bottom separation: original top, optimized bottom)
- Tile vertical (left-right separation: original left, optimized right)
Preview pane display modes
Clicking the two opposite facing arrows will hide the folder and file browser panes leaving more room for the preview pane. Clicking the now facing arrows again, will switch back to the previous display mode.
Manual zooming is possible through the slide control either by dragging the knob or clicking the +/- controls. You may alternatively use your mouse wheel to zoom in and out.
Use the D-pad to scroll within images whose boundaries exceed the visible screen area.
Image rotation
Ashampoo Photo Optimizer provides separate controls to quickly turn images 90° clockwise or counterclockwise. They are located on the toolbar below the functions pane.Thumbnail display options and selection controls
For convenience, you will find buttons to select/deselect all images within a folder below the thumbnail previews. Use the adjacent arrow buttons to layout the thumbnails horizontally (column view) or vertically (list view). The size of the thumbnails is smoothly adjustable through the slider control.
Toolbar customization
With Ashampoo Photo Optimizer, you can customize the quick access toolbar to your needs with a few simple steps. Click the arrow next to the toolbar to bring up the list of available features.
Available functions are listed on the left (1). Use the plus symbol to add the associated function to the toolbar. To swap functions between the repository and the toolbar, use the button in the middle (2). Functions currently on the toolbar are shown on the right (3). Use the minus symbol to remove the associated function from the toolbar. Use the up and down arrows (4) to change the sort order. A preview of the actual toolbar is shown below the lists (5).
Favorites
Custom toolbars are great to gain quick access to frequently used tools but they're very limited in space. "Favorites" allows you to add any number of tools, e.g. to reflect a specific workflow and to work more time-efficiently. To add a tool to "Favorites" left-click the star icon, which will then turn yellow. To remove a tool from "Favorites" click the star icon again.Optimizing images
Imagine you have just returned from vacation with a couple of photos you took. First, you copy your images to your local harddisk. Then, you launch the product, open the image folder and select the desired image. It will appear in the preview pane. Now, click Auto Optimize.The split view now displays the unaltered image on the left and the optimized image on the right. Select Save to keep the changes. To discard the changes, simply navigate to another image and
cancel the save prompt or select Edit → Undo.
Optimizing all images
The toolbar hosts a two star icon. The corresponding function will optimize all images within the current folder. To proceed, select this feature.
Your images will now be presented on a virtual corkboard followed by a prompt to confirm your batch processing request. Select Yes to continue or No to cancel the operation. You can always reverse changes to a single image/all images by selecting Edit → Undo from the application's menu bar.
During the optimization process, a circular progress bar will be displayed. To cancel the process, simply click into the circle. After the process, you will see a status message concerning the modifications that were made.
Selecting and processing single images
To select multiple images from the thumbnail pane, hold Ctrl (usually next to the Windows key) and sequentially click the desired images. Your images will appear on a virtual corkboard as shown above.Now, apply your desired effect and select Yes in the confirmation prompt to finish the operation.
Basics
Rotate / Mirror
Rotates photos 90° left / right or mirrors them vertically / hozizontally.Free Rotation
To rotate, either drag the circle in the image, use the slider in the dialog or use one of the presets. There are different rotation modes available which can be explained best through pictures.
| Description | Example |
| The image is rotated and shrunk to fit the available image area. |
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| The empty area around the image is filled with a scaled replicate of the original image. |
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| The image will be rotated as is, clipping edges that fall outside the image area. |
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| The empty area around the image is filled with a scaled replication of the adjacent pixels. |
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| The image is scaled to make the new clip cover the whole image area. |
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Crop
Simply drag the corners to adjust the clip and optionally select a preset to resize the clip based on a fixed aspect ratio.Resize
Either enter a percentage value to scale the image accordingly or use the width and height input areas to enter pixel values.Watermark
Select the Text radio button to create a text-based watermark and enter your desired text (1). You may then alter the appearance using a different font (2), color (3) and font style (4). To increase/decrease the font size, use the draggable hotspots around the text selection (red arrow). Drag the circle (magenta arrow) to alter the text position.
Select Image to base your watermark on an existing image file. Click ... to select it. To increase/decrease the image size, use the draggable hotspots around the selection and drag the circle to alter the text position (see the above section). Enabling/disabling Preserve aspect ratio will retain/discard the width-height ratio of the source image during resizing.
To adjust the watermark's translucency (Opacity), either use the slider or enter the desired value manually into the adjacent text field. If required, use the round arrow button (Reset) to restore the default setting. Click Ok to apply the effect.
Text
This function is identical to except it doesn't support images.Correction
Use the sliders to adjust various image aspects like bright, contrast and saturation. Use the arrow buttons to reset the associated sliders to their default values.
Light Curves
These sliders allow you to specifically brighten/darken areas of your image that fall below a certain threshold in terms of brightness. For example, "Shadows" targets pixels that are already very dark, while "Highlights" only affects pixels that are already very bright.
Color
Sepia
Grayscale
Invert
Straighten Horizon
Drag the circles to adjust the baseline. Once you click "Apply", the image will be rotated to match the angle of the baseline.Perspective
This powerful feature allows you to apply perspective distortions to your photo to compensate for unfavorable camera positions. Drag the round markers to align the lines of the tool with the perspective of your photo and click "Apply" when you're done."Perspective" offers three modes: horizontal+vertical, vertical, and horizontal. The line display adapts to the selected mode.
You've probably noticed the photo in the above example was clipped at the edges once perspective distortion had been applied. This is the default setting. Rotating and shearing invariably leads to additional borders. You can specify how these borders will be handled under "Border". "Extend Border" has to be selected for these settings to have any effect. The feature is very similar to that of Free Rotation.
Sharpen
Use the slider to adjust the strength of the effect.Adaptive Sharpen
This effect analyzes your image and intelligently adjusts the effect strength based on existing pixels and colors in your image.Use the slider to set an initial strength.
Face
Remove Red Eyes
Select target area
Drag to create a selection around the affected area, e.g. a pair of red eyes. Make the selection a little bigger than just the eyes to include a bit of the eyebrows and skin. This will help the program achieve the best result. Once selected, the program will auto-zoom into the area.Select red eyes
Next, click into the center of each of the affected areas, e.g. a red pupil, and drag to create a circular selection around them. You can create as many circular selections as necessary. The prorgam will then fix the color for the selected areas.Whiten Teeth
Select a pen size (Strength) and drag over the affected image area to whiten it.Remove Spots
Select a pen size (Strength) and click the affected image areas to clean them.
Effects
We recommend playing around with the different effects to get a feel for them.Image Age
Select the desired aging effect and adjust brightness and contrast to your needs. Use the cog wheel buttons to select the color effect the aging effect will use.Image Overlay
Select and apply an overlay to your image, e.g. a rainbow.Frame
Select a preset and surround your image with a stylish frame.Emboss
Select the desired angle and brightness and click Ok to apply the effect.Shade
This effect is very similar to sunglasses with adjustable angle and brightness.Blue Shift
Use the slider to adjust the shift and make your image look like an old Polaroid.Oilpaint
Select the strength of the effect via the slider and turn your image into an oil painting.Charcoal
Turn your image into a charcoal painting. Experiment with the sliders for best results.Sketch
Turns your image into a pencil sketch. Experiment with the sliders for best results.Posterize
Make your image look like a poster. The level controls the number of colors used.Solarize
Use the slider to overexpose your image.Threshold
Segments your image by setting all pixels whose intensity values are above a threshold to black and all the remaining pixels to white.Adaptive Threshold
Automatically segments your image by setting all pixels whose intensity values are above a threshold to a foreground value and all the remaining pixels to a background value.Filter /LUTs
Lookup Tables (LUTs) replace the color values in your photos to achieve various artistic effects. Ashampoo Photo Optimizer Pro 26 comes with a number of default LUTs. You can purchase additional LUTs from various vendors or download them for free on the internet.Standard Filters
These are the default LUTs. Click a filter to apply its effect to the currently selected photo.
Own Filters
LUT filter files usually end in .CUBE. To add custom filters, click the folder icon next to "Own Filters". A dialog will open that allows you to add your own folders or remove them via the trashcan icon.
Manipulate
Clone Area
- Select a radious for the selection.
- Click the image to select the target area for the cloned data. A new marker will appear.
- Drag the new marker over the area you wish to clone. The area you selected will now be copied to the target area.
Blur
Use the slider to adjust the strength of the blur effect.Motion Blur
This feature mimics the blur that occurs when objects are captured in motion. Use the sliders to adjust the strength (Sigma) and angle.Adaptive Blur
This effect analyzes your image and intelligently adjusts the effect strength based on existing pixels and colors in your image. Use the slider to set an initial strength.Noise
Adds or removes image noise, e.g. as an artistic effect or to clean photos that were taken in low light.Median
Applies a softening effect that may also be used to reduce noise. Use the slider to adjust the strength of the effect.Spread
Applies a spray effect to your image. Use the slider to adjust the strength of the effect.Shear
Use the sliders to achieve a shearing effect. The fill color setting determines which color is used to fill the empty areas around the sheared image.
Wave
Use the sliders to adjust wave height (Amplitude) and length as well as the color used to fill empty areas.
Swirl
Use the slider to adjust the angle.Implode / Explode
A factor greater than 0 means that content will appear sucked into the center whereas a factor smaller than 0 will cause a protrusion effect.Export
To meet size constraints, use Only shrink images whose dimension equal or exceed: with your preferred image width/height or Convert image files to JPEG format to auto-convert your images. Click "Next" and Ashampoo Photo Optimizer will launch your default e-mail client, create a new e-mail including your data and add the currently selected images as attachment.
Ashampoo Web Upload
Uploads your selected images to Ashampoo Webspace and creates unique Internet links for you to share with others.Once completed, you will see a list of your uploaded images including their unique Internet links. Right-click a link to open the context menu and copy it to your system clipboard.
Wallpaper
Allows you to set your image as a wallpaper for your displays. The available options depend on your operating system. The screenshot above was taken on a Windows 7 machine.
Save & Compress
Adjust the output format and quality of your images here. Depending on the selected format, different settings become available. Use the preview to check your current settings.Settings
Rotate and mirror images based on exif-orientation
Modern cameras store additional details such as the orientation of the camera, e.g. when holding it upside down. Activate this setting to have Ashampoo Photo Optimizer automatically rotate and align images properly.
Preserve original file date during save operations
Many image viewers and organizers depend on the creation date associated with each image to order and sort them. Enable this setting to have Ashampoo Photo Optimizer preserve the original creation date file write operations.
Invert mouse wheel zoom
By default, scrolling up/down will zoom in/out. Enable this feature to invert mouse zooming.
Ascending sort
Does not use a natural sort order when displaying file lists, e.g. causing 10 to come before 2.
Add subfolder
If enabled, photos in subfolders will also be added to the selection when you add a folder.
Show feedback after single-photo / multi-photo optimization
If enabled, the program will present you with brief feedback on the steps that were necessary to optimize the selected photo(s).
JPEG-Quality
Sets the compression ratio for JPEG images (0 = maximum compression, 100 = no compression). Lower compression ratios will increase image quality but consume more disk space. Unless you are low on disk space, select a high quality setting or leave this option unchanged.
Backup database folder
Ashampoo Photo Optimizer creates backup files of your original images prior to each optimization. Unlike as with previous versions, in Ashampoo Photo Optimizer, the output path is customizable. By default, the following output path is used:
C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\photoOptimizeHistoryDataBase
Note that the files are located on your system partition (usually C:\\) and that you will need to replace USERNAME with your Windows login user name. Select ... to specify a different output path. All existing backup files will be transferred to the new location. Select the round arrow symbol to restore the default output path.