ProStockMaster for Windows

ProStockMaster for Windows sounds like it might be an investment tool or perhaps something to do with drag racing, but in fact it's a free digital photo manager that offers something extra for professional photographers: the ability to directly upload images from your PC to one of several stock photo agencies. Even if you don't have an account to access, you can use it to edit your image collections and data, including IPTC and EXIF data. It can even help professional photographers keep track of their earnings.

When we installed and opened ProStockMaster, a pop-up gave us an option to associate the program with one or more of 10 online stock photo agencies. Clicking on any of these called up a dialog with entry fields for the agency's server name, the user's logon name and password, and other credentials. The program's dark gray skin and white font is typical of pro photo tools, but other skins are available on the View menu, and the layout is customizable, too. For the most part, ProStockMaster functions like most other photo managers, with a tree view for browsing and adding images, a thumbnails panel, and a preview pane. We could enter and edit IPTC and EXIF metadata via tabs in the middle panel, while a log at the bottom kept track of site names, files uploaded, earnings, and more. We clicked the Upload menu, which let us upload images or folders via the program's pop-up wizard as well as access the Stock Agencies list and the Statistics dialog. This interesting feature compiles exportable data on uploads as well as calculating monthly and total earnings. We also liked the Keywords search feature, which let us search tags we added to image metadata via the program's editor.

Digital photo managers aren't exactly uncommon downloads, and many offer a special function or unique approach to stand out from the crowd. ProStockMaster for Windows definitely distinguishes itself by letting photographers submit their work directly to the agencies that buy stock photos. While it can't guarantee a sale, it certainly helps take care of business.