In this Issue:
* Smart Pix Manager and MegaView v7.0 releases
* DVD PixPlay v1.03 Update
* X-VCD Player v1.1 update
* Program Tips
* Removing yourself from this List


Dear Xequte Software User,

Even after six years in the shareware industry, I still get excited about a new Smart Pix Manager release.  Smart Pix was my first shareware product; something I initially created in my spare time after a fruitless search for adequate software to manage a large image collection.

Even though the first release was ugly and poorly featured (take a look at www.xequte.com/smartpix/smartpix1.gif if you don't believe me), enough people shared the need for a product that would allow easy categorization and searching of multimedia that I was soon developing it fulltime.

Smart Pix has grown a lot over the years and I hope with the latest release we have continued to meet the needs of our core users.  I also trust that you will enjoy using it as much as we did developing it :-)

Please find details for the v7.0 releases of Smart Pix and MegaView below.

The DVD PixPlay update, while only listed as "minor", is an important one.  Now SVCD creation speed is as fast as VCD (fifteen times faster than in v1.01), and some SVCD compatibility issues have been addressed.  See below for further details.

If you encounter any problems with the new releases please us.


Regards

Nigel Cross
Xequte Software
www.xequte.com




* SMART PIX MANAGER AND MEGAVIEW V7.0 RELEASES

The v7.0 releases of two of our most popular products are significant upgrades incorporating over 350 enhancements.  In particular we have focused on revamping the features that matter most to users with large digital image collections: rapid keyword addition and cataloguing, image editing, printing, web page generation and digital camera support.

Here is a list of the top twenty enhancements:

1. Much improved UI styling with smoother tab control, gradient backgrounds and a selection of UI themes such as Windows XP and Office XP
2. Expanded thumbnail support using OLE, including MPEG, Adobe Illustrator (*.AI), AutoCAD (*.DWG), CorelDraw (*.CDR and *.PAT), CorelGallery (*.BMF), Ulead PhotoImpact (*.UFO) and other files
3. Much improved "Add Files to DB" wizard:  Can now progressively search your entire computer for relevant files, is much easier to use and allows you to confirm the addition of keywords to each folder *
4. Significant enhancements to the Web Page Creation Wizard with much improved styling with eight pre-built themes to choose from (using CSS).  Other options include zoom controls and file descriptions on image display pages
5. A new "Show Sub-Folders" option allows browsing of files in the current and all of its sub-folders
6. Improved camera acquisition wizard now detects all connected Twain and USB cameras and scanners.  There are now much more options for the naming of retrieved files, and keywords can be automatically assigned
7. Major improvements to printing, including printing at specific photo sizes, e.g. 4x6", 5x7" or 8x10", as well as printing of posters (up to 20 x 20 pages in size)
8. Added a Start-Up wizard for new users to simplify the initial set-up *
9. Can now re-order files in the bookmarks list using drag and drop
10. New plug-in detects when a camera or memory card is inserted and launches Smart Pix or MegaView for image retrieval
11. New Batch Renaming features including the appending of file or EXIF dates and times
12. New filter option allows you to hide files that you have viewed within the last x weeks, days or months, or those you have never viewed *
13. More control over the display of file information during a slideshow, including setting the font size and color
14. New "Archive to CD" function allows files to be output directly to a CD or DVD
15. Improved navigation of keyword lists including selection by clicking the first letter of the word *
16. Can now zoom images and videos in real-time using the new Zoom toolbar
17. Can now view and edit image IPTC fields (most commonly used by PhotoShop)
18. Improved overwrite warning dialog advises if file being overwritten is identical to the original and optionally allows identical files to always be overwritten
19. Can now automatically rotate your images to the correct orientation based on the EXIF field written by the digital camera
20. Added extra formats: Portable Bitmap (*.PBM, *.PGM, *.PPM, *.PXM), Targa variants (*.WIN), TIFF variants (*.FAX, *.G3N, *.G3F) and JPEG2000 (*.J2C)

(* Smart Pix Manager only)

A full change list and a downloadable guide to finding the new features are available at:

http://www.xequte.com/smartpix/changes.html

You can download v7.0 from (a new key will be required for registered users):
Smart Pix: http://www.xequte.com/smartpix/
MegaView:  http://www.xequte.com/megaview/
(Note: The site is likely to be very busy over the next few weeks so please be patient)


* UPGRADING TO V7.0

V7.0 is a free upgrade to any users who purchased a license or an upgrade to MegaView or Smart Pix after 1 April 2003.  It is also free if you have purchased two or more upgrades of the product in the past.

If you are entitled to a free upgrade then a key should have been sent to you over the last few days (assuming we have your current email address in our database).  If it does not arrive within a week please complete the following form:

http://www.xequte.com/support/serial/

Other users can upgrade Smart Pix for $15.50:
http://www.xequte.com/smartpix/upgrade.html

Or MegaView for $13.50:
http://www.xequte.com/megaview/upgrade.html



* DVD PIXPLAY V1.03 UPDATE

We have released two minor updates to DVD PixPlay in November, mainly focusing on SVCD creation speed and compatibility.  Here is a top ten list of new features added:

1. Standard SVCD conversion is now significantly faster (around fifteen times faster)
2. Can now optionally choose a high quality conversion algorithm when creating SVCD disks
3. Fixed some compatibility issues, that particularly affected SVCD disks
4. Significant improvements to the camera wizard: now displays all connected cameras, memory cards and scanners
5. Improved the "Add filenames to frames" function, can now add custom text and (file or digital camera) dates
6. Added new function to test the VCD disk in the current drive
7. Now caches the length of background sound files for much faster editing
8. Added a new option that allows a Preview to be commenced at the selected image rather than the start of the slideshow
9. Improved the layout and styling of the Background Music dialog
10. Improved the Help file

You can download v1.03 from:

http://www.xequte.com/pixplay/

(Simply install it over your old version.  No new key is required).



* X-VCD PLAYER V1.1 UPDATE

We have updated our free VCD player with better support for SVCD format and a full-screen display option.  You can download it from:

www.xequte.com/other/



* PROGRAM TIPS

- Smart Pix/MegaView: Displaying files from multiple folders

With v7 a new option has been added to your browsing arsenal.  Smart Pix/MegaView can now display all of the files that are in sub-folder of the current folder.  Simply right click the folder and select "Show Sub-folders"


- Diji Album: Selecting Multiple Objects

If you want to move or copy multiple objects at once, you can easily select them all by holding down the shift key as you click on them.  You also drag your mouse across the page lassoing all of the objects as you go.


- DVD PixPlay: Adding dates and file names to frames

Do you want to display the date a photo was taken, the name of the file or your own text such as a web address or copyright notice on the frames of your slideshow?  The new frame text function allows you to control such information.  You can configure it by clicking the settings button on step 2 of the "Create CD" wizard.


- MailList King: Inserting Single-space returns

By default, MLK inserts a paragraph return when you click enter in the message editor.  But what if you want to only insert a single-space return?  Simple, just hold the Shift Key as you click Enter