This product is primarily aimed at individuals using graphics files. In addition it has a general usefulness to all Windows95 users in the screen and window capture function which allows users to capture and print the screen or images appearing in windows. In addition it also has general usefulness for individuals who might have access to images that they would like to paste in a word processor, presentation package or other application. For example, a graphics image might be placed in a document such as Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, or even Wordstar, to name a few of the possible types of documents that might accept images. The manual also indicates that the conversion of a document to a graphics image could be useful to individuals who might want to send a copy of a presentation over the internet.
The minimum system requirements are Windows95 with 8 megabytes of RAM. Twelve megabytes of free hard disk space are required for program files. The distribution media is CDROM, but a 3.5 inch floppy format is available by request. This review was conducted on a 486 DX266 machine with 20 megabytes of RAM and a CDROM drive.
Installation was very easy from the CDROM drive, and no information was required from the user other than providing a registration name and the serial number and confirming or changing the directory for installation. Two very minor delays occurred with trying to figure out how to open the non-standard CDROM disk cover and finding the serial number which was only located on the inside front cover of the manual. (The cover of the CDROM stated that the serial number was adhered to the plastic case under the CDROM, but I could not find it there.)
There is a good on-line tutorial which steps the user through the various features of the program. In contrast to some tutorials which are totally self-contained, this tutorial consists of a sidebar with instructions for making the program complete the desired action. Some imbedded hot buttons in the tutorial accomplish actions like opening the main program and Windows Explorer, but the main program is used to accomplish the tasks indicated. The user could therefore do a similar but not the same activity described by the tutorial. For example the tutorial described using the C drive, but I modified my activities because I had actually loaded HiJaak95 on a D drive. The program performed as described throughout the tutorial, and the only problem I encountered was having an image print off-center when I sent the output to my Hewlett-Packard 560C color inkjet printer. I finally corrected this by changing the margins on the page using the advanced options button, however, there were other buttons, such as a “center” button which I would have expected to correct the problem automatically, but which did not. The documentation was adequate to perform the features described in the manual.
There are several interesting features of the program. One is that it will change the icons for graphics files into miniature representations of the images in the files. However, on my 17 inch monitor, these image-icons were very difficult to see. If the user were already familiar with the images, these images might enable a more rapid selection of the desired file. By clicking on the image-icon, the HiJaak window opens and displays the image. This takes about 10 seconds on my computer. When the image is in the HiJaak95 window, a number of editing features are available, such as cropping, rotating, changing to gray-scale, etc. This does not change the original file unless the image is saved back to it. From the HiJaak95 window, the original or changed image can be saved to a new file as modified or saved in another of the more than 70 graphics formats supported. The image can also be printed directly from the HiJaak95 window.
One of the most interesting features of HiJaak95 is the capability to convert a graphics image into a format that can be imported into a word processor, publishing program, graphics program, presentation program, or similar application. It was quite easy to convert a graphics image to a format that could be used in Microsoft Word. What was especially nice was that when the image was embedded in a Word document, the image could be resized by dragging the edges of the image, both vertically and horizontally.
HiJaak95 also offers the capability to catalog graphics files on the computer and to find a graphics file by searching for certain graphics characteristics. For example the file search will return a listing of all the grayscale files in the indicated drive or directory. The search capability is limited to attributes specific to graphics files such as number of colors, class, height, width, and grayscale.
HiJaak95 provides the capability to capture a windows screen or the contents of a window and save it to a file or print it. This is accomplished through the use of a hot key which captures the desired image which can be sent to the HiJaak95 window or directly to the printer. HiJaak95 can also be used to convert a file to a graphics image. For example a slide in a presentation might be converted to a graphics file for transmission over the internet.
HiJaak95 is available from at least one mail-order source for $49.95.
I particularly like the capability to be able to directly open
a graphics file, crop it, and paste it into a Word document, and to resize
it in the Word document to get it to fit just where I want it. I also like
the ability to be able to capture and print windows screens. I think these
capabilities could be very appealing to an average Windows 95 user, and
these features may be enough to justify the price of the package. The other
features are probably more useful to individuals who are doing a lot of
graphics work, and if these features would be useful, then I would certainly
recommend the package.