RIOT Freeware Review: Free Software For Optimizing Images With Large File Size
I would like to share my new found freeware which is proving to one of the best image optimizers I have used so far. RIOT (or Radical Image Optimization Tool) is a marvelous software made by a Romanian programmer, Lucian Sabo. It’s a clever program he wrote in C++ that can magically reduce an image file size without sacrificing the original photo’s image quality. You can get the latest RIOT version 0.4.1 from these two download links/web addresses: 1) http://www.majorgeeks.com/RIOT_-_Radical_Image_Optimization_Tool_d6068.html or 2) http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/RIOT-Download-113391.html
A Screenshot of RIOT Free Image Optimizer Software in action
RIOT Freeware Image Optimizer Review: I am really impressed with RIOT. Everything about it exudes quality programming which is quite rare in a freeware. Unlike other image optimizing programs, RIOT actually gives accurate and real-time visual image compression where you can actually see the effect of your tweaks. The user interface is simple and easy to use. There’s the default dual-view where you can instantly check the before and after pictures as you adjust compression levels by moving the slider controls. You can also preview the pictures you are working on in JPEG, PNG and GIF so you can find out which file format will give the best compression.
RIOT is lightweight and doesn’t hog my computer’s memory when processing image compressions. I am also happy that RIOT allows immediate editing on smaller images without destroying the original image. I won’t have to fire up Photoshop or Lightroom anymore since I can adjust contrast, exposure, rotation and metadata right inside RIOT. Get this one. It’s a keeper for all graphic artists who upload images to the web. RIOT has also plug-in versions that will work with GIMP. You can get it from the Gimp Registry.
Main features of RIOT Free Image Optimizer Software:
- open many image types including rare/scientific types
- save and optimize JPEG, GIF and PNG with a simple, clean user interface
- works in dual view: (original – optimized image) or single view (optimized image).
Automatic preview of resulting image - in-place compare function (alternativelly display the original image over the optimized image to notice small pixel changes)
- compress files to desired filesize threshold
- fast processing (all is done in memory);
see instant results including resulting filesize - batch support (process multiple files at once)
- transparency handling options
- decide if you want to keep metadata (comments, IPTC, Adobe XMP, EXIF profiles, ICC profiles).
Unsupported metadata is removed - transfer metadata between image formats (destination format must support them)
- common tools: pan and zoom, rotate, flip
- basic image adjustments: brightness, contrast, gamma, invert
- visually reduce number of unique colors for PNG and GIF images in order to reduce filesize
(two quantization methods are available: Xiaolin Wu and NeuQuant neural net) - resize image by using well known resample filters (ex: Lanczos3, Catmull Rom, Bicubic, and others)
- out-of-the-box support for external PNG optimizers (optipng, pngout, etc)
- the compression and the results are comparable to those of commercial products, even higher.
- Adaptive logarithmic tone mapping algorithm (Drago) used for HDR images
For serious photo editors, we recommend you try the Free Splashup Photo Editor (online photo editing) and HDRtist 1.1 Photo Editor (for editing HDR Photos on Mac OS). Reviews of these free softwares can be found via the links given.
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