1 comments about Adobe Contribute CS3 Upgrade [OLD VERSION].

1. If you design website with Dreamweaver (works with non-Dreamweaver sites, but without Dreamweaver's integrated templates capability that locks portions of the page) that others will need to edit...AND you don't want them to break it, then Contribute is the product for you!
   
   Allows you set user permissions that control what a user can edit, how they can edit a page, how they (and if they) can add images, whether they can publish or their draft needs reviewed, and saves rollback copies so any damage can be undone!
   
   The user interface is easy and user-friendly - the user browses the site they wish to edit (and have permission to do so) and then edits the page. Simple.
   
   This works best for the editor of a site created and maintained by Dreamweaver. And, it will make every Dreamweaver designer happier, healthier, and allow for the opportunity to spend your time making money designing a new site as opposed to the drudgery of continually editing an old site.
   
   This is a great solution for non-profit clients who want to be able to update at will, but have too small a budget to afford a full web application design or can't afford to pay a web designer to continually make changes and updates to the content.

3 comments about Morpheus Photo Morpher.

1. THIS IS NOTHING LIKE I THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO BE, VERY DIFFICULT TO FIGURE OUT AND NOTHING LIKE IT APPEARED TO BE...VERY VERY DISAPPOINTED IN THIS ITEM....



2. I just spent the last hour using Photo Morpher on a bunch of different pictures of family and friends (and our dogs!). I'm a fan - it's fun to use and the user interface is easy - even for me. I had the software pointed out to me by a friend who had seen it work on a youtube video - you can do great animations with this product.



3. I didn't know what to expect, but using Morpheus was really fun! Morpheus was easy to learn (the kids had absolutely no trouble learning it), easy to use (the kids had even less trouble using it) and fun for the entire family.
   Combining a child's photo with her favorite pet's, or friend's, showing how one might look older, fatter or (wishful thinking?) thinner, idea after idea--we've already spent hours of quality family time together because of Morpheus and, when Mom and Dad are busy, the kids have lots of fun with Morpheus on their own too.
   Whether it's for you, for your kids or for your grandkids, I wholeheartedly recommend Morpheus.

4 comments about Click'N Design 3D CD Labeling Software.

1. I bought this software as a download and didn't like it at all. Too clunky and unintuitive. Easier to use a drawing program and templates that come with all labels and can be downloaded for free. ...



2. I used a photo of my cat for my photo CD. Everything printed exactly where I put it. I did get it for free. I emailed them to check if it was just a demo. It was the complete package. I was ready to pay for it. I use glossy paper, so my picture looked like a photo. Resizing for placement was easy. Lettering was easy. I am very satisfied. Lots of features.



3. Very nice sotware that comes with the label placement tool to properly center the label. Uses other vendors labels as well. Comes on the CD with lots of good graphics as well. I was able to pull pictures from the web and easily place them on a label. The only complaint I had was the putting the text on the label is not overly intuitive. They have upgraded to allow you import CD contents for music CDs.



4. I really liked this inexpensive little app. I say "liked" because after upgrading to Mac OSX 10.3 I couldn't use it anymore. There's no update offered by the manufacturer right now. Otherwise, you can't beat it for the money.

3 comments about Acoustica CD/DVD Label Maker 3.

1. I downloaded a free one month trial of this label maker and just loved it. It is super easy to use and gives professional looking CD & DVD labels, including the paper inserts for DVD and CD cases. I made some awesome mixed tapes this Christmas that looked so professional, my friends couldn't believe they were home made! Worth the money if you do a lot of burning/downloading. Great for labeling photo CD's, too.



2. After several tries I have finally found a great label maker. This easy program makes lablels that actually fit the template and comes with LOTS of pre-designed options. It's fast, simple and works well; exactly what you hope for in software.



3. My goal: to convert vinyl records into CDs.
   
   I bought CD Label Maker rather unwillingly, as the result of a bottom-feeding marketing ploy by Acoustica. Buying it was the only way I could (without major hassle) print out the track information of a CD created using Spin-It-Again. This is an essential part of the vinyl record to CD digitization process, because CDs are not able to have named tracks.
   
   At least Acoustica gives you a $7 discount if you've already bought Spin-It-Again and then discover you still have to fork over an additional 50% of the original purchase price to get a fully functional product. ($21.95 is what you have to pay for CD Label Maker if you don't already own Spin-It-Again)
   
   I am not very impressed with CD Label Maker. I had a version of Nero Burning ROM about ten years ago that came for free with my CD burner that was better in most respects.
   
   There is one major feature that people printing labels directly on their CD media will like: the ability to print curved lines of text. Since I am still at the Magic Marker stage of disk labeling, I don't know how well this feature works. Likewise for the super-tiny fonts that are supposedly included.
   
   The editing windows of CD Label Maker are usefully divided into the front, inside and back inserts, as well as one for printing directly on the disk itself. The front and inside default to being printed as a "booklet," which is convenient. You can print out the "booklet" on a single sheet of 8.5" x 11" (or A4) paper, then cut it out, fold it in half and slip it into the front cover of a jewel case. If you check a box, it will print an outline of the images for you to cut around.
   
   There is a fairly large selection of art and backgrounds that come with the product, but I haven't looked at them. I photograph the cover of the album I'm digitizing and then import the .jpeg file into CD Label Maker to use as the front of the booklet. This is extremely simple: in the Art Browse tab, browse to the folder where the .jpeg resides and double-click on its thumbnail. Once it appears in the Front editing window, a right-click allows setting the mode: clip the larger dimension, white-fill the smaller dimension (both of these maintain the original aspect ratio of the imported art) or force-to-fit, which changes the aspect ratio. Clip the larger dimension is the default. You can also manually adjust each side of the image if you want to do that instead.
   
   On the right-click context menu, you can rotate the image by 90 degrees either direction, by 180 degrees, or you can flip it either vertically or horizontally. You can also adjust the brightness (lighter/darker) of the image, although this didn't work quite like I was expecting.
   
   For the inside label, I start with a Text Box. This is simple and works like it should: click on the Text icon on the toolbar, and then type inside the box that appears. Select all the text with a mouse drag, and set the font size. Drag the box to put it where you want it, and use the handles to adjust its size. I use this to put the album name at the top of the page. It is also possible to affect a vast range of text properties.
   
   With Spin-It-Again open, and the long recorded .wav file of the whole album loaded, hitting the "Show Tracks" button in any of the editing windows in CD Label Maker will put in a listing of the tracks. A right-click on the tracks will allow selection of other fields than the defaults, and also will allow turning off any of the default fields.
   
   I find the track list's default settings annoying. First, the track numbers are in italics. To change this, I have to right-click, select the Numbers field, and then click the "I" button at the bottom (with no indication that it is already enabled -- the button is not pushed in). There is no way to set this as the default, so I have to do it every time.
   
   The track numbers are left justified in their field. This makes for an ugly display, because all the track names starting with 10 are indented one space from tracks 1-9. There is no way to change this behavior. There is no way to add a period after the track numbers. There is no way to add a user-defined field and type in it.
   
   The default layout is squished up in the middle, and the track names word-wrapped. There is no reason for this, in my opinion. There is plenty of room on both the inside and back labels to have a wider space. Although there is no instruction or Help entry on how to do this, it is possible to drag the headings at the top like you would in Windows Explorer or Excel, and widen them. The tracks do un-word-wrap correctly when their column is wide enough. Once you widen them, you have to recenter the entire list, which must be done completely manually, by eyeball.
   
   The default font size is 8, which, again, is inexcusable, in my opinion. It is virtually illegible when printed, and, once again, takes up less than a quarter of the available space on the page. To fix this, I have to right-click, select All, then change the font size in the drop-down at the bottom. It is not possible to change the font size, style, boldness, justification, or any other property for a single field of the listing. All settings apply across the whole listing. This makes it impossible, for example, to have bolded track numbers but regular text for the track names.
   
   Track times are turned off by default. To turn them on, I have to right-click and then choose to display that field. On every CD I make a label for.
   
   The Print dialog retains the number of copies to print from invocation to invocation and file to file, so if you print multiple copies of a label, be careful the next time you only want to print one.
   
   All in all, not a very impressive product. If I had not been forced to do so by Acoustica's scum-sucking marketing department, I would not have bought this product by choice, on its merits alone.

5 comments about Paint Shop Photo Album 5 Deluxe [Old Version].

1. I currently use PSP8 at home and work and find it very strong so when I needed a photo program I turned to JASC. I had a project to do, pictures slideshow to music. While the image editing worked great, turning a group of pictures into a video slideshow didn't. Pictures were out of order which I had painstakenly put in a certain order and although I had created a video menu screen with music it failed to work in both my computer and home DVD player. If your instrested in video or DVD production I would look elsewhere.



2. I love Photo Album. It's so easy to use. The Quick Fix feature is worth the price of the program - it fixes all of my photos and is totally amazing. I also like the picture frames.
   
   I haven't made one of the hardcover books yet, but I do use it a lot to create greeting cards. I made one for my father with a picture of me and him. He loved it and it's so much more personal than a regular greeting card. Best of all, I made it in about 5 minutes before I went to work!



3. I first started using a digital camera in 1999. It was a $700 1 megapixel Epson, it was such a big deal then that Epson coined it 'The Megapixel' camera. The sofware included was 'Image Expert' by Sierra Imaging. ImageExpert was compact and very easy to use. It allowed me to accomplish 90% of my photography tasks. I've used the software it for the next 4 digital cameras and 2 computers. Never felt the need to upgrade or replace the software. Although once in a while I would use Photoshop to really work an image.
   
   I liked Image Expert very much and was trying to find the latest version of it. I couldn't find it initially since a few years is an eternity in the digital world. With a little help from Google, I was able to trace it to 'JASC PAINTSHOP PHOTO ALBUM 5'. Jasc Software, the makers of Paintshop Pro bought the rights of Image Expert from Sierra Imaging and called it 'Jasc Aftershot' eventually it was changed to it's current name. In October 2004, Jasc Software was bought out by Corel, makers of WordPerfect, CorelDraw etc. I was pleased that this software is part of Corel as it would certainly guarantee support, quality and longevity.
   
   I have 4 days left in the trial version I'm ready buy it and to share my experiences:
   
   The first thing you'll notice is a very clean and simple interface with pleasant colors and large buttons. The top of the screen is your traditional Windows Pulldown menu's, (file, edit, view ...tools, help ...etc) so there's inmediate familiarity. Right below you'll find four large tabs: Organize, Enhance, Create and share. Clicking each Tab will reveal a separate set of related tools buttons. The program is very intuitive and these tabs pretty much summarizes the software.
   
   Tool highlights (This is the sequence that I use) :
   
   1. Cropping: click on the crop button, a cropping box appears on the image, click and drag the edges of the box, click the ok button and that's it.
   
   2. Quick Fix: a one button tool that will eliminate the 'haze' found in many digital photos, It's similar to the 'autolevels' tool in Photoshop. I suspect that there's some sharpening and contrast enhancement also. Unless you have extreme lighting and colorcast situations the 'QuickFix' button is all you need!
   
   3. Red Eye: Never used a redeye tool it until now. Simply click on the redeye tool, pan and zoom, place the circle on eye, click and voila! Like magic.
   
   4. Keywords: open image, select key work on left panel (birthday, vacation ...etc) or type your own. Once you save the image the keywords are imbeded. You can then retrieve the image by keywords, no need to mess around with filenaming.
   
   3. Print Templates: This is my favorite feature. Navigate to templates, choose your template and the software will populate it with images of your current folder. My favorite template is an 8.5x11 sheet containing two 4x6's and several wallet and mini wallet sizes.
   
   Well that's it! I recommend this software without hesitation!



4. Some of the other reviewers have here have spelled out where the program works well so you can consider this the CONS review.
   
   1. The biggest complaint is speed. Opening, editing and building thumbnails are all agonizingly slow. My pictures are stored on a server in my home so there is some understandable delay. But I also use Paint Shop Pro 6 (PSP6) which builds thumbnails faster that I can see them and opens and edits pictures far faster. My wife gets so frustrated with PSPA5s slow speed that she ends up opening and editing in PSP6 and then I loose all EXIF data. Last night added a new folder of about 45 images and it took at least 3 minutes to build all the thumbnails.
   
   2. The next thing is opening folders. PSPA5 calls folders albums. This is a nice idea but is it really necessary to take a thing we all know and love and try to convince us it is something else? Anyway, jumping to folders is a little annoying. PSPA4 would not open into the last used folder if that folder was on a network share. That apparently is the case with PSPS5 as well.
   
   3. Also when you navigate the folders it attempts to catalog every folder you click on. There should be someway of getting to the folders without having to wait for every other folder to get cataloged. You can use the +- tree expanders but they are small and you find yourself clicking the folder anyway. Again the speed issue is a thing.
   
   4. While I am thinking of folders, renaming an album (folder) can be frustrating. I occasionally get errors saying the folder cannot be renamed - especially if you are renaming to correct an upper case/lower case problem. I then have to edit the folder name in Windows and wait for PSPA5 to re-catalog the folder. Again the speed issue is a thing.
   
   5. The default operation when dragging pictures between folders is to copy them. Quite by accident I found that if you hold the key while dragging and dropping then the program moves the pictures. I think the default should be to move them or at least allow the user to set a default. This would emulate the basic Windows interface that we are all used to. In addition, when moving files while holding the key I frequently get errors. If I just keep moving the same files again and again eventually they all move. So obviously there is no real problem or they wouldn't end up all moving.
   
   6. Imaging sorting is all over the place. I can find no standard that is used to sort images. It makes me think they are sorted in the order they were written to the hard drive. Even the most basic sort you would think of, alphabetical, is not used be default. In fact there is no default sorting. It doesn't even keep the sort order from the last time you opened the folder. After speed this has got to be the most annoying thing about SPSA5 (and 4 by the way). At least they added the ability to sort by Date Taken. But again when you sort it takes forever. At the very least each folders sort should be remembered and reused between startups. Better yet would be the option to set a default sort for all folders.
   
   7. Red-eye - This is pathetic. I tried last night to fix red-eye on a lot of these 45 pictures I mentioned above. The pictures were taken inside in a dimly lit room so there was lots of red-eye. I think PSPA5 was able to fix about 10% of them without making the people look like zombies. On a scale of 1-10, the Quick Red Eye function is a 2 and the Advanced Red Eeye function is a 3. I am really disappointed with this.
   
   8. Network support is terrible. As I mentioned above, building thumbnails of a network folder is slow, the program won't re-open a network folder on startup and then I find that is apparently doesn't like Windows Offline Files and Folders. I set some of my picture folder for Offline Use so I could take them with me on my laptop to show other people while on the road. So when on the road and in Offline mode, PSPA5 takes even longer to load. I get frequently errors on the first startup attempt, only to start successfully on the second attempt. Occasionally it won't start at all unless I restart the PC. In the year 2004 when more people are using networks at home and sharing images, music and other content among multiple PCs, media players and other new devices, any program like this should work flawlessly in that environment.
   
   9. Some of the sharing tools are pretty poor -
   - Some of the web templates look like they were designed by 8th graders
   - The slide show is still rough and shows the Jasc advertisement when run on a PC. There is no apparent way to bring back the slideshow toolbar once it is closed.
   - The Photo CD function only allows you to make one CD layout at a time. There is no way to save a project and start a new one. If you need to stop one you are working on to do another you must loose all your work. Not to mention the poor reliability of making a working CD. You can only use one song per show instead of multiples (I got around this by merging a couple MP3s to get the right length and not replay the same song)
   
   10. Support - in the many months since release they have come out with all of 1 update, 5.01. With all these potential fixes they couldn't come up with a few more updates to improve the user experience. Oh sorry, I forgot, they are saving them for version 6 for which they expect us to pay.
   
   11. Online forums - Jasc has some nice looking forums where users can share their experiences (translated: Complaints) and Jasc has apparently been nice enough to setup these forums and then ignore them completely. Users post all kinds of questions, feature requests, technical issues and the only response they get is from other users with the same problems. These forums may be the number one place to find out about competing products. I gave up on the forums months ago.
   
   
   So after all that where does one go if not PSPA5? I am not sure. I have tried several other photo managers/editors and they are all mediocre at best. This market is not mature enough to say there is a clear winner. PSPS5 covers a lot of bases and the others I have tried all have equally if not even more annoying "features". The others all have their advantages but one cannot spend 40-50 bucks each on 3-4 different programs just to get all the features you want.
   
   A programmer book I read a portion of (Joel on Software) talked a lot about user expectation being a huge part of a successful user interface. And user expectations have been set by the Windows environment. So when a program comes along and accomplishes similar functions as Windows but in a different way the user gets frustrated and thinks the software is poorly written. The programmer can get on their soapbox all they want and preach about why the Windows method is inferior and theirs is superior - but in the end if the program doesn't perform the way the users expects, the software is perceived as flawed and inferior. The products in this market segment suffer from programmer piety a great deal.
   
   Maybe you should just print all your photos and put them in real, touchable, tangible photo albums - ya know, those book-like things you used to buy to store your photos?
   
   Good luck



5. I replaced my computer and reinstalled PSPA5 deluxe which I'd bought from Amazon last year. I received several error messages during the installation but the program worked. I tried to install the downloaded upgrade but got an error message that my version was not valid. Corel recently bought Jasc so I went to their site and, rather than pay per incident for tech support, I described the problem and asked for help which was free and promised the next business day. After two weeks with no reply. I sent them another e-mail and waited another week with no reply. I then sent them a fax, on the belief that my ISP might be blocking their reply, and asked for a faxed response or snail mail help. NOTHING! Spending real money for PSPA 5 apparently buys you a decent program and being totally ignored by Jasc's new owners, Corel. I gave the program a low rating because I believe that prompt e-mail support is an essential part of the cost of the program. I uninstalled PSPA 5 and will buy nothing new from JASC/COREL. Picasa 2 from Google works well and is free.

No comments about Adobe InDesign CS4 Upsell from Pagemaker [Mac].

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No comments about Adobe Creative Suite 4 Web Premium Upsell from Creative Suite 1 or 2 (intro price) [Mac].

No comments about Adobe Creative Suite 4 Web Premium Upsell from Creative Suite 1 or 2 (intro price).