Bean File Type

Bean File Viewer and the Bean File Type are now currently available for public download. Bean Images can be generated from existing image files using the Bean File Viewer and can be viewed in the same program. The program comes with support for Windows file association (you can double click a bean file from Windows File Explorer to open it immediately in the program) along with custom icons. There are plans for the file type to continue to evolve as the file type now supports custom data that can be interpreted by Bean File Viewer. For this reason, unless the file binary code is edited, Bean Image files cannot be opened in most image editing and image viewing applications.

How It Works

Historically

The Bean Image File Type has had three generations. The first generation of Bean was based on the Bitmap image format, where the digital image is composed of a dot matrix where each dot corresponds to a pixel. For this reason all first generation bean images could be easily be converted to a bitmap image with no issues by replacing the ".bean" with ".bmp" in the file name. However it was noted that not many people use bitmap (BMP) images, rather JPEG (JPG) and PNG images when the need for a conversion feature arose.

With version 1.04, the ability to convert images from PNG, JPEG and BMP file formats was added to the Bean File Viewer application. This allowed more images to be converted to the Bean file format by taking the existing file and containing it with logic from it's original file format. This meant that renaming the file to ".bean" instead of PNG or JPG file was a valid conversion and vice-versa.

With update 1.08, the third generation of bean image file type was introduced. This generation is not compatible with other photo editing or viewing applications due to the amount of additional data stored within the file type. They can still be converted to more common image file types using the conversion tool within the Bean File viewer application however simply renaming the file will not allow it to be converted unlike the previous two generations.

With update 1.12, Bean files gained animation support. You can now convert GIF files to BEAN files and retain the animation.

Currently

The Bean Image File Type is a versatile file type that contains information based on what file format the image originally held. For example, if you converted a PNG image to the BEAN file format, the image would continue to be structured as a PNG file. What the Bean file format does, is add and manipulate the binary in base 64 format to extend the functionality of the image.

The converted Bean image file essentially takes on the role of "PNG+" where the base of the image is still a PNG file, but with additional data that can be used by the Bean File Viewer to interpret and provide additional features. This makes the Bean file format scalable, giving many possibilities for embedded information and features within each Bean image.

For example a bean file could be tagged with custom metadata such as copyright holder that could be extracted by the program and displayed. It could also be used to link web data to the image so that when you open the image a link directly to the product photographed would be accessible, along with embedded data! There are many possibilities in a format that is as scalable as BEAN - all while being able to contain the base structure of the world's most common file formats.

Changelogs

Version 1.12

• [New] Added image watermark feature so that images can now be stamped with a list of preset watermarks
  These watermarks come in orange, blue, green, white and black and consist of an opacity of around 60%.
  You can also edit the size of the watermark depending on the size of the image you are working with.
  Images with watermarks can be exported/saved with the watermark present to a new bean file.

• [New] Added support for animated input and animated output.
  Bean Image Files can now be animated, converted from GIF files! Animated Bean Files cannot have watermarks applied to them.

• [Update] Changes have been made to the way that the application polls for more up to date versions.

• [Update] Removed the OnApplicationExit event responsible for resetting the application preferences file.
  This is because we have introduced user preferences that the user likely won't want reset every time they close the application.

• [Other] Changes have been made to the way that the application stores the file path of the currently opened file.

• [Other] Changes have been made to the way that the application stores the file path of files opened in the program from file explorer.

• [Other] Changes have been made to the way that the application stores user preference data.
  

Version 1.11

• [Bug Fix] Fixed "Load Demo File" Tool menu option so that the demo file is actually loaded.

• [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue where iconography disappears when the window is moved between multiple displays.
  

Version 1.10

• [New] Added image rotation support to the context menu and tools menu.
  You can use this to rotate the image in the viewer in 90 degree intervals.

• [New] Added file path clipboard support to the context menu and tools menu.
  You can use this to copy the file path of the open image.

• [New] Added a new icon unique to .bean files as opposed to using the file viewer application icon in File Explorer.

• [Update] Re-organised the "Tools" menu.

• [Update] Re-organised the right click context menu.

• [Update] Re-named "Export as Image" to "Save as Image..."

• [Bug Fix] Opening files from File Explorer works again.

• [Bug Fix] The "About" prompt now displays properly when clicking on the version number.
  

Version 1.09

• [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue where older BEAN files were having issues regarding image size and placement within the viewer.

• [Other] Application Stability Improvements
  

Version 1.08

• [New] Adds support for the new generation Bean Image File Type
  This however comes at the cost that regular photo and image programs will not be able to open bean files by default

• [Other] Performance Improvement when converting files from PNG to BEAN.
  

Version 1.07

• [Bug Fix] Added an item to the "Tools" menu that allows you to load the default demo image.
  

Version 1.06

• [New] Added a right click context menu for the file viewer.
  

Version 1.05

• [Bug Fix] Clicking "Check for Updates" will now display text indicating that updates were not found, rather than endlessly saying "Checking for updates" in the event that an update is not available.
  

Version 1.04

• [New] Added the "Tools" menu.

• [New] Added a way to export BEAN files in other image formats.

• [New] Added a way to convert existing image formats to BEAN image format.

• [Update] File path now appears on it's own line with the "Open File" button and "Tools" menu appearing above.

• [Update] Added iconography to existing elements.

Version 1.03

• [New] Added support for file association handling.
  Windows will now automatically detect that BEAN files should be opened in Bean File Viewer

• [Bug Fix] "Open File" browse dialog will now remember your last used file location instead of defaulting to C drive root.
  

Version 1.02

• [Other] Performance and stability improvements.
  

Version 1.01

• [New] Added functionality for update handling - now you can press "Check for Updates" instead of having to manually lookup an installer.

• [New] Bean File Viewer now has an Icon in the start menu, taskbar, menu bar and desktop.

• [New] Added version number display at the bottom right hand of the application.

Licenses

End User License Agreement (English) 965 Bytes RTF Rich Text Document [Download]

Troubleshooting

If you're having issues installing Bean File Viewer (as well as the Bean Image File Format) - please see the following topics to hopefully find a resolution.