No comments about Adobe Creative Suite CS3 Web Standard [Mac].

2 comments about Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0.

1. Adobe Photoshop elements 5 is the best, It is complicated but no other product on the market will do what this one does.



2. Used all the time for all my digital pictures. Easy to use, great product.

5 comments about SolidWorks® 2008 Fundamentals.

1. I received a copy of this product, and I now understand why one of their own employees wrote a positive five star review for the product. They would be the ONLY ones.
   
   The produce description states, "Lessons at Inspirtech are delivered in a unique hybrid approach to highlight the advantages of both download and streaming lesson formats" For people that do not have access to a high speed fiber connection, forget the streaming lesson format!
   
   Their description also states, "For users who wish to access training on the go a DVD-Rom Edition is also available." I've had nothing but trouble running the DVD edition on my laptop with Visa or my desktop with Windows Professional XP SP2.1. What does it run on?
   
   I'm looking for something that is quick, easy and informative to learn all aspects of SolidWorks and its many tools in a DVD form. I'm still looking...



2. 
   Randy,
   
   I find it very interesting that would you take the time to write the same negative review on both Inspirtech products. I have search the Data base of ALL sales from Every source and you name does not appear once. From whom did you pirate the Product?
   
   Inspirtech's DVD's have shipped world wide with out issue, they have passed SolidWorks certification and have received MANY extremely positive reviews from multiple sources.
   
   
   What I can say in regards to the support at Inspirtech is that we go above and beyond what is required to insure costumer satisfaction. All concerns that have been resolved promptly leaving buyers happy with their purchase.
   
   Bellow you can find examples of some other reviews submitted to Inspirtech:
   
   "I just finished the SW fundamentals DVD, Very thorough and very clear...answered a lot of questions. Best of all, I can watch it any time I want !! "
   
   Mike Rogers
   Las Vegas, NV
   USA
   
   "The support provided by Ispirtech is nothing short of exceptional.
   The courses are great both for new users and experienced professionals.
   There is something for everybody looking to learn SolidlWorks.
   I highly recommend these courses you will not be disappointed."
   
   M. Adock
   Australia



3. Hello,
   
   3 months ago, I was very anti-SolidWorks for a number of reasons. I purchased this DVD out of complete frustration with the dozens of books I have used in an effort to be a better instructor myself. I have two shelves of "failures" sitting here in the corner of my office. Each one does some "one thing best" without really doing everything. I can very honestly say that endless graduate assistants have been frustrated with the learning curve for Solidworks.
   
   So, I bought the Inspiritech video not actually expecting much and it has been by far the most pleasant surprise of the summer. It gives a well balanced and paced introduction to basic, intermediate and advanced topics. There is no single thing an instructor can do to improve themselves better than buying this DVD and working your way through the instruction. You will be a much better user and instructor.
   
   I am actively seeking funding to purchase enough copies to outfit an engineering laboratory including the actual Solidworks software (we have limited seats).
   
   This is a great, great product. I forgot to mention that the technical support is the BEST I"VE SEEN IN MY LIFETIME. When I get stuck, I simply fired off a question and got a detailed answer in less than 24 hours from the instructor himself.
   
   In all fairness, most of my questions were stupid because I was rushing through too many things in the day/week and hadn't really "heard" the lesson correctly. Yet the authors patiently answer anyway...
   
   I recommend this product without reservation.
   
   



4. I bought this because I needed to learn SolidWorks in order to be more productive at my job. I was REALLY worried, because I've tried to learn other CAD programs, and it just didn't make sense.
   
   After watching the first few chapters of this tutorial, I get it. Like that, "snap"! SolidWorks not only makes sense to me, I'm actually excited about using it! In addition to instructing the user on how to use the program, the tutorials also discuss problems or glitches the program has, and problems you may come across as you're building your component that may keep you from being successful.
   
   I can't say enough how happy I am that I bought this. Don't hesitate, I promise you will be satisfied.



5. What a great surprise! Of all the Solidworks training products out there this one is the best for the price. All the other products I have seen are just mediocre and seem to be very cheaply done and poorly structured. There is one other product out there I had heard of and seen sample videos that seemed comparable to this product but it was worth three times the amount of money! Of course the narration of the videos is not done by a professional narrator, but I would be willing to make that slight sacrifice again. It was unbelievable to me to ask a question and need support and get a response from the author himself! I was very impressed by the structure that the videos were laid out in. I would explain the instruction as whole to part. Most training I have seen gives the learner small chunks of info and skills and eventually allows them to see the whole. This product was different because it took the opposite approach. It was very refreshing and I would buy more products from this producer.

5 comments about Acdsee Photo Editor Mini Box.

1. Before getting the ACDsee Photo Editor, I downloaded several well-rated free photo editors and read many reviews on the Corel and Adobe Photo Editors. I needed a lot more help than what was provided with the free photo editors, and just reading about layers, etc., with the Adobe and Corel photo editors made my eyes cross. Then by chance I found a review of the ACDsee Photo Editor by a person who had used the Corel photo editor for years but was switching to ACDsee because it was a lot simpler to work with but produced the same results.
   
   I have been using the ACDsee photo editor for several weeks and it has made my picture taking much more enjoyable. I am removing distractions, like a branch I didn't see when I took the picture, brightening the colors on photos washed out by the intense sun where I live in the Dominican Republic, and generally improving the photos that I take.
   
   What is so great about this photo editor is the help section. There is virtually no learning time since the helps are numerous and easy to understand and can be followed step by step as you work on your photo.
   
   I highly recommend this photo editor to anyone getting their first photo editor, and to anyone confused about how to use another photo editor. You do not have to be technically advanced to produce great pictures if you have the ACDsee photo editor.



2. After trying out various software photo editors for digital scrapbooking, I found the easiest one to use is ACDSee's Photo Editor software. It doesn't have the huge learning curve that other photo editor software has, but it has the features that I need for digital scrapbooking.
   
   One of the great features that I have fought with in other photo editing software is text on a path. Every time I wanted to do it in other photo editors, I had to go find the help or tutorial. In ACDSee Photo Editor, I type in my text, select the text, click Path and I choose the basic path I want. From there, I can move it, stretch it, rotate it to get it exactly how I want it to go. So much easier than other software.....
   
   In Photo Editor, tasks such as cropping photos, fixing redeye, & resizing photos are all straightforward & quickly done.
   
   Image basket is handy to have all the images that you are going to use in your digital scrapbook layout.
   
   This is excellent software for digital scrapbooking to achieve phenomenal results without using professional photo editing software. Photo Editor is straightforward to use & doesn't have the high learning curve that Paint Shop Pro & Photo Shop products have that causes so much frustration. This results in more productive time creating scrapbook pages and less time trying to figure out how to specific tasks



3. ACDSee Photo Editor delivers full editing capabilities much easier to use and at half the price as its closest competition.
   The Software is supported by great tutorials and Web advice.
   It practically runs itself as if on auto-pilot.
   Highly recommended.



4. This program does not work well for me. The instructions are skimpy and, so far, I have not gotten a print with the correct margins for my printer (Hi Touch) or a print which does not have the colors wildly skewed from the original. I have spent three hours on this program so far and will send this program back if I can.
   
   When you load this program you are asked to buy an upgrade for $39.95. Moreover, when you reboot this program and leave it running, you get that popup again.
   
   I bought this program on the basis of the other rave reviews. Those reviews are so enthusiastic I am suspicious that they may have been written by company shills.
   
   Dwight Collin



5. Got this for my wife and she likes being able to make her own wallpaper, cards, et cetera. She really likes the versatility of the product. In her words, "It is just so much more then a photo editor!" She said she still has allot to learn and get into with the software, but so far it is very good! Can't see that changing, but the jury is still out.

3 comments about Poser Figure Artist.

1. I brought this program to help me learn figure drawing. Theoretically, it would have been helpful to study the light as well as pose the figures as desired. To see the body in motion, the effects of movement, and the play of shadows -- this is how to bring life and vibrancy to a drawing.
   This program doesn't help with any of that. The figures are stiff and don't react either to movement or to objects in the environment. For example, someone sitting on a chair doesn't look like someone doing knee bends, except in this program. Furthermore, posing a figure is a very involved process, and an entirely unnatural result is very common. I tried to pose a figure on tiptoe, to see how the body mass moved, and I couldn't do it. It is possible to possible to rotate a shoulder completely out of plane with the chest and the arm, and the program will not murmur one complaint. Facial expressions are all ghastly and there isn't a simple smile in the bunch.
   The program runs slowly, and the opening help screens crash the program. The help manual is a PDF file and there is no written documentation besides the usual legal threats. The tutorials can get you to a basic pose, but its more effort than its worth.
   This program might work for someone wanting to put alien-like figures into designs on the computer page. Maybe it works great with other programs or plug-ins that I don't have, but it isn't useful as a drawing tool.



2. This program is a very stripped down version of Poser. There is no animation in this application. It's for posing 3D figures, rendering them and exporting or printing out 2 dimensional images only.
   
   Like many digital artists I don't have the space or money for real human models so this application should help me. To help me actually "draw" the human figure I pose it in Poser Figure Artist, render the figure, print the figure out on my printer and trace over it with paper and a pencil, or export the image (figure) open it in photoshop and use my digital tablet to draw over it. You can actually use your digital tablet in P.F.A. also if you don't want to use your mouse.
   
   It didn't take me long to learn the interface, it's easy and even a little fun. The PDF manual will get you started but does lack some detail. I was able to get a basic pose in a short time by just playing around with the interface and not even reading the PDF manual at first.
   
   Making a complex pose can take a while. The easiest way I found to get a specific pose is to load a pre-posed figure closest to the pose you want then tweak the pose to what you want. One drawback I found was their is no "undo" so you have to save often or have the application "memorize" your poses often as you tweak them so you can get back to a pose if you get carried away with the pose. There are lots of pre-posed figures already in the program for you. Male, female, child, skeletons and a few robot figures are in there. The figures are good and clean and well proportioned (average person height, weight etc).
   
   You can tweak just about every aspect of the figure and add props if you like. You can change the environment the figure is in also (lighting, color and background image).
   
   P.F.A. seems to run fine on my system running windows XP. As with any 3D program the faster the system you have the faster it will run and render. Their are some preferences you can turn down to help your system deal with large render's if you have an older computer and graphics card.
   
   Me being a strictly two dimensional paper and digital media artist Poser Figure Artist works fine for me. If your looking for something much more involved I would get the full version of Poser. I highly recommend going to "e Frontiers" web site and reading all the features Poser Figure Artist and Poser has to offer and choosing which version of Poser works for you.
   
   Shop around, cost for this application vary greatly (I found it on sale for 1/2 off price with optional digital down load).
   
   Their are lots of reference web sites and support for Poser programs if you need help or information. There is a whole community of "Posers" out there. Have fun!



3. Poser Figure Artist has many features that make it ideal for artists, including but not limited to realistic light and shadows and the ability to pose every part of the body, even the finger tips. It should, however, be easier to learn how to pose and move the figure. This is one program that I could not work/ manipulate without the manual, located as a PDF on the CD.

1 comments about IdeaSoft Desktop Labels Platinum (Jewel Case).

1. This product had some interesting label selections. I have not used the software a lot.

5 comments about Adobe Photoshop Album.

1. I would advise anyone considering buying Adobe Photoshop Album to visit Adobe's website. A look at the forum section will give you an idea of the MANY problems users are having trying to make this buggy software work properly.
   
   I installed the Starter Edition to see if I wanted to buy the full program later. My experience with Starter Edition was very positive. The full version is another story altogether. It simply won't install on my computer. The program claims to support WIN98 SE, but during installation I get a message telling me it won't support my operating system, which is, you guessed it, Windows 98 Second Edition.
   
   Another reviewer here mentioned that he had the same trouble and had to do an exhaustive search through the Adobe user forums to find a solution. Its pretty sad when a software comany's user base has to assist each other to use one of its products.
   
   Adobe has a good reputation, but this clunker is not up to their usual standard. Avoid it!



2. Album delivers all of the basic features you would expect from such a product with some minor weaknesses and some nice surprises. The Fix function is a bit weak, even compared to some free programs. Specifically, the lighten/darken feature is a bit weak and AutoFix does not seem to make any significant improvements to photos. The backup feature is very easy to use but it requires a new CD each time, even if you are doing incremental backups and only bakcup a small number of files. This is wasteful and is a weakness. The photo Move and Rename features also add a lot of value and work well.



3. I am very displeased that when you pay for a program and you receive a 10 page book on how to use it and have a questions that Adobe wants to charge you 40.00 to answer a question. I thought I had a great program to use for our church pictures, but I was mistaken. Money down the drain! I called and they said that is there policy. They will be glad to answer installation problems, but not on how to use their product.



4. I have used Photo Album versions 1 and 2, and have created CD slide shows of my bicycle tours. It is never easy to do. When you first import photos into the program's "well" they are large enough to see what's in them. When you go to the next stage (the "create" stage) -- where you can sort and re-arrange the slides -- the photos are way too small and you can't enlarge them. Also, I create title pages in Photoshop and import them, and in the "create" stage, you can't make out the words to figure out where to place them. Also, I have prepared complete slide shows and gotten to the point where I was previewing them (as happened today) and the program would freeze, and I lost hours of work. Not good! Now we know why Adobe has stopped selling the program and is just providing a simple version for free.



5. I am writing this because of all the negative reviews stating that this program is weak for editing or making DVDs, etc. This program, which I have used for many years, in my opinion is intended ONLY for storing photos in a logical way. First, it does not contain the photo images, only a pointer (shortcut) to those images which are stored elsewhere on the computer. You can store them in categories and sub-categories or you can access them by a simple time-line for when the photo was taken. If you want to edit the photo, you should use a photo editing program - of which many good ones exist. Once the photo is edited, the "fixed" version is now what you see in the PhotoShop Album program. I use Windows "My Pictures" file to store all my GOOD photos and PhotoShop Album to store links to the BEST photos - further, this program is what my iTunes (and my iPod) link to. It's a great cataloging program - just don't use it for editing and say you're disappointed.

4 comments about Macware Logo Design Studio Pro.

1. In all the years of using my Mac and using some useful, pleasing-to-work-with Macintosh programs (about 10 years), I have NEVER used a product that has such low standards. The company seems not to know what customer service, software quality is. I am surprized that this company markets Mac software at all!
   
   First of all there is no demo at the company website. I was told that they would put a demo link "next week" - that was about more than a month ago. The program looked promising... (I have to give them credit for their press release skills and marketing skills though - precisely the reason I fell for it!). I bought the software. That's when the trouble started! At first, I thought it was my iMac (iMac/G5/2GB/Leopard) but then I tried on my MacBook Pro/IC2Duo/2GB/Leopard, same story there. I don't know how the company actually puts out this software as commercial software! Some menu commands don't work at all, once I placed the vector object on the canvas I could not move it, neither could I resize it, holy mackerel! In the prev. version if I resized the raster object placed on the canvas, it would turn into a jagged mess! It keeps quitting/crashing!- like I said I have never seen a software product that is of such poor quality. I talked to the company and was about to get a refund, they convinced me that the bugs are being worked on and there's a new version coming out. So I get that version, now the vector objects don't show up on the media palette at all! So the company publishes an SVG importer. Now this is three updates later, the program quits on my G5, I can't select the object I just put on the canvas, can't move it (mouse or arrow keys). I mean the list goes on! I am beginning to wonder if these people are actually using a Mac to produce/test their software!!
   
   Finally I had to do my stuff in Apple Pages - Eventhoughh it can't handle SVG/Vector graphics, atleast it works! Finally I got a refund.
   
   Stay as far away from this product as you possibly can. This product should not even be sold anywhere. I also noticed that it no longer shows up on Apple Store shelves, just before that I was wondering how Apple ever kept such poor quality stuff on their shelves...



2. Earlier versions did have some crash issues and did not fully support SVG (scalable vector graphics), except with exporting as an SVG, but the new 1.8.000 version really sets the mark.
   
   I have been unable to reproduce any crashes from earlier versions, and now the application fully supports SVG which means I can bring in any SVG created with Illustrator and edit each layer of the imported graphic fully; I can also now export as an SVG or PDF and it keeps the vector information in case I want to open and edit the exported graphic in another vector editor like Illustrator. There are also new vector based artistic strokes that have been added so you can jazz up the outline of any shape or text.
   
   The new version also now includes over 1300 pre-designed graphic objects in SVG format so you can open and edit each object fully to make entirely new and unique object designs. And, the 500 pre-designed logo templates also give you a great place to start in your designs...simply change the text to your own and tweak the graphic if needed...then export it for any web or print based project. Nothing can ever replace Illustrator, but for the price, this software packs a creative punch.



3. Macware Logo Design Studio Pro is the worst program I have ever bought. I installed it and immediately wanted to get to work. So I opened up a template and started playing around. First I wanted to change objects- they say they have over 1000 professionally designed objects- most of which are very similar (series of like objects) for instance - I wanted a mountain, the closest thing they have is a pyramid. There was no good way to edit the pyramid shape into a mountain type design. I tried changing colors, stacking them to give depth, but in the end- I could not come up with a good design. They market this to people who are not professional designers, so it should be intuitive and easy to use. The only easy thing to do is pick a template and change the text... which gives you a very limited number of choices in what you can make.
   
   I am not an graphic artist, but I am pretty good with most art programs and photoshop type programs. I figured this would be easy. Try selecting objects and most of the time you cannot grab them - try putting an object in the canvas, well they kept appearing off the screen and about 1000x too big... this is just horrible! I cannot keep this program. I can't believe that Apple, with their high standards for software would allow this program to be sold in their stores.
   
   If you want something very generic for a logo- then go ahead and buy this... just don't expect to be able to edit the graphics much. The drawing capabilities are severely lacking in this program. I would do better with MS paint on my old PC. Save your money and buy a real graphics program.



4. I have to agree with the other reviews flaming this software. I purchased it on the 20th, designed a logo, tried to export it and the graphic objects get inverted in the export (upside-down) but not the text. I sent a request for support on the 20th, sent another yesterday, and have yet to receive any response today on the 25th except the form email "your support request has been recieved". I will now be asking for a refund since they feel no compulsion to actually support it. Avoid this software!
   
   EDIT: well the good news is it was easy to get the refund. they processed it right on the website. I guess THAT they do well.

No comments about 123 Copy DVD Gold 09.

1 comments about Cakewalk Studio Instruments ( Windows Macintosh ).

1. Studio Instruments are a big improvement over the stock instruments in Garage Band. They sound very real and have a decent collection of preset patterns for quick song ideas. I wish there were more patterns to work with and the sounds could be changed: for example different types of basses, Rhodes and Wurlizer, different drum sets. For 50 bucks you can't go wrong. Well worth the price.Apple iLife '06 (Mac DVD)