To view photos on Android smartphones, use the image gallery. The standard gallery supports formats such as: JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP and WebP. But, often, the functions of the standard gallery are not enough for users. If you need additional modes for viewing images, reading metadata, support for cloud services and other functions, you can always install an alternative image gallery. In this article we will talk about the best of them.
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- For those of you who have large collection photos on cloud services, the best solution There will be an installation of the JustPictures multi-platform viewer! This long-lived application, which was used on smartphones running Android 1.5, can be used to view local images (in the device memory or on a memory card), as well as those stored on: Tumblr, OneDrive, Flickr, Deviant Art , Smugmug
- After installing the program and launching it for the first time, an interface will open where you can add image storage locations. When you run the program for the second and subsequent times, the main interface will by default show the photos uploaded to chronological order. But, the display mode can be changed by name, tags and file size
- Tags for photos can be entered manually, either individually or in batches. You can add date, geotags and other data to a photo
- In the JustPictures gallery! The developer was able to make file management quite comfortable. When you select a photo, a context menu opens where you can select the functions of deleting, moving, editing tags, etc. In addition to basic actions with files, you can send them to friends via Email and MMS. But today it’s unlikely that anyone will use these functions if there are instant messengers
- Synchronization with “clouds” and image hosting sites is well implemented. Directly from this application you can search for photos by tags, title
- Unlike other galleries and file managers in JustPictures! You cannot select a file shortcut with a long press. When you upload photos to your accounts, the program itself will be able to track updates and index new files
- JustPictures app! This is a simple and convenient image gallery with the ability to integrate with cloud services. But, at the time of writing this review, the application is found on Play Market failed. Although it is present on third-party catalogs
- Unlike JustPictures! QuickPic gallery is present in the Play Market. And, as the rating shows, it is one of the most popular utilities for Android smartphones and tablets. This application easily combines an organizer and an image editor. And, what is very important today, it is synchronized with cloud services
- QuickPic supports standard image files, GIF animations, and video files. In viewing mode, you can choose to display in a list, grid, or gallery view. This application has a very convenient explorer, thanks to which managing your photo library is very easy and convenient
- A great feature of QuickPic is hiding unused images. Initially, after indexing, this gallery will show all the images. If you don't want covers to appear music albums, books and some other images you can simply turn them off
- If you have a very large library of files, then in order for the application to work quickly and without freezing, you can activate the cache for preview images in the settings. To protect personal information, you can set a password on media files. After which they will become hidden from public access. But, you need to understand that if this application is deleted from the device’s memory, then hidden files will become visible again to everyone who gains access to the device
- In QuickPic, you can view EXIF information (geotags, format, etc.), and some data (date, etc.) can be edited.
- This alternative image gallery allows you to sort, rename, copy and move files. It is possible to create and work with folders, as well as the function of transferring files via Wi-Fi
- All popular cloud services and photo hosting sites are supported. this moment Google Drive, Flickr, Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Photo portals. But simple integration with social networks not currently available in QuickPic
- In F-Stop Media, you can display photos on the screen in a list, expanded list, grid, or large thumbnails. You can sort photos in this application by name and date. If folders are displayed, then by the number of images in them
- A great feature of F-Stop Media Gallery is the creation of smart albums. To do this, you can select folders that should be combined into an album. You can add and remove subdirectories within folders, as well as combine photos by date, tags and other parameters
- Like QuickPic, this application has a file protection feature. Using a password, you can block the display of folders. However, you cannot separately prohibit viewing files. And the defense, to put it mildly, is very shaky. When you uninstall the application, the folders become visible again
- In F-Stop Media Gallery you can perform standard operations on files: deleting, copying, etc. By long pressing on a file you can activate batch operations
- This gallery does not have its own image editor. But, it can be used as a shell for other programs. Including external editors
- This dedicated alternative gallery for Android allows you to store your photos securely using 128-bit AES encryption. Also, the protective function of the application is to automatically go into sleep mode when there is no activity.
- Files hidden using this application will not be accessible through the main gallery. And in order to unlock them you need to go to Secure Gallery - Gallery Lock and remove the password from the files. But, as is the case with other alternative galleries, when you uninstall the application, protected photos will again become visible through the main gallery
- In all other respects, except for file protection, the functionality of this gallery is quite limited. It is possible to view photos, and that’s probably all. You cannot move, delete or copy files
Gallery KK - Gallery ICS
Gallery KK - Gallery ICS app is an improved version of the standard Android KitKat gallery. The main feature of this gallery is the built-in photo editor with the ability to apply quick filters. In addition, in such an editor you can crop the image and rotate it. It is possible to draw and trim videos.
Gallery KK - Gallery ICS has a well-implemented sorting of images by albums, meta tags, geopoints, etc.
Another alternative gallery that has many interesting features: file sharing, photo organizer, personalization, etc. The main function of MyRoll is to show “moments”, that is, display photos by date. At the same time, such “moments” can be edited, covers applied to them, exported to Facebook, sent by email, etc.
Cyanogen Gallery
For lovers of all kinds of bells and whistles, Photo Gallery 3D & HD will appeal to you. This 3D alternative gallery for Android devices has many interactive features. It supports many formats, including those that are not supported by the operating system kernel.
In the editor of this gallery you can crop and rotate the image. But otherwise, the functionality of the Photo Gallery 3D & HD application is not very rich.
Pictures
The main features of the Piktures image and video viewer are its great support for gestures. The user can also resize images and sort photos into folders. It is worth noting the output of images with vertical rewind. Photos can be displayed by time or by shooting location.
Images can be sent to your Facebook and WhatsApp accounts, as well as via GMail. There is no built-in editor, but the application supports external image editors.
Video. QuickPic - Gallery for Android
Friends, colleagues!
As with any self-respecting forum, we are opening a gallery.
As the name suggests, the gallery is where you can post photos and even videos of your best work!SpoilerTarget"> Spoiler: Guide to working with the gallery. Press me.
The download restrictions for all users, except those who are members of the "Master" group, are as follows:
10 megabytes of free space on our hosting, maximum file size 1MB and maximum image resolution 1600*1200. Files with the extension jpg, png and gif are accepted.
And the most important rule: One job - one, the best, photo.The gallery is open to everyone, but the forum team reserves the right to refuse to publish photos you post. For example, because your photos are too dark or unclear, or were taken against the backdrop of your favorite wallpaper. We will always find something to complain about
Now for the fun part!
In order to start working with the gallery, just sculpt, create a diorama or paint something amazing, take a photo of it, go to the forum and click on the “Gallery” button, it’s in the upper right corner of the screen.
Everything is very simple.When entering a gallery, of course, the first thing we see are photographs of the works posted in it and, attention!
Big "Add Media" button!
This is what it looks like, you can see for yourself.With a slight movement of the hand we are transferred to the next tab, in other words, we press the button, don’t be shy.
Do you have something to show? If not, no problem, everything is ahead.Next point. Before us is a bookmark with a choice of two options
- upload file(s) to one of the appropriate categories (sculpture, painting, dioramas...)
- or create an album and upload files to it
The category severely limits your choice.
In an album you can publish works of different types in one place.Poke the mouse into the green circle, upper or lower, and select what you want from the menu,
For example, I chose the “Sculpture” category.
There's a lot on the tab useful information, you can study...To upload masterpieces, we have two options: upload the file from your computer, or use third-party hosting and paste the link into the “Upload image via link” field and click on the plus sign.
And then, one way or another, we get to the next page.By the way! If you use the second download method, you will be able to bypass our download limit, which in truth is only a good thing, although the safety of the file will be entirely on the conscience of the hosting whose services you used.
I can recommend https://postimage.org/Let's continue the tour!
I select "Upload image from computer", after the standard steps for selecting a photo,
and having confirmed your choice, we get to the next page.In the highlighted field green You need to enter the name of the photo and its description in the blue field.
Click on the "Save Media" button. AND... !Under the work photos there is a tab “Edit fields and labels”.
There you can describe your work in more detail, choose the scale, genre, etc.If you didn't fill out this tab, the Information field looks something like this
And after filling
And one more nice feature: a small camera icon has appeared in the message editor tab.
By clicking on it, you can insert any photo you uploaded to the gallery into a message.And lastly, when uploading several files, it is possible to automatically enter into them
title and description, for this purpose two fields above the uploaded image are used.That's all, have fun.
You can write questions, suggestions and wishes regarding the work of the gallery in this topic.
Visit nearby galleries and see which ones have work similar to your style. As a rule, exhibition organizers adhere to certain genre- take advantage of this. Pay attention to which works were preferred by the gallery's expert commission. Think about your style, genre and direction. Ask yourself: “Will they like my work?”
Showcase how your work compares favorably with the work of other artists. This will require some ingenuity: despite the similarity of styles, your works should compare favorably with the works of competing artists. We should not forget that exhibition organizers, first of all, business people and will not take risks.
Attend an exhibition opening (usually held every Thursday evening) to network with people in the art business. Showcase your passion and skill. Show interest and make them interested in your work.
Apply for participation in the award. This will give you the opportunity to showcase your creativity in front of experts in the art world, and even if you lose, you will still make your presence known.
Protect yourself from attempts that are doomed to failure - avoid participating in paid exhibitions and competitions. Most often it is simply raising money for an art community or art gallery. Such actions, as a rule, do not contribute to professional and creative development. On the contrary, noting that you took part in such an event can ruin your resume. Of course, there are exceptions to the rules. One of them is your place of residence. In most cases, avoid them. Avoid art shows that require payment for your participation in a show or for organizing an individual exhibition. No self-respecting gallery would do this.
Send by e-mail request to an art salon or gallery where you would like to exhibit. Try to provide as many samples of your work as possible, sketches, as well as information about your work, provide a link to your personal website or blog, and describe your creative concept. Many exhibition organizers prefer to collect information about the artist before presenting his work to the general public.
Create an online gallery. It can display works by local artists, as well as craftsmen who work in the same style as you.
Become a member of a collective exhibition. As a rule, to participate in such an exhibition you only need a membership fee, samples of your work and your creative resume. In addition, collective exhibitions do not oblige you to unilateral cooperation and do not take a commission from the sale of your works. Participating in it will give you strength and confidence in achieving your goal.
Contract with the gallery. So, you are lucky enough to collaborate with a gallery or art salon. An important condition cooperation is a contract. Typically, galleries take a commission on the price of works sold because they are your representatives and not the buyer. Make sure that the amount of commission charged is clearly stated in the contract, usually it is 20%-50%. Despite this, it is profitable for the gallery to inflate the cost of paintings, since their income directly depends on this. Read the contract carefully, one of mandatory conditions may include selling and displaying your work exclusively in this gallery.
Look At Me continues to highlight young heroes who make it big on their own. Today in the section « Personal experience » gallery coordinator « Room » Yulia Yusma tells how she became involved in the gallery business. How many problems does renting a gallery create, how to organize an exhibition young artist and come up with a project within the framework of the biennale - all this will be discussed in an interview with Yulia for Look At Me.
Julia Yusma, photographer and coordinator of the “Room” gallery
What is your relationship to art? How did you get into the gallery?
In general, I am a photographer, but now I don’t do much photography. A year and a half ago, I moved to Moscow from St. Petersburg and was looking for myself interesting job, and Alexey Tregubov, theater artist working at the School modern play, was looking for an assistant. We met at the right time, and that’s how I became an assistant theater artist. When I arrived, it turned out that Alexey had just turned the former theater foyer into a gallery space - he painted the walls, bought good lighting, so I quickly turned into an assistant gallery owner. In St. Petersburg, I worked in the “Photo Department” with Nadya Sheremetova - I helped create exhibitions, seminars, and portfolio reviews. There, by the way, I attended Liza Fetisova’s course on gallery business - this great luck, because there is nowhere to get at least some education as a gallerist or curator in Russia.
Nowadays contemporary art is like photography five years ago, when there was a boom and everyone took up cameras
In general, the profession of a gallery owner is unpredictable. Emmanuel Perrotin, for example, without special education worked in different galleries, then decided to open his own, he only had twenty thousand euros for the whole business. He exhibited young and interesting authors with little popularity, acquired connections and built relationships in such a way that he was soon able to exhibit Damien Hirst. Or Kamel Mennur, who, without any money at all, flew to Tokyo to Nobuyoshi Araki, then already a star, but who did not yet have a representative in Europe, and laid out such a red carpet for him that he provided him with his works and they have been collaborating for ten years. These are all stories about the fact that it is very important to be brave and be able to communicate, and with everyone. Inspiring, that someone does everything like this from scratch and with their own hands, when you take risks for yourself and are not ashamed of your mistakes.
Nowadays contemporary art is like photography five years ago, when there was a boom and everyone took up cameras. There is an active movement in this area, and there are a lot of such people around me - my husband is studying multimedia at Rodchenko, my friends are in one way or another connected with exhibition activities. I am not an art historian, a critic or a journalist, and I am not trying to pretend that I have an excellent understanding of contemporary art- there are curators for this. My task is to understand the environment itself and be able to work with it. Figure out which people to connect with each other and what conditions to offer them so that they can work cool and do something interesting.
Any exhibition means at least twenty-five thousand rubles, several days of searching for the required paper in printing houses and a mountain of nerves
I don’t know how this happens in large galleries, but in the “Room” there is no one to shift the responsibility to - you are responsible for everything yourself, and you should always be prepared for the fact that your initial plan will turn into something else during the process of implementation. Of course, working in a gallery is very interesting, but if you are going to go somewhere where you plan to communicate with artists all the time, go to opening days and do only pleasant and easy things, you should think twice. There's a lot of trivial technical work to be done. When a viewer enters an ordinary hall with white walls, on which pictures in neat mats are hung, he does not know that any exhibition requires at least twenty-five thousand rubles, several days of searching for the necessary paper in printing houses and a mountain of nerves.
Preparation of the Maxim Khem exhibition
How did the gallery itself appear and how is it structured from the inside?
Alexey opened the gallery. When I arrived, we had a name, walls and lights. I found a designer who made us form style, started social networks. Both of us, strictly speaking, had almost no experience in this area, but we had a great sincere desire to do this business. Our main feature- this, of course, is the situation at the theater. I don’t know of any other examples like this, either in Moscow or anywhere else. When we had the exhibition “Chaos Theory” by French media artists Electronic Shadow as part of the biennale and Peter Weibel stopped by, whose schedule, as I understand it, usually allocates about three to four minutes to galleries like ours, he liked it. By the way, when you do a special project for the Biennale, no one, of course, warns you that Weibel will come to watch. His assistant called me fifteen minutes before the visit with the question “Where to park?” At that moment I was not in the theater at all and woke up from this call - that is, it is clear that it was a panic. But they managed to turn on the installation, he looked at it, and everything turned out great in the end. Then half of the theater mastered the technique of turning it on - and there it was necessary to turn on the fog machine, wind blower, computer, and projector in a certain sequence.
The assistant curator of the Weibel Biennale called me 15 minutes before the visit with the question “Where can I park?”
Thanks to the theater, we have resources - the premises and our workers are theatrical, which makes life much easier. We are spared main problem small galleries that need to survive constant battles with rent. Another point is our audience, these are mainly theater audiences. We have a fairly large footfall, about fifty to a hundred people per evening, because the “Room” is the place where all the spectators go during intermission, not counting those who come specifically to the gallery during the day, when there are no performances. This is largely why we try to do projects that do not require deep special education or multi-step explanation. We strive to ensure that when a person enters the “Room” he sees some kind of work, displayed in such a way that this in itself will impress and inspire him.
Where does the money to run the gallery come from?
Of course, we buy all the materials ourselves, and we also pay for printing or production, if necessary, ourselves - the theater does not sponsor the gallery. Sales happen, but so far very rarely; at first it was literally money from Alexey’s pocket. In general, in Russia it is somehow not customary to discuss what it costs, how much, and name prices, as well as boast about sales (even though they are, in general, an indicator of the success of gallery owners), while in Europe this is all considered normal. We are not focused on sales right now, in the sense that this is not our main vector - although we, of course, need them, because we need a budget for an exhibition - for any exhibition, no matter how simple it may look. Why can we exist like this? Because we are, after all, paid theater workers. The gallery is our initiative in addition to our main positions and our addition to the theater. Everything we do must be coordinated, and the responsibilities of all the people working here do not include gallery matters - so we try to do everything on our own as much as possible.
“Chaos Theory” was a success in this regard - we met the wonderful Ekaterina Iragi (Iragi gallery), who works in both France and Russia, and she offered to collaborate with us. She found artists and a sponsor: we were very lucky here, because sponsorship issues are still a dark forest for us.
Exposition of the exhibition “Chaos Theory”
How long does it take to come up with and implement an exhibition?
First, we find an artist, then we contact him and begin negotiations, and as soon as something emerges, we meet. We select a curator, introduce him to the artist, all together agree on the details and finalize (and sometimes build from scratch) the exhibition project itself. Then the production stage begins - ordering printing, mats, hanging, objects. With the objects, it helps again that we live in a theater. We welded it in the prop shop iron structure for the installation “Chaos Theory”, on which a heavy projector was supported. It’s hard for me, to be honest, to imagine something that we couldn’t build in our workshop. Alexey, for example, for the play “The Bear” came up with ice furniture that was supposed to melt during the performance, and when a consultation was needed, the production workshop called the ice sculpture museum, where they were told that what they had already done was, in fact, impossible, so they are unlikely to be able to help. Then one of these ice sculptures - a melting Viennese chair - was exhibited at MMSI. Which brings us to the conversation that Alexey is a theater artist, but he also does something for himself, and there are many such artists. We are now planning to hold an exhibition of another theater artist, who honestly tells us: I have material, but I don’t know how to combine it all, to make a project out of it. And this is where we come in.
If an artist tells us that he would like to bring an elephant, we bring him this elephant if possible
We strive to remain such a loyal platform - we don’t want to be one of those galleries that asks for an installation to be encrusted with Swarovski crystals in order to sell it at a higher price. We don’t get into the soul of the work, we work with it very carefully and respect the artist - and our conscience remains clear. If the artist tells us that he would like to bring an elephant, we bring him this elephant if possible. Now, for example, we have organized an exhibition of works by Alexey himself - these are large canvases with gray backgrounds, and we also repainted the walls gray. I might have to repaint them some other color soon, and then quickly go back to white for the next exposure, and I don't even know how many layers of white paint I'll have to put on afterwards.
How did you promote the gallery and make it famous?
We followed the standard path - we began to raise all our personal contacts and contact journalists and critics. After we announced ourselves a little, did three or four events, people somehow began to find us. All this is still happening through social networks - at first we didn’t even feel the need to make a website, but now we’re doing it because it became necessary.
Usually you post an event everywhere, call people you are interested in and invite them to the opening, go to auctions, vernissages, exhibitions, meet people, and they will know about you. I don’t know where exactly artists started contacting us, but now we receive quite a lot of letters with proposals. Previously, we started working on the next exhibition approximately when we opened the current one, now we have a plan for three or four exhibitions in advance. The first responses were perceived as a victory, but now it’s not so surprising. Offers from buyers appear - there are not many of them, but they exist, and all of this, of course, is mainly acquaintances.
Exhibition displays in the “Room” gallery
Can a gallery be a successful enterprise? And is this even important in the case of a gallery?
Success is a very relative phenomenon. Public and internal success for a gallery these are completely different things, it’s one thing when the whole of Moscow comes to your openings, another thing is who works with you. In this regard, Weibel’s praise is the best assessment, because for us the project with the Iragi gallery is something a level higher, and we want not to lower the bar. Not in the sense of just bringing famous artists and do good projects, for which there would be no shame. For us, success is probably not a generally accepted definition: under standard conditions, a gallery is successful even when it continues to exist for a long time because it's really difficult. For us, success is a response; we can afford to immediately pay attention to this, because we are not dependent on rent.
Once I almost agreed on the delivery of a bathtub from Yoshkar-Ola
Which of the exhibitions you have dreamed up is most dear to you?
The first was the MAMA PAPA DADA exhibition of the young collagist Maxim Khem. He came up with the idea of placing a bathtub in the center of the hall, in which there was handset with a well-read text with a musical background that he himself wrote, voluminous boxes on the walls where you had to look to see the work, wooden stairs, continuing the paper collage. We built it all, and he last moment I didn’t believe that everything would really turn out the way he had planned. And this was exactly what we wanted - interesting, lively. Then I was faced with the fact that an artist who has never exhibited brings you a mountain for real interesting material, and you have to choose something from it. Here the last word It was up to Alexey, who has much more experience, and with a firm hand he removed the unnecessary things. As a result, half of what we prepared for hanging ended up on the walls, because we had to be torn between the desire to show everything cool and the task of creating a meaningful, integral exhibition project.
This, of course, was all fun: for example, I almost agreed on the delivery of a bathtub from Yoshkar-Ola, because the ad on the Internet was not signed. The assemblers hated me for a while, because six men ended up dragging this bathtub around the theater, where there were solid stairs and curtains, and it was cast iron and weighed a hundred kilos. Also the music that sounded from this tube played from my iPod - and then in the theater there was children's performance, and the iPod disappeared. It was not a pity - in my opinion, this was a worthy disappearance.
Interview - Nailya Golman
