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PicaJet Photo Manager helps you automatically manage 1000s of your digital photos in
seconds. It's impossible to list all the features that PicaJet offers here. Photo
indexing is faster than other apps, and PicaJet allows you to selectively index folders
or files at any time. PicaJet allows you to review and edit photos the way you prefer,
not pigeonholing you into an awkward interface. For example, you can view photos the way
you prefer: by folders, by ratings or comments or keywords. You can also show or hide
various aspects of the interface at any time - often with a keyboard shortcut. Want to
toggle the panes in favor of a one photo or an all thumbnails view? Just hit the Tab key.

Most every feature is just a keyboard shortcut away. Photo editing is fast, easy, and
preview-able. You can save in all the major file formats, including .PNG. But PicaJet
really shines when you expand its use beyond mere viewing and editing. PicaJet allows you
to manage multiple albums, not just one or two. If you have a large photo collection and
need an efficient way to organize it, PicaJet Photo Organizer is a must-have utility.

How to use Picture Collage Maker to make a photo collage

Tutorial

Create your collage from a preset template

On the Collage menu, click Open from template to create collage from preset template.

Edit collage settings

On the Collage menu, click Collage Panel Setting to make general settings for your collage.

Preset Paper Size: Select a paper size for your collage. If you select Customize, you can set the paper size by inputting the width and the height values.

Orientation: Choose Portrait (vertical) or Landscape (horizontal) as the orientation of your collage.

Background: Choose solid color, gradient color or an image from your hard disc as the background of your collage. If you select Image, click the Load button to add an image from your hard disc as the background. And you can select Tile, Center or Stretch to place the added image to the background of your collage.

Add photos to Project

In the Photo Pane on the left, find the folder where the photos you want to add are located, and the photos will be shown in thumbnails list below.

You can just drag each photo in thumbnails list to your collage or double click it.

Adjust Photo Size, Position and Rotation

Move photo :You can move your mouse cursor to the selected photo to move it by dragging your mouse cursor.

Resize photo : Select a photo, you can drag handles around the photo to resize it.

Rotate photo : You can move your mouse cursor to center of the selected photo to rotate it by dragging your mouse cursor.

Apply frames to photos

Open Frame pane. You can see the list of frames in the left part of Picture Collage Maker window.
Select a photo in the edit area.
In the frames thumbnails pane, double click a frame to apply it to the current photo.

Apply masks to photos

Open Mask pane. You can see the list of masks in the left part of Picture Collage Maker window.

Select a photo in the edit area.

In the mask thumbnails pane, double click a mask to apply it to the current photo.

Masks can only be black and white pictures. The black parts of a mask will block your photo, and the white parts of a mask will be transparent.

Use gray to make your photo partially transparent. Our library of masks includes professional gray gradients that let you fade your photos into our backgrounds.

Adding and Editing Text

On the Collage menu, click Add Text to add text to your collage.

Add Cliparts to Project

Open Clipart pane.You can see the list of clipart in the left part of Picture Collage Maker window.
In the clipart thumbnails pane, Double click a clipart to add it to the current project.

Save project and open project

On the File menu, click Save and specify a folder on your hard disc to save current collage project.The program lets you save your collage project as *.pwp file.

Before you start working with Picture Collage Maker you can open an existing collage project.
To do this, on the File menu, click Open.
In the dialog box that appears, select a *.pwp file and press Open button.


Save Project as JPEG file

On the File menu, click Save As Picture and specify a folder on your hard disc to save current collage project as a JPEG file.


Save project as template

On the Collage menu, click Save as template to save current project as a collage template. Picture collage maker allows you to create collage from template.


Set your collage project as your desktop wallpaper

On the Collage menu, click Set Wallpaper to set your collage as your desktop wallpaper.
Choose to center, tile or stretch your collage, click and your collage will be set as the wallpaper of your desktop.


Add calendar to project

On the Collage menu, click Add Calendar to add calendar to your collage.

How to Use GIF Movie Gear to Build Icons

License: Free to try; $39.95 to buy

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Totorial

Building 24-bit icons is a straightforward process of compiling the various images that make up the icon -- multiple dimensions and multiple color resolutions -- into a single ICO file. GIF Movie Gear (GMG) is the tool to use for the final compilation. Below is a basic outline of how this is done. For a closer look at the files used, download the samples. The example was designed for Windows XP and uses 3 sizes: 16x16, 32x32, and 48x48. For Vista, you should also add a 256x256 size.

48x48 Alpha Channel icon

Working with GMG

Let's start in reverse, by looking at the finished product. Open the sample icon, eric.ico, in GMG by using File>Open or by dragging the file into GMG. The result will look roughly like:

There are 9 "frames" shown, each being one of the icon resolutions stored in the ICO file. The leftmost three are 4-bit (16 color), the next three are 8-bit (256 color), and the last three are 24-bit color with an 8-bit alpha channel (32-bit total). Right away you can see a definite image quality improvement from left to right. The alpha-blending makes the 32-bit version float smoothly against the background while the 8-bit with simple transparency has a hard edge that pales in comparison.

What's with the lime green? This color is used to represent "transparent" for this screenshot. You can set your own color (or stick with the default background color) by using the View>Transparency As menu item. The color chosen is only used for viewing and does not affect the images.

The Windows XP guidelines specifies that an icon should contain the following variants: 48x48, 32x32, and 16x16, each in three color resolutions: 24-bit with 8-bit Alpha channel, 8-bit with 1-bit transparency, and 4-bit with 1-bit transparency (see here for more on 4-bit images). For Vista icons, a 256x256x32 resolution should be added as well.

NOTE: For best results, the icons should be ordered in the ICO file (and hence in GMG) in increasing color resolution: 4-bit first followed by 8-bit followed by 32-bit (24-bit-with-8-bit-alpha). New in Version 3.0.6: the resolutions are automatically sorted when saving to ensure that the ICO file follows the recommended guidelines.

Next, move your mouse over the images. You will notice a tooltip box containing resolution information about each one. The default setting shows dimensions, transparency, and bitcount. You can add or remove the items shown by going to Edit>Preferences>Frame Tips. The FrameTips are the quickest way to get the lowdown on each resolution variant.

The order of variants in the ICO file does not matter, but you can re-order the frames by simply dragging a frame to a different position.

Building 24-bit Color with 8-bit Alpha Channel Graphics

The first step is to create the 24-bit-with-alpha-channel graphics. Because GIF Movie Gear offers a direct import of Abode Photoshop (PSD) files, Photoshop is the recommended image creation tool. Basically any image created in Photoshop that uses the "RGB" mode has an Alpha channel attached, and if there is transparency in the image or layer, that channel becomes meaningful for icon purposes.

To get the best scaling across the sizes, many designers will find it useful to start with a vector-based drawing application or 3D modelling software for the initial image creation and then use Photoshop for the rendering of size-specific bitmaps.

For our example, we started with a scanned photograph and used the oval selection tool with heavy feathering to create a vignette of Eric's head. Next, the layer with the head was copied two times, and finally each of the three layers was scaled using Layer>Transform. This is a very simplistic way to generate multiple sizes: it is up to the designer to determine how fine-tuned each size needs to be.

Layers in eric24.psd

The next step is to crop each layer to the desired size. We have found that the best way to do this is to use Photoshop as follows:
1. File>New to create a new image. Set the size to the desired icon size.
2. Select the image with the multiple layers and drag the appropriately sized layer to the new image. Center the graphic within the image frame as needed.
3. Save the new image as a PSD file. Keep the Background layer.
4. Repeat 1 --> 3 for each size.
Of course, if you created each size separately in the first place, there is no need for this cropping.

The result for our example are the files eric24_48.psd, eric24_32.psd, and eric24_16.psd.

Building the Icon

For our example we will start with an old-school 4-bit (16 color) icon and add the colorful new variants. The icon file is named eric4.ico. To open the file in GMG, use either File>Open or File>Import From>Icon or simply drag the file into the main window. The main view should now show two frames with smiley faces. A quick FrameTip inspection shows that both are 4-bit images, one 16x16 and the other 32x32, just your basic (if rather primitive) Windows icon.

NOTE on "4 bit" color: The term "4-bit" color is not entirely appropriate. This color resolution implies that the color table is composed of the 16 EGA colors (each of R, G, and B is either 0, 128, or 255 plus a single light gray at 192,192,192). Reducing a color table to an arbitrary 16 colors won't do the trick: the result will still be treated at 8-bit.

Next to be added are the 8-bit (256 color variants). For our example, we used GIF Movie Gear to convert the 24-bit-with-alpha images into 8-bit-with-1-bit-transparency images by unchecking the 24-bit setting; this is a very simplified approach and would not please most designers. The three sizes were saved as 3 frames in eric8.gif. The GIF format is ideal for saving 8-bit variants because the GIF format is 8-bit color with 1-bit transparency as well.

To add these to the icon in progress, use File>Insert Frames and choose the file. The three new variants are then added to the view. Dragging the file into GMG would accomplish the same effect. The same procedure would apply if the new variants were in an ICO file or any other format.

Finally it's time for the 24-bit images. Similar to above, use either File>Insert Frames or drag&drop to add the PSD files from above to the current icon. When inserting a PSD file, a dialog with conversion options appears. For building icons out of PSD layers, the settings to use are: Layers as Multiple Frames, No Blending, and Keep Background Transparency. Notice that the Background Layer of each size shows up as a frame; to delete these, select the excess frame by clicking on it, then hit the Delete key.

To save the icon, select the File>Save As menu item. Choose the "Windows Icon (*.ico)" file type. Choose a name and hit OK. The icon is ready. Choosing File>Save will save the icon using the name of the originally opened eric4.ico.

Other Notes

There should be no more than one icon variant for each size and color resolution. GMG will refuse to save an icon with any duplicates and will put up a warning dialog listing the duplicated size/resolutions. Simply delete the unneeded images and save.

Toolbars for Windows XP/Vista

Building toolbars with alpha-channel transparency is very similar to building "regular" toolbars, the only difference being that the button bitmaps are 32-bit color (24-bit color with 8-bit alpha) instead of 8-bit or 4-bit. The process for generating the button images is the same as for icons. Load the images into GMG:

sample 32x32x32 images in GMG
(magenta color is transparency)

Now select File>Save As, select the BMP file type, Filmstrip as the style, and Horizontal orientation. The resulting BMP file will contain all the images and the alpha transparency. There are not many applications that support 32-bit BMP files correctly, so previewing this file in most applications will not show the proper transparency. However, when a toolbar control is created with the TBSTYLE_TRANSPARENT style, and the bitmap is added, buttons that reference the bitmap will be drawn as lovely, 24-bit color images with full 8-bit alpha transparency.

Common Issues

"My alpha channel is not showing up." Go to Edit>Preferences>Export and make sure that "Maintain 24-bit color..." is checked. Also, other applications that read ICO files (for example, Visual C++ 6) may corrupt 32-bit icon data when altering the file in any way.

"My 4-bit color image is loading as 8-bit color." Is your image a valid 16-color image ?
If it is, go to Edit>Preferences>Palettes and select the "Local Palettes" option then reload the images.

"The Thumbnail view in XP is showing my ICOs as 16x16 icons." This is a problem in Windows XP and is not an issue with the icon file. Microsoft is aware of this issue but has so far chosen to leave it unresolved.

Download Advanced GIF Animator

License: Shareware / $35

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Advanced GIF Animator is a powerful tool for creating animated GIF images. With this outstanding software, you can create pictures, banners, buttons, and even movies. You can use the built-in image editor or any stand-alone graphics editor to create image files that will be assembled into a GIF animation. Duplication, mergers, cropping, re-sizing, rotation and frame flipping; capability to create animated GIF files using sets of BMP, JPEG, ICO, and Windows Metafiles; color palette support; .avi and .ani file export and import - that's just a fraction of the features available in Advanced GIF Animator.

Advanced GIF Animator makes it possible to easily create animated gif images.
With the power and capabilities of this tool you can create great looking pictures, banners, buttons, and even movies. With the help of this tool and a built-in image editor or any stand-alone graphics editor you have the power to create image files that can be easily gathered by GIF animation. With this tool you can create great GIF 89a images, easily manage GIF image frames, create multiple animation loops, you can set or change the frequency or frames interchanges, easy conversion of GIF images to windows bitmap files. It also has the capability in creating great animation GIF files by accessing BMP, JPEG, ICO, and Windows Metafiles. The many more features of this tool are Duplication, mergers, cropping, re-sizing, rotation and frame flipping.
With Advanced GIF Animator you too can create great looking buttons and banners for your website design and promotion.

Ulead GIF Animator - Editing Objects in Other Image Editing Programs

GIF Animator provides a set of editing tools in the Tool Panel which allows you to manipulate objects, for instance, change or remove color, resize and rotate objects, add text, and more. If you want to apply more advanced effects, you may choose the image editor that you want to use (such as Ulead PhotoImpact) and invoke the application from within GIF Animator. After you've finished enhancing your objects, simply save them in the image editor then bring them back to GIF Animator so you can continue working on your animation project.

Now let's see how it is done:

1. If you have Ulead PhotoImpact already installed on your computer, GIF Animator automatically adds it to the Favorite Image Editor list. Hence, by default, the Favorite Image Editor button on the Standard Toolbar shows the program icon of PhotoImpact.

If you want to use PhotoImpact solely to enhance your objects, proceed to Step 4.

2. If you want to use another image editor, such as Adobe Photoshop, you need to add it to GIF Animator's image editor list. To do this, click the drop-down arrow beside the Favorite Image Editor button and select Organize Favorite Image Editor. Then click Add.

3. In the Program name, type a name for your image editor. Click Browse to find the application in your program files. Then click OK. Adobe Photoshop, or the new image editor you specified, is now added to the list of your favorite image editors.

4. The next time you want to switch to the desired image editor, select a frame in your project which contains the objects you want to edit then click the Favorite Image Editor button on the Standard Toolbar. Or, if you want another image editor that's also on your list but isn't the one that is displayed on the button, first click the drop-down arrow next to the Favorite Image Editor button and select the application of your choice.

NOTE: The Favorite Image Editor button displays the icon of the last image editing application that you added.

5. When the image editor opens, it automatically opens a temporary file for your objects. You can now apply the application's various editing tools and special effects to enhance your objects.

6. When you've finished editing your objects, select File: Save in the image editor.

7. As soon as you save the temp file, GIF Animator prompts you to "update your temp file from the image-editor." Click Yes. The changes will be applied to the corresponding objects in GIF Animator.

DVD Copy 6 - Scheduling converting tasks

Do you want to convert video files even when you're busy? DVD Copy 6 lets you schedule conversion tasks using Automatic Converting. In this tutorial, you will find out how easy it is to schedule a converting task....

Open DVD Copy 6 and click the Convert File button. Select a device in Output/Target devices. Click CellPhone for now.

Load your file

1. The first step is to load the video file by clicking the Add Video from Local button. Select the video in the Browse for File dialog box and click Open. The video is added to the Source window.


2. Specify the folder where the converted file will be located in Target. Click Browse target to browse for a folder location.

3. Select the properties of your converted video in the Profile drop-down box. There are various bit rate/screen resolution options. Let us select the 3GPP format, 128kbps bit rate, 176x144 resolution setting.

Note: Bit rate refers to the number of bits processed per unit of time, the larger the number, the more bits processed and the better the quality. Resolution refers to the number of pixels handled by the device display.

The Disc space meter shows the required disc space.

Schedule conversion

1. Click the Optional Settings button to open the Optional Settings dialog box.

2. Click the Schedule tab and select Schedule at.



3. Set the date and time you intend the transcoding process to begin by clicking the up or down arrow or entering the date and time yourself.

4. Click OK.

The set schedule is displayed near the Start Copying button.

DVD Copy will automatically convert the video file during your scheduled time.

DVD Copy 6 - Using Virtual Drive

Tired of looking for your favorite disc whenever you want to play it? Time to set up virtual drives!

Virtual Drive is a a bonus software that comes with DVD Copy 6 that lets you emulate and run CDs and DVDs without the physical CD or DVD drive. You also do not need the actual CD or DVD media. It allows you to run disc images of frequently used CDs or DVDs so you won't have to load these discs from time to time.

Step 1: Create virtual drives

1. Run Virtual Drive.

2. Click the Set Virtual Drives button and click number of virtual drives you want. You can create up to 22 virtual drives. Let us create 3 virtual drives for now.

Note: Selecting Disable remove all the drives. If you do this, you will need to restart your computer.

The virtual drives are displayed on the Virtual Drives panel.

Step 2: Add disc images

1. Click the Add Image button.

2. Select the image files you want to load in the Open dialog box. Press [Ctrl] or [Shift] to select multiple files. Click Open. The images are added to the Images panel.

Note: Virtual Drive supports.IXA, .IXB, .ISO, .CDI, .NRG, .MDS, .CCD, or .CUE disc image files. You can create your disc image file by using Disc Tool in Virtual Drive.

Step 3: Mount your image files

Click the Mounted Drive column of the image you want to mount and select the virtual drive. For this example, let’s assign DiscImageFile 1, 2, and 3 to Virtual Drives F, G, and H.

Note: If you mount an image to a drive that already has another image mounted, a confirmation dialog appears. Click Yes to mount the image file you have just selected; click No to leave the previous image mounted.

The images are mounted to the selected virtual drives. To test, run your virtual drives using any CD or DVD player.

DVD Copy 6 - Creating a disc label

How do you create a custom label for your home movie disc?

You just came from a magnificent sailing adventure and all your breathtaking videos of whales, porpoises, and quaint villages have successfully been copied on disc! Now, it's time to stamp it with a great-looking label....

DiscLabel is a bonus software that comes with DVD Copy 6. It lets you design and print disc labels in a few easy steps. This simple tutorial shows you how to create a disc label for your home movie.

To start creating a project, run DiscLabel.

Step 1: Choose a background

The first step is to choose a background image. Having a background in place will make it easier to add and position other elements on the label.

Choose a background image that is related to your video content for easier identification.

Let us apply a new preset background by clicking the Theme drop-down arrow under Template. For this tutorial, select Sea and click Apply.

Tip: You can also apply your own image by selecting Edit Background: Change Background under Label Tasks.

Step 2: Edit Title

1. The next step is to edit your text. Double-click Title and enter the new title in the Rich Text Edit dialog box. Type in Sailing Trip for example.

2. Highlight the new text and click Font to change the text font and text size. Click Color to change the text color. Click OK.

The new text and formatting is applied on the label. You can drag the title to find the best position on the label.

Since we are not creating an audio disc, we will remove the track list for now. Click the content list and press [Delete] key.

Step 3: Add new text

Let us now add new text by clicking Add Text under Label Tasks. Enter a description of you DVD movie.

As an example, enter OUR ESCAPE TO THE COAST OF MAINE! in the Rich Text Edit dialog box. Format the text and click OK. Delete the Audio CD image at the bottom and drag the new text in position.

Step 4: Print your label

1. Click under Label Tasks.

2. Select your printer, paper type and other settings in the Print dialog box.

3. Click Print to start printing.

Nothing to it! You now have a cool label for your home movie!

To store a copy of this label project reprinting, click File: Save As and save your project as an .ida or Disc Label project file.

Note: DVD Copy supports LightScribe technology, where you can print labels directly onto your disc. If you have a LightScribe-enabled optical drive, select LightScribe print from the Label Tasks panel to use this feature.

DVD Copy 6 - Updating your iPod automatically

Do you often record or download media files for your iPod? By using Monitor Folder, Schedule Conversion, and Copy To Go, you can monitor folders for newly recorded or downloaded files, schedule their conversion to the right format, and transfer them directly to your iPod.

Simply follow these steps...

Step 1: Select the folders to be monitored

Let us begin by monitoring folders so that their contents can be scheduled for converting.

1. Open DVD Copy 6 and click the Convert File button.


2. In Output/Target devices, select iPod.


3. In the Source window, click Monitor Folder . The Browse for Folder dialog box appears.

Select the folder you want to monitor and click OK. The folder will now appear in the Source window.

Repeat Step 3 if you want to monitor multiple folders. You can delete a folder by selecting it and pressing the [Delete] key or clicking the Delete button.


Note: A good tip to avoid confusion is to sort your media. For example, create separate folders for video and music files and categorize your files in subfolders.

When you add files to monitored folders, DVD Copy 6 will automatically put these newly added files to the list of files for conversion.

4. Specify the folder where the converted file will be located in Target. Click Browse target to browse for a folder location.

5. Select the properties of your converted video in the Profile drop-down box.

Step 2: Schedule conversion

The next step is to schedule the converting task.

1. Click the Optional Settings button to open the Optional Settings dialog box.

2. Click the Schedule tab and select Schedule at.

3. Set the date and time you intend the transcoding process to begin by clicking the up or down arrow or entering the date and time yourself.

4. Click OK.

The schedule is displayed near the Start Copying button.

After converting, you will be prompted to transfer your videos to your iPod using Copy To Go. Click OK.

Step 3: Synchronize your iPod

1. Click the Copy To Go button and select Convert to iPod.

2. Converted files are shown on the Source window.

3. Make sure your iPod is connected properly to your computer. Choose your iPod in the Destination dropdown box.

4. Click Start Copying to begin transferring your files.

Congratulations! Your new files are now added to your iPod.

DVD Copy 6 - Converting AVCHD video to portable files

Want to watch your AVCHD video on the go? Convert AVCHD in DVD Copy 6 lets you convert AVCHD video to file formats compatible with portable media devices.

AVCHD video may be located in any one of the following sources:

1. An AVCHD video disc inserted in your computer's optical drive

2. An AVCHD video camcorder connected to your computer

3. A folder saved in your hard disk drive

Let us quickly convert an AVCHD video file located in your hard disk drive for viewing on a Sony PSP device.

To convert your AVCHD video:

1. Open DVD Copy 6 and click the Convert AVCHD button.

2. Select PSP in Output/Target devices.

3. Click the Browse source button. Select the folder that you want to convert in the Browse for Folder dialog box. Click OK.

4. Click the Browse target button. Select a folder where you want to place the converted video in the Browse for Folder dialog box. Click OK.

5. Select the properties of your converted video in the Profile drop-down box. There are various format/bit rate/screen resolution options. Remember to come up with a file view your converted AVCHD video on your PSP device.

Let us select MPEG4 file format, 576kbps bit rate, and 320X176 [16:9] widescreen resolution.

Note: Different file formats result in different video compression rates. Bit rate refers to the number of bits processed per unit of time, the larger the number, the more bits processed and the better the quality. Resolution refers to the number of pixels handled by the device display.

6. Select Customize in Mode. This allows you to select specific chapters that you want to convert. Select Chapter 1 for now.

Tip: You can click the Property sheet button to view audio and subtitle properties. If you are not sure what a chapter or video title contains, use the Preview panel to view the video.

The Disc space meter shows the required disc space.

7. To start converting, click the Start Copying button.

The Disc space meter turn to a Progress bar to show the status of the converting task.

DVD Copy prompts you when the converting task is completed. Click OK.

Congratulations! You have just converted an AVCHD video to a file format compatible with a PSP!