Xequte May Newsletter: Four Minor Updates

15 May 2004

 

In this Issue:
* DVD PixPlay v1.11 Released
* Smart Pix Manager/MegaView 7.05 Releases
* Power Print v2.10 Released
* Program Tips
* Removing yourself from this List

 

Dear Xequte Software User,
 
Well it's another issue cram-packed with useful tips!  Or to translate: The real news is a bit thin this month, so here's some other stuff...
 
Why so little to report?  Have we been sunning ourselves in the Seychelles?  Bungee jumping in Queenstown?  Skiing at Turoa?  Sadly no, in fact it seems like a whole other millennium since we last took a decent break (oh yeah, it was).  Actually we are still full steam ahead developing a major Diji Album update.
 
We are anticipating an early June release, but you needn't put off your purchase, as all purchasers of licenses and upgrades in 2004 will get the new release free.
 
Minor updates of four other products are detailed below.
 
 
 
Regards
 
Nigel Cross
Xequte Software
nigel@xequte.com
www.xequte.com
 
 
 
* DVD PIXPLAY V1.11 RELEASED
 
DVD PixPlay allows you to create VCD image slideshows for playback on DVD players.  V1.11 is a minor update that adds some improvements and minor bug fixes.
Here is a top five list:
 
- Now offers smart cropping to increase the display of images in the slideshow (i.e. reduce the border area)
- Can now acquire video files from digital cameras
- Updated CD writing library
- Some improvements to the UI
- Various bug fixes
 

Complete Change List:  http://www.xequte.com/pixplay/changes.html
 
More info and download:  http://www.xequte.com/pixplay/
 
(Simply install the new version over your old one.  No new key is required).
 
 
 
* SMART PIX MANAGER AND MEGAVIEW V7.05 RELEASES
 
Smart Pix and MegaView allow you to manage and view your multimedia, documents and digital image collection.  V7.05 is a minor update that improves the layout of the image editing functions in the menu, addresses an A/V error that can occur on closure, and includes other minor changes and fixes.
 
Complete Change List:  http://www.xequte.com/smartpix/changes.html
 

Smart Pix Manager:
 
More info and download:  http://www.xequte.com/smartpix/
 
(Simply install the new version over your old one.  No new key is required if you are already using v7.0).
 
Upgrades:  http://www.xequte.com/smartpix/upgrade.html
 

MegaView
 
More info and download:  http://www.xequte.com/megaview/
 
(Simply install the new version over your old one.  No new key is required if you are already using v7.0).
 
Upgrades:  http://www.xequte.com/megaview/upgrade.html
 
 
 
* POWER PRINT V2.10 RELEASED
 
Power Print is our complete solution for printing of digital images from your camera and computer, offering wizards to perform such common tasks as printing of images at photo frame sizes, posters and greeting cards.  V2.10 is a minor update, which includes the following changes:
 
- Added Align to height, width, position, margin options on item menu and
right click menu.
- Added Alignment toolbar
- Now displays longer filenames when in Icon Info and Filename mode
- Now prints headers and footers on PDF files
 

More info and download:  http://www.xequte.com/powerprint/
 
(Simply install the new version over your old one.  No new key is required if you are already using v2.0).
 
Upgrades:  http://www.xequte.com/powerprint/upgrade.html
 
 
 
* PROGRAM TIPS
 
- DVD PixPlay: Smart Cropping Function
 
With v1.11 PixPlay includes a new option to maximize the amount of image that is displayed onscreen (i.e. reduce the border area).  Because a TV screen is wider than it is high (landscape) if you have images that are portrait shaped then DVD PixPlay needs to add borders to the left and right of the image (i.e. so that the image does not display stretched).  However with most images the areas near the edge can safely be removed without affecting the subject of the photo, so DVD PixPlay takes advantage of this and - optionally - trims a little from the top and bottom of a portrait image so that the image is larger and there is less border displayed.  By default, DVD PixPlay only removes a small amount (15% of the height), however you can increase this or disable the functionality altogether by clicking the "Other" button on the Slideshow Settings pane after clicking File|Create CD
 

- Smart Pix Manager/MegaView: Automatically Rotating Acquired Images
 
Mid to High-end Digital cameras record the orientation of the camera when a photo is taken within the data fields of the image.  Smart Pix and MegaView you can use this information to rotate all of the images acquired from your digital camera to the correct display angle.  To automatically rotate a set of images select them all (Shift+Mouse click or Ctrl+A, for example) and then choose Image|Other Editing|Automatically Rotate Image from the menu
 

- Diji Album: Setting a Page as Wallpaper
 
If you have created your album page just perfectly, or been sent an album with content that you like then you can display the page as your desktop wallpaper.  Just right click a blank area of the page and select the "Set Page as Wallpaper" option
 

- EZ-Pix (also MegaView and Smart Pix): Marking files for deletion
 
Do you ever find yourself working through a folder, selecting files here and there and performing the same action on them (such as moving, deleting or rotating them)?  Wouldn't it be good if you could just mark the files as you go and then move/delete/rotate them all at once?  Well you can.  The answer lies in the use of Favorites mode.  Don't be locked into thinking that the Favorites should just be used to bookmark files you often refer to, you can also use it for general file marking.
 
The steps are as follows:
1. Clear your Favorites list by selecting the Favorites tab and clicking "Clear All"
2. Return to folders mode and every time you reach a file that you want to mark, click the "Add to Favorites" button on the toolbar (or use the keyboard shortcut, Ctrl+B)
3. When you have finished, select the Favorites tab, click Ctrl+A to select all of the files and perform your editing function
 

- MailList King: Retrieving addresses from files
 
I recently had an urgent message from a customer who had accidentally deleted his mailing list database while clearing files from his computer.  Unfortunately he had not performed any back ups and the files could not be recovered by using Undelete tools.  Was there any way to recover the e-mail list?
 
I suggested two things:
- If he had sent his messages via his e-mail software then he might still have the messages he last sent in his "Sent Items" folder and MLK could scan the folder and retrieve the e-mail list
- The other option (which worked for him) was to use the MLK functionality to retrieve addresses from files.  He selected File|Add Addresses from Folders, browsed to his MLK send logs folder and clicked OK.  MLK quickly regenerated the list of addresses of everyone he had ever e-mailed
 
Note: Back up your database frequently!  You can use the Save Back up function on the MLK menu (or the automatic backup option if you are a Pro user) or you can copy your entire MLK database folder to another drive or CD
 
 
- Power Print: Aligning Images by Sizes, Edges or Margins
 
With v2.10, Power Print adds new functions for aligning your images that can be accessed by right-clicking an image or using the alignment toolbar.  There are three types of alignment available:
- Align sizes: Allow you to set two or more images to the same width, height or size
- Align edges: Aligns the edges of 2 or more images
- Align to margin: Allow you to align the edges of images with the page margin