After nearly 3 years in the oven, it's baked.

From the manual:

Screw it! Making thumbnails for the Web used to be painstakingly slow if you wanted to apply borders, drop shadows, transformations, alpha channels, and so on. Or if it was fast, you ended up with a boring field of rigid columns and rows. Thumbscrew allows you to quickly and easily chew through a bunch of images, applying scaling, random rotation, border, and drop shadow to each – even resizing the original, and processing the batch as a whole afterwards.

Images can come from a variety of places:

• Drag images (or folders of images) in from the Finder
• Paste images from the Clipboard
• Paste or drag in URLs to images

When images are being processed, the image well in the main window will be briefly replaced with the original, and as the thumbnail is created, with the thumbnail. A progress bar at the bottom tracks overall progress of the batch.

After a batch has run, a batch file is created in ~/Library/Application Support/Thumbscrew/Batches/ and the selected post-flight script is run with this file as its only argument.

What it looks like:

What it does:

Not much in the way of new features:

• Manual included and accessible from Help menu
• Proper handling of Paste keybindings (command-V vs. command-option-V)
• New appcast URL.

Get it while it's hot.

The new version is out. It adds SparklePlus support, which will let you auto-update (at intervals, or manually), and if you choose, you can share back some anonymous profiling information (processor type, OS version, &c) so I can better know my user base. There is absolutely no personal information sent back (other than what I already know: you've got enough taste to use a Mac).

Also, I've finally got my post-processing script support finished. You can script the batch any way you like. Thumbscrew finishes a batch by calling the selected script directly, with one argument, the path to the batch file:

/path/to/script_file /path/to/batch_file

All the scripts live in ~/Application Support/Thumbscrew/Scripts, and all the batches live in ~/Application Support/Thumbscrew/Batches. Thumbscrew ships with a sample script, save_to_desktop.py, that copies the batch file from the batches folder to the Desktop:

#!/usr/bin/python

import sys
import os.path

batch_file_path = sys.argv[-1]

desktop_file_path = os.path.join(os.path.expanduser(u'~/Desktop'),
                                 os.path.split(batch_file_path)[-1])

inp = open(batch_file_path)
contents = inp.read()
inp.close()

outp = open(desktop_file_path, 'w')
outp.write(contents)
outp.close()

Since the script is called directly, the only thing to watch out for is that its executable bit is turned on. The batch file is an XML document with information about the batch:

<thumbscrew_batch name="20070605223040">
  <image name="Untitled14">
    <version name="original" path="/Users/zbir/Pictures/Thumbscrew/Untitled14.png"/>
    <version name="thumbnail" path="/Users/zbir/Sites/images/thumbnails/Untitled14_thumbnail.png"/>
    <version name="resized" path="/Users/zbir/Sites/images/photos/Untitled14_resized.png"/>
  </image>
</thumbscrew_batch>

Also, when images are pasted into Thumbscrew, it gives the pasted image a name, and stores it in ~/Pictures/Thumbscrew, so if you're making thumbnails or resized originals that should be living where the original does, it won't be relegated to an unfriendly /tmp directory.

Last, but not least, I've changed the icons a little, from our recent trip to Borneo. The application icon is being worked on, as well, and will show up in a later release.

Download

Thumbscrew's been making some rounds. Thanks, everyone!

Switchblog

FreeMacWare: "This is a great way to make a thumbnail if you are going to post the picture online. It’s fast too."

which was picked up by TUAW and Mike Power

The Apple Blog "ThumbScrew rocks my world, and I'm so happy to hear that it's been updated"

Random Murmurings tried to tie it together with flickr.

Hit Any Key: "Thumbscrew is one of those handy little photo tools that can make you look good, and fast!"

pedersondesigns: "My new favorite application."

Stability of Our Times: "One cool Mac app: Thumbscrew. Great fun and ease!"

MacReviewCast: Right around the 24:22 mark, listen to Jeff Powell. "Real small, single purpose app, very well done. ... One of those apps that tries to do one thing, and does a pretty good job of it."

ReelSmart: "makes a very cool thumbnail image instantly"

And those are just the sites in English!

Italian: ZeroNáve and inblogtecno

Korean: Heaven2 and AppleTree

Spanish: Applesfera, Comando + Q, and Think Wasabi

Japanese: Smantou, Pisces, and Slowpoke

Have at it. Includes GIF support for thumbnails.

I'm changing the whole Web Page output story, and it's partially underway, but it's not finished yet. Basically, I'm making it possible for you to do whatever you want (hopefully) with the end product of each batch run. For the curious, look in /tmp after a batch, and you'll see an XML file describing all the images processed in that run. This file will be passed to a script that you choose (or write!), so you can do anything you want with the results.

Download 1.0b12

[Update: Fixed the sidebar link. Thanks, Lorne]

It's been a long time coming, I know. Thanks so much to everyone who waited patiently. But it's back, and it's good. Thumbscrew 1.0b11

It's Universal now. The problems I ran into with running subprocesses using a bundled Python are gone. I reimplemented the thumbnailer kernel using ObjC with the help of Scott Stevenson. Huge thanks, Scott.

It's got Growl support. We'll let you know bit by excruciating bit how Thumbscrew is doing, and when a batch is done.

Web page output is currently suspended while I evaluate the best way to generate output. I've used a variety of means in the past, and want something that is approachable by lots of users. Zope PageTemplates are pretty easy, and the syntax for developing new templates is pretty straightforward. XML and XSLT are maybe a little more universal, but I really don't know.

Take her out for a spin and let me know what you think!

Download 1.0b11

Okay, you mangy, teeming millions. I have heard your cries, though they sicken me. "Give us GIF! Give us GIF! Have pity on the throwbacks still using Internet Explorer!" Your wails and gnashing of teeth have not fallen upon deaf ears. Turns out, it was stupid simple to implement. BEHOLD! Thumbscrew supports GIF!

I'm warning you, though. It ain't pretty. If you need any kind of color fidelity, you're better off with JPEG and an opaque background color. These GIFs, while small, are uggs. With a capital UGG.

You can do transparent

Or opaque backgrounds

Okay? Happy? If you really want to make the world a prettier place, encourage your friends and colleagues to switch. At least to Firefox, if not to a Mac.

By the way, I'm still getting the Web page thing done. I know a lot of you probably don't use it, but I do, and I need it if I'm going to keep talking to you crazies. Expect a new version by Friday.

Amazing! My little app was mentioned on the Call for Help with Leo Laporte show. An exerpt from the transcript:

>> Leo: HAVE YOU EVER -- I'M JUST GONNA TAKE A WALK OVER

HERE. (Mellow instrumental)

>> Leo: HAVE YOU EVER WANDERED AROUND ON THE COMPUTER, ON THE STUDIO

FLOOR, AND SAID, "I'M GONNA TAKE A LITTLE --" HAVE YOU EVER WANTED YOUR ONLINE PHOTOS TO LOOK UNIQUE? N "LOOK UNIQUE?" THIS IS --

>> Mikey: LOOK DIFFERENT!

>> Leo: MIKE HAS A FREE FILE TO MAKE ALL YOUR PHOTOS ONLINE LOOK

JUST... A LITTLE DIFFERENT, KIND OF ASKEW.

>> Mikey: ASKEW ALMOST. (Laughing)

>> Leo: WHAT IS THIS PROGRAM?

>> Mikey: IT'S CALLED "THUMBSCREW."

>> Leo: OH, I LOVE THUMBSCREW!

>> Mikey: IT IS A GREAT PROGRAM.

>> Leo: I USE THUMBSCREW.

>> Mikey: AND IT ALLOWS YOU TO -- ns up]

>> Mikey: WHAT IT DOES IS IT TAKES THE IMAGE THAT YOU HAVE, A

PHOTOGRAPH OR EVEN A DRAWING OR WHATEVER YOU HAVE IN YOUR COMPUTER, AND YOU CAN TURN IT -- IT'LL MAKE IT SLIDE SIDE TO SIDE.

>> Leo: AND YOU CAN PUT A FRAME ON IT.

>> Mikey: PUT A FRAME AROUND IT, COLOURED BACKGROUND. ns down]

>> Leo: THIS IS, BY THE WAY, A FREE FILE FOR MAC ONLY UNFORTUNATELY.

>> Mikey: EXACTLY, YEAH.

>> Leo: SO DON'T GET YOUR HOPES UP, WINDOWS PEOPLE. I'M SURE THERE'S

SOMETHING LIKE IT --

>> Mikey: THERE SHOULD BE SOMETHING LIKE THAT, BECAUSE THIS IS A

FANTASTIC PROGRAM, SO --

>> Leo: I USE IT ALL THE TIME.

>> Mikey: YEAH. SO I'LL JUST SHOW YOU HOW IT WORKS RIGHT HERE. YOU

TAKE A PHOTO -- THIS IS A PHOTO I TOOK THE OTHER NIGHT. ns up]

>> Mikey: AND I'M JUST GONNA DROP IT INTO THE THUMBSCREW WINDOW, AND

IT'S GONNA TAKE A SECOND.

>> Leo: AND IT DOES ITS THING.

>> Mikey: IT DOES ITS THING. (Both make funny sounds)

>> Mikey: AND IT POPS UP, YOU CAN SEE HERE, A LITTLE ONE. IT'S

CALLED "THUMB." IT'S RENAMED.

>> Leo: IT'S A THUMBNAIL.

>> Mikey: IT'S A THUMBNAIL OF IT. AND I'LL OPEN IT UP HERE. ns down]

>> Mikey: IT JUST NEEDS A SECOND TO LOAD UP HERE, BUT WHAT IT DOES

IS I'VE MADE IT SO IT MATCHES THE COLOUR SCHEME OF MY BLOG. SO THIS IS ACTUALLY AN UPSIDE-DOWN PICTURE, SO IT'S NOT REALLY A GOOD EXAMPLE, BUT I'LL DO ANOTHER ONE HERE OF --

>> Leo: YOU CAN SET HOW MUCH IT ROTATES IT BY, AND I'VE ACTUALLY --

I ALWAYS SET IT TO THE MINIMUM, BECAUSE I DON'T WANT IT TO ROTATE --

>> Mikey: YEAH, I HAVE IT LIKE, I THINK, AT 35 DEGREES OR SOMETHING

LIKE THAT, JUST SO IT GIVES IT A LITTLE BIT OF SOMETHING DIFFERENT. HERE'S A BETTER EXAMPLE OF --

>> Leo: YEAH, SEE THAT? ISN'T THAT COOL?

>> Mikey: OF LEO, MYSELF AND AMBER.

>> Leo: WE WERE SHOOTING POOL THE OTHER NIGHT.

>> Mikey: YEAH.

>> Leo: NO, WE WEREN'T. (Laughing)

>> Mikey: AND SO THIS MATCHES PERFECTLY WITH, FOR INSTANCE, MY BLOG

BACKGROUND OR YOUR ONLINE PHOTO ALBUM BACKGROUND.

>> Leo: SO YOU CAN CHOOSE A PICTURE --

>> Mikey: SO I JUST HAVE MY --

>> Leo: SHOW US HOW YOU'VE USED IT.

>> Mikey: I'LL SHOW YOU. I'LL JUST SCROLL DOWN.

>> Leo: I DO THE SAME THING. IN FACT, WHEN I DID THE LAST GEEK

CRUISE, I DID A WHOLE PHOTO ALBUM WITH THUMBSCREW, AND IT REALLY LOOKED NICE.

>> Mikey: EXACTLY. SO HERE'S AN EXAMPLE OF HOW IT FITS PERFECTLY

INTO MY BLOG BECAUSE IT MATCHES THE BACKGROUND EXACTLY. THE COLOUR'S THE SAME, THE BORDER, AND IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S -- I'VE HAD PEOPLE E-MAIL ME AND SAY, "WHAT IS THIS PROGRAM?"

>> Leo: "HOW DO YOU DO THIS?"

>> Mikey: AND IT'S REALLY SIMPLE, AND IT TAKES LIKE 10 SECONDS.

>> Leo: THUMBSCREW. YOU CAN DO A WHOLE BATCH OF THEM.

>> Mikey: AND YOU CAN DO BATCHES, EXACTLY.

>> Leo: JUST DRAG A WHOLE BUNCH OF FILES ON THERE.

>> Mikey: YEAH, YEAH.

>> Leo: THUMBSCREW -- I USE IT, AND SO DOES MIKEY. MIKEY LIKES IT.

>> Mikey: (Chuckling) (Mellow guitar music)

(Thanks to Jack for the heads up)

Few more bugfixes in this release:

• .jpg instead of .jpeg
• You can use a rotation of 0, and I added it explicitly to the list of values in the popup. A lot of people didn't seem to understand that the combo boxes can have arbitrary values typed in.

There is still some work to be done with the web page creation. I plan on working on it some more, but I know these are the issues that were being reported the most after the latest release.

Thumbscrew 1.0b9 (Fixed link. Thanks, Marco)

Apologies, all around. Some of the people who downloaded either of the last two betas were newcomers, some were upgrading. I'm sure all got left with a bad taste in the mouth. Not something I'd like to be remembered for.

I had been testing new releases against the preferences I use on a day to day basis, and didn't design some of the new features to be clever enough to handle the first-time user.

This release should work with existing preferences and new preferences on Tiger and Panther (I've run through various scenarios on my PowerBook and iMac with new and old prefs). I'm looking at PreFab Software's UI Browser software as a functional testing tool. With a little work, I think it has great potential for helping me avoid this kind of embarrassing situation in the future.

I suspect once I get this to a relatively stable point (hopefully this is it), I'll probably make far less frequent public releases. I'll keep updating the mailing list, though, and try to have a bit more constrained development flux.

Thumbscrew 1.0b8

"Goddamn bugs" -- Nick the Van Driver, Men in Black

So, I now know there are plenty of bugs to go around in the latest Thumbscrew beta I put out. I'll get to each and every one of them, but I was caught with my pants down. I had been testing with a fully fleshed out set of preferences and so didn't catch the problems that were occurring for the people who were starting up Thumbscrew for the first time (the spinning beach ball of death when trying to open the Preferences).

Well, that was a shallow bug, and fixed easily, but that uncovered others. Suffice it to say there's still a bit of work to be done before I send out 1.0b8, and it'll be a while since this isn't my day job. Amber promises I'll have plenty of time to work on it this weekend. I hope you can bear with me for a few more days...