Downloader is a simple utility for downloading files from Canon digital cameras. It is free software and may be distributed freely provided no charge is made for its use. This software is copyright © 2002, Breeze Systems Limited. It comes with no warranty and is run at the user's own risk.
Downloader is suitable for all current Canon digital cameras which have a USB interface. It is also suitable for transferring images from memory cards from any DCF compatible digital camera using a cardreader (e.g. images are stored in a directory structure like: \DCIM\123CANON or \DCIM\MS000001).
I wrote this software because I own a Canon Powershot G1 and was frustrated by the way ZoomBrowser mangles Raw files. Since I don't have a card reader ZoomBrowser was my only way of downloading files from the camera. In order to be able to use the TWAIN driver to acquire Raw files into image editors the you need both the .crw file and the .thm file (a 160x120 pixel JPEG thumbnail with a strange extension) and the files must conform to the naming convention used by the camera (i.e. 8.3 names). ZoomBrowser not only hides the .thm file in its database but it also renames the .crw file which prevents the TWAIN driver from seeing it - something of an own goal by Canon!
Downloader simply downloads all image files from the camera via the USB cable and preserves their names. It has a few other options such as generating a text file with the image information (EXIF data) and saving files as read-only to avoid accidentally deleting them.
In an attempt to make Downloader as fool-proof as possible it will never overwrite files already on the computer nor will it ever delete files from the camera unless they have already been downloaded. I've tried to keep the design as simple as possible so that it easy to use and reduces the chances of making silly mistakes when you're in a hurry and under pressure.
The main screen lists the image files in the camera together with their size, date, status and their download directory on the computer. The main screen can be resized by dragging its corners or edges. The order in which the files are displayed can be changed by clicking on the column heading of the list.
The status is one of the following:
| Status | Description |
| Downloaded | A file of the same name, size and timestamp is in the download directory (i.e. it has probably been downloaded already). It will not be overwritten when "Download" is pressed. |
| New file | No file of that name exists in the download directory. The file will be downloaded to the download directory when "Download" is pressed. |
| Size different | A file of the same name but with a different size is in the download directory. This probably means that the file has already been downloaded and has been edited. It will not be overwritten when "Download" is pressed. |
| Time different | A file of the same name and size but with a different timestamp is in the directory. This probably means that the file has already been downloaded but has been changed in some way. It will not be overwritten when "Download" is pressed. |
Press "Download All" to download all files with status "New file" to the download directory. To change the program's settings, including the download directory, display the Settings dialog by clicking on the File menu and selecting "Preferences...". If you wish to download selected files then select them from the list and press the "Download Selected" button.
Press "Delete" to delete downloaded files from the camera. Note: This will only delete files which have been downloaded to the computer and have the same date/time and file size as the files stored on the camera.
The "BreezeBrowser" button shown above is a custom button which can be set to any caption you like and setup to launch an application of your choice (see the Custom Buttons Dialog section for more details).
All settings are stored when the program exits and are restored the next time it is run.
To display the Settings dialog click on the File menu and select "Preferences...".
The "Generate picture info" checkbox controls whether the program should create a text file containing the image's EXIF data when it is downloaded. The file has the same name as the image file and a ".txt" extension. Note: The EXIF data has been tested with the Canon Powershot G1, G2, Pro90IS, S40 and D30 and may give incorrect values for other cameras.
The "Save files as read-only" checkbox controls whether the read-only flag is set when files are downloaded. Setting files to read-only is a useful precaution against accidentally deleting files or overwriting them when editing.
Press the "Custom buttons..." button to display the "Custom Buttons" dialog to edit the custom buttons.
The "Image Source" section lets you specify whether
Downloader should download from a camera or from a cardreader. To
use a cardreader you must also specify the drive letter.
Note: If you register Downloader to receive
camera events and then attach a camera to the USB port Downloader
will startup and connect to the camera irrespective of the "Image
Source" settings. If Downloader is started up and the camera
is not connected to the USB port but there is a CF card in the
cardreader Downloader will switch to the cardreader automatically.
The download directory is the base directory for where images are downloaded to the computer. Press on the "..." button to browse for a new directory. The actual directory where the files are downloaded can be modified using the "Year", "Month" and "Day" checkboxes. These allow a separate subdirectory to be used for each new year, month or day based on the computer's current time. Select the "Flatten date" checkbox to combine the year/month/day into a single directory e.g. 2001-09-14 instead of three separate subdirectories: 2001\09\14.
If the "Use image date/time to generate directory name" checkbox is selected the download directory will be defined using the time and date when the picture was taken instead of the computer's current time.
You can also specify a directory postfix which is added to the end of the directory name. This string can include a '\' to specify a subdirectory or it can simply be a string which is added to the end of the directory name.
The example image name display shows how the year, month and day settings are combined.
If you always download all your files and don't need to download selected files you can remove the "Download Selected" button from the main screen by unchecking the 'Enable "Download Selected" button' checkbox.
Select "Enable custom button" to define a custom button to launch an application of your choice. If you would like to run BreezeBrowser when the custom button is pressed simply select "Link button to Breezebrowser". Note: this requires BreezeBrowser v1.5 or later to be installed on your system. BreezeBrowser can be downloaded from www.breezesys.com.
To launch a different application enter the button's caption and the command line to be executed when the button is pressed.
The progress dialog gives an idea of the progress of the download. To cancel the download press the "Cancel" button and the download will be abandoned after the current file has been downloaded.
To add Downloader to the list of applications which can automatically startup when the camera is connected to the USB port click on "Events" menu and select "Register for camera events". To unregister Downloader select "Unregister for camera events" from the menu. You can modify how programs respond to camera events by clicking on "Scanners and Cameras" in the Control Panel and then clicking on the icon for your camera (on Windows XP "Scanners and Cameras" are located under the "Printers and Other Hardware" category in the Control Panel). If only one application is selected, as in the dialog shown below, that application will be launched when the event is detected. If more than one application is selected you will be prompted to chose which application to launch when the event occurs.
You can setup Downloader to automatically download files, delete the downloaded files, launch the custom application and exit when it is started up. To enable automation click on the File menu and select "Automation...". Then select the actions you wish to be automated.
When automation is enabled a dialog is displayed when Downloader starts up asking you whether you want to continue. If you press the "Yes" button Downloader will start the automatic sequence. The sequence will stop if you cancel it or an error occurs. You can suppress the prompt by unchecking the "Prompt before starting auto sequence" checkbox.
Note: Automatically deleting files from you CF card might sound risky, but remember that Downloader will never delete files from the card unless they have been downloaded successfully.
I have tested this program using the Canon Powershot G1,
Powershot G2, Powershot Pro90IS, Powershot S30, Powershot S40,
EOS D30 and EOS D60 digital cameras but it should work with other
Canon digital cameras. Note: This software requires Canon's USB
drivers in be installed order to download from the camera via the
USB cable.
This software has not been tested with the Canon EOS 1D using the
FireWire interface but several users have reported that
Downloader v1.4 does work with the 1D.
Downloader will work with any DCF compliant camera when used with a card reader and will also work with external storage devices such as the DigitalWallet/Mindstor.
Copyright 2002, Breeze Systems Limited
www.breezesys.com