When surfing the web do you often find sites where you're mainly interested in looking at the pictures and not in reading the text? Tired of clicking lots of links and wading through all that text to get to the pictures you really want to see? Wish you could view all of the pictures in one place and easily copy them to a local folder? Well now you can! ThumbBot™ will scan entire web sites for you and present all of the pictures it finds in a way that makes them easy to view and save, all without leaving your browser. You can turn your browser into a virtual personal picture search engine by using the scan options to choose which pictures should be returned.

Each picture returned by a scan is a link to the page where that picture was found. Simply click on a picture to surf to that page on the same or another web site. From that page you can scan for more pictures on the pages linked to it. Navigate foreign language sites without translation. Even if you don't have time to read you can surf from page to page and from site to site just by clicking pictures.

ThumbBot is an add-on for the Internet Explorer browser from Microsoft®. When installed the ThumbBot... menu item will be added to the browser's Tools menu and the ThumbBot button will be added to the browser's toolbar. If the button is not immediately visible it can be added by right clicking the toolbar and selecting Customize... on the pop up menu. The toolbar button is the little pair of spectacles in a thumbnail frame like the ones returned by a ThumbBot scan:

As you surf the web you may come across a site you'd like to scan for pictures without clicking all the links and viewing all the text. When you do simply click the ThumbBot menu item or toolbar button. The Scan Options dialog will appear where you can choose which pages to scan and which pictures to return. Adjust any of the options and click the OK button to start the scan. ThumbBot will start scanning the page you're viewing and the pages linked to it and the pages linked to those pages and so on to the depth specified in the scan options. A thumbnail view of the pictures found by the scan in progress will be displayed in the main browser window. This results view has a number of buttons to perform operations on the pictures returned including viewing, copying, zooming and sorting. Please see Results for details of working with the scan results.

ThumbBot is not a search engine in the standard sense of a web site where you access a database of information about other sites which have already been indexed. You do not need to go to the ThumbBot web site in order to scan another site for pictures. In fact you can perform ThumbBot scans while browsing other sites in offline mode. The scanning all takes place in the background on your computer and only on the web sites you specify. As the scan is being performed thumbnails will be added to the results view for the pictures which are found. The browser's status bar will also be updated to indicate which pages are being downloaded and scanned. Meanwhile you are free to work with the current results or to surf to any other web page. Use the browser's Back button or History to return to the results page updated with the latest pictures found.

To cancel the scan in progress simply click the ThumbBot menu item or toolbar button again and click the Yes button to confirm. Optionally the scan will be cancelled automatically when surfing to a page other than the results or viewer. A cancelled scan may be restarted from the point where it left off. Please see the description of rescanning for details.

Use the scan options dialog to choose the pages to be scanned and the pictures to be returned. You can specify that pages whose URLs contain certain strings should be scanned, how many pages to scan and how long to wait for them to download. Further page search options indicate whether to stay within the current web site, whether to request directory indexes, whether to delay the downloading of pictures and whether to cancel scanning automatically when leaving the results page. You can specify that pictures whose URLs contain certain strings or pictures of certain dimensions or file sizes should be returned. The meanings of the individual options are as follows:

URL contains (Page Search option)

Use this option to specify a string or strings to be searched for in the URLs of the site's pages. Only pages whose URLs contain one of the specified strings will be downloaded and scanned. Any number of strings may be entered separated by spaces. Pages will be scanned if their URLs contain any one of the strings. The URLs need not contain all of the strings.

Scan depth

Use this option to specify how far from the current web page the scan will proceed. A value of 0 will limit the scan to the current page. A value of 1 will include the current page and all of the pages linked to it. A value of 2 will include all of those pages and all of the pages linked to them. A value of 3 will include all of those pages and all of the pages linked to them... And so on and so on.

Time out

Use this option to specify how long to wait for pages to download. If this length of time elapses and the downloading of a page to be scanned has not completed the download will be stopped. If the download has progressed sufficiently the page will be scanned for pictures and linked pages. In any case the downloading of other pages waiting to be scanned will proceed with the time out reset. A value of 0 indicates that there is no time out and the scan will wait indefinitely for downloads to complete. Time out values are specified in seconds.

Stay in same domain

Use this option to limit the scan to the current web site. If the option is checked only pages of the current web site will be scanned and only pictures from the current web site will be returned. This can be useful to avoid the processing of unrelated pages and pictures like those from third party ad servers. If the option is not checked links from one page to another may cause pages on other web sites to be scanned depending on the scan depth option. This can be useful when a web site refers to related pages, frames and pictures located on other servers.

Request directory indexes

Use this option to indicate that ThumbBot should request an index for each web site directory from which any page is scanned. A directory may contain a number of scanned pages but the index for the directory will only be requested once. Not all web servers return directory indexes when requested so checking this option may or may not improve the scan results. When indexes are returned they are searched for additional pages to be scanned and pictures to be returned. By searching the indexes ThumbBot can, in some cases, return pictures which are not referenced by any web page. The indexes normally contain links to the pictures but not the actual pictures themselves so it may be necessary to increase the scan depth when using this option.

Delay picture downloads

Use this option to indicate that the scanning of web pages should proceed without waiting for all of the associated pictures to download. With this option in effect the initial page scan may complete much faster. Paging through the results may be slower as the pictures are then downloaded as needed. This picture download delay when viewing results is no different from viewing any other web page, which contains pictures, for the first time. When downloading is delayed a picture's file size may initially be unavailable and its reported dimensions may be less accurate. This can affect the search results when the width, height and file size limitation options are also being used. It can also affect the ordering when sorting by dimension (width times height). For pictures whose file sizes are unavailable the file size limitation options will be ignored. As results are viewed and pictures downloaded additional dimension and file size information may become available. ThumbBot records this information and automatically resizes thumbnails to the correct proportions when possible. Click the ThumbBot menu item or toolbar button at any time to rerun the picture search using any updated information. Click the Sort by Dimension button or press the "d" key at any time to rerun the sort using any updated information.

Cancel automatically

Use this option to indicate that the scanning of web pages should be cancelled automatically when leaving ThumbBot's results or viewer and surfing to any other web page. If this option is not checked you are free to surf the web without interrupting the scan in progress. With this option in effect the scan will be cancelled without prompting when leaving the results or viewer pages for whatever reason. Note that clicking a thumbnail will instruct the browser to leave the results and surf to the page where the picture was found. A cancelled scan may be resumed by returning to the results page and clicking the ThumbBot menu item or toolbar button. Use the browser's Back button or History to return to the results. See the description of rescanning for further details.

URL contains (Picture Search option)

Use this option to specify a string or strings to be searched for in the URLs of the site's pictures. Only pictures whose URLs contain one of the specified strings will be returned. Any number of strings may be entered separated by spaces. Pictures will be returned if their URLs contain any one of the strings. The URLs need not contain all of the strings.

Minimum width

Use this option to specify a minimum width for the pictures to be returned. Pictures whose widths are less than the minimum will not be returned. The minimum width can be the same as the maximum width to return pictures of exact widths but the minimum cannot exceed the maximum. Picture widths are specified in pixels.

Maximum width

Use this option to specify a maximum width for the pictures to be returned. Pictures whose widths are greater than the maximum will not be returned. The maximum width can be the same as the minimum width to return pictures of exact widths but the maximum cannot be less than the minimum. Picture widths are specified in pixels.

Minimum height

Use this option to specify a minimum height for the pictures to be returned. Pictures whose heights are less than the minimum will not be returned. The minimum height can be the same as the maximum height to return pictures of exact heights but the minimum cannot exceed the maximum. Picture heights are specified in pixels.

Maximum height

Use this option to specify a maximum height for the pictures to be returned. Pictures whose heights are greater than the maximum will not be returned. The maximum height can be the same as the minimum height to return pictures of exact heights but the maximum cannot be less than the minimum. Picture heights are specified in pixels.

Minimum size

Use this option to specify a minimum file size for the pictures to be returned. Pictures whose sizes are less than the minimum will not be returned. The minimum size can be the same as the maximum size to return pictures of exact sizes but the minimum cannot exceed the maximum. Picture file sizes are specified in bytes.

Maximum size

Use this option to specify a maximum file size for the pictures to be returned. Pictures whose sizes are greater than the maximum will not be returned. The maximum size can be the same as the minimum size to return pictures of exact sizes but the maximum cannot be less than the minimum. Picture file sizes are specified in bytes.

Scan results are presented in the browser's main window in pages entitled ThumbBot results for... along with the URL of the starting page of the scan. Each picture is represented by a thumbnail view of the original. Pictures larger than the size of the thumbnails are scaled down to fit. Pictures which are not too large retain their original dimensions. A label based on the picture's URL file name is displayed below each thumbnail.

Each picture's thumbnail and label function as a hyperlink to the web site page where the picture was found. Simply click the picture to navigate the browser to that web site page. Click the browser's Back button to return to the scan results page. To open the web site page in a new browser window press the Shift key while clicking the picture. To select a picture for viewing or copying press the Ctrl key while clicking it. Press the Shift and Ctrl keys together while clicking to select a range of pictures for viewing or copying.

Selected pictures may be dragged and dropped to the desktop, a folder or a printer. Click any one of the selected pictures and move your mouse to the drop target while holding the mouse button down. When it passes over a suitable target the mouse cursor will change to an arrow with a plus sign (+). With the cursor over the desired drop target release the mouse button and the selected pictures will be copied or printed. Only those selected pictures which are currently in the browser's local cache may be dragged and dropped. For best results uncheck the delay picture downloads scan option when you're planning to drag and drop from the results. Click the Save Selected or Print Selected buttons when you want ThumbBot to download and save or print selected pictures which aren't already cached.

Scan options may be adjusted and the web site rescanned without leaving the results page. It is not necessary to return to the original web page. From the results page simply click the ThumbBot menu item or toolbar button. If a scan is already in progress you will be prompted to cancel it. Click Yes to confirm and then click the ThumbBot menu item or toolbar button one more time. The scan options dialog will appear. Adjust the options as needed and click the OK button. If any of the page search options are adjusted a new page scan will be started from the beginning. If the page search options are unchanged but the previous scan did not complete it will be restarted from the point where it left off. The results page and the browser's status bar will be updated to indicate the progress of the scan as it runs in the background. Meanwhile you are free to work with the current results pages. The page search options include URL contains strings, scan depth, time out, stay in same domain, request directory indexes, delay picture downloads and cancel automatically. Any of the picture search options may be adjusted without requiring another page scan. This means the changes will appear in the results pages relatively quickly. The picture search options include URL contains strings and the width, height and file size limitations.

The results page contains a number of buttons for performing operations on the pictures. The meanings of the individual buttons are as follows:

Previous

To avoid overwhelming the browser with thousands of pictures at a time the results pages are limited to at most 100 thumbnails. The Previous and Next buttons are used to move from one page of results to another. Click the Previous button or press the left arrow key to move to the previous results page. Press the Ctrl key while clicking the Previous button or pressing the left arrow key to move to the first results page.

Next

To avoid overwhelming the browser with thousands of pictures at a time the results pages are limited to at most 100 thumbnails. The Previous and Next buttons are used to move from one page of results to another. Click the Next button or press the right arrow key to move to the next results page. Press the Ctrl key while clicking the Next button or pressing the right arrow key to move to the last results page.

Zoom In

Click the Zoom In button or press the "+" key to make each of the individual picture thumbnails larger.

Zoom Out

Click the Zoom Out button or press the "-" key to make each of the individual picture thumbnails smaller.

Sort by Dimension

Click the Sort by Dimension button or press the "d" key to sort the pictures by their dimensions (width times height). If the scan is still in progress additional thumbnails will be added to the end of the results unsorted. This will avoid disrupting the format of the previously sorted results pages.

Sort by Label

Click the Sort by Label button or press the "l" key to sort the pictures by the labels displayed under their thumbnails. If the scan is still in progress additional thumbnails will be added to the end of the results unsorted. This will avoid disrupting the format of the previously sorted results pages.

Select All

Click the Select All button or press the "a" key to select all of the pictures for viewing or copying. If the scan is still in progress additional thumbnails will be added to the end of the results unselected. This behavior is consistent with the Windows Explorer Search... feature.

Select None

Click the Select None button or press the "n" key to deselect all of the pictures for viewing or copying.

View Selected

Click the View Selected button or press the "v" key to view the selected pictures in the ThumbBot Viewer window. The viewer window displays the pictures at their normal size and has a number of buttons to perform operations like zooming, rotating, saving and printing. Please see Viewer for details of working with the viewer. Depending on the view in same window option the viewer will be opened in the same window replacing the results or in a new window. In either case clicking the viewer's View Results button or pressing the "v" key will return to the results page.

Copy Selected

Click the Copy Selected button or press the "c" key to copy the selected pictures to the Windows clipboard. From the clipboard the copied pictures may be pasted to the desktop, a folder or a printer. Only those selected pictures which are currently in the browser's local cache may be copied to the clipboard. For best results uncheck the delay picture downloads scan option when you're planning to copy from the results. Click the Save Selected or Print Selected buttons when you want ThumbBot to download and save or print selected pictures which aren't already cached.

Save Selected...

Click the Save Selected button or press the "s" key to save the selected pictures to a folder on your local computer or network. A Browse for Folder dialog will appear. Select the folder to receive the pictures and click the OK button to start saving.

While the saving is in progress a dialog will appear indicating which picture is currently being saved or downloaded and the total percent complete. Pictures which are present in the browser's local cache are simply copied from the cache to the selected folder. Pictures which are not present in the browser's local cache are downloaded to the selected folder. The progress dialog's Cancel button may be clicked at any time to stop the entire save operation.

Pictures are saved to the local folder and given the name displayed as the label under each thumbnail. It may happen that the local folder already contains a file with the same name as one of the pictures to be saved. When this happens a replace dialog will appear to confirm that the original file should be replaced. Click the Yes button to replace the original file with the selected picture. Click the Yes All button to replace the original file and any others with the same names as selected pictures. Click the No button to keep the original file but continue saving other selected pictures. Click the Cancel button to keep the original file and stop the entire save operation.

Click the Print Selected button or press the "p" key to print the selected pictures. A Print dialog will appear for you to choose the printer and options used to print the pictures. Select the printer and options and click the Print button to start printing.

While the printing is in progress a dialog will appear indicating which picture is currently being printed or downloaded and the total percent complete. Pictures which are present in the browser's local cache are simply printed from the cache file. Pictures which are not present in the browser's local cache are downloaded to and printed from a temporary file. The progress dialog's Cancel button may be clicked at any time to stop the entire print operation.

Click the Options button or press the "o" key to adjust the results display options. The results options dialog will appear.

Use the results options dialog to control how the results pages are formatted. You can show or hide any of the results buttons and specify the number of thumbnails per page and whether the viewer should open in the same window as the results page. Make any option adjustments and click the OK button. The meanings of the individual options are as follows:

Show buttons

Use these options to show or hide any of the results page buttons. Buttons which are checked are shown and buttons which are unchecked are hidden. Even when a button is hidden its keyboard shortcut is still available. In particular pressing the "o" key will bring up this results options dialog even if the Options button is hidden. Whether a button is shown or hidden its function will only be enabled when appropriate. For example the Previous button is only enabled when the second or later results page is displayed. The Options and Help buttons are always enabled.

Show per page

To avoid overwhelming the browser with thousands of pictures at a time the results may be divided into multiple pages. Use this option to specify the number of thumbnails to be displayed on each results page. The Previous and Next buttons are used to move from one page of results to another. Choose a number between 1 and 100 for this option. A smaller value may be useful in limiting the height of results pages and avoiding the need to scroll up and down.

View in same window

Use this option to specify that the View Selected button should open the viewer as a new page in the same browser window replacing the results page. To return to the results page click the browser's Back button or press the Backspace key or click the viewer's View Results button or press the "v" key.

Help...

Click the Help button or press the "h" or F1 keys to open this User's Guide to this Results section.

Selected pictures are viewed in a browser window entitled ThumbBot Viewer. Each picture is displayed one at a time at its original width and height. The same label which is displayed below the results page thumbnail is displayed below the corresponding picture in the viewer.

Each picture and label function as a hyperlink to the web site page where the picture was found. Simply click the picture to view that web site page in a new browser window. When the view in same window option is used the page will be opened in the same browser window as the results and viewer pages. To open the page in a new browser window press the Shift key while clicking the picture.

Pictures may be dragged and dropped to the desktop, a folder or a printer. Click the picture and move your mouse to the drop target while holding the mouse button down. When it passes over a suitable target the mouse cursor will change to an arrow with a plus sign (+). With the cursor over the desired drop target release the mouse button and the picture will be copied or printed.

The viewer contains a number of buttons for performing operations on the currently displayed picture. The meanings of the individual buttons are as follows:

Previous

The Previous and Next buttons are used to move from one selected picture to another. Click the Previous button or press the left arrow key to move to the previous picture. Press the Ctrl key while clicking the Previous button or pressing the left arrow key to move to the first picture.

Next

The Previous and Next buttons are used to move from one selected picture to another. Click the Next button or press the right arrow key to move to the next picture. Press the Ctrl key while clicking the Next button or pressing the right arrow key to move to the last picture.

Zoom In

Click the Zoom In button or press the "+" key to make the currently displayed picture larger.

Zoom Out

Click the Zoom Out button or press the "-" key to make the currently displayed picture smaller.

Rotate Clockwise

Click the Rotate Clockwise button or press the "r" key to rotate the currently displayed picture clockwise 90 degrees.

Rotate Counter.

Click the Rotate Counter. button or press the "u" key to rotate the currently displayed picture counterclockwise 90 degrees.

Flip Horizontal

Click the Flip Horizontal button or press the "f" key to flip the currently displayed picture horizontally (from left to right).

Flip Vertical

Click the Flip Vertical button or press the "e" key to flip the currently displayed picture vertically (from top to bottom).

View Results

Click the View Results button or press the "v" key to return to the results page from which the viewer was opened.

Copy Picture

Click the Copy Picture button or press the "c" key to copy the currently displayed picture to the Windows clipboard. From the clipboard the copied picture may be pasted to the desktop, a folder or a printer.

Save Picture...

Click the Save Picture button or press the "s" key to save the currently displayed picture to a local folder. A Save Picture dialog will appear for you to choose the folder and file name and file type for the picture to be saved.

Click the Print Picture button or press the "p" key to print the currently displayed picture. A Print dialog will appear for you to choose the printer and options used to print the picture.

Click the Options button or press the "o" key to adjust the viewer display options. The viewer options dialog will appear.

Use the viewer options dialog to control how the viewer page is formatted. You can show or hide any of the viewer buttons. Make any option adjustments and click the OK button. The meanings of the individual options are as follows:

Show buttons

Use these options to show or hide any of the viewer page buttons. Buttons which are checked are shown and buttons which are unchecked are hidden. Even when a button is hidden its keyboard shortcut is still available. In particular pressing the "o" key will bring up this viewer options dialog even if the Options button is hidden. Whether a button is shown or hidden its function will only be enabled when appropriate. For example the Previous button is only enabled when the second or later selected picture is displayed. The Options and Help buttons are always enabled.

Help...

Click the Help button or press the "h" or F1 keys to open this User's Guide to this Viewer section.