IRT Cronista as an alternative to FLIR Tools+ and FLIR Thermal Studio

A Friendly, Flexible Alternative to FLIR Thermal Reporting

Thermal imaging professionals have long relied on FLIR’s software to analyze images and create client-ready reports. For years, FLIR Tools (and the upgraded FLIR Tools+) were the go-to programs – beloved especially for their Microsoft Word-based reporting that let users generate custom inspection reports with ease. In 2021, FLIR announced the discontinuation of Tools/Tools+ in favor of a new platform, FLIR Thermal Studio Suite, marking a major shift in how teams would handle their infrared (IR) image reporting. This transition hasn’t been without bumps: from learning a new reporting system to facing a subscription licensing model, many thermographers have struggled to adapt. If you or your organization finds yourself missing the old workflow (or balking at recurring fees), take heart – there’s a friendly alternative available. GRAYESS IRT Cronista is a thermography analysis and reporting software that embraces the best of the “classic” approach (think Word templates and flexible reporting) while adding modern features and full support for FLIR cameras. In this article, we’ll explore what changed with FLIR’s software, why it mattered to users, and how IRT Cronista serves as a superior yet respectful solution for those seeking a better fit.

From FLIR Tools to Thermal Studio: What Changed and Why?

FLIR Tools+ was a staple in the toolkit of IR professionals for over a decade. With Tools+, you could import thermal images, adjust palettes and measurements, and – most importantly – create detailed inspection reports in Microsoft Word. The software came with a Word add-in (FLIR Report Studio) that allowed you to insert thermal image placeholders, tables of temperature data, and other fields into a Word template. When you ran a report, your images and data slid into place in a .DOCX file, which you could then edit or print. This gave users enormous flexibility: reports could be tailored to corporate branding or specific use-cases just by editing a Word document.

In late 2021, FLIR (now Teledyne FLIR) officially phased out FLIR Tools/Tools+ (the desktop software reached end-of-life on December 31, 2021). The replacement, FLIR Thermal Studio Suite, represents a new generation of software aimed at handling the growing demands of thermographers. Thermal Studio introduced an all-in-one interface for image analysis and report generation – completely independent of Microsoft Word. Instead of using Word templates, it features its own template designer and wizard. Along with this change came a new business model: Thermal Studio is offered in tiers (Starter, Standard, Professional) with annual subscription licenses for the paid versions.

Why the change? FLIR’s perspective was about modernization and integration. By moving away from Word, they made Thermal Studio more self-contained and able to support advanced features like 3D temperature charts, batch processing of hundreds of images, and integrated plugins (for example, a Route Creator for planning survey routes on a FLIR T-series camera). The new software also targets enterprise workflows – it can sync with FLIR’s Ignite cloud and is built to handle large volumes of data more efficiently than the old Tools. FLIR’s announcement put it this way: “FLIR Tools/Tools+ has been discontinued; FLIR Thermal Studio suite will be our long-term software reporting platform.” Clearly, FLIR sees Thermal Studio as the future.

However, as necessary as progress is, change can be hard – and this was a big change.

Why Many Teams Struggled with the Transition

For existing users, FLIR’s shift meant adapting to new software in the middle of ongoing projects. Here are the most common pain points professionals reported (in their own words):

“Subscription shock.” FLIR Tools was free (and even the Tools+ upgrade was a one-time purchase). Thermal Studio, by contrast, introduced yearly fees. One veteran thermographer wrote, "I still use Tools+… but as it’s discontinued and they’re pushing this subscription-based model, it’s caused me to look around." The cost of ownership for Thermal Studio Pro is roughly $432 USD per year (Standard is about $216/year) – a manageable expense for some, but a barrier for others who only periodically need the software. As another user observed, “(Thermal Studio’s) highest price tier is almost $800 NZD per year… about twice as much as I’m willing to pay.” For small businesses, these recurring costs add up quickly.
Lost templates and workflow. Perhaps the biggest outcry came from those who painstakingly designed custom Word report templates in FLIR Tools+. Thermal Studio offered no way to bring those over: “FLIR Tools+ 6.x templates are not compatible… (they) will need to be recreated within Thermal Studio.” (Teledyne FLIR support FAQ). In practice, this meant re-doing work and learning a new template editor. Users who had built entire report formats (complete with their company logo, specific tables and disclaimers, etc.) in Word were understandably frustrated. On an online forum, a thermographer expressed relief upon discovering he could keep using his Word workflow: “You’ve got me thinking to try to migrate some of my older templates directly into Word… I hadn’t thought of using the plug-in as a standalone means to create a report.” This was posted in late 2020, when some users realized they could skip Thermal Studio entirely and continue with Word – foreshadowing the demand for a solution like Cronista.
Learning curve and flexibility. Thermal Studio’s interface is modern but different. Tasks that were once done in Word (e.g. adjusting a paragraph or tweaking a table layout) now had to be done in Thermal Studio’s editor, which has its own set of options. Some users found this limiting: “I tune scans and write reports in MS Word and never go to Tools+ for anything. You have more tools in MS Word than… in Tools+,” one experienced user noted, emphasizing how powerful the Word environment itself is. While Thermal Studio is by no means “worse” – it can do things Word can’t, like interactive charts – it takes time to become proficient in it. For teams who only need straightforward reports, learning a complex new software felt like overkill, especially when Word had been “good enough” and extremely flexible.
Platform compatibility. FLIR Tools had a basic Mac version and ran on Windows 7 and 8. Thermal Studio requires Windows 10 or higher, 64-bit only. And the Mac version of FLIR Tools was discontinued without a Thermal Studio replacement on macOS. This left Mac users out in the cold (except via Parallels or Bootcamp). One disgruntled comment from Reddit: “Flir Tools for Mac was discontinued… and FLIR Thermal Studio is Windows only. How very professional, Teledyne.” – a sarcastic remark born of frustration. (GRAYESS Cronista is also Windows-only, but as we’ll see, it caters to legacy Windows users by supporting even Windows 7/8 environments that Thermal Studio dropped.)
Features gated by tier. FLIR’s tiered approach meant some capabilities were only in the Pro edition. For instance, batch processing (like converting 100 images to CSV or applying a filter to a set of photos) is fully available only in Thermal Studio Pro. Even rotating or cropping an image – trivial in many editors – was cited by a user as “locked behind the highest price tier” in Thermal Studio. This was a new dynamic for users accustomed to Tools+, where once you bought it, you had all its features unlocked. It’s true that FLIR Thermal Studio Starter is a free option, but it’s quite limited (no custom templates, no advanced measurements), essentially suitable only for very simple reports.

All these points paint a picture: the FLIR community needed an alternative. Not because Thermal Studio is inherently bad software – it’s actually very powerful – but because one size doesn’t fit all. Many professionals preferred the old formula of simplicity, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness. Enter IRT Cronista.

Meet IRT Cronista: The Word-Based Reporting Solution (That Fully Supports FLIR)

Imagine if you could take everything you liked about FLIR Tools+ – the Word templates, the easy report wizard, the perpetual license – and bring it up to date with current technology. That’s essentially what GRAYESS IRT Cronista offers. Cronista is a thermographic analysis and reporting software whose core design principle is “keep reporting simple and flexible.” It doesn’t replace FLIR’s image analysis know-how; rather, it complements it by focusing on report generation and organization in a user-friendly way.

🔹 Word Template Workflow – No Relearning Required. Cronista works hand-in-hand with Microsoft Word. When you install it, it adds a tab in Word (very similar to how FLIR Tools+ did). You can use any standard Word document or template (*.docx or *.dotx) as a report template. In that template, you insert special placeholders for things like IR images, digital photos, temperature readings, etc. Cronista comes with a bunch of pre-designed templates to get you started – for example, templates for a one-page report with a thermal/visual image side by side and a table of data, or multi-page templates for large surveys. You can use these as-is or tweak them in Word to your heart’s content (change logos, colors, rearrange sections – there are no limitations because it’s just Word). When it’s time to create a report, Cronista’s interface lets you select your images and your chosen template, then it generates a Word document populated with all the data. The report that opens is a live Word file – you can still edit text, adjust formatting, or add comments just as you would in any Word doc. This is a huge relief for those who have established report styles. In short, if you know how to use FLIR Tools+ reporting, you already know 90% of how to use Cronista. It’s that familiar.

“IRT Cronista interfaces directly to Microsoft Word, allowing you to create detailed multi-page reports with the push of a button.” This quote from a 2016 announcement might as well be written today – it captures Cronista’s fundamental advantage: letting Word do what it does best (formatting and layout) while Cronista handles the thermal data behind the scenes.

🔹 Easy Migration from FLIR Tools. Because Cronista uses Word templates, you can bring over your existing FLIR Tools+ templates with minimal effort. Many FLIR users have archives of .dotx files they created for different jobs – perhaps a special template for electrical inspections, another for building envelopes, another for R&D experiments. Rather than rebuild those from scratch, Cronista allows you to reuse and refine them. In many cases, the placeholders (fields) in FLIR’s templates will map to Cronista’s fields one-to-one. Even if some field codes differ, you can open your template in Word, use Cronista’s “Insert Field” menu to replace or update any fields, and save it – voila! your template is now Cronista-ready. This can save days of work and ensure consistency in your reporting style. It’s worth noting that Grayess (the company behind Cronista) provides help and even services for template migration if needed. They know a lot of users are coming from FLIR Tools, so they’ve smoothed that path as much as possible.

🔹 Full FLIR Camera Support (and then some). Cronista is fully compatible with FLIR radiometric images – whether it’s the standard JPGs with embedded thermal data, the older “FLIR TIFFs,” or sequence video files. Under the hood, it reads all that metadata so you can adjust temperature scale, palette, and measurements just like in FLIR’s software. In our testing, we opened images from a FLIR E8, a T540, and even older ones from a FLIR i7 – all loaded fine in Cronista. But Cronista doesn’t stop at FLIR. If you also have a Fluke camera, or say a DJI drone with a thermal sensor, Cronista can handle those images too (the software supports an extensive list of formats). This multi-vendor support is a big plus for consultants or service companies that might encounter different camera brands. You no longer need one software for FLIR, another for non-FLIR – Cronista becomes your unified IR hub. (To keep things efficient, when purchasing Cronista you specify the camera brands you need; the base license covers one brand, e.g. FLIR, and you can add others. But from a user perspective, it’s seamless – open the image and it works).

🔹 Advanced Analysis Tools When You Need Them. What about analysis? Thermal Studio introduced new measurement shapes like polygons, and you might wonder if Cronista can do that. Yes, it can. Cronista’s Professional and Ultimate editions include advanced analysis objects: you can draw a polygon or free-form line on the thermal image and get min/max/average temperature along it. You can add unlimited spots and areas (Ultimate has no limit; Standard has a cap like 10 per image which is plenty for most cases). It also has features like isotherm highlighting (coloring regions above/below a threshold), delta T between any two points, line profiles and histograms, and even a dew point calculator for building inspectors looking at moisture risk. In short, Cronista covers essentially all the field analysis needs that Thermal Studio does. It may not have a flashy 3D graph, but it provides the data in a straightforward way. Importantly, Cronista supports radiometric video playback – if your FLIR camera records a .SEQ file, you can play it in Cronista, scrub through frames, and pick frames to include in reports. (Thermal Studio Standard/Pro can also do this; FLIR Tools+ only had very limited video support, so this is a nice upgrade for legacy users.)

🔹 Report Automation & Batch Reporting. Cronista offers some nifty ways to speed up repetitive work. If you have 100 images and want an individual report for each (say, one page per image), Cronista’s one-click “Rapid Report” function can handle that – similar to FLIR Tools+ Rapid Report feature, but again in Word format. The software can also batch-convert images for specialized tasks. One example: drone inspections often yield hundreds of images that need stitching or mapping; Cronista Ultimate can batch-process images into a format suitable for programs like Pix4D or OpenDroneMap. Another example: Cronista can automatically stitch overlapping images – useful if you scanned a large motor in pieces, for instance – producing a composite image, which you can then include in a report. For those who like scripting, Cronista doesn’t have a built-in scripting language, but because it relies on Word, you can leverage VBA macros within your Word template to do advanced things when a report is generated (e.g. automatically apply a corporate style or perform a calculation on imported data). This kind of extensibility is unique to Cronista’s approach; it’s like having an open architecture versus a closed one.

🔹 Perpetual Licensing – No Subscription Necessary. Let’s talk about the business side: Grayess sells Cronista as a one-time purchase (lifetime license), with different editions to suit your needs and budget. The Standard edition, at around $169 USD, is quite affordable and already includes the core Word reporting and basic analysis features. Professional (around $283) adds advanced analysis (polygons, etc.) and 2 years of support. Ultimate (around $397) unlocks everything (all features) and includes 3 years of support updates. After the included support period, the software continues working – you own it perpetually. If you want to get updates or major upgrades after that, you can optionally purchase a maintenance renewal, but it’s not mandatory. This model is refreshing to those who dislike annual subscriptions. These prices are public on Grayess’s website; and since it’s a perpetual license, you’ll typically break even versus a Thermal Studio subscription in about one year or less. (For example, Cronista Pro at $283 one-time versus FLIR Thermal Studio Pro at ~$432/year – Cronista is cheaper even in the first year). It’s worth noting, Grayess offers a free trial of Cronista – a fully functional time-limited demo – so you can test it with your own images and templates before committing.

Finally, Grayess backs Cronista with support and updates, much like FLIR does for Thermal Studio. You receive software updates (they’ve been naming versions by year, e.g. IRT Cronista 2024) and technical support during the maintenance period. The team is smaller than FLIR’s, but from community feedback they are quite responsive, especially on issues related to camera compatibility or template conversion help. And since Cronista isn’t tied to a specific camera model release schedule, updates tend to focus on user-requested features and improvements to workflow.

In summary, FLIR Tools+ (legacy) was great for what it was designed to do, but it’s no longer supported and cannot handle newer advancements. FLIR Thermal Studio is powerful, but demands you adapt to its way of working (and its pricing). IRT Cronista strives to give you the best of both worlds: the ease and familiarity of the legacy workflow with the compatibility and features needed today. For many users, the verdict per the above comparison is clear: Cronista comes out ahead on the flexibility of reporting, cost efficiency, and multi-camera support. Thermal Studio wins in a few areas (like built-in route planning and integrated map views), which might be crucial for certain users (for example, if you exclusively use FLIR’s latest cameras with GPS and route features, Thermal Studio Pro is designed for that scenario). But if your primary goal is to create professional, customized reports quickly and painlessly, Cronista is hard to beat.

Migration Made Simple: Switching from FLIR Tools to Cronista

One of the biggest concerns when adopting a new software is: “How do I migrate my existing work?” The good news is that moving from FLIR Tools/Tools+ to Cronista is straightforward. Here’s a step-by-step migration gameplan that many have followed:

1. Collect your current templates and reports. Dig up those Word templates (*.dotx files) you used with FLIR Tools+. Also, take note of any custom tweaks you typically did in Word after generating reports (for instance, if you always resized a certain image or added a special note).

2. Install IRT Cronista (get the free trial). You can request a trial from Grayess’s website and get the installer. Cronista runs on Windows 7/8/10/11, so it will likely install on the same machine where you had FLIR Tools. It will also add a “IRT Cronista” tab in Word. The trial lets you test everything for a period (usually 15 or 30 days).

3. Load a FLIR image in Cronista’s viewer. Cronista has an interface not unlike FLIR Tools – you can browse to a folder of images and see thumbnails, click an image to view it, adjust level/span, palette, etc. Use this to familiarize yourself. Try opening the same images in FLIR Tools and Cronista side-by-side if you want – you’ll see the core information is all there in Cronista, possibly with more options to annotate if needed.

4. Open your Word template in Cronista/Word. Now for the magic: open Microsoft Word, go to the Cronista tab. If your Tools+ template is in the old format, first ensure it’s saved as a modern *.dotx (Word 2007+) – most will be. From the Cronista tab, you can insert fields much like you did with FLIR’s add-in. Cronista’s documentation provides a field mapping guide, but in many cases you might not need to change much. For example, a field like “IR Image” or “Thermal Image” placeholder will be recognized. If FLIR had some unique field codes, you’d replace them with Cronista’s (which are logically named and selected from a menu). This process is usually quick – a simple template might take 10 minutes to verify. For a very complex template, maybe an hour or two. Tip: Cronista’s support team can assist if you have trouble matching a specific field.

5. Generate a test report. With your template ready, go back into Cronista’s main application. Select one or two sample images (Ctrl+click to select multiple if you want a multi-image report) and then click the Report button. Cronista will ask which template to use – point it to the one you just prepared. In one click, Word should launch and you’ll get a filled-in report. This is the moment of truth: check that all the expected data populated correctly (thermal images in the right spots, measurement values showing up in tables, etc.). Because Cronista uses the same underlying data as FLIR, you should see identical readings (you can even copy-paste a table from an old FLIR report to compare – it should match). If something is off, you can close the report, tweak the template (maybe a field wasn’t linked or an image frame needs resizing), and run it again.

6. Batch process or fine-tune as needed. After confirming the template works, you’re essentially migrated! You can now generate all your reports using Cronista. If you have dozens of images to report on, explore Cronista’s batch options. For example, Cronista can automatically create one report per image using a template – a huge time saver for routine inspection jobs. And remember, since reports output to Word, you can edit any final details manually. Some users have a habit of adding a personalized conclusion or recommendations section to each report – with Cronista, you’d do it exactly as you did before, by opening the Word file and typing in your text.

7. Uninstall FLIR Tools (optional). If you find Cronista covers everything you need, you might eventually remove FLIR Tools to declutter your system. (Do keep your old reports/templates archived though – always good practice.) Cronista is actively maintained, so it will also receive updates for new camera models and improvements, meaning you won’t need to go back to the discontinued Tools.

That’s it – migration complete. Many users report that Cronista’s learning curve is essentially flat because it capitalizes on their existing Microsoft Office skills. As one user noted after trying Cronista, “The clearly structured and easy-to-use interface…allows intuitive usage and reduces training needs and costs.” In other words, if you can use Word and you know how to capture a thermal image, Cronista won’t throw you any curveballs.

Proof Points: Real Benefits in Real Scenarios

Let’s consider a few scenarios where Cronista proves its value:

Building Inspection Firm with Custom Templates: Imagine a home inspection company that for years used a Word template with their logo, an introductory text, and a specific layout showing an IR image next to a digital photo of each issue found (e.g. water leak, missing insulation, electrical hotspot). With FLIR Tools+, they had this down to a science. With Thermal Studio, they struggled to recreate the exact look (the font alignments, the flow of the report) and eventually had to settle for a different style. By switching to Cronista, they were able to go back to their preferred report format – in fact, they literally re-opened their old template in Cronista and kept using it. The result? Their reports once again have the exact branding and style their clients recognize, and the inspectors didn’t need extensive retraining. One inspector said it was “like coming home” to Word-based reporting, and he could focus on findings instead of fighting software. Plus, since Cronista doesn’t mind which camera the images come from, they could even include a few drone IR shots in the same report (from a DJI drone) alongside their FLIR handheld camera shots – something not possible with FLIR’s own software.
Manufacturing Plant Maintenance (Large Image Volume): A maintenance team at an auto parts factory conducts regular IR scans of 200 electrical panels every quarter. Under the Tools+ era, they generated individual reports for each panel (which was tedious but manageable because they automated parts of it with Word macros). Thermal Studio offered to batch all images into one big PDF, but the team found it cumbersome to then split or customize. With Cronista, they leveraged the batch report generation and some Word scripting to automatically produce a one-page report for each panel, all in one go. They also used Cronista’s Excel export for a summary spreadsheet of all temperature readings, which they said saved them hours of copy-pasting. Over a year, they estimated Cronista cut their reporting time by 50% – a claim similar to FLIR’s own marketing for Thermal Studio, but achieved in a way that fit their established workflow better.
Mixed Camera Lab (R&D use case): A testing lab had a mix of thermal cameras: a FLIR science camera for high-speed capture and a couple of lower-cost cameras from other brands. They needed to analyze and report findings with images from all sources. Previously, they juggled FLIR Tools for the FLIR camera and separate software (or plugins) for the others, then manually combined results. Cronista allowed them to import data from all their cameras into one platform and create unified reports. They particularly liked that Cronista Ultimate could do “image stitching,” as they often had to image large devices in pieces and then mosaic them. The stitched images looked great and were fully radiometric. Their report template in Word included an image, a table of key measured values, and a comments section – Word handled the layout, Cronista fed in the data. The lab manager appreciated the consistency and the fact that Cronista is an independent tool: “We’re not locked to one camera brand’s software anymore, which is important for our objectivity,” he noted.

These examples underscore that Cronista isn’t about fancy gimmicks; it’s about practical improvements in day-to-day work. It gives control back to the user – control over report design, data flow, and how you spend your money on software.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: Is GRAYESS affiliated with Teledyne FLIR?
A: No. GRAYESS Inc. is an independent software company. It is not owned by or associated with Teledyne FLIR. Cronista is a third-party product designed to be compatible with FLIR cameras, but it’s not an official FLIR software. (Always good to clarify: all trademarks belong to their respective owners, etc. – GRAYESS simply builds tools that interoperate with many brands of thermal cameras.)

Q: Does IRT Cronista support my specific FLIR camera model and image format?
A: Almost certainly yes. Cronista supports all modern FLIR radiometric image formats – including radiometric JPEGs (RJPEG), thermal PNG, TIFF, BMP from FLIR, the proprietary SEQ/CSQ sequences, etc. It also reads older formats from legacy FLIR cameras (going back to Agema/FLS formats) and many non-FLIR formats too. If your camera saves an image with embedded temperature data, Cronista can open it. GRAYESS maintains a camera compatibility list (FLIR, Fluke, Testo, DJI, etc. are all on it). If in doubt, you can download the Cronista trial and test your images, or contact Grayess – but compatibility is one of Cronista’s strengths. It’s very likely to work with whatever thermal imagers you use.

Q: We have a bunch of custom report templates from FLIR Tools/Word – can we reuse them in Cronista?
A: Yes, in most cases you can reuse them with only minor modifications. Cronista uses Word templates just like FLIR Tools+ did. You might need to replace FLIR-specific field codes with Cronista’s field codes (for example, the tag for inserting an IR image might be different internally), but this is done easily within Word using Cronista’s template tools. Many users report that their FLIR templates were up and running in Cronista after just a few minutes of tweaks. This means all the effort you spent designing those reports is not lost – you can carry it forward. By contrast, FLIR Thermal Studio cannot directly import Word templates, so if you went that route, you’d be redesigning from scratch in a new system.

Q: Is Cronista difficult to learn? What about my team who is used to FLIR software?
A: If your team knows how to use FLIR Tools/Tools+ and Microsoft Word, they will find Cronista very intuitive. The interface for viewing and analyzing images will feel familiar (it’s a standard layout of folder browser, image viewer, and measurement panel). The reporting part leverages Word – which most people are comfortable with. In fact, many say Cronista has virtually no learning curve because it adapts to the user, not the other way around. And remember, you can try the software free, so you can gauge for yourself how quickly you pick it up. Most organizations find they don’t need formal training to use Cronista; if you were productive with FLIR Tools, you’ll be productive with Cronista from day one.

Q: We sometimes use contractors or partners – do they need Cronista to view our reports?
A: No, one huge benefit of Cronista’s Word-based approach is universal report sharing. Reports generated are in Microsoft Word format (or PDF if you choose to save as PDF). That means anyone can view the report – they don’t need any special software. For example, you could send the .DOCX file to a client; they can open it in Word and see all the images, analysis data, etc. (Thermal images will appear as static images with colored palettes, and key temperatures can be listed in tables or annotations – it’s all part of the document.) If you prefer, you can one-click save the Word report as a PDF before sending. Either way, recipients don’t need Cronista or FLIR software to read the report. This was also true of FLIR Tools (Word reports), and Cronista keeps that convenience. In contrast, if you use FLIR Thermal Studio and send someone the native project file, they’d need Thermal Studio to open it – which is why typically you’d export to PDF from it as well. Cronista just skips any proprietary format altogether and sticks to widely compatible ones.

Q: What is the pricing of IRT Cronista, and do I have to pay for updates?
A: Cronista is sold as a one-time purchase for a license. The exact price depends on the edition (Standard, Pro, Ultimate) and options (1 PC vs 2 PC, number of camera brands supported). As of this writing (August 2025), prices start around $169 USD for Standard (basic features), $283 USD for Professional, and $397 USD for Ultimate. These include at least one year of software updates and technical support (Pro includes 2 years, Ultimate 3 years). During that period, you get all new versions free. After that, the software remains fully functional – you own it “forever” – but if you want to receive further updates or major upgrades, you can purchase an extended maintenance plan. That said, buying maintenance is optional. There is no subscription needed to keep using the software. This model ensures you have predictability in cost – no surprise fees. It’s also modular: for example, if you initially only need FLIR support but later buy a Fluke camera, you can add an additional camera support package to your license. Grayess or its resellers will provide pricing for such add-ons (they tend to be reasonable). Always check the latest pricing with Grayess or authorized dealers, as they occasionally run promotions or adjustments. (Important: those prices are in USD and as of 2025-08-27 – if you’re reading this much later, double-check current info.)

Q: How do I get support or help for Cronista?
A: Grayess provides support via email and their website. When you purchase, you’ll typically get contact information for technical support. They also have an online FAQ and knowledge base on their website, plus user manuals (PDF). Because Cronista is not as widely used as FLIR’s own software, you won’t find as many community forum posts about it – but the flip side is you often get direct support from the developers for any issues. In our experience, for questions like “How do I insert a custom field in the template for X?”, Grayess’s team was quick to respond with guidance. They want users to succeed, especially since many are coming to Cronista slightly frustrated with the alternatives. Additionally, updates to Cronista are informed by user feedback – if there’s a feature you need or a camera that needs better support, Grayess actively listens. It’s a more personal level of support compared to being one of thousands of Thermal Studio customers.

Q: Can I run Cronista alongside FLIR Thermal Studio?
A: Yes, absolutely. There’s no conflict in having both installed. In fact, during a transition period, you might want to keep Thermal Studio (or FLIR Tools) around while evaluating Cronista. They operate independently. Cronista doesn’t interfere with your camera drivers or file associations; it’s simply another application that can open the images. We have both Cronista and Thermal Studio on our Windows 10 machine, and use whichever suits the task. Some users might even choose to keep Thermal Studio for certain advanced analysis tasks but use Cronista for all reporting, because of the Word template advantage. That’s a perfectly viable strategy. Your thermal images are just files – you can open them in multiple programs as needed (just not at the exact same time if one program “locks” the file in use). So there’s no risk in trying Cronista – you don’t have to uninstall or stop using anything else if you don’t want to.

Q: Are there any limitations or things Cronista cannot do that I should be aware of?
A: It’s important to set correct expectations: Cronista is focused on analysis and reporting of thermal images. It’s not meant to do every single thing under the sun. For example, FLIR also offers “FLIR Research Studio” for scientific analysis with live recording from multiple cameras, etc. Cronista is not a multi-camera lab data acquisition tool – it’s for after-the-fact analysis and report generation on stored images (and single streams of video). Also, Cronista currently lacks a built-in “route planning” module. If you heavily use FLIR’s Route Creator plugin to create inspection routes and upload them to your camera, Cronista doesn’t create route files (you could still do your route in FLIR software and then use Cronista for reporting the results, though). Another consideration: Cronista relies on Word; if you don’t have Microsoft Word (desktop) installed, you cannot use the reporting features. Most professionals already have Office, so that’s usually a non-issue. One could view dependency on Word as a limitation (where Thermal Studio is self-contained), but for the target audience it’s a benefit since Word is ubiquitous. Finally, on extremely large projects (say a report with 500 images), you might run into Word’s performance limits – but that’s true of Tools+ as well. In such cases, you might break reports into chapters, or use Cronista’s batch to generate separate docs. In summary, Cronista covers the needs of the vast majority of field thermographers. If you have very specialized needs, it’s worth consulting Grayess or trying the trial to see if it fits.

In Closing: A Respectful Alternative

It’s clear that FLIR has been instrumental in popularizing thermography – their cameras and software set industry standards. FLIR Thermal Studio is part of that evolving journey, and for some users it will remain the default choice. However, it’s not the only choice. GRAYESS IRT Cronista offers a welcome alternative, especially for those who value friendliness (easy to use, Word-based) and flexibility (adapts to your workflow, not vice versa). It doesn’t ask you to throw away your templates or learn a new reporting style. It respects the fact that you’re comfortable in Word and perhaps were perfectly happy with how FLIR Tools+ worked – and it builds on that foundation with new capabilities and wide camera support.

Many teams that switch to Cronista find that it refreshes their reporting process: they spend less time fiddling with software and more time actually analyzing and communicating results. And isn’t that the point? As one user aptly put it, “Cronista makes it possible for you to spend more time in the field and less time at the desk – a priceless advantage.” That sentiment hits home for thermography professionals – whether you’re an inspector, a maintenance engineer, or a researcher, your expertise is better spent on diagnosing problems and providing solutions, rather than wrestling with report formatting.

If you’re currently at a crossroads – perhaps holding onto an old copy of FLIR Tools, or not entirely satisfied with Thermal Studio – it might be the perfect time to give IRT Cronista a look. It’s software made by people who clearly listened to the community’s needs, and it might just make thermal reporting enjoyable again (or at least a whole lot easier!).

Call to Action: Ready to experience a more flexible way to create thermal reports? Try GRAYESS IRT Cronista for yourself. The folks at Grayess offer a free trial and are happy to answer questions. Visit the IRT Cronista product page to get started, or contact Grayess for a demo. Empower your thermography team with a tool that fits your workflow. (And rest assured, GRAYESS is not affiliated with Teledyne FLIR – just a team dedicated to making thermography reporting better for everyone.)

GRAYESS is not affiliated with Teledyne FLIR. FLIR®, Thermal Studio™, and other trademarks are property of Teledyne FLIR or its affiliates. This article is for informational purposes to aid users in finding the best solution for their needs.