Xequte March Newsletter: Version 12 of our longest serving product

5 March 2011

 

In this Issue:
 
  • Smart Pix Manager and MegaView V12.0 Released
  • V12.0 Upgrade Information and Offers
  • Program Tips
  • Removing yourself from this List
 
 
Dear Xequte Software User,
 
Firstly, thank you to everyone who has contacted me expressing their concern and sadness about the events in Christchurch.
 
When the first earthquake struck in September (Richter: 7.1) most New Zealanders, while saddened by the destruction, mainly felt immensely fortunate that not a single life had been lost.  Alas, Christchurch was struck again last week, and while seemingly less powerful, the timing and location of the quake caused extreme devastation and many of the beautiful old buildings, including the famous cathedral, lie in rubble, but by far the most bitter pill for us has been the gross loss of life.  New Zealand is a small country and we are just not used to the kind of disaster locally.
 
So I would also like to thank all of the countries that sent emergency teams to help with the rescue, in particular the efforts by our Australian brothers over the Tasman has been fantastic, but also providing amazing assistance have been the USA, UK, Japan, China, Singapore, Taiwan and others.
 
I know a number of you have already donated or have emailed me about doing so.  We are currently matching the donations made by our customers, so if you want to join in please let us know.
 
 
 
Regards
 
Nigel Cross
Xequte Software
nigel@xequte.com
 
 
 
* Smart Pix Manager and MegaView V12.0 Released
 
Smart Pix and MegaView allow you to manage and view your multimedia, documents and digital image collection.  V12 is a feature rich upgrade offering a powerful set of improvements.
 
 
Top Ten Enhancements
 
1. Mouse Gestures

Click and drag the screen to quickly navigate, view and manage your photos, e.g. drag left to show the next image, draw an X to delete or an upside-down U to rotate (View Gestures)


2. Double-size thumbnails

Need a better view of your photos? Use the new file display option for super-sized thumbnails


3. Improved Maps

Better support for maps using the GPS fields added by your camera, including maps in the main window and display of markers for all selected files (Great for tracking your entire holiday!)


4. Powerful Encryption *

Securely store your files within the media library with powerful "Blowfish" encryption and password protection


5. Enhanced Styling

The User Interface has been overhauled with updated graphics, modern windows styled thumbnail grids and a new skin, "Chrome"


6. New Transition Effects

26 cool transition effects featuring hearts, stars, crosses and explosions have been added to spruce up your slideshow


7. New Database Engine *

Updated database engine for improved performance when searching, filtering, finding duplicates, etc.


8. Autoplay Support

When inserting a disk, thumb drive or camera to your computer MegaView is now offered as a view or retrieval source (including Windows 7 and Vista)


9. Find Files without Descriptions *

New search option to display all files for which you have not assigned a description


10. Improved Performance

Optimization of many functions including image display using multicore processing
 
* Smart Pix Only feature.  Not available in MegaView
 
 
You can see screenshots of the new features at: http://www.xequte.com/smartpix/changes.html
 
 
 
Smart Pix Manager:
 
More info and download:  http://www.xequte.com/smartpix/
 
 
 
MegaView:
 
More info and download:  http://www.xequte.com/megaview/
 
 
 
 
* V12.0 Upgrade Information and Offers
 
V12.0 is a free upgrade to all users who purchased a license or upgrade after October 1, 2010.  Everyone who qualifies should already have been emailed a new serial number (e-mail us if not).
 
It is also free to anyone who lives in Christchurch or who has purchased 5 or more upgrades (e-mail us for your key).
 
 
Other Smart Pix Manager users can upgrade at: http://www.xequte.com/smartpix/upgrade.html
 
 
 
Also, to make it easier we are reducing the already cheap upgrade fee by an extra 15% off for five days:
 
Smart Pix Manager v12.0 Upgrade for $16.90: http://www.xequte.com/cgi-bin/spm12.asp?v=s8u
 
MegaView v12.0 Upgrade for $12.90: http://www.xequte.com/cgi-bin/mgv12.asp?v=m8u
 
 Note: These offers are only available from these links and expire at midnight, March 10.
 
 
 
* Program Tips
 
- MegaView (also in Smart Pix Manager): Supersize your Thumbnails
 
With big screens and faster processes it now makes sense to offer double-size thumbnails.  You will find the new display option by:
 
-       Selecting View > File Display > Large Thumbnails
-       Clicking the File Display button and choosing Large Thumbnails
-       Holding down the Ctrl key as you roll your mouse wheel over the thumbnails
 
 
- Smart Pix Manager (also in MegaView): Retracing your holiday on a map
 
If you are fortunate then your digital camera will include GPS data in the hidden fields of your images.  This information is incredibly useful as it allows you to locate the exact spot you were standing when a photo was taken.  This opens up a lot of possibilities but my favorite is the ability to select all of your holiday snaps and view a map showing the route that you took.  To do this, select all (or key) photos in a folder (e.g. by holding down the Ctrl key as you click or using Ctrl+A).  Then select File > File Information and choose the "Map" tab.  A map will then be loaded showing a marker for each of your photos.
 
Also, you can display the map for single files in the main window by displaying the File Information toolbar.  This is available by selecting View > Tool Windows > File Information (if it is not shown then select Tools > Options and uncheck the simplified UI setting).
 
 
- DVD PixPlay: Specifying Chapter Breaks
 
If you are using DVD PixPlay to create disks DVD format disks, you might be wondering how to specify the DVD chapter breaks, i.e. the frames that are displayed when you use the |< and >| buttons on your DVD player.
 
To specify the start of a DVD chapter right-click the thumbnail in the main window and select the "Start of DVD chapter" option.  It will be displayed in DVD PixPlay as a red line between the frame thumbnails.
 
If no chapters are specified then DVD PixPlay will create its own chapter breaks which are evenly distributed at a frequency that depends on the number of images in the show.
 
 
- MailList King: Group History
 
With v10.20 MLK now allows you to view the history specifically for a group.  The easiest way to access it is to right-click any group and click "Edit"  Then choose the "History" tab to view the details.  You can even click the "Add" button to assign your own history item to the group.

 

 

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