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Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

UPDATE:
The commercial version of Picture Attachments Wizard (v. 1.1) has been released.  See this posting for more details.

NOTE:
Due to data loss with OfficeZealot's blog server, all comments posted between April 28 and June 8 , 2005 to any of my blog entries were inadvertently deleted.  The end of this blog entry contains the text of the comments applicable to this posting that I was able to recover.

After first blogging about a new way to handle viewing multiple picture attachments with Outlook, and then expanding on that idea in my MSDN article, I have now taken it even further by developing a COM Add-In called Picture Attachments Wizard for Microsoft Outlook.  This Beta version (0.9) is a free 45-day trial that can be downloaded here.  Give it a try and let me know what you think - all feedback (constructive, I hope!) is welcome.

Here's a screen shot of the main Wizard screen:

More screenshots:

Requirements:  Windows XP, Outlook 2000/XP/2003.

Features:

  • Thumbnail view of attached photos in a separate screen
    • from Inbox, select message and view thumbnail screen
    • from e-mail, can tile thumbnail screen horizontally or vertically with the e-mail message
    • Auto-display thumbnails when e-mail opens
  • Run slideshow of attached photos
    • Launch from Inbox or e-mail
    • Can control slide transition timing
    • Navigation buttons for pausing or cycling through the pictures
  • Wizard form
    • View EXIF (Extensible Image File Format, soon to be known as the DCF - Digital Camera File format) details of photos; this is photographic information that is stored in the picture files from most digital cameras (camera model, date picture taken, shutter speed, flash mode, F-number, exposure time, etc.)
    • Open all or selected pictures with a choice of any installed image viewer application
    • Quick save all or selected pictures to default folder (no browsing to save)
    • Expand thumbnail view to full screen
    • Collapse/expand Picture Tasks and Picture Info explorer bars
  • Toolbar on main Outlook window and e-mail window to launch Wizard form, Thumbnails screen, slideshow, quick save attachments and change wizard settings
  • Ability to save all picture attachments in all e-mail messages in your Inbox to a location you choose in one shot
  • Program settings:
    • Change default attachment save directory
    • Auto display Wizard, thumbnails or slideshow when opening an e-mail message
      • Only auto display above when all attachments are pictures or at least one is a picture
      • Auto display thumbnails screen with e-mail message tiled vertically or horizontally
    • Hide extra text on slideshow screen
    • Hide main Outlook Picture Attachments Wizard toolbar on startup

An extra-special thanks to VBAccelerator.com for some great resources, libraries and controls.

----------------------------------------------------------------
 COMMENTS RESTORED FROM BACKUP:

Thu 5/19/2005 9:56 AM Jon Hewitt

"Absolutlely brilliant. All works OK, but when I start Outlook I get the fllowing error:

Error 5 (Invalid procedure call or argument) in procedure RetrieveInstalledBrowsers of Module basPictureAttachments)"

Thu 5/19/2005 10:13 AM Eric Legault http://blogs.officezealot.com/legault

"Thanks Jon! As for your error - what browsers do you have installed? What version of XP - SP1 or SP2 (or none?)

If you are comfortable working with the registry editor, it would be really helpful if you could export the contents of this key to a file and e-mail it to me (rename the .reg file to .txt so it doesn't get trashed):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMen
uInternet

You can e-mail me by clicking Contact in the My Links section of this page at the top left."

Sat 5/28/2005 3:35 PM William Dowell

Love it! thank you! I have no errors my end, (running XP SP2) and all has been brilliant. I look forward to the final version :-)

Fri 6/3/2005 1:52 PM  Chris Manning

I just tried this out and it seems to work great. I think that the options that you added hit the nail on the head. However, what can be done at the end of the trial period with this free version?

Fri 6/3/2005 2:37 PM Eric Legault http://blogs.officezealot.com/legault

Chris: At the end of the trial, the add-in will load but none of the functionality will work, and you'll have to uninstall it.

Mon 6/6/2005 9:29 AM Chris Manning

When/where will this item be released? How can I continue to use this past the trial period? This application seems to be very stable. Do you have plans to extend the functionality more than what has been developed? Thanks!

END COMMENTS RESTORE
 ----------------------------------------------------------------

Published Thursday, May 19, 2005 12:35 AM by legault
Filed under: ,

Comments

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Hello, my name is Marcelo and i work with graphic industry in Brazil, surfing in web finaly i found a one application that soluctioned my problems with jpg´s. I hope that you extended the tryal period, because the program is very useful, sorry about my fairly english, i dont know write well...

regards,

Marcelo Vitorino
Monday, June 20, 2005 4:30 PM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Marcelo: Sorry, the trial period cannot be extended if you have used it for more than 45 days. You are more than welcome to purchase a license when it is released commercially in July or August.
Monday, July 04, 2005 10:00 AM by legault

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Hi nice program. A great feature would be, if you highlight the email in the inbox, the the pics preview in the preview pane below! Any Ideas on how to do this...?
Sunday, July 10, 2005 7:57 AM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Gareth: That's not possible to do without altering the original e-mail message, which is never a good idea. You can't force the preview pane to show anything but the contents of the e-mail, otherwise that would be a marvelous place to put attachment previews. Maybe next version!
Sunday, July 10, 2005 10:38 PM by legault

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Sure I understand. It would be great in the next version. I much prefer outlook to OE. I really used to like the feature in outlook express where you could preview jpgs in the preview pane at the bottom. Keep up the good work Eric!
Monday, July 11, 2005 7:12 PM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Garth: I should clarify that I meant the next version of Outlook, not my Wizard. It simply cannot be done the way you (and others) envision displaying images in the preview pane - yet!
Monday, July 11, 2005 9:43 PM by legault

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

I'm looking for a way to send thumbnails with Outlook 2003. Ant ideas?
Thursday, July 14, 2005 1:24 PM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

For a program like this i was searching a long. It's very nice. It works all.
I only get an error "error 457, line 300 (this key is already associated with this element of this collection) in procedure RetrieveInstalledBrowser of Module basPictureAttachments. Browserprogram: Avant.exe"
when I click OK the program continues and works perfect.
Gerard Bekke from the Netherlands
Monday, July 18, 2005 9:56 AM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

How can I purchase this after my trial is expired? I also have been searching for a while to get something like this. It works great so far.
Monday, July 18, 2005 11:45 AM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Gary: My thumbnails, I'm assuming you mean displaying a small version of a picture, and by clicking the image you can then view the larger, full-size image. To do this, you need to include HTML in the e-mail with links to images stored on a web server or accessible file share. A sample tag would look something like this:

<A HREF="\images\image1_large.jpg"><img border="2" src="\images\image1_small.jpg" xthumbnail-orig-image="\images\image1_large.jpg" width="100" height="46"></A>

See this link for info on HTML formatting with Outlook:

HTML Mail with Microsoft Outlook:
http://www.slipstick.com/mail1/html.htm

Futhermore, with Outlook 2003, when you insert an image attachment it offers you the ability to resize a copy of the original file to smaller resolutions. However, the user will have no access to the larger original.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005 12:47 PM by legault

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Chad: A completely new version will be available for purchase and download when it is released in August. The trial version is a beta, so you can't activate that one.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005 1:52 PM by legault

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Gerard: Yes, you are not the only one who has experienced this problem with Avant. I will fix this issue for the final version. Do you see Avant listed in the drop down list in the Wizard Screen?
Tuesday, July 19, 2005 1:58 PM by legault

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

In the wizard dropdown screen I can see the Avant Browser, Internet Explorer, Ms office Picture manager and Paint. I've Picture Attachment Wizard now 2 days installed and I believe it is a brilliant program.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005 3:05 PM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

i am trying to install this software for a user on a sbs 2003 netowrk.

Its an XP SP2 machine with Outlook 2003. I installed as the adminisrator and it works perfectly.

When I log in as a standard user, i can see the OLPictureWizard.dll using the Com Add-Ins manager, but it will not save the add-in. I am sure this is a permission think within outlook xp.

Do you know how I can add the add-in so all users of the computer automatically have access to it?

many Thanks,

Jack
Tuesday, July 26, 2005 1:53 PM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Jack: Users need Power User rights or greater to install COM Add-Ins, as it requires modifying the HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry hive to list the Add-in. If you want all users of the machine to have access to the add-in, you need to copy the add-in's key from HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins. However, add-ins registered there are NOT displayed in Outlook's COM Add-Ins manager dialog. You'll have to change the LoadBehavior value to enable/disable the add-in for this situation.

Thanks for the heads up though. I'll make sure to address this situation for the commercial version.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005 3:04 PM by legault

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

best solution would be to make the configuration available through a group policy

Any news on the release date.

I want to role this out but I am worried that my 45 days trial will expire before you release.

Many Thanks,

Jack
Friday, July 29, 2005 2:22 AM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Jack: Group Policies eh? I never envisioned this product being heavily used in a corporate environment. If this winds up being the case, great - but I kind of doubt it. For now, I don't anticipate implementing support for GPO unless I get a decent demand for volume or site licenses. Thanks for the idea though! I'll keep it in mind for sure.

By all means feel free to roll out the beta trial version. Any feedback you can provide will help make the product stronger. I plan on having the final commercial version released in mid to late August. So if you do plan a rollout, I hope it is soon so that I have a chance to work in any possible bug fixes in time!
Friday, July 29, 2005 12:46 PM by legault

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Eric,

there are only 10 computers in my office but even having to configure it on even just 10 computers ia a pain.. the GP was only a suggestion... but it would be useful for even small companies like me!!

ill role it out to all the computers today and Ill get you some feedback

many thanks,

jack
Sunday, July 31, 2005 4:32 AM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Eric,

Any word on the official date this product will be rolled out and where it will be available for purchse? Thanks!

- marc
Saturday, August 06, 2005 8:26 AM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Well, I installed it a couple of weeks ago and I really liked it. But....yesterday it stopped working. I tried a repair installation without success. Then I deleted it and reinstalled - tool bar doesn't show up.

What's going on (I'm quite sure it been less than a few weeks)
Monday, August 08, 2005 7:13 PM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Marc: I'm working on getting the final version for release by the end of the month. I haven't chosen a merchant vendor to distribute the software, so I can't tell you where you can buy it yet. If you want to be notified when it's available, drop me your e-mail (see the Contact link in the My Links section in the top left).
Monday, August 08, 2005 8:52 PM by legault

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Garry: If it's less than 45 days, then it couldn't have expired. Is it the main toolbar that is hidden? There is an option in settings to hide that when Outlook starts. Or maybe the COM Add-In is not loaded - see if it is listed in the COM Add-Ins dialog. It could also be disabled - check Help/About/Disabled Items.
Monday, August 08, 2005 8:54 PM by legault

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

You were right - I found it listed under disabled items (the only thing listed) and I enabled it. It's working perfectly again although I'm a little puzzled as to why it ended up there. I bought a new flat panel monitor the same day it quit working. I kicked up the screen resolution considerably. May be a coincidence - I don't know why this would affect anything (I'm grasping at straws).
Tuesday, August 09, 2005 9:58 PM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

I like the idea of the wizard. However it crashes in some cases. How can I disable it?

Also, could you please inform me when the product is released.

Thanks

inolp@rogers.com
Friday, August 26, 2005 1:21 PM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Nearing the end of the test period, I've deleted the com addin and then deleted the picture attachment wizard. So, how do I delete it from the Tools dropdown?
Wednesday, September 07, 2005 7:04 PM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

please can i buy this now!!!

best regards,

jack
Friday, September 09, 2005 12:01 PM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Garry: Enter the customize mode for your toolbars/menus, and simply right-click it and select Delete. I don't understand how that menu option remained though. Did you use Add/Remove programs to uninstall? That should be done AFTER removing the COM Add-In (which cleans up custom toolbars upon disconnecting).
Friday, September 09, 2005 10:13 PM by legault

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Jack: I'm working on the web site, which has to be done before the software publisher I've contracted to do order processing will activate my account. I'm working feverishly to get this product released, but with a two year old and a two month old, time is hard to come by lately...
Friday, September 09, 2005 10:15 PM by legault

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Eric: I went to tools/customize/toolbars/ Picture Attachments Wizard. It was there and it was unchecked. So I highlited it and deleted it. However, this did not remove it from the tools drop down menu. I then went back to tools/customize/toolbars/menu bar and clicked on the reset button. That worked and its now gone.

Another oddity...for example (I hope you're still looking for feedback like this):
I have an email receipt that has three images attached. Although I no longer have the picture attachment installed, I find that I can click on the "next image" arrow at the bottom and it will bring up the next image. But it doesn't stop there, once I've viewed the images on that email, I find that if I continue to click on the arrow it will start showing the images from other, earlier emails as long as I keep clicking on it. It will do this until I exit out of the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.
Sunday, September 11, 2005 12:24 PM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Garry: yes, you had to manually delete those menus and toolbars because the add-in didn't have a chance to clean up after itself when it is disconnected.

The behaviour you describe could be the fact that the Windows Picture & Fax viewer has cached pictures that you've previously opened, and you are simply navigating the files in that temp directory (not sure which dir that is yet, I should check out of curiousity). BTW, I use a "custom" directory, so if you've opened those pictures without the Picture Attachments Wizard, there is no way it is the same file you are looking at with the Windows Picture & Fax Viewer (I delete them from the temp directory when the e-mail is closed).

Great feedback though Garry. Thanks!
Sunday, September 11, 2005 5:30 PM by legault

# Source Code

Hi,

I find for source code in VB/C# .NET to interop with Outlook and get the Attachment files in a email message, such as AutoCad drawing files, and store it us to a ERP System Database in SQL Server.
Can i customize the functions of your application to this, the source code is to sale ?.

Best regards,

Alessandro Holanda
ALERMAN Tecnologia
alessandro@alerman.com.br

Wednesday, September 14, 2005 12:39 PM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Excellent - how do I get a full verison?
Tuesday, October 11, 2005 8:05 AM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Marcus: I have another blog posting with info on the commercial version:

Picture Attachments Wizard for Microsoft Outlook - released!:
http://blogs.officezealot.com/legault/archive/2005/09/20/8064.aspx
Tuesday, October 11, 2005 8:44 AM by legault

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Found it

http://www.shareit.com/product.html?productid=300040278&languageid=1&stylefrom=300040278
Tuesday, October 11, 2005 9:51 AM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

You are really cool....

Your software is very useful and we are struggling from Outlook and OLE for years.

Now, you solve all the trouble and this is a MUST for all Outlook user.

Cheers.....keep it up...

Patrick
it@chinacre8.com
Friday, April 07, 2006 1:06 AM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

I know that we can print by right click on the selection but why dont u make a print button, icon or in the left control panel?

it@chinacre8.com
Sunday, April 09, 2006 10:14 PM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

Excellent - how do I get a full verison?
Monday, September 25, 2006 5:42 PM by Anonymous

# re: Picture Attachments Wizard (Beta) for Microsoft Outlook

java developer: You can download a trial or purchase the full version at http://www.collaborativeinnovations.ca.
Thursday, September 28, 2006 12:04 PM by legault
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