dec ACDSee Thumbnail Database Viewer

What is dec ACDSee Thumbnail Database Viewer?

I think it’s not an exaggeration to say that ACDSee is one of the market leaders when it comes to software for viewing and organizing graphic files. Similar to many programs in this category, ACDSee has its own database since the early versions of the product. The database is used to save thumbnails and parameters of files that have been viewed by the user, meta tags assigned by the user and other information. In the earliest versions of the program, the database was a single file – ImageDB.aid. Starting with the second version and all the way up to the fifth, the database consisted of two files – ImageDB.ddf and ImageDB.dtf. In later versions, the number of files grew. There are 51 files in ACDSee 6 and 112 files in the latest version ACDSee Pro 3, though the core of the database, as compared to ACDSee 6, remains the same and includes such files as Asset.dbf, Thumb*.dbf and Thumb*.fpt. At the same time, the amount of information that can be saved to the database grew considerably.

The database of any version of ACDSee is recorded in special proprietary formats, which makes it impossible to view its content using standard tools. And this may be necessary in many situations. Let’s say, you lost original photos. Recovery of lost pictures from miniature image copies kept in the thumbnail database of ACDSee may be the only way to restore digital memories. It can also be necessary for forensic examination when every detail counts, for example, the date of thumbnail creation or parameters of a source picture stored in the database.

dec ACDSee Thumbnail Database Viewer is a unique tool for viewing thumbnail databases of any version of ACDSee, starting with the earlier all the way to the latest. Using this tool, you can easily find, view, analyze and create reports on database content. The user does not need any knowledge of the internal structure of such files, their location in a particular version of ACDSee – the program can find, recognize, decode and display these files on its own. Not a single byte of important information will escape attention as you analyze ACDSee databases using dec ACDSee database Viewer. The only thing the user needs to do is to specify a disk or disks where to run a search.

dec ACDSee Thumbnail Database Viewer relies on low level reading of file formats, which ensures that no modification of examined data will occur. Unlike similar tools, the program can decode broken files that were recovered by external utilities after deletion. Partial recovery is ensured in most situations. The program allows decoding even single files, such as Asset.dbf, Thumb*.dbf or Thumb*.fpt, if all other files cannot be recovered.

Key features

• Support for decoding thumbnail databases of all versions of ACDSee

  The program features full support for thumbnail databases of all versions of ACDSee, starting with ACDSee Classic and all the way to ACDSee Pro 3. It’s also possible to decode single files from the database.

• Portable

  The user can run program from any device, including a removable one. The program is portable and does not require any frameworks or special libraries to do its job.

• Easy file search

  Find any file in a snap. The user does not need to search for files manually. The program can handle the search job automatically, saving the user time and efforts.

• Save search results

  The list of found files can be saved for future reference. Saved results let the user quickly open the files that have been found earlier without having to run a search again.

• Reports

  The program creates detailed reports on content of found files in HTML.

• Export

  The program lets the user save to a data storage device any information, such as found image thumbnails, as well as metadata associated with thumbnails.

• Tabbed interface

  The user can open additional tabs, which makes it easier and more convenient to analyze data.

• Markers

  With markers, the user can easily mark important information and get back to it later.

• Support for external applications

  The user can open found images in external applications associated with graphic files to edit images further – make them bigger, correct color and perform other operations.

• Clipboard

  The program allows the user to copy to clipboard any information, such as names of found files, found image thumbnails, metadata associated with thumbnails. Copied data can be pasted to other documents.

Screenshots

dec ACDSee Thumbnail Database Viewer main window

FAQ

Q) I bought the program and got the license key. What do I need to do with the key to activate the program?
A) Copy and paste the file of the key to the directory that contains the executable file. Once launched, the program detects the key and removes the limitation of the demo mode. Attention! If the key is deleted from the directory, the program downgrades to the demo mode automatically.

Q) I renamed the program from decACDSeeViewer.exe to ACDSeeViewer.exe, and now it won’t detect the key.
A) Rename the key file from decACDSeeViewer.xkey to ACDSeeViewer.xkey.

Q) I want to save the program to CD. How do I do it properly?
A) When you record the program to CD, it is important that the folder should contain the executable file, program key and an empty file with the name of the executable file and extension .config. The latter is necessary to disable the appearance of the License Agreement on program launch.

Q) The program won’t open or find thumbnail cache files, though it claims to decode them. I know for sure I have thumbnail cache files on my hard disk.
A) This may happen because you do not have access rights to these files due to specific security policies of your operating system. For example, it often occurs in Windows Vista and Windows Seven. Try running the program with administrator rights.

Q) It takes too long to open some files with the program. What’s the reason for it?
A) To decode files, the program uses algorithms that search for deleted data, letting users find data within files, even if there are no links to them in the index file. Though it takes long to process data, the algorithm allows extracting maximum information from a file.

List of decoded formats

	ACDSee © ACD Systems, Ltd.	Asset.dbf Thumb1.dbf Thumb2.dbf Thumb.dbf Thumb1.fpt Thumb2.fpt Thumb.fpt
	ACDSee Classic © ACD Systems, Ltd.	ImageDB.ddf ImageDB.dtf ImageDB.aid

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