PicLens: Immerse Yourself in Photos on the Web

PicLens is currently a Safari-only extension in its beta stages with Firefox and IE versions said to be in the works. It adds interactivity to most of the popular photo spots on the web by allowing you to convert your experience of browsing through a gallery of thumbnails, into a more cinematic one. The most notable feature of this extension is the ability to see photos in full-screen that is just a click away. What’s even more special is that when Piclens displays the photo in full-screen, it seems to be able to access the highest resolution photo available, even if the author wishes to restrict access to higher resolutions of their photo.

I first stumbled upon PicLens while harmlessly browsing through the Safari extensions available at PimpMySafari.com. Their website described PicLens as a plug-in which was capable of:

• Viewing photos in full screen with a single click
• Glide between photos from within full screen mode
• Play a slideshow of image search results and photo albums
• Browse online photos with your Apple® remote

Now the nicest thing any author of a browser extension can do is also make it simple to remove, just in case it isn’t your cup of tea. Cooliris, Inc. the authors of PicLens, made removal simple so I felt absolutely no harm in trying this plug-in out.

After I finished installing the plug-in, browsing photos on the sites which support PicLens has been really nice. I’ve found myself utilizing this plug-in most for viewing photos in full-screen, especially in Flickr where being able to view the details on a high-resolution photo is a treat.

The way PicLens has also been designed to integrate with Safari makes it such a cinch to use as well. It integrates into your browsing experience by overlaying a simple little button on the bottom left of a thumbnail when you hover your mouse on it.

PicLens overlays a tiny button in the left

To view the photo in full-screen, simply click on that button, and in Mac-like fashion, your screen zooms into the photo and the full-screen interface of PicLens.

PicLens allows you to view photos on the web in full screen

The full-screen interface is similar to the how iPhoto works in full-screen, and it works well. Big playback buttons are located in the bottom left to control your slideshow and you are free to skip to another photo in the thumbnails laid out in the row below. To go back to your browser, just click on the ‘X’ in the top left corner.

I’ve been using PicLens for over a month now and being one of the few extensions of its kind, especially for Safari, it’s a keeper.