With ThumbsPlus, you can convert and edit (in a single pass) many files in the background while you continue to work on other things (even start another copy of ThumbsPlus) This option displays a dialog box, which you use to control the batch process. Once you've made the selections and press the OK button, ThumbsPlus will prompt you for any options for the specific output format you've chosen, including comment fields and compression options.

You must select the files you wish to process before selecting this option. See Selecting Files for more information on how to select specific files. Each option in the dialog box is discussed below.

Output Format. Select the output format for the files. ThumbsPlus will save each file in this format. If you select a metafile format, such as WMF, then the image editing options will be disabled, and only metafiles will be processed. If you select the WMF (encapsulated bitmap) format, ThumbsPlus will generate a metafile containing the bitmap -- it will not trace the bitmap to obtain a vector representation.

Alternate Extension. If you want the output files to have an extension different from the one selected in the Output Format, the enter it here.

Filter (R). Check this box to enable digital image filtering of each image. Click on the button to use the Filter dialog box to select and configure the filter to use. ThumbsPlus displays a description of the filter to the right of the button.

Misc. Brings up the Miscellaneous Batch Operations dialog box, which allows you to select the size for converting metafiles to bitmaps, and various miscellaneous functions such as autocrop, flip, and histogram equalization.

Resize. Check this box to enable rotation and/or resizing of each image. Click on the button to use the Rotate/Resize dialog box to set the options. ThumbsPlus displays a description of the action to be taken on the right of this button. If you rotate and resize, you may want to select an output Color Depth (below), as files are promoted to either 24-bit (truecolor) or 8-bit grayscale for proper rotation and resizing.

Color. Check this box to enable color adjustment of each image. Click on the button to use the Color Adjustment dialog box to set the amount of brightness, contrast, gamma and hue adjustment to apply to each image.

Color Depth. Use this selection to specify the output color depth, just as you would for an individual image. The Image | Color Depth dialog box will allow you to specify the number of colors you desire, the palette you want to apply (even one pasted from the clipboard!), and the type of dithering.

Output Path. Specify here the disk and directory you wish to send the converted and edited files to. You can use the Browse button to locate a directory you want to use.The files will be named the same as the input, except that the appropriate extension (default, such as BMP, JPG, or TGA, or specifically set in the Alternate Extension) will be used.

Overwrite Existing Files. Check this box if you want ThumbsPlus to overwrite files of the same name. If this box is not checked, and ThumbsPlus encounters an output file already there, it will skip that input file and display a message in the "Errors Encountered" area in the progress dialog box.

This dialog box allows you to select various image operations that you can do from the View window menus.

Metafile Rasterization. These items are used when a metafile or vector graphic is converted to a bitmap. They are the same items requested from the Image | Convert to bitmap menu option.

Width - The width of the bitmap to create from the metafile.

Height - The height of the bitmap to create from the metafile.

Maintain Aspect Ratio - Force the bitmap to be the same aspect ratio as the original metafile.

Anti Aliasing - Specify how accurately ThumbsPlus renders the metafile. The farther to the right the slider is, the better the results; however, better results take longer, too.

Autocrop. All same-colored borders from the image are removed. This option works only for bitmap (raster) images with solid borders. The lower-left corner pixel is used as a reference pixel -- all contiguous border of this color is cropped from the image. This function is done individually from the Edit | Autocrop menu selection in a view window.

Invert. Replaces each pixel in the image with its inverse -- black becomes white, red becomes green, etc. (See Image | Invert.)

Swap Red & Blue. Swaps the red and blue value of each pixel. This is required for some file types for which the RGB order is ambiguous or incorrectly reported in the file header. (See Image | Swap Red & Blue.)

Flip Horizontally. Replaces the image with a mirror image (left-to-right). (See Image | Flip Horizontal.)

Flip Vertically. Replaces the image with a mirror image (top-to-bottom). (See Image | Flip Vertical.)

Equalize Histogram (R). Computes an intensity histogram and equalizes (as much as possible) the intensity levels in the image. This improves the appearance of some images, but may give others too much contrast. See Image | Histogram for more information.