This is the archived version of Roland Weigelt's weblog that ran from 2003 to 2023 at weblogs.asp.net

Contents tagged with Tools

  • Save and Restore Webcam Properties with CamProps 1.3.0

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    CamProps is a free utility for quickly adjusting and managing the properties of webcams and other video capture devices. I wrote it when I struggled with my Logitech C920 that required some manual tweaking to achieve a good picture quality. CamProps enables you to store and quickly recall settings which comes in handy if you have different lighting situations in your room – or when the webcam once again simply “forgets” its settings.

    About this version

    After the release of 1.2.1 (which moved from .NET 5 to 6), some users reported that their webcams no longer showed up in CamProps. The issue occurred only with the release version, but not the debug version of the executable.

    Version 1.3.0 adds optional logging that can be enabled via the “•••” menu in the upper-right corner of the window. Originally intended to help with analyzing the issues of 1.2.1, the changes introduced to the code (even if logging is not active) seem to have fixed the problem. Because accessing the video devices involves COM, this does not come as a complete surprise.

    Where can I get it?

    You can download CamProps at https://www.roland-weigelt.de/camprops/

    Which devices can I use?

    CamProps works with all webcams and video capture devices that support opening the webcam driver property dialog (either the default provided by Windows or a specific dialog by the manufacturer's driver).

    For instance, when you press the “” button for a Logitech C920 without the Logitech software installed, this will open the following dialog:

    (This dialog may look different for other devices)

  • Emaroo 5.1.0 - Support for Typora (Markdown Editor)

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    Emaroo is a free utility for browsing most recently used (MRU) file lists of programs like Visual Studio, VS Code, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Photoshop, Illustrator and more. Quickly open files, jump to their folder in Windows Explorer, copy them (and their path) to the clipboard - or run your own tools on files and folders with custom actions!

    About this release

    • Added: Support for documents and directories most recently opened in Typora.

    About Typora

    Typora (https://typora.io/) is a fantastic markdown editor available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. The first thing you will notice is that the live preview is not a side-by-side split view like in other editors. You can use Typora both like a WYSIWYG editor (with many usual hotkeys like Ctrl+B for bold, Ctrl+I for italic, Ctrl+K for links) and as a text editor that you type the raw Markdown code into.

    This is what the display looks like when the text cursor is inside the Markdown code for a link:

    As soon as you move the text cursor outside the link, the Markdown code disappears:

    Creating tables is an absolute highlight. You simply type the column headers in Markdown…

    …press Enter, and you get an interactive table editor:

    In addition to the solid core mechanics, Typora offers extensive export options (HTML, PDF, DOCX, and many more), theme support, and a constantly growing feature set while keeping the UI distraction-free.

    Typora is a commercial product at a very fair price ($14.99 plus taxes for up to three devices, 15-day trial phase). And no, I am not paid to write this, I am just a happy user.

    For more information, see the website at https://typora.io/.

  • Emaroo 5.0.0 - Support for Adobe CC 2023

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    Emaroo is a free utility for browsing most recently used (MRU) file lists of programs like Visual Studio, VS Code, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Photoshop, Illustrator and more. Quickly open files, jump to their folder in Windows Explorer, copy them (and their path) to the clipboard - or run your own tools on files and folders with custom actions!

    About this release

    • Added: Support for Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign CC 2022.
    • Changed: Start menu folder renamed to just “Emaroo”.

  • A Swiss Army Knife for Developers: DevToys

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    Recently, I came across a wonderful tool called DevToys. It combines many common developer tasks like converting, encoding/decoding, formatting or escaping/unescaping text in one tool. DevToys can also generate UUIDs, “Lorem ipsum” texts, checksums and hashes. And it offers so much more (e.g., regex tester, text diff, Markdown preview) – here is a complete list.

    A nice touch is that DevToys can detect and highlight tools that match the content of your clipboard (the feature can be disabled in the settings if you are not feeling comfortable with this).

    Where to get DevToys

    You can install DevToys from the Microsoft Store or download it from GitHub. Other deployment options (WinGet, Chocolatey) are also available.

    For more information, see the DevToys website: https://devtoys.app.

    For source code and issue tracking, visit DevToys on GitHub


  • Save and Restore Webcam Properties with CamProps 1.2.0

    5 Comments

    CamProps is a free utility for quickly adjusting and managing the properties of webcams and other video capture devices. I wrote it when I struggled with my Logitech C920 that required some manual tweaking to achieve a good picture quality. CamProps enables you to store and quickly recall settings which comes in handy if you have different lighting situations in your room – or when the webcam once again simply “forgets” its settings.

    About this version

    I recently I received feedback from CamProps user José M. Alarcón (who also helped me with the Spanish translation). He has created a large number of presets to deal with the ever-changing lighting conditions in his office. It turned out that the auto-sizing of the main window did not work well, cutting off the list after an arbitrary number of items instead of showing a scroll bar.

    Version 1.2.0 fixes this. As previously, the window sizes to its content at startup, but can now be resized and shows a scrollbar if necessary. When you add a new configuration, the window resizes to fit its content.

    Where can I get it?

    You can download CamProps at https://www.roland-weigelt.de/camprops/

    Which devices can I use?

    CamProps works with all webcams and video capture devices that support opening the webcam driver property dialog (either the default provided by Windows or a specific dialog by the manufacturer's driver).

    For instance, when you press the “” button for a Logitech C920 without the Logitech software installed, this will open the following dialog:

    (This dialog may look different for other devices)

  • Emaroo 4.9.0 - Support for Visual Studio Code 1.64

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    Emaroo is a free utility for browsing most recently used (MRU) file lists of programs like Visual Studio, VS Code, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Photoshop, Illustrator and more. Quickly open files, jump to their folder in Windows Explorer, copy them (and their path) to the clipboard - or run your own tools on files and folders with custom actions!

    About this Release

    • Updated: Support for Visual Studio Code 1.64 (changes regarding most recently used folders/workspaces). Previous versions of Visual Studio Code are still supported.

  • Emaroo 4.8.0 - Support for Visual Studio 2022 / Adobe CC 2022

    No Comments

    Emaroo is a free utility for browsing most recently used (MRU) file lists of programs like Visual Studio, VS Code, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Photoshop, Illustrator and more. Quickly open files, jump to their folder in Windows Explorer, copy them (and their path) to the clipboard - or run your own tools on files and folders with custom actions!

    About this Release

    • Added: Support for Visual Studio 2022.           
    • Added: Support for Photoshop / Illustrator / InDesign CC 2022.

    • Changed: Emaroo no longer looks for Adobe CC versions prior to 2020 by default. This does not affect support for CS6 versions.

      If you still need support for older CC versions, you can enable it as follows:

      • Close Emaroo
      • Start Notepad as Administrator
      • Open the file Emaroo.exe.config in the installation directory (usually C:\Program Files (x86)\Weigelt\Emaroo)
      • Set SearchForOldAdobeCCApplications option to True
      • Save the config file and start Emaroo.

  • Save and Restore Webcam Properties with CamProps 1.1.0 (ahora también en español)

    No Comments

    CamProps is a free utility for quickly adjusting and managing the properties of webcams and other video capture devices. I wrote it when I struggled with my Logitech C920 that required some manual tweaking to achieve a good picture quality. CamProps enables you to store and quickly recall settings which comes in handy if you have different lighting situations in your room – or when the webcam once again simply “forgets” its settings.

    Recently José M. Alarcón contacted me to tell me he had written a Spanish article about CamProps. I seized the opportunity and asked him whether he could translate the UI texts. Thanks to José, version 1.1.0 of CamProps now supports Spanish in addition to English and German. When you first start CamProps, it selects the UI language according to your Windows settings. You can override this in the “•••” menu in the upper right corner of the window:

    Where can I get it?

    You can download CamProps at https://www.roland-weigelt.de/camprops/

    Which devices can I use?

    CamProps works with all webcams and video capture devices that support opening the webcam driver property dialog (either the default provided by Windows or a specific dialog by the manufacturer's driver).

    For instance, when you press the “” button for a Logitech C920 without the Logitech software installed, this will open the following dialog:

    (This dialog may look different for other devices)

  • Emaroo 4.7.0 - Support for VS Code 1.55

    No Comments

    Emaroo is a free utility for browsing most recently used (MRU) file lists of programs like Visual Studio, VS Code, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Photoshop, Illustrator and more. Quickly open files, jump to their folder in Windows Explorer, copy them (and their path) to the clipboard - or run your own tools on files and folders with custom actions!

    About this Release

    • Updated: Support for Visual Studio Code 1.55 (changes regarding list of most recently used folders/workspaces). Previous versions of Visual Studio Code are still supported.

  • Adjust, Save and Restore Webcam Properties With CamProps

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      In recent months, I wrote a few articles that hinted that I was developing a webcam-related utility (here, here, here and here). About two weeks ago, I released it to my colleagues who liked it and found it useful. Now, after some improvements, I am ready for a release to a larger audience.

      What is it?

      CamProps is a free utility for quickly adjusting and managing the properties of webcams and other video capture devices.

      Where can I get it?

      You can download CamProps at https://www.roland-weigelt.de/camprops/

      Why should I use it?

      The picture quality of many webcams can be improved by manually tweaking properties like focus, exposure or gain. When doing so, you may run into a few issues, though:

      • If you are in a room with changing lighting conditions, you have to adjust the settings each time you want to use the camera.
      • Some third-party software may decide to reset the camera back to default.
      • And some devices simply forget all settings after a reboot.

      CamProps lets you

      • quickly adjust camera properties,
      • manage different sets of configurations, and
      • restore the settings with a single click.

      Which devices can I use?

      CamProps works with all webcams and video capture devices that support opening the webcam driver property dialog (either the default provided by Windows or a specific dialog by the manufacturer's driver).

      For instance, when you press the “” button for a Logitech C920 without the Logitech software installed, this will open the following dialog:

      (This dialog may look different for other devices)

      How do I start?

      • Head to https://www.roland-weigelt.de/camprops/
      • Download and install the program.
      • Read the “How to…” section on setting up your first configuration, activating a configuration and backing up the automatically stored settings.