I'm so disappointed that ThumbsPlus (Cerious) seems to be gone

[Connie]

This is just an "I'm sad" post.  I started using TP in one of the earliest (ca. early 1997) versions.  Every once in a while, I check in here to see if Cerious has risen from the ashes....but....no joy.  27 years.  Sigh.  [sniffle]

We didn't even get a chance to say, "Goodbye."  It was nice knowing you folks. 

Regs, Connie

[Daan van Rooijen]

Yes, I share those sentiments.. ThumbsPlus has been my go-to software for 90% of my image editing and cataloging needs since 1995, and I've worked with their team (and many, many mutual customers) for 25+ years, when my now defunct little software company represented Cerious in the Netherlands and Belgium. I'll keep on monitoring and managing this forum though, in hopes -however faint- of a miraculous uprising.

[Gary]

Daan,

I want to thank you for all of the help you have provided over the years.

I still have v2.1 (c1993) and v3.1 diskettes, so I am a long time user.  There is no other image manager that comes close to ThumbsPlus (XnViewMP is close, but no cigar).  I use v7 to manage video files and v10 to manage image files.  It is sad that no one has taken over the application and continued its development.  I guess it is true that all good things come to an end?

Kindest regards,
Gary

[Daan van Rooijen]

Thanks for the kind words.

I still hope that one day, Phillip will find the focus and inspiration again to continue work on ThumbsPlus.

[Warner_Young]

Daan, do you know for a fact that that is the problem? I mean that Phil has lost focus and inspiration?

I wish he could resume work, too. The next best thing I've found is digiKam, which is fidgety and has UI issues and other things. But it does handle HEIC files, which is one thing I really needed.

[Daan van Rooijen]

Hi Warner, no, I don't know why development seems to have come to a standstill. I worded it like that because programming in general requires focus and inspiration (among other things).

Yes, support for popular new formats like HEIC en WEBP (and new camera raw formats) would be great to have.

The combination of database, file manager and image editor (plus metadata editing, batch editing, slideshows, printing, catalogs, etc) is still rare... there are alternatives, but to my knowledge none that do all of these things.

[Warner_Young]

Thanks, Daan, for all the years of helping all of us.

I'm still hoping, but when I emailed them a few months ago, I didn't get a response at all. The previous year, I at least got a reply of "we're still here".

[Warner_Young]

Did Cerious ever give out information on how their plugins work? Or reverse engineer the plugins. I'm wondering if it's possible for someone dedicated enough to write a plugin to read HEIC files, for example.

[Daan van Rooijen]

Warner, I have source code to a .BMP plugin that Cerious made available in 2006, I think to help others to make their own plug-ins. Please check if you can download it:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kcrkeyby4j4zyxcqi4n3m/Cerious_ThumbsPlus_plug_bmp.zip?rlkey=79rgibsl5qlb92oxjvkpawuoh&dl=0

(note: I have updated the link because I found additional information that I have included in the archive as Readme.TXT)

[Warner_Young]

Thanks, Daan. Now let's see if:
1. I have the time
2. I have the inspiration
3. and the ability

to write a plugin that can load HEIC files.
And
4. See if the source code can be built at all.

[Daan van Rooijen]

I've updated the archive to include a readme.txt - please download once more

[Warner_Young]

Thanks, that helps. Although the actual problem I have right now is the source code is too old, and the Visual Studio I'm using is too new. I'm sure there's a way to make it work. It'll just take time.

[Warner_Young]

Interesting. I just clicked on Philip's profile out of curiosity, and it says he was last active 2023-11-22. That's much more recent than I expected given the lack of news, activity and emails.