High Resolution Monitors, Canon CR3

All of our software products are now DPI-aware, which means that text and photos are now displayed razor-sharp on high-resolution monitors. Multi-monitor environments with different resolutions are also supported.

PIE 7.4 and PIE Studio 6.9 now offer full support for the Canon CR3 format (display and metadata editing).

In addition, metadata from HEIF / HEIC files can now also be edited.

Support for HEIF/HEIC File Format

High Efficiency Image File Format (HEIF) is a file format for individual images and image sequences. It was developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) and is defined by MPEG-H Part 12 (ISO/IEC 23008-12). The MPEG group claims that twice as much information can be stored in a HEIF image as in a JPEG image of the same size, resulting in a better quality image.

The HEIF specification also defines the means of storing High Efficiency Video Codec (HEVC)-encoded intra images and HEVC-encoded image sequences in which inter prediction is applied in a constrained manner.

HEIF image files are stored with filename extensions .heif or .heic.

All software products from Picmeta Systems now support heif and heic files if there is a decoder installed. With Windows 10, you can simply download the HEIF decoder in the Microsoft App Store.
PIE and PIE Studio can display HEIF files and read the metadata, which also enables automated renaming etc.
Printstation and PIE Studio can directly print HEIF files.

The feature is available in PIE 7.10, PIE Studio 6.60 and Printstation 4.40.

Browser Enhancements and More

PIE 6.3, Printstation 3.9, PIE Studio 5.8

A clearer, more simplistic thumbnail view. Images with a check mark in Printstation and PIE Studio are now easier to see.

PIE and PIE Studio now allow to delete RAW+JPG files with a single click, even though they were imported to different folders. See context menu or press Ctrl+Del (or Shift+Ctrl+Del for permament deletion).

A custom „Open with“ menu in PIE and PIE Studio for easy access to your favorite editors.

Last but not least: color management supported in all applications.

See the complete list of changes:

PTP/MTP Support

Connect any camera, iPhone and iPad

The latest releases PIE 5.8, PIE Studio 5.2 and Printstation 3.6 include support for PTP/MTP connections (Picture/Media Transfer Protocol). This allows to transfer, browse or print images directly from any camera, instead of using a card reader.

Please note
We still recommend the MSC (Mass Storage Class) protocol over PTP, because it is faster and more flexible. If your camera allows to choose between MSC or PTP, set it to MSC.

Browsing or printing images via PTP requires Windows Vista or Windows 7. Importing images via PTP requires Windows XP or higher.

PIE Studio 5.0, Printstation 3.5

New layout features

With the latest update, Printstation and PIE Studio got an improved layout module with more features and a refined user interface.

Since the last update, the operation has become even faster thanks to a better cache system. Printing of large albums with many images per page is more efficient by means of a reduction of redundant data sent to the printer.

In the flexible grid mode, there is a new option to add a page background or a logo.

See the detailed list of enhancements:

Layout Update

Zooming and panning within cells

PrintStation 3.4 and PIE Studio 4.9 allow to zoom and pan single images within the cell borders. You can now crop images or emphasize parts of it without ever changing the original files. Using this feature along with horizontal or vertical cell expansion as well as multiplication of single images will give you totally new possibilities for creating documentary or creative layouts – printed, as PDF or image file.

The new releases also include a number of fixes and faster layout operation thanks to a new caching system.

New Look

Anthracite and black color scheme

We are starting the new year with a fresh, modern look of our software. Choose between standard white, anthracite and black color for the image browser. See ‚Color Scheme‘ in the View menu.

The ongoing list of changes can be found here:

The year 2009 will be exciting, as can expect many software updates and enhancements as well as new products.