Software
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Photo
Factory is a collection of three software programs.
PhotoSoap has a clean, light colored user interface that makes it very pleasing to use. The first tab that one must click is the Organize tab. Here you have choices for Input, which enables one to bring picture thumbnails into the program from a floppy, scanner, camera, photo disk, or other source. The next item in the menu is Edit, which has the undo/redo, delete, keyword search, rename, and preferences. There are also under Edit two additional selections that are very useful. Description has a photo thumbnail and must be completed with identifying information about the picture. Photo information has the file type, resolution of the picture and the dimensions in pixels. This is very useful information especially for deciding on print size for pictures. Sort enables the user to use a variety of sorting systems for their pictures such as name, date, size, kind, width, aspect, color, and others. I opened a number of photo thumbnails and then made a decision on which pictures that I wanted to work with at this time. I moved my choices down to the transporter (a holding strip at the bottom of the screen) and closed the thumbnails that I did not want to work with. (Fig. 2) The transporter can be opened or closed like a window shade with a left click. The second tab that I used is the Clean tab. This tab lets the user bring a picture from the transporter or a file into the window in order to work on the picture. Under the clean tab the user can again use the Input menu and the Edit menu. Under the Edit menu the Image size choice shows a thumbnail with a pixel count, resolution (pixels per inch), dimensions in inches and file size. This information is useful in making decisions on use as wallpaper or screen savers, on the Web, and printing. The third menu item is Image which has the crop/rotate choices, color (4 different ways), sharpen, blur, smooth, heal, red-eye, clone, and other ways to enhance/perfect your pictures. The third tab is titled Compose which is a place to become creative with your photos. Under compose the input menu enables you to create a new composition or open an existing composition, add image layers, acquire and quit. Edit has undo, redo, canvas size and other ways to edit photos. The third menu is layers and it also has multiple choices. Album tab has 24 choices of albums in which to put your pictures ranging from a plain white book-like album to theme albums such as antique, Indian, nature and others. After selecting the album, the user can select the page and then the layout. After placing your picture in the album, you can add text to identify the picture as well as location, date and other important information. My favorite part of this program is the print feature. I started by putting the pictures that I wanted to print in the transporter (similar to a filmstrip located at the bottom of the window). I then chose how many pictures I wanted on a page with choices ranging from one to twelve pictures per page as well as a custom size, poster size, and standard sizes as 3x5, 4x6, 5x7 or wallet size. I wanted to print four different pictures on one page and so chose 4 up. The template appeared but I did not like the direction, so I changed to landscape and stretched my picture area a little bit until each space was equal in size. I then placed a different picture from the transporter in each holding spot, chose a background (I chose none) and printed my four pictures. In this case I plan to cut the pictures apart to put them into an album for someone who does not have a computer. I could also leave the pictures together on the 8.5x11 sheet and place them in a 3 ring binder album. The print feature enables the user to print multiples of a single picture or print one to twelve different pictures on a single sheet. I have another photo-editing program that lets you print multiples of different pictures on a single page but it wastes so much of the photo paper that I shudder every time I use it. PhotoSoap prints with very narrow edges and so when the pictures are finished you do not feel like you have wasted some very expensive photo paper. One more feature of PhotoSoap that I did not install is PhotoSoap Talk. This enables you to communicate with other Kai’s PhotoSoap users over the Internet to get answers, share tips and learn about the PhotoSoap 2 community. SuperGoo is a program that would enable each of us to generate computer figures starting with real photos or creating a face using the palettes of facial features. I was particularly struck by the face creation feature. You can select the gender and then browse the libraries of each feature such as mouth, nose, eyes etc. and select the exact feature that you want. You can add accessories such as hats, mustaches, and beards. You also can use your own photos and by using the cloning feature combine faces such as adding your grandfather’s eyes to your daughter’s face or your son’s long hair to your spouse. What a fun way for expectant parents to get a clue as to how their expected child may look! Under Goo brushes there is a large group of palettes with which to alter pictures or parts of pictures. As an example you can make the mouth have a point by using nudge or smear. Alterations include noise, pinch/bulge, twirl, smear, smudge, nudge, goo-plicate, smooth and ungoo. Once you have used this palette and made all kinds of changes, it is time to use the effects palette. The effects palette changes the picture or a portion of the picture to match the name of the effect. For example the spike effect will put multiple points or spikes on the edges of the pictures and the twirl effect will look as though you had turned the center of the picture while holding the outer edges still. Create an effect by using zigzag, ripple, twirl, zoom/rotate, stretch, squeeze, spike, vortex, and wave. Once you have done all of these fun things with your pictures you can make a Goovie which is a movie of your distortions. Kids would love SuperGoo. The final software in PhotoFactory is Power Show. The user starts Power Show with the In room where you can import photos, pictures, business slides, and video clips. From the In room you go to the Sort room where you sort, select and sequence your content and then to the Edit room where it is time to add transitions, text effects and sound clips. Finally to the Out room where it is possible to save and share the shows that you have created. I did not delve into Power Show as much as I would have liked due to time constraints although I did conclude that it would be more fun to use than some of the other presentation software. Normally in a review installation does not deserve mention, but with this software, it has been nothing but a very big headache. I, as usual, closed all running programs and then attempted to install PhotoSoap 2. It did not auto-run and when I explored the CD to see what was on the disk; I got a single item – QuickTime. In total puzzlement, I closed the CD and then auto-run started and I installed PhotoSoap 2. I then installed the next two programs and after restarting my computer, I tried to open PhotoSoap 2 and it would not open – kept telling me that “a device attached to the system is not functioning”. Well, when nothing would make it open, I used the “Uninstall” feature, went back to square one and the second time, it installed without a hitch and opened up for me on the first try. The next step was to try to open SuperGoo and Power Show only to face the same problem –“a device . . .” So I went through “uninstall” for each program, then ran scandisk and defrag, closed all running programs and one by one installed each program again. I installed PhotoSoap first and checked it and it ran perfectly. I then installed SuperGoo and ran it and it ran fine. Finally I installed PowerShow and checked it out and it ran. So then I went back to Photosoap and it would not open. Claimed a missing dll file. So I tried SuperGoo, it would not run and claimed a missing file that belonged to the missing file in PhotoSoap. Again “uninstall” everything and then this time I only installed a single program and finally was able to use this software one program at a time. I checked the single sided 6.5x8.5 instruction sheet that accompanied this package and read that is the ScanSoft “priority to provide you with the highest quality support possible”. The support sheet then recommended that the support pages on the Web be read as well as the Release note, User’s guide (both of which are on the CD) and online help. I then learned that support is in the “knowledge base” for Kai on the ScanSoft Web site. It also advises that you can contact customer support via e-mail or call 1-888-887-2288. However, before making the toll free phone call, have your credit card ready because telephone support is $14.95 per request. I read the release notes and scanned the User’s Guide. I went through the knowledge base and found nothing about my problems. I then sent an e-mail, which was any thing but smooth and easy. I received an automatic reply with the promise they would respond within 2 days. I received a response from technical support within 2 days however, I had done what they suggested. I will continue to correspond with technical support until I resolve the issues. PROS: I love the print feature of PhotoSoap (and so will the gentleman discussing photo printing with Clarke Bird and me at the July general meeting). I love the price. I love the interface. I love the ease of use. CONS: I strongly dislike having a 170+ page user’s guide on the CD-ROM that shows on Adobe Acrobat Reader because it is hard to read an 8.5x11 sheet squeezed into a 4x6 size on my PC screen. I strongly disapprove of telephone support that costs nearly as much as the software itself. I dislike a folder type of ‘user guide’ that does not help much. The bottom line is that this is a good program if you can get all three to get along with each other and the price of $29.95 is right. I do recommend that you plan to print out the User’s Guide. I checked with Best Buy but did not find any Kai product on the software shelves. At CompUSA I found Kai’s SuperGoo but no other Kai product. PhotoSoap 2, SuperGoo, and Power Show each sell for $19.99. PhotoFactory contains all three products and sells for $29.99. There is a CD for each product and a fold out “manual”. Each of these products has a 60-day money back guarantee. You really cannot go wrong with the guarantee. PhotoFactory, as well as the three standalone software programs, is also available on the ScanSoft site or you may order any product from ScanSoft, Inc.
Rose Lynn Saenger |