There are photo management tools, and then there are Photo Management Tools. Pictomio is one of those Photo Management Tools professionals seek that sets the standard for 3D accelerated browsing, and its packed in a free download.

Pictomio requires graphic cards with a minimum 128 MB video RAM. The main differentiator between this application and say Picasa or Apple iPhoto is the Exif Editor. This feature lets users view, edit and save meta data associated with JPEG files. The Exif menu will display file system attributes, main information like equipment used, X&Y resolutions, date and time, compression, exposure, and F-number.

Another memory intensive feature is the Liquid Zoom which uses mip levels to reduce aliasing for a continuous zooming experience. When photos are browsed, they can be viewed in a standard thumbnail view, filmstrip, single image, or in a carousel view in the style of Apple's Cover Flow. Images can be rated and tagged with appropriate keywords, and fields like artist, equipment, model and software used can be added to keep adequate records of image information. As for tools, designers will appreciate the Color selecting tool that precisely determines the color values of pixels in RGBA and Hexcode formats. Other than that, the toolbox is empty.

Pictomio holds basic photo tools for the beginner or average photographers, but also has important features that the professional photographer must utilize when analyzing and keeping track of photos. One big feature that users crave, and that missing from Pictomio is the ability to adjust and tune pictures. Other than that, this is a great tool to use when analyzing how to increase the quality of the photos you take. And hey, its free!