ACD Systems ACDSEE SOFTWARE MANUAL

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(April 25, 2001)

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INTRODUCTION 7

The World of Digital Image Management............................................................................ 7

About ACD Systems...........................................................................................................7

Capabilities of ACDSee........................................................................................................ 8

Features Specific to ACDSee v3.1 ........................................................................................ 8

New Features to ACDSee v3.1 (Update) ...............................................................................9

Uses for ACDSee.................................................................................................................. 9

The Main Windows............................................................................................................ 13

GETTING STARTE D 14

Installation Steps ............................................................................................................... 14

Staying “InTouch”............................................................................................................. 17

Starting ACDSee................................................................................................................ 18

Getting Help...................................................................................................................... 19

BROWSE MODE 21

The Browse Window.......................................................................................................... 21

Browser Panes................................................................................................................... 22

Toolbar and Command Extensions ..................................................................................... 23

Path Box.......................................................................................................................... 24

Folder Tree Pane............................................................................................................... 25

File List Pane ................................................................................................................... 25

From any File List View....................................................................................................27

Favorites List Pane............................................................................................................ 28

Preview Pane.................................................................................................................... 31

File Info Pane................................................................................................................... 31

Status Bar......................................................................................................................... 32

Plug-ins Pane.................................................................................................................... 33

VIEW MODE 34

The View Window ............................................................................................................. 34

Viewer Layout................................................................................................................... 35

Toolbar ............................................................................................................................ 35

View Area........................................................................................................................ 35

Status Bar......................................................................................................................... 36

Navigation........................................................................................................................ 37

Returning to the Browse Window ...................................................................................... 37

Image Sequences................................................................................................................ 38

Manipulating Image Sequences.......................................................................................... 38

Slide Shows........................................................................................................................ 40

Starting a Slide Show from Browse Mode .......................................................................... 40

Starting a Slide Show from View Mode ..............................................................................41

Slide Show Commands and Features.................................................................................. 41

Sync To Folder................................................................................................................. 42

Zooming............................................................................................................................. 43

Panning/Scrolling .............................................................................................................. 44

PHOTO ENHANCEMENT 46

The Photo Enhancer.......................................................................................................... 46

Starting the Photo Enhancer.............................................................................................. 47

Configuring the Photo Editor ............................................................................................. 47

Enhancement Functions..................................................................................................... 48

Multiple levels of undo / redo ............................................................................................ 48

Cropping, Resizing and Rotating........................................................................................ 49

Adjusting Color Levels ..................................................................................................... 50

Applying Image Filters...................................................................................................... 51

Red-eye Reduction............................................................................................................ 51

Image Effects................................................................................................................... 52

ACDSEE FEATURES 54

Acquiring and Printing Images.......................................................................................... 54

Acquiring Images ............................................................................................................. 54

Printing Images................................................................................................................. 55

Digital Camera Support ..................................................................................................... 56

Camera Configuration .......................................................................................................57

Taking Pictures................................................................................................................. 57

Browsing the Camera........................................................................................................ 58

Transferring Images from the Camera ................................................................................ 58

Plug-ins .............................................................................................................................. 58

Types of Plug-ins.............................................................................................................. 59

Plug-in Settings ................................................................................................................ 60

SendPix Plug-in................................................................................................................ 61

HTML Album Generator................................................................................................... 61

E-mail Plug-in ..................................................................................................................62

Contact Sheet and Print Contact Sheet................................................................................ 63

Adjust Levels Plug-in........................................................................................................ 64

JPEG Transform ...............................................................................................................65

Wallpaper.......................................................................................................................... 65

Thumbnails........................................................................................................................ 66

Thumbnail Caching ...........................................................................................................66

Database Maintenance....................................................................................................... 67

Rebuild thumbnails ........................................................................................................... 68

FILES AND FOLDERS 69

Timestamp Command ....................................................................................................... 69

Deleting Files ................................................................................................................... 69

The Favorites List............................................................................................................. 69

Finding Image Files ........................................................................................................... 70

Search Scope.................................................................................................................... 70

Search Criteria .................................................................................................................. 70

Displaying Search Results................................................................................................. 71

Modifying Files and Folders .............................................................................................. 71

Renaming Files and Folders............................................................................................... 71

Renaming a Series ............................................................................................................ 71

Describing Files ................................................................................................................72

Copying and Moving Files/Folders..................................................................................... 73

Copy to/Move to ...............................................................................................................73

Copy, Cut and Paste Files ..................................................................................................74

Drag and Drop.................................................................................................................. 74

Generating File Listings ..................................................................................................... 75

Launching Document Files................................................................................................ 76

Converting Images to Another Format .............................................................................. 76

TIPS, TRICKS, AND CUSTOMIZATION 78

Optimizing Image Display Quality..................................................................................... 78

Viewing Multiple Images Simultaneously .......................................................................... 79

Viewing from a Single Window......................................................................................... 80

Customizing ACDSee .........................................................................................................80

Customizing Using Options ............................................................................................... 80

Customizing the ACDSee Browser Layout (v3.1 and above) ............................................... 81

Running ACDSee Automatically from Other Programs....................................................... 82

Setting the View Window Size and Position ....................................................................... 83

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 84

Questions Related to E-mail Plug-in ..................................................................................88

Appendix 1: Updates, Support, Feedback, and License Information ................................. 89

Getting Program Updates.................................................................................................. 89

Technical Support and Feedback........................................................................................ 89

Licensing Information .......................................................................................................89

Contacting ACD Systems Ltd............................................................................................ 92

Mail and Fax Information.................................................................................................. 92

Appendix 2: Patterns and Wildcards ................................................................................ 94

Appendix 3: System Administrator Options ..................................................................... 95

Appendix 4: Digital Camera Support...............................................................................100

Appendix 5: Image Formats Supported ...........................................................................101

Read Support .................................................................................................................. 101

Write Support.................................................................................................................103

Browse Mode Shortcuts ....................................................................................................104

View Mode Shortcuts........................................................................................................106

PICAVIEW 108

Features.........................................................................................................................108

IMAGEFOX 110

Features.........................................................................................................................110

Acknowledgments

The color quantization/dithering features and JPEG decoder of ACDSee were made possible by code produced by the Independent JPEG Group.

ACDSee’s TIFF support was made possible by code in Sam Leffler's TIFF library, v 3.4 beta.

Thanks to beta testers who helped ensure that ACDSee was ready for public release.

Thank you to all other users who have contributed to ACDSee by communicating problems, suggestions, designs and artwork.

Thanks to all users who supported the development of this software by registering and recommending it to their friends and colleagues.

Finally, thanks to all employees of ACD Systems who contributed to the making of this manual: first and foremost David Hooper (the original author); technical support, the testing crew and members of the project management team for review and feedback; and the technical writing team for bringing a lot of information together in a coordinated effort.

The Technical Writing team:

Todd Turik Cassandra Mate Tim Bradshaw Karen Reid

The World of Digital Image Management

ACD Systems is a world leader in digital image management software for businesses, governments, educators, and individual consumers. ACDSee represents the cutting-edge of digital imaging technology and is the fastest and most powerful image viewer available for Windows®. Its easy-to-use interface, integrated design and convenient features let you manipulate and enhance images with professional-quality results. Welcome to the world of digital image management!

About ACD Systems

ACD Systems originally developed its software as a commercial application for tracking automobile parts and accessories, thus ACD stands for Automatically Catalogues and Delivers. Although ACD Systems no longer produces parts-tracking software, such applications require great speed, organization and reliability. These characteristics remain central to the robust and efficient software for Digital Imaging and Network Messaging produced by ACD Systems today.

ACD Systems designs, develops, and markets software for digital imaging and corporate communications. Digital Imaging and Network Messaging are two of the fastest growing niches in the marketplace today. Due to the enthusiastic reception of our products since 1993, ACD Systems is enjoying rapid growth and prosperity in the software industry. We continue to be a strong, dynamic and competitive company on the cutting edge of technology, and our success in electronic sales over the Internet has allowed ACD Systems to establish significant worldwide market penetration.

In continuing to provide proven software technology in an extensible platform model, ACD Systems has established an excellent market position, worldwide distribution and a global user base. All of our products are designed to be fast, intuitive and value -priced. Our product line includes ACDSee (for PC and Mac), FotoCanvas, FotoAngelo, FotoVac, ImageFox, PicaView, PhotoSeePro, ImageShark, Express Messaging Server and Express Communicator. ACDSee, our flagship software, is the world’s most popular image viewer, browser, enhancer, management and sharing tool. It is a consistent award winner and for 3 consecutive years (and still counting), has been named to Stroud’s Download Hall of Fame.

Our customers have come to trust and depend on our products, as well as appreciate the technical support they know is available to them.

For more information on the exciting products offered by ACD Systems – check our web site at

www.ACDSYSTEMS.com

Capabilities of ACDSee

ACDSee lets you do more with images than ever before. You can organize your photo collection into tidy categories in separate folders, and add notes, author identification, keywords and dates to each. ACDSee allows you to view, organize, enhance, and print your images.

ACDSee, however, does not stop there. You can print multiple thumbnail images in order to view large portions of your collection at a glance. You can create slideshows for things like trips and special events. You can take pictures with a digital camera, view them instantly, and download them onto your computer. You can even send photos to your friends via email, and generate web page photo albums to share your images with the world on the Internet.

To help you become more familiar with the application, ACDSee provides tool tips and contextsensitive help in most dialog boxes, as well as on-line help files. Extensive customization options are als o available so you can further increase the speed of your operations by configuring ACDSee to work the way you want.

In addition to all of this, ACDSee is both flexible and expandable, as it supports over 40 multimedia file formats, and allows for plug-in architecture that lets you add even more program functionality.

Features Specific to ACDSee v3.1

There are features to ACDSee 3.1 that allow more advanced customization as well as increased functionality.

Customizable Browser layout: From the [View | Layout scheme…] command, you can save your favorite Browser pane/toolbar configurations.

Customizable toolbar: Any toolbar can be customized by clicking it with the alternate mouse button and choosing from the options provided. Toolbar configurations can be saved using the [View | Layout scheme…] menu command.

E-mail plug -in: To send pictures to your friends, family, colleagues or clients without having to use an external e-mail application.

Contact sheet plug-in: To create and print a contact sheet of thumbnail images. Adjust levels plug -in: Batch level adjustment of images is now available. Audio clips: ACDSee v3.1 can play audio clips embedded in images. Improved crop feature: The crop feature in the Photo Enhancer has been improved. Group archives: You now have the option to group archives with folders in the File list. Other improvements include: exception handling for plug-ins to prevent a plug-in crash

from crashing ACDSee, automatic connection to the InTouch server in the background,

buttons to view and delete InTouch messages, and faster startup (especially in Windows

2000).

New Features to ACDSee v3.1 (Update)

All of the above features are a part of ACDSee v3.1 Update as well as those listed below. These new features have been included to provide functionality that is more extensive, further customization, and faster performance.

If you are running ACDSee v3.0 or v3.1, we highly recommend getting the free update available on our web site. See Getting Program Updates.

Red-eye reduction: get rid of the “red-eye” effect that occurs with flash photography. A shortcut Edit button: quickly access Photo Enhancer through the Edit button in the

Browser and Viewer toolbar. This button also includes a fully configurable drop-down list of your favorite image editor programs. This list is customizable so you can configure any image editor to be included in the list and be accessed from ACDSee.

Pane extension plug-in support: (to be made available through downloads and in future releases of the application). This feature allows pane extension plug-ins to run right inside the Browser window.

Tip of the Day: provides you with a helpful tip at startup. The [Change Timestamp…] tool improvement: this now allows you to set the

timestamp on a file or group of files to any date and time. Toolbar Chevrons : enhanced toolbars allow access to buttons that are obscured when

the window size is reduced (Chevrons). The [Rename Series…] tool: now allows you to change a gr oup of filenames to upper or

lower case. This provides a quick and efficient way to change multiple files at once. Other improvements include: up to 3x faster JPEG encoding and decoding speed;

support for viewing TIFF Exif metadata, including embedded aud io; faster thumbnail extraction for Exif files; and you can now configure the ACDSee Browser to start in a user-specified folder.

Uses for ACDSee

ACDSee is popular among consumers in a home setting because it is easy to use. However, through its speed, functionality and flexibility, it has also proven itself not only helpful, but in many cases indispensable to professional users in the course of their daily work. The following examples reveal some of the ways in which ACDSee is used in the professional world.

Medicine

In order to increase diagnostic efficiency, Radiologists are moving toward digital imaging systems that use ACDSee to manage thousands of X-Ray, CAT scan and MRI images recorded in computer file format.

Medical equipment developers use ACDSee to develop visual inventories of their equipment and to create presentation slideshows to effectively market their products.

Ophthalmologists use ACDSee to manage retinal-scan archives, track patients’ eye development and add case -specific descriptions for future reference.

Dentistry

Dentists have found ACDSee to be an excellent tool for tracking changes in dental structure during orthodontic procedures.

Law Enforcement

Digital cameras are used routinely by the police to record crime scene de tails, and ACDSee is often the platform of choice to acquire the digital-camera images, file them effectively, analyze them, and present them for review.

Police often find that individuals engaged in creating and distributing illegal forms of pornography attempt to hide images on their computers using non-image file-extensions. When investigating such activities, police use ACDSee to scan computer systems for these types of files, as it quickly recognizes them as images, even though they do not have image file extensions.

In forensics, micrographs from different sources and with different file extensions are often created in the investigation of evidence. These images are easily viewed with ACDSee, as the program recognizes the various image formats quickly, thereby eliminating the need for several programs specific to viewing different image formats.

The Military

ACDSee is used by the military for both engineering and intelligence gathering purposes, as it is highly capable of managing image databases f or such things as ship reconstructions and aerial photography.

Academia and Research

• In Astronomy, ACDSee is used to catalogue interstellar images from telescopes.

• In Biology, ACDSee is used in combination with digital cameras to take time-lapse

photographs automatically for studying developmental cycles in organisms.

• In Meteorology, satellite images are presented in slide shows to track weather patterns.

• In Histology and Microscopy, electron micrographs and other micro-images are tracked

in the program’s powerful database.

Manufacturing

ACDSee is often used by manufacturers to compile visual records of equipment product lines and related items, and to manage invoices by scanning them and organizing them into easily searchable folders.

Manufacturers also use ACDSee to track product performance – analyzing regular wear and tear, as well as subsequent damage patterns in the case of failures.

For many manufacturers, ACDSee is the platform of choice because of its fast, thumbnail browsing of images and its ability to create and print thumbnail contact sheets.

Photography

ACDSee’s intuitive interface allows professional photographers to access and organize photos quickly and easily. In only a few moments, pictures captured on a digital camera are acquired and saved in a designated directory, dramatically reducing the downtime associated with the use of conventional cameras.

Photos are instantly viewed in either full view or thumbnail mode prior to the creation of a contact sheet. The acquisition of photos can be significantly improved with the use of a supported ACDSee camera plug-in. ACDSee is used to acquire old photos easily through a scanner.

Retail

Retailers use ACDSee to create and manage large, graphical archives of inventory and product lines, as images are stored easily and accessed quickly.

Advertising

Advertisers often use ACDSee’s Photo Enhancer to alter images for advertisements, and they often rely on ACDSee’s powerful filing system to manage promotional images and banner ads for the Wor ld Wide Web.

Graphic Design

Graphic designers use ACDSee to manage the many images they create in different proprietary programs.

Entertainment Industry

Many game -development companies use ACDSee for its ability access images developed by artists in other proprietary software.

ACDSee’s Slide show is also an excellent tool for displaying storyboards during the development of things like animated sequences, and images are made readily accessible to all team members from a single folder.

Training and Development

Many companies use ACDSee to develop training seminars using the Slide show feature, or to catalogue images used in safety manuals and other publications.

Engineering and Architecture

Engineers and architects often use digital cameras during project development for initial survey photos, project model renderings, project site construction and highlighting specific architectural features. ACDSee allows companies to place all their images in a single folder, sequence them, and present them in slid e shows.

Multimedia Developers

Multimedia developers use ACDSee to increase file sampling efficiency, as visual and audio files (including movies) can all be quickly reviewed in the File List pane with the simple click of a button.

Web Developers

Web developers use ACDSee to manage and view thousands of banner ads for web sites with its powerful filing system.

Artists

Many artists use ACDSee to manage digital images of their work and post the images to their online galleries.

Publishing

Using ACDSee, ma ny publishers organize and view complex files (such as Multipage TIFFs), easily. The ability to view groups of zipped image files allows publishers to reduce the amount of disk space designated for image storage.

The Main Windows

The View

Window

lets you view a selected

ACDSee is a program composed of three main windows, which work to manage, view and manipulate your images.

The Browse Window presents an Explorer-like

interface that lets you locate and manage images stored in your file system. By de fault, this window comes up when you start ACDSee. You can open more than one Browser at a time by going to [File | New Window].

Several customization features allow you to choose the windowpanes, the toolbars, and the shortcut buttons you wish to use.

sequence of images, one at a time. Slide show, zoom, and some file management features are also available in this window. To switch between the Browse window and the View window, doubleclick an image file in the Browser, or select an image and press the <Enter> key.

Clicking the Browse button, double-clicking the image, or pressing <Enter> will return you to Browse mode.

The Photo Enhancer lets you touch up your

photographs, or alter them dramatically, with a wide range of easy-to-use tools.

Clicking the Enhance button or selecting the [Tools | Edit…] command, will begin a photo enhancement session. You can have as many Photo Enhancer windows open simultaneously as you like.

You can select the image association defaults during the installation but only if

This chapter guides you through the installation process step by step, and provides you with all the information you need about minimum system requirements, starting the program after installation, launching from other applications, uninstalling the program, and keeping informed through the InTouch service.

The following steps include both installation from the ACDSee stand-alone application as well as from ACDSee 3.1 PowerPack – a combination of digital imaging tools that includes ACDSee

v3.1 (Update), FotoAngelo, and FotoCanvas.

If you are running ACDSee v3.0 or v3.1, it is highly recommended to get the free update available on our web site. See Getting Program Updates.

Minimum system requirements:

Ø Microsoft Windows 95 / 98 / NT 4.0 / 2000 / ME

Ø Intel 486DX with 32 MB RAM

Ø 20 MB free disk space

Ø A 256 color (or higher) video display

Ø Internet Explorer 4.0 or later

Users manipulating very large images, or an extensive number of images, will enjoy better performance by using a system that exceeds these requirements.

Installation Steps

Before beginning your installation, make sure your License number is accessible. It will also help to decide beforehand what image association defaults you wish to choose. Image association defaults are useful in that they let you decide which image types will use ACDSee as the default viewer. These image types will then be viewed by ACDSee automatically whe n opened from outside the application (e.g., from Windows Explorer).

you choose a Typical installation or a Custom installation. With the Custom

installation, select the [Unused] option in the [Shell integration setup] page. After the installation you can change these default settings by going to the [Tools | File Associations…] menu command.

To install ACDSee:

Once you have downloaded the necessary files off the Inte rnet, or after placing the ACDSee standalone CD in your CD-ROM drive, use this document to follow along with the installation steps that will appear on your screen.

1. Using the primary mouse button, double click the executable file.

2. A Welcome window will appear – click Next.

3. Read the License Agreement window and select [I agree to the terms of the agreement], if

you agree to the terms. See Appendix 1 for more information relating to licensing.

4. Choose one of the three types of installations . How ACDSee is installed will vary based on which option you choose.

Typical Installation: This will install ACDSee using the most common options:

Ø ACDSee will be installed in “D:\Program Files\ACD Systems\” (if “D” is the

disk drive you are installing to).

Ø It will not be set as the default application for opening any file types.

Ø All plug-ins will be installed.

Ø Shortcut icons will be placed on the desktop and in the Start menu.

Follow step number 5 below to fill in license information. Once this is done, you will be taken to step 10.

Compact Installation: This installation has the same steps as the Typical installation; however, it uses the least disk drive space by installing ACDSee with the minimum required options. This means the plug-ins that allow support for many image formats, digital cameras, archive files, and command extensions will not be installed. Only the plug-in that supports BMP, EMF, GIF, JPEG, PCX, PNG, TGA, TIFF, and WMF images will be installed. All the other options are the same as in the Typical installation. Follow steps 6, 7a, 10, and 11.

Custom Installation : This lets you choose the options for installing ACDSee (recommended for advanced users). Follow steps numbered 5 through 11 below.

5. Fill in the license information, including:

a. License number (the 18-digit code supplied at purchase)

b. Your name/company name and e-mail address (this information is optional for

ACDSee v3.1 and above).

IMPORTANT: The License number must be entered exactly as provided by ACD Systems. Do not add dashes or extra spaces.

6. Select the destination directory using the Browse button, or choose the default destination

(recommended) by clicking Next.

7. If installing the standalone ACDSee, in the window that opens, select yes to install a free tria l of PowerPack or select no to continue to Step 9. If you select yes, in the next window, clear the checkbox of any applications that you do not want to install and click Next.

7a. If installing ACDSee from ACDSee PowerPack , you will be prompted to choose the

additional applications you would like to install with ACDSee.

8. In the pages that follow, choose the image format support plug-ins, the archive format support plug-ins, the camera support plug-ins, the command extension plug-ins, and the shortcut icons you’d like installed. Alternatively, to keep the settings as they are, click the Next button.

9. The “Shell Integration setup” window allows you to configure ACDSee as the default application that opens supported image and archive formats. There are three options to choose from:

Unused: Set ACDSee to be the default application for all supported file types that currently do not have a default application specified for them.

All: Make ACDSee the default application for all supported file types. Let me choose: This displays a list of supported file types and allows you to

choose the types that will use ACDSee as the default application (this list appears at the end of the installation).

10. A window appears stating that the program is ready to install. Click Next.

11. When setup is complete – click Finish. We recommend you reboot your system if you are running Win 95 or 98.

Please retain the information in the confirmation e-mail for re-installation or reference by ACDSee technical support staff. There is a charge for resending your License number.

Silent install

ACDSee 3.1 has included a silent installation feature. This is particularly useful when purchasing a site license and installing or upgrading on several computers.

To run an install in silent mode, the /s command-line switch should be employed.

e.g., acdsee310b0828_full_upgrade.exe /s

A special “setup.ini” file allows certain setup options to be customized for the install. This file is required only for the silent installation of ACDSee v3.1and above (the full version); in all other cases, it is optional. There are instructions within the setup.ini file itself describing how to customize the settings.

Uninstalling ACDSee:

1. Open the Windows Control Panel.

2. Double-click [Add/Remove Programs].

3. Find ACDSee in the list, and double-click it.

4. Follow the instructions in the Uninstall Wizard.

Staying “InTouch”

The ACDSeeInTouch Service provides you with information about software upgrades, plug-ins, technical support, and other products through regular messages. InTouch also provides links to sites where you can get more details on these topics.

You can take advantage of InTouch in several ways. After installing ACDSee, the InTouch service window appears. Follow the InTouch wiza rd instructions to set up the service to suit your preferences. You can set the InTouch window to appear every time you run ACDSee, or to appear automatically at intervals of your choice (the default is 7 days). You can also adjust the settings so the service has to be activated manually using the [Internet | ACDInTouch] menu command.

If at any time after installation you wish to change the way InTouch is set up, select [Internet | ACDInTouch service] from the menu, then click the Settings button and choose your new preferences.

What data is transmitted?

Whenever you connect to the ACDInTouch service, information is automatically transferred from your computer to an ACDInTouch server. This information is largely not personally identifiable, and consists of the following:

Ø the ACD product you are using (product ID, version, and license number if it is

licensed software)

Ø the operating system (version, language, time zone)

Ø and, optionally, information about you (name, company, and e-mail)

Name, company, and e-mail information is optional. You can leave these fields blank and ACDInTouch service will still be operational.

In addition, if you are running our software in Sponsored mode, statistical information about how often you viewed and clicked on the advertisements is transmitted so that we can bill our sponsors accordingly. Of course, as with all two-way Internet communications (as when using your web browser), your IP address is also implicitly transmitted. The ACDInTouch server will also perform a reverse lookup of your hostname in the DNS. All ACDInTouch servers are directly or indirectly controlled by ACD Systems.

What about personally identifiable information?

Again, we will not collect any personally identifiable information about you (such as your name, address, telephone number, social security number, billing and shipping information, credit card information or e-mail address) unless you provide it to us voluntarily. If you opt not to provide us with personally identifiable information, no material consequences will result, although you may be unable to participate in certain promotions that depend on this information.

Is the information I provide secure?

ACD Systems is committed to keeping secure the data you provide us and will take reasonable precautions to protect your personally identifiable information from misuse. Agents or contractors of ACD Systems who have access to your personally identifiable information in connection with providing services for ACD Systems are required to keep the information confidential and are not permitted to use this information for any other purpose than to carry out the services they are performing for ACD Systems.

Starting ACDSee

It is possible to start the program in a number of different ways and from various applications.

In Browse mode

To start ACDSee in Browse mode, click [ACDSee Browser] in the Start Menu. You can browse your system from the image Browse window that appears.

In View mode

ACDSee will start in View mode with a blank screen if you follow either of the methods below. You can drop files for viewing in the window that appears, or add images for viewing using the [File | Open…] command. You can switch to Browse mode at any time using the [File | Browse] command.

To start ACDSee v3.1 in View mode:

1. With the alternate mouse button, click the ACDSee Icon on your desktop

2. On the bottom of the context menu that appears, select [Properties | Shortcut] and go to the [Target:] text box about halfway down.

3. In this box, a path points to where ACDSee is installed.

i.e., "C:\Program Files\ACD Systems \ACDSee Full Version\ACDSee.exe"

4. At the end of the path, after the quotation mark, add a [space], then forward slash [/], and the letter [v].

i.e., "C:\Program Files\ ACD Systems\ACDSee Full Version\ACDSee.exe" /v.

When you launch ACDSee it starts from the Viewer. There will be no images displayed, only a blank background, but it will be possible to use the [File | Open…] command or drag and drop features to begin viewing images. See Adding images to the sequence for more.

From Explorer

To start ACDSee’s Browser in a particular folder of Explorer, click the folder with the alternate mouse button and select [Browse with ACDSee] from the context menu. To print an image from Explorer using ACDSee, click the alternate mouse button on the image file and select [Print with ACDSee] from the context menu.

If no [Browse with ACDSee] command appears, start ACDSee in Browse mode, select [Tools | File Associations...] from the menu, click the “Context menu” tab and check the [Browse with ACDSee] box. Likewise, if no [Print with ACDSee] command appears, start ACDSee in Browse mode, select [Tools | File Associations...] from the menu and check the relevant file types, then click the Context menu tab and check the [Print with ACDSee] shell command item.

Launching from another application

You can also start ACDSee from Explorer by double-clicking on an image file. Certain other programs, such as Internet applications, can also run ACDSee automatically for you as you receive images. By default, a new ACDSee instance (i.e., window) is started for each image viewed. You can have all images appear in the same window by changing the [Miscellaneous | Startup files] option (this will reduce system overhead).

If double-clicking an image file does not bring up ACDSee, start ACDSee in Browse mode and select [Tools | File Associations...] from the menu. Check the relevant file types and click OK.

Getting Help

When running the program it is possible to take advantage of the help tools that are offered. These include the main help file, context sensitive help, and “mouse-overs.”

The main help file

It is possible to access the main help file (as seen here) by pressing F1 on your keyboard or by going to the [Help] menu.

There are two ways to customize the window.

Table of Contents (TOC): open or close the TOC, which can be seen in the left frame, by

clicking on the Help Topics button.

Window size: the dialog size can be expanded and reduced as needed. When you move the

mouse pointer to the frame of the dialog, it will change into a horizontal arrow: . When this happens, press down on the primary mouse button and drag the frame.

Context sensitive help

With certain application windows, you have the option of clicking on the button located in the top-right corner of the window.

This will change your mouse to the [What’s this?] pointer. Place the pointer on the area in question to access a brief explanation of the field. Alternately, you can access the same information by clicking an area with the alternate mouse button. However, this method will not work with text boxes (those that can be edited).

Mouse overs:

Hovering the mouse pointer over certain objects provides information about that item. For example, when hovering over top a shortcut button in the toolbar, the name of the button appears.

Print and browse capabilities

It is possible to print any page of the help file using the Print button located in the top menu bar. The browse buttons are also located to the right of the Print button and allow you to move through the help file in sequence.

There are also separate help files for certain ACDSee plug-ins. See Plug-in help files.

Organizing your images into readily identifiable folders and archives is easy, and numerous options for finding images and browsing through your collection are available. The following list provides a detailed overview of what you can do with ACDSee’s image Browser.

High-speed preview: view images without interrupting exploration. Multimedia files : associated AVI, MP3, MPG, and WAV sound files play automatically

when images are selected. Favorites list: move or copy files to a personalized list of frequently used folders; add

shortcuts to commonly used applications.

File descriptions : annotate files with descriptive phrases. Customize file details : configure how and what information about your files is

displayed. Multiple search options : search for images by filename, description, date, author, notes,

and keywords. Properties dialog : image, database, and metadata information are displayed in

properties dialog boxes, as well as author identification, keywords, and date information.

Thumbnails mode : view image thumbnails instead of normal file icons. Resizable, moveable, tear-away panes : let you customize your layout. Visual overwrite confirmation : source and destination images are shown side by side

when copying or moving, before being overwritten.

The Browse Window

The main Browse Window is the heart of the organizational system for your files, folders, and archives. It has a familiar look and feel and provides you with much of the functionality of Windows Explorer®. In addition to letting you manage your files smoothly and easily, the Browser lets you perform various manipulation commands on image files.

As seen above, the Browser is divided in to a number of different panes. You can open or close

the individual panes – go to [View | Browser Panes] and check or uncheck the ones you prefer. A pane can be closed quickly by clicking the x button in the top, right-hand corner.

The Browser panes are resizable: hovering the mouse over a frame of a pane will change to either 1 or o . Holding down the mouse button allows you to move the frame bar to

resize the window. The surrounding windows will also be resized.

To move or tear away the pane, hold down the mouse button on the pane bar, then move the pane to a different area in the Browser – a shadow image appears to assist you. You may also tear away a pane to a separate window by moving the pane outside the Browse window.

Browser Panes

The Brow ser panes are listed below and explained in more detail in the upcoming pages.

Toolbar: provides buttons to activate commands. Command Extensions : displays the buttons for plug-in extensions. Path Box : specifies the path of the current folder.

Folder Tree: displays the folder hierarchy of your file system. File List: displays the files within the current folder. Favorites List: provides quick access to files, folders and applications. Preview Area: displays the currently selected image. File Info : displays metadata for the currently selected image. Status Bar: displays status information and properties for selected files. Plug-ins Pane : displays a feature panel for selected ACD plug-ins.

Context menus are available by clicking with the alternate mouse button on the File list, Folder tree, Favorites list, File list column header, preview area, and status bar.

You can get the Windows Shell context menu for an item(s) instead of ACDSee’s context menu by holding down <Shift> or <Ctrl> while pressing the alternate mouse button.

Toolbar and Command Extensions

The shortcut toolbar, located at the top of the Browse window, consists of a number of function buttons identified by icons.

Ø Click the corresponding button to activate a command.

Ø Rest the mouse pointer over the button to get the button’s function.

Ø Choose the [View | Browser panes | Toolbar] menu command to show or hide the

toolbar.

Ø Alternate mouse click the toolbar for a context menu.

One option when alternate mouse clicking in the toolbar is selecting the [Button Labels] command. A list of options is displayed allowing you to customize the shortcut buttons. In the image above, the [Labels below] option has been selected for the lower toolbar, while the [No labels] option has been selected for the upper toolbar. Another choice is to have [Labels on right].

By alternate mouse clicking on the toolbar, you can also choose the [Customize…] option. This brings up the following dialog box.

You can add available toolbar items from the list on the left or remove items on your toolbar from the list on the right.

If you click an item, or an empty area, in any ACDSee window with the alternate mouse button, a context menu appears allowing quick access to relevant commands.

Chevrons for the toolbar

When there are too many icons for the viewable area, a chevron appears: >>

Click on the chevron to expand the toolbar and reveal the hidden options.

Path Box

The path box, located above the File list, specifies the folder being browsed. It als o has a dropdown list of recently browsed folders. Browse any folder by selecting it from the list.

Ø Type a path and press <Enter> to

browse the specified folder.

Ø Press <F4> to open or close the drop-

down list.

Ø Press <Esc> to cancel the path

selection process and return to the current path.

Ø Show or hide the path box with the [View | Browser panes | Path Box] command.

Folder Tree Pane

The Folder tree, on the left side of the Browse window, displays the folders in your file system.

Ø Select a folder to bring up its contents

in the File list to the right.

Ø Folders with subfolders have a [+] next

to them. Click the [+] to reveal subfolders, or select the folder and press <Cursor Right> or <NumPad +>. A [-] appears next to expanded folders.

Ø To completely expand a folder and all

of its subfolders, select it and press <Shift> and <NumPad *>.

Ø Collapse a folder and hide its

subfolders by clicking the [-], or select the folder and pressing <Cursor Left> or <NumPad ->.

Ø You can drag and drop a folder within the Folder pane, to copy or move it to

another location.

Ø A context menu appears when you click a folder with the alternate mouse button.

If you also hold down <Shift> or <Ctrl>, the Shell’s context menu appears.

Ø You can show or hide the Folder tree with the [View | Browser panes | Folder

Tree] menu command.

Ø You can enable or disable the display of archives in the Folder tree using the

[Tools | Options | Browser | Show archives in Folder tree] option.

File List Pane

The File list displays information about the files in the folder currently being browsed. There are several ways to view the files within this Browser pane. The two most often used are Thumbnails mode and Details mode.

By clicking the Views button, you can toggle through different File list views.

It is also possible to click the drop down arrow to the right of the icon and select the view.

The cutout image below shows the Thumbnails view. This mode offers a visual representation of the available files.

Details mode columns

In Details mode, file information is presented in report format, with each file occupying one row, as seen below. This mode of viewing your images is very informative. Image files currently associated with ACDSee are displayed in a color -coded format with the associated image icon.

Showing/hiding columns

In Details view, several columns of information are shown. You can have individual columns displayed or kept hidden. There are three ways to do this:

Context menu: Click the alternate mouse button in the column he aders area (at the top of the File list), for a context menu that lets you make columns visible or invisible.

Menu: Select [View | Show Columns] from the menu, and then the column you wish to show or hide.

Shortcut keys: While holding down <Ctrl>, press <2> through <6> on the numeric keypad (with <Num Lock> on), to toggle the display’s size, type, date, image dimensions and description columns, respectively.

The show/hide state of each column is preserved between sessions.

Changing the order of File list columns

Several columns of information are shown in the Browser’s Details File list. You can customize the order in which the columns are shown.

To customize column order:

1. Click the column’s header with the primary mouse button.

2. Drag it into the desired position. A colored vertical line identifies the position where the column will be inserted.

The column order is automatically preserved between sessions.

Changing how files are sorted

You can specify the file information criterion for sorting, and the sorting direction (forward / backward) as found in the Browse window.

Clicking on the column headers

In Details view, you can sort the file of a particular column by clicking on the corresponding header button above the File list. Clicking on the same column repeatedly alternates between forward and reverse sorting. An up arrow (forward sort) or down arrow (reverse sort) appears next to the column header currently being sorted.

Menu: Select the desired sort method from the [View | Arrange Icons] menu. Context menu: Click the background of the File list with the alternate mouse button

for a context menu. Then select the desired sort method from the [Arrange Icons] sub-menu.

Shortcut Keys: Press <0> through <6> on the numeric keypad (with <Num Lock> on) to sort by file extension, name, size, type, date, image dimensions or description, respectively. Press <Num -> and <Num +> to set the sort direction.

The sorting method is automatically preserved across sessions.

From any File List View:

The following three items (selecting files, setting File list options, and bringing up the context menu), can be implemented from any File list view.

Selecting files

Click a file with the primary mouse button to select it, or move the focus to the item using the arrow keys. To select additional files, hold down <Ctrl> and click a file. Alternatively, with <Ctrl> held down, move the focus to a file using the arrow keys and press <Space> to select or deselect it.

To select a range of files, choose the first item in the range with your mouse; then select the last item in the range while holding down <Shift>. To select all files, use the [Edit | Select all] files menu command.

Options

You can set File list options by selecting [Tools | Options] from the menu and clicking on the File list tab. From here, you can choose what source disks are scanned, what items are shown in your File list, and how they appear.

Context menu

A context menu appears when you click an item in the File list with the alternate mouse button. You can display a context menu for several items by selecting them and clicking on one with the alternate mouse button.

If you hold down <Shift> or <Ctrl> when you click the alternate mouse button, a Shell context menu (similar to that ava ilable with Windows Explorer) appears.

A different context menu appears if you click the background of the File list, instead of on an item.

Favorites List Pane

The Favorites list pane, which appears at the bottom of the Browse window, displays a list of shortcuts to items you wish to access frequently. You can show or hide the Favorites list pane with the [View | Browser panes | Favorites] menu command.

To add an item to the Favorites list pane:

1. Select the item in the Browser File list or Explorer.

2. Next, click the Favorites button and select [Add to Favorites…].

Or, from the ACDSee Browser:

Ø Click an item with the alternate mouse button and

Ø Select an item and then go to [File | Add to

Ø Drag and drop the item to an empty area in the

Opening items in the Favorites list

choose [Add to Favorites…],

Favorites…], or

Favorites list pane

It is possible to double-click the shortcut item, or click the item with the alternate mouse button and select [Browse] or [Open] from the context menu.

Dropping files onto items in the Favorites list

Begin by selecting the file and drag it onto an item (must be a non-image target) using the primary mouse button. If the target destination is a folder, this action will move the file to the specified folder.

To copy the file, hold down the <Ctrl> button during the drag and drop procedure. To create a shortcut, hold down <Ctrl> and <Shift> at the same time. The mouse pointer will change shape during these operations.

It is also possible to drag the item using the alternate mouse button. This brings up a context menu that allows you to select [Move], [Copy], [Create Shortcuts Here], or [Cancel].

See the Applications section below on how to drag and drop files on to an application shortcut.

Renaming and deleting items in the Favorites List

Begin by selecting the item. Press <F2> to rename or the <Delete> key to delete. Or, click the item with the alternate mouse button and select [Rename] or [Delete] from the context menu.

By creating shortcuts, you can mor e easily and quickly access files, folders, archives and features. Here’s how:

Folders and archives

After creating a folder shortcut (as directed above), you can drag and drop files from other areas right onto the shortcut icon to move them to a new destination (this is not supported with archives).

You can browse the target folder/archive by alternate mouse clicking the shortcut icon and selecting [Browse].

You can start a slide show of the target folder or archive by alternate mouse clicking on the icon and selecting [Slide Show] or [Slide Show Recursive].

Search the target folder or archive for images by alternate mouse clicking on the icon or using the menu command or shortcut button.

Application shortcuts

You can drag and drop application shortcuts directly onto the Preview pane. When you double-click the application shortcut, it will be launched.

You can also drag and drop a file onto the application shortcut to open the file in the target application. For example, dragging and dropping the file onto an MSPaint shortcut will launch the application with the image opened.

Place the ACDSee shortcut from the desktop into the Favorites list pane. When you drag and drop files on this shortcut the ACDSee Viewer automatically opens and the Browser remains open.

Files

You can drag and drop specific files from the File list to create shortcuts to them. When you double-click the shortcut icon the target file will open with the associated default application (e.g., an internet browser).

To change the view style for the Favorites list use the [View | Favorites list] menu, or click the background of the Favorites list with the alternate mouse button to get a context menu.

Preview Pane

Ø Pressing <NumPad *> toggles the preview size between automatic and full size.

Ø If the [Auto-preview] option is on, a preview of the selected image appears

When this pane is visible, a preview of the currently selected image can be shown.

Ø You can adjust the relative

amount of room available to the preview area by dragging the splitter bars.

Ø You can configure the

position of the preview area and the size of the preview image using commands in the [View | Preview] menu.

automatically. Otherwise, you must invoke the [View | Preview] command each time you want to see a preview of the selected image.

Ø If you double -click the preview, the image is shown in View mode.

Ø If you click with the alternate mouse button in the preview area or on the preview

image itself, a context menu appears.

File Info Pane

The Info pane displays metadata for the currently selected image. Metadata typically describes how, when, and by whom a particular set of data was collected. It also includes how the data is formatted.

Within this manual, the term “metadata” is used to describe two sets of information:

1. The information that is associated with a digital camera image and can be viewed in the Browser File Info pane, as seen to the left.

If the digital image is modified (resized, cropped, etc) and then saved, the digital camera metadata will be removed.∗

2. Any database information that is included in the file properties of an image (description, author, notes, date, and keywords). This information is displayed only in the file properties and not in the Info pane.

Status Bar

The status bar, located at the bottom of the Browse window, displays status information and properties for the selected file(s).

Folder summary info: Shows the total number and size of items in the File list; the size, date, and time of last modification for individual files; and the time of last modification for folders. With multiple items selected, it shows the total number and size of the selected files.

Selected file info: Shows the following information when a single item is selected:

File: size, date, and time of last modification. Folder: time of last modification.

The following information is shown when more than one item is selected:

Total number and size of the selected files.

Filename and icon: Shows the filename and small icon of the focused item. If the item is a shortcut, its target path is also shown.

Image properties: If the focused item is an image, its dimensions and format are shown as: <#pages>@<width>x<height>x<#colors> <format>

∗

Digital camera metadata will not be removed if using the JPEG transform feature (See p. 65).

File description: If the currently focused item has a file description, it is shown.

Processing progress: If background processing is underway, the percentage of

completion is displayed. You can stop and start background processing by doubleclicking on the status bar.

For a context menu, alternate mous e click the status bar. To show or hide the status bar, use the [View | Browser panes | Status Bar] menu command.

Plug- ins Pane

The Plug-ins pane, located at the bottom of the Browser, displays selected ACDSee plug-ins. These plug-ins have been designe d and developed to extend the user interface functionality and will be available in upcoming releases of ACDSee and at our web site. They can be created and distributed by ACD Systems, or developed by a third party company.

To access the Plug-ins pane, go to [View | Browser panes | Plug-ins pane]. With the pane open, you will be able to click on any tab in the pane in order to activate a particular plug-in.

Plug-in information can be found here:

http://www.ACDSYSTEMS.com/english/products/plug-ins/

The Plug-ins pane contains room for growth so stay tuned to future ACDSee releases for updates.

ACDSee’s image Viewer is unsurpassed in its ability to decode and display images quickly. To ensure your viewing experience will be fast, flexible and very high quality the following features have been incorporated in the program.

Speed: an efficient incremental decoder helps display images faster than any other imaging software.

No waiting : a multithreaded program design means you can use other functions while processing images.

Gamma correction: compensates for monitor non-linearity. Less memory: less memory is required to manipulate images than with other viewing

applications. High quality output: single and two-pass dithering algorithms optimize your display’s

capabilities.

The View Window

Once you have selected and opened an image (or sequence of images), using the Browser or Windows Explorer, ACDSee’s View window is activated. This window shows your images one at a time, in full resolution, and lets you perform various functions important to viewing your images the way you want – while still giving you access to much of the file management functionality available in Browse mode.

Viewer Layout

The components of the Viewer are listed below and explained in more detail in the upcoming pages.

Toolbar: provides buttons to activate commands. View area: shows the current image. Status bar: displays status information and properties for selected files.

Toolbar

The toolbar, located at the top of the View window below the menu bar, consists of a number of buttons identified by icons.

Ø To activate a command, click the corresponding button.

Ø To get a title or short description of the button, rest the mouse pointer over the

button.

Ø You can show or hide the toolbar bar with the [View | Toolbar] menu command.

Ø The toolbar is normally hidden in full-screen mode. You can toggle the toolbar

on and off by pressing <T>.

Toolbars have chevrons when there are too many icons to fit in the viewable area. See

Chevrons for the toolbar for further information.

View Area

The View area is the actual image that appears within the Viewer and there are a few options relating to viewing as stated here.

Scrolling

If the image is larger than the window, the mouse pointer appears as a hand instead of an arrow. You can then scroll (pan) the image by dragging it with the primary mouse button. You can also scroll using the cursor keys (arrow keys).

Selection

You can select an area of the image by holding down <Shift> and dragging with the primary mouse button (if the image is not scrollable, you do not need to hold down <Shift>). You can then zoom into the selection by clicking in it with the primary mouse button.

Viewing images in full-screen mode

In full-screen mode, the window borders, menu bar, status bar and toolbar are hidden and the window is expanded to fill the screen so that only the image is visible on your monitor.

Procedure:

1. Bring up the image in View mode.

2. Press <Ctrl+F>.

3. Although the toolbar buttons are hidden, you can still access commands via shortcut keys or by using the alternate mouse button.

4. To return to normal mode, press <Ctrl+F> again.

You can toggle between full-screen and normal modes using the mouse by clicking the middle button, or by holding down the primary button while clicking the alternate button.

In full-screen mode, press the <B>, <T>, and <M> keys to show the status bar, toolbar, and menu bar, respectively.

Context menu

If you click in the View area with the secondary mouse button, a context menu appears. If you hold down <Shift> and click with the secondary mouse button, the Shell context menu for the current image appears.

Status Bar

The status bar, located at the bottom of the View window, displays status information, image sequence information, and properties for the current image.

Ø You can show or hide the status bar with the [View | Status Bar] menu command.

Ø The status bar is normally hidden in full-screen mode. You can toggle the status

bar on and off by pressing <B>.

Image sequence information: The current image’s sequence number and the number of images in the sequence are indicated as <Img#>/<Num. Images>.

Page information: For multipage images, the current page and total number of pages in the image are indicated as <Page#>/<Num. pages>.

Navigation

Filename and icon: The filename and small icon of the current image is shown. Image properties: The dimensions and format of the current image are shown as

<width>x<height>x<#co lors> <format>. Zoom level: The current zoom level is indicated as a percentage. When [Zoom |

Lock] is active, an asterisk [*] appears to the level of the zoom level. Decoding progress/time: If the current image is decoding, the progress is indicated

by an expanding pop-out bar and the word "Loading…" appears. Once complete, the elapsed decoding time appears. If the read-ahead image is being decoded, its progress is indicated by an expanding pop-out bar.

File description: If the current image has a file description, it is shown.

Ø Use the previous and next buttons to navigate images in the list, if there

is more than one image in the image sequence.

Ø You can also use the <Page Up>, <Page Down>, <Home> and <End> keys to

navigate.

Ø If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel, turn the wheel to flip through the

images in the list. If you press <Ctrl> and use the scroll button, the zoom level changes.

Ø For images containing multiple pages, the first page is shown initially.

Ø To view other pages, use the previous page and next page buttons.

(These buttons are only visible when viewing multipage images.) With a scroll mouse, turn the wheel and press <Shift> to change the current page of a

multipage image.

Returning to the Browse Window

There are several ways to return to the Browse window:

<Esc>

<Enter> Double-click image [File | Browse] Command

Returns to the Browse window without changing the selection or focus.

Switches to the Browse window and selects the current image, but does not change the current folder.

<Shift + Enter> <Shift> + Double-click image <Shift> + Browse Command.

Switches to the Browse window, changes into the folder containing the current image, and selects the current image.

Image Sequences

Image sequences are an excellent way to view a selection of images and are particularly useful when creating a presentation of images with the Slide show feature. The image sequence files that you can generate allow you to re-open the sequence on another occasion to see the images again.

An image sequence specifically refers to the order that images are available for viewing. The sequence can be re -ordered from the View window (images can be removed or added), and then saved as a text file.

If images are removed or deleted, then the image sequence will be displayed but the missing image will not appear (a blank background is displayed).

When multiple images are opened, the Viewer displays them one at a time. The image sequence can be seen at the bottom left corner of the View window status bar. For example, when 16 images are selected and opened the file number at the bottom will read “1/16” meaning the first image of 16 is being displayed. It is possible to view these images using the [View | Image | Next], [View | Image | Previous] commands.

Manipulating Image Sequences

Operations on image sequence include creating sequences, adding (and removing) images in the sequence, rearranging the images, and saving the sequence to a file.

Creating an image sequence

By default, all images within a folder are viewed when you double-click a single image in the Browser File list. This option can be changed by canceling the selection in the [Tools | Options | Viewer | View all images in folder].

It is possible to select more than one image by holding down <Ctrl> while clicking on other files. To highlight a range of files, select the first item and then click the last item in the range while holding down the<Shift> key. To select all of the files, use the [Edit | Select All Files] menu command. When you select more than one image from the Browser File list and press <Enter> or go to [File | Open], you have created an image sequence.

Adding images to the sequence

Add additional images to the sequence from a variety of locations by using any of the following methods:

Ø Select the [File | Open…] command and locate the file.

Ø Drag image files from Explorer or a second instance of ACDSee – from Browse

mode – and drop them into the Viewer. The [Dropped files] option found in

[Tools | Options | Miscellaneous] must be set to [Add images to list].

Ø Copy files to the clipboard in Explorer or a second instance of the ACDSee

Browser and paste them into the Viewer using the [Edit | Paste files] command.

When using the copy function, the ima ge is copied to the currently selected folder.

Removing images from the sequence

Remove an image from the sequence as follows:

Ø To remove the current image from the sequence, use the [File | Close] command.

Ø To empty the sequence completely, use the [File | Close All] command.

Ø To copy the current image file to the clipboard and remove it from the list, use

the [Edit | Cut file] command.

Rearranging images in the sequence

Change the position of an image in the sequence as follows:

1. Use the [Edit | Cut File] command to remove the image file and copy it to the clipboard.

2. Use the [Edit | Paste] command to insert the image whe re you want it.

Saving the image sequence to a file

You can save the current image sequence to a file using the [File | Save Sequence As…] command.

Recalling image sequences

From the Viewer you can open image sequences (stored as .AIS files), using the [File | Open…] command. You must change the [Files of type:] selection in the Open files dialog box to [Image sequences] or [All image files].

You can also open an image sequence by double-clicking on the file in Explorer, or ACDSee’s Browser, and draggin g and dropping the .AIS file into the View area, or by copying it to the clipboard and pasting it in.

When opening the image sequence from the Browser and then returning to Browse mode afterwards (by pressing <Enter> for example), ACDSee browses the folder where the .AIS file resides. To browse the folder containing the image, hold down <Shift> while either double-clicking, or pressing <Enter>. The image(s) will now be highlighted.

Editing an image sequence file

An image sequence file is a text file containing the paths of the images in the sequence – each line of the text file contains the path of one image. To do this, from the Browser, select the file and edit it with Notepad by selecting the [Tools | Shell | Edit] command, or by dragging the file onto a Notepad window.

Creating an empty image sequence file

You can create a new, empty image sequence file in Explorer. Using the alternate mouse button, click the background area of the Explorer File list (the right pane area), and select [New | ACDSee Image Sequence] from the context menu.

Slide Shows

Whether you want to entertain your family and friends, or make a powerful impression at an important business meeting, a slide show is often the most effective way to present your experiences and ideas. ACDSee lets you show any sequence of images as a slide show.

In Slide show mode, you can predetermine the amount of time each image is shown, before going on to the next. In this way, you can give yourself time to explain each image to your audience. You might also predetermine the preview time to allow each image to play an embedded audio clip.

Starting a Slide Show from Browse Mode

You can run a slide show directly from the Browser.

1. Select one folder in the Folder tree, or one or more folders in the File list. To select a group of images in the File list, hold down <Ctrl> and select other files. To highlight a range of files, select the first item, hold down the <Shift> key and then select the last item in the range.

2. Next, choose either [Tools | Slide Show] or [Tools | Slide Show Recursive]. Slide show commands are also available in context menus for folders in the Folder tree, File list and Favorites list.

To include images in subfolders use the [Slide Show recursive] command. These commands are also available from the context menus for folders in the Folder tree, File list and Favorites list (i.e., select the item with the alternate mouse button).

Hidden files and folders are included in the slide show only if the [Tools | Options | File List | Show hidden files] option is enabled.

Slide show Browser commands

The [Tools | Slide Show] command functions in a number of ways.

Ø When a folder(s) is selected, the slide show displays all the images in that

folder(s).

Ø If more than one image is selected, then only the selected images are shown.

Ø If there is only one image selected, or no images selected, then all images in the

current folder are shown.

The [Slide Show Recursive] command behaves similarly, but this command searches all subfolders as well as the selected folder.

View all option

Checking the [Tools | Options… | Viewer | View all images in folder] option adds all the images in the folder containing the current image (this option is turned on by default).

Starting a Slide Show from View Mode

Ensure that there is more than one image is in the current image sequence as described above.

When the images are opened in the Viewer, click the Slide show shortcut button to start the slide show or use the [Tools | Slide Show | Run] command. Invoking these commands again stops the slide show.

The slide show automatically stops when you use the [Previous], and [Next] menu commands, or when you minimize the View window.

You can specify the slide show order, time -delay, and other options in the [Slide Show] page of the Options dialog.

Zooming

One of the most fundamental aspects of image viewing of any kind is the ability to change the size of the image being viewed. ACDSee’s zoom features give you the power to choose the size and detail level at which you view your images, and give you the ability to preserve those choices throughout your viewing session.

Changing the zoom level

Zoom in and Zoom out shortcut buttons are available in the Viewer toolbar.

Ø Zoom in enlarges the image. This action can also be performed with the [Zoom |

More] command.

Ø Zoom out (or the [Zoom | Less] command), reduces the image.

Ø The [Zoom | Actual size] command returns the image to normal size.

Ø The [Zoom | Best fit] command automatically sizes the image to fit the window

or screen.

Zoom selection

You can select a rectangular region of the image by clicking and dragging with the primary mouse button. If the image is larger than the View area, you must hold down <Shift> to make a selection. Clicking inside the selection with the primary mouse button will zoom the image so that the selection takes up the entire available View area. The selected region is then deselected.

Zoom locking

Normally, the zoom level returns to the default level each time you view an image. However, you can lock the zoom level using the [Zoom | Lock] command so that the zoom level does not change when viewing subsequent images.

Auto zoom/shrink

The [Auto-shrink to fit] and [Auto-zoom to fit] commands specify that ACDSee should automatically shrink or enlarge each image to fit the window or screen when it is displayed.

Ø If the [Tools | Options | Viewer | Change window size to fit image] option is

active, images are shrunk or enlarged to fit the screen. Otherwise, images are shrunk or enlarged to fit the window.

Ø If [Auto-shrink to fit] alone is active, then large images are reduced, but small

images are not enlarged. Conversely, if [Auto-zoom to fit] alone is active, small images are enlarged, but images are never shown below normal size.

Panning/Scrolling

Oversized images are often used in fields like advertising, geography, engineering and architecture. In the case of oversized images, ACDSee’s panning and scrolling capabilities let you view any section of your image in full detail. If an image is larger in one or both dimensions than the View area, it can be panned and scrolled so you can view its various sections. In this instance, the mouse pointer changes to a hand shape.

Using the mouse

Pan and scroll with the mouse by dragging the image with the primary mouse button held down.

Using the keyboard

The arrow keys can be used to scroll in the respective directions. Hold down <Shift> to decrease scroll speed and <Ctrl> to increase scroll speed.

Selection

You can select a rectangular portion of the image by holding down <Shift> and dragging with the primary mouse button down to define the selection. The current selection is indicated by a dotted outline around the region.

Ø If the image is not scrollable, you do not need to hold down <Shift> to make a

selection.

Ø While defining a selection, you can cancel by pressing <Esc>.

Ø To deselect the current selection, click with the primary mouse button outside the

selected region, or use the [Edit | Select none] menu command.

Once you select, you can:

Ø Zoom the selected region by clicking inside the region with the primary mouse

button.

Ø Print the selected region.

Ø Copy the selected region to the clipboard.

Ø Set the selected region as desktop wallpaper.

The Photo Enhancer

The Photo Enhancer is the toolbox that allows you to touch up your images in minute detail, or alter them dramatically with easy-to-use enhancement features. Several features, such as cropping, despeckle, and auto-levels, are ideal for taking digital camera images or scanned photos and turning them into professional quality pictures. Digital image enhancement not only allows you to customize images, but also lets you correct flaws such as scratches, dust, and poor lighting conditions.

To insure that the image adjustment meets with your satisfaction, many of the enhancement functions provide a preview of the image. With many of the photo enhancement features, a before-and-after preview is available. It is also easy to reverse any unwanted changes by using the undo function.

Starting the Photo Enhancer

Select an image and click the Photo Enhancer shortcut button from either the Browse window or the View window. You can also use the [Tools | Edit…] command.

Configuring the Photo Editor

The Configure Editors list allows you to configure any photo editor to work with ACDSee. A default can be assigned to the [Edit…] button so that you have quick and easy access.

To add photo editors to your photo editor list:

1. Click on the drop down arrow attached to the [Edit…] button.

2. Select [Configure Editors…] from the menu. The [Configure Photo Editors] dialog will appear.

3. In the dialog seen here on the left, click on the [Add…] button. A standard browse dialog will appe ar.

4. In the browse dialog, search for the desired photo editor executable file, select it, and then click on the [Open] button. A dialog will open prompting a confirmation of the photo editor

To select the default photo ed itor:

1. Follow the first two steps above and select the desired photo editor from the list.

2. Click the [Set As Default] button.

The default editor will now be highlighted in bold text. The next time you select the [Edit…] button or [Tools | Edit…], this editor will be used.

application that was chosen.

Enhancement Functions

The Photo Enhancer lets you express your creativity by altering the appearance of your photos. Its easy-to-use enhancement features let you touch up your photos in minute detail, or radically change their look and feel.

Multiple levels of undo / redo: The undo and redo functions are layered, allowing you to make a series of changes and then flip between them, instead of starting over each time.

Crop: Selects a specific region of an image to be saved and manipulated.

Resize: Adjusts the size of the image in either pixels or percentage of image size.

Rotate: Spins your images around quickly, without losing their quality.

Flip: Mirrors the image along the vertical or horizontal plane of the image.

Color balance: Adjusts the hue, saturation, and lightness of the image. Levels: Adjusts the contrast and brightness, as well as whitepoint / blackpoint and

gamma levels of your images manually, using the levels function. Auto-levels: Automatically adjusts the brightness, contrast and color balance of a

photo to a default standard.

Blur: Reduces the amount of detail shown in an image by increasing the blur level.

Sharpen: Increase the amount of detail of an image by adjusting the sharpness level. Despeckle: Creates a smoother looking presentation by removing unwanted noise

from an image.

Red-eye Reduction: Removes the unwanted red-eye effect from images. Sepia: Gives a photo a dated or old -fashioned look. Sepia is a term that describes

dated photos that consist of shades of reddish brown.

Colorize: Alters an image to reflect an adjustable monochrome format.

Negative: Creates a negative representation of an image. Emboss: Gives an image the three-dimension look of a brass plaque, or a logo on

quality paper.

Multiple levels of undo / redo

Use the Undo button or select the [Edit | Undo] command to reverse unwanted changes.

To redo changes, use the Redo button or select [Edit | Redo].

Saving changes to an image will overwrite the original image unless you go to [File | Save as…] and save the file under a different name.

Cropping, Resizing and Rotating

Cropping, resizing and rotating tools are helpful when you need to touch up images – especially after downloading photos from your digital camera, or when scanning.

Cropping

Cropping reduces the visible area of an image. To crop an image, frame the area you want

and double-click it; the resulting image consists only of the area within the cropping frame.

To crop an image follow these steps:

1. Choose [Edit | Crop Tool] or click the Crop button .

2. Select the area in the image that you want to save by clicking on the upper-left section of the intended area and dragging and dropping to the bottom right. The selected area will now be outlined.

3. Double-click in the area, and the outer section is cropped off.

Resizing

To resize an image, bring it up in Photo Enhancer as described above, then:

1. Select [Edit | Resize…] or click the Resize button .

2. Enter a new pixel width or height.

3. Click OK to accept the changes.

When the [Maintain aspect ratio of:] option is on, changing one dimension automatically changes the other, thereby maintaining the ratio of the original image.

Rotating

Turns images in 90 or 180-degree increments around a center point. To rotate an image,

click the rotate button and choose the type of rotation you prefer.

Flipping

Mirrors an image 180 degrees along the vertical or horizontal axis. To flip an image, click

the flip shortcut and choose one of the two options.

Adjusting Color Levels

Levels

Click the Levels button to bring up the Levels adjustment window. The Levels sliders let you adjust the brightness, contrast, and mid-tones in an image. By adjusting the mid -tones, you can change the brightness values of the mid -range gray tones without dramatically altering the shadows and highlights.

Auto Levels

Click the Auto-levels button to automatically adjust the brightness, contrast and color balance of an image. There is no before and after preview with this feature. However, you can undo the action by clicking the undo button.

Color Balance

Color balance is used to adjust the colors of a full-color image. Click the color balance button to bring up the color balance window. There are also sliders available to adjust the hue, saturation and lightness, and a before and after preview of your image is given.

To apply color adjustments and image filters, the image must be set to true color (24bpp). It is possible, however, to adjust levels and auto levels with 256 grays (8bpp) images. Check the color setting by going to the Color menu.

Regardless of the color setting – from 16 grays (4bpp) to true color – all image effects are available for use, including Sepia, Colorize, Negative, and Emboss. Sepia and Colorize will not be available for black and white images (1bpp).

Applying Image Filters

Blur

The blur filter softens images by smoothing color transitions. This is achieved by averaging the pixels next to the hard edges of defined lines and shaded areas in an image. Click the blur button to bring up the blur window. Use the slider to alter the degree of blurriness applied to your image – a before and after preview is available for this function.

Sharpen

The Sharpen filter focuses blurry images by increasing the contrast of adjacent pixels. Click the sharpen button to bring up the associated window and sharpen your image. A preview is available with this function also.

Despeckle

Detects the edges in an image (areas where significant color changes occur), and blurs all of the selection except those edges. This blurring removes image noise (graininess, scratches, and dust), while preserving detail. Click the despeckle button to initiate this effect – there is no before and after image preview available for this function.

Red- eye Reduction

"Red-eye" is a problem that frequently occurs with flash photography especially when taking pictures in dark surroundings. The red-eye reduction facilities of Photo Enhancer allow you to remove the red-eye effect as can be seen in this example below:

As can be seen in the example above, the red pixels of the image are removed while still preserving the bright "glint" in the pupil area. This commonly occurs due to reflections from a light source and gives the image a realistic appearance.

The steps involved in automatic red-eye reduction are as follows:

1. Select the image from ACDSee Browser and select [Tools | Edit] or press the Edi t shortcut button.

2. Go to the [Filter] menu and choose [Red-eye reduction…]

3. In the Red-Eye Reduction dialog, as seen below, choose the eye color.

4. Next, with the Select button pressed, click and drag a selected area (an eye that is red) in the "Afte r" view.

5. Click the [Auto Zoom] button and the window will now look like this:

In the above example, the red-eye effect has been reduced but it is possible to customize the effect further. Here are the options:

Reselect the area: Click on the selected area in the "After" view and reshape this area or drag it so that only the iris is within the circle or ellipse.

Zoom: Click the [Auto Zoom] button to enlarge the area again. You can also press the [Zoom Out] and [Zoom In] buttons.

Scroll: Click this button to move the image (the cursor turns to a hand icon). Amount: To take out more of the red pixels, drag the bar in the [Amount] area to the

right or increase the corresponding number values to the right (the range is from 0 to 255; 0 being no change and 255 being maximum reduction).

Eye Color: Select any of the radio buttons next to the colors available or choose the [Custom…] button and select a customized color.

Image Effects

Sepia

Sepia is a term used to describe dated photos that have turne d to shades of reddish brown. To give your images a dated look, click the sepia button – no before and after preview is available with this function.

Colorize

Colorize is used to create an adjustable monochrome image. Click the colorize button to bring up the colorize window, then adjust the hue and saturation levels with the sliders – a before and after preview is available.

Negative

The Negative command inverts an image. Use this command to make a positive, black-andwhite image negative, or to make a positive from a scanned black-and-white negative. Click the negative button to initiate this effect – no preview is available with this effect.

Emboss

Emboss makes images appear raised or stamped by converting their fill-color to gray and tracing the edges with the original fill-color. Click the emboss button to bring up the associated window. The sliders let you adjust the azimuth, elevation and weight of an image, and a before and after preview is available.

The bulk of this chapter deals with how ACDSee incorporates new functionality by utilizing plug-in technology. Plug-ins are software extensions that enhance the core program feature set. Other areas covered in this chapter include, rotating JPEG images, creating wallpaper for the desktop, and information pertaining to the storage of thumbnail images and database maintenance. To begin, we will describe the steps involved in acquiring and printing images followed by digital camera support.

Acquiring and Printing Images

Acquiring Imag es

ACDSee supports the industry standard TWAIN interface for transferring images from digital imaging hardware. Typically, this hardware is either a scanner or digital camera.

Acquire setup command

Use the [File | Acquire setup...] command to bring up the Acquire Setup dialog box as seen below. Select your acquire source and customize settings as described here:

1. Select the TWAIN source for your device from the list. (If your device is not on the list, consult your device manual for TWAIN driver availability and installation procedures.)

2. Configure the format for saving acquired images. JPEG gives the smallest file size at the expense of some image quality, while BMP preserves quality, but results in larger file sizes. TIFF format allows a range of choices for storing images; however, not all applications support every sub-format.

3. Use the Filename template to specify filenames for acquired images. Insert one or more # symbols and ACDSee will automatically generate index numbers.

To automatically display the Acquire setup dialog every time you acquire an image, check the [Miscellaneous | Show acquire setup before acquiring] option.

Acquire command

The [File | Acquire…] command starts the device's source manager and allows images to be transferred. Images are placed in whatever directory was active when invoking the acquire command. They appear in the File list as each transfer completes.

Printing Images

It is possible to print images from either the Browser, the Viewer, or from the Explorer window.

Printing in Browse mode

1. Select one or more image files.

2. Choose the [File | Print…] menu command.

3. Follow the instructions in the Print and Print Setup dialog boxes and the selected images will be printed – one per page.

In the Print dialog box, several settings can be configured. To get a better idea of these settings, we recommend using the Context sensitive help feature.

To print multiple images on a single page:

1. Select more than one image. See Selecting files.

2. Choose the [File | Print…] menu command.

3. Select your printer and click the Print button.

4. In the Size section of the Print Setup dialog box, choose [Thumbnails] from the drop-down list of the Print Setup dialog.

5. Change the width and the height of the thumbnail as desired. A preview will display how the page will look.

6. Press the OK button.

ACDSee v3.1 includes a Contact Sheet plug-in – along with it’s own help file – that makes printing multiple images even easier.

1. Select more than one image.

2. Choose the [Print Contact Sheet] shortcut button in the toolbar.

3. Make necessary setting changes and press the OK button.

Printing in View mode

1. Select the [File | Print…] command, or the [File | Print all…] command.

2. Follow the instructions in the Print and Print Setup dialog boxes. The current image will be printed.

By default, the image is printed at approximately the same size as it appears on the screen (this may depend on the size of your monitor, and your screen settings). You can alter the size of the printout by adjusting the zoom level prior to printing. However, the size on paper may be off by a constant factor depending on the monitor size and settings used.

If you want to print only part of an image, select the region prior to invoking the [Print] command.

If an image contains more than one page (for example a multipage TIFF image), you can specify in the Print dialog box which pages should be printe d. When printing from Browse mode, the entire multipage image is printed by default. However, when printing from View mode only the current page is printed by default.

Printing From Explorer:

1. Click the image file with the alternate mouse button.

2. Select [Print with ACDSee] from the context menu.

If there is no [Print with ACDSee] command in the context menu, select [Tools | File Associations...] from the menu. Check the relevant file types, then go to the Context menu tab and check the [Print with ACDSee] shell command item.

Digital Camera Support

The International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that worldwide sales of digital cameras will exceed US$4.3 billion and that by 2004, digital camera sales will total more than 41 million units. This staggering growth will come thanks to falling digital camera prices, increased ease of use, and the absence of processing costs.

There are many digital cameras on the market today, and ACDSee integrates with them to acquire, browse, and transfer photos to your computer. Once you have connected a camera to your system, ACDSee makes the rest of the process easy. After configuring the camera you are ready to do any of the following:

Ø Take pictures with ACDSee.

Ø Browse images on the camera.

Ø Transfer images to your system.

Camera Configuration

To configure ACDSee to work with your digital camera, select [Tools | Digital Camera | Camera configuration]. Select your camera model from the list and click Properties to specify connection settings and options. After you have set the camera properties, click OK to set the camera as the current camera.

If your camera does not appear in the list, you may be able to download a camera plug-in for it. Check our web site to see the list of available camera plug-ins:

http://www.ACDSYSTEMS.com/english/products/plug-ins/

Even if a plug-in for your camera is not available, you can still access it using the acquire feature.

Taking Pictures

Use the [Tools | Digital Camera | Take pictures] command to take a single picture, or a series of pictures at regular intervals.

You can take a sequence of timed pictures by setting the [Take picture] interval to your desired setting. This interval setting can range from 1 second to 99 hours between pictures.

Each picture in the timed sequence can be given its own specific file name. The file name template allows you to specify a template to use when generating file names for pictures downloaded to your computer. You can use the following codes to generate file names:

{caption} A unique name the user can specify.

e.g., Holidays &d Date on which the picture was taken. e.g., 2000-07-13 &nnn Sequence number of the picture. One digit is used for each ‘n’. e.g., 001, 002, etc. &t Time at which the picture was taken. e.g., 17.47.42

The button also provides you with access to the above codes.

You can specify that each picture be transferred into a folder on your disk drive after it is taken, or you can leave the pictures on the camera and transfer them later. To specify the target folder for transferring pictures, check the box [Download and remove each picture after it’s taken]. Only the disk drive space you have available limits the number of photos you can take and transfer to your computer.

Browsing the Camera

ACDSee can browse the images on the camera just like images on your disk drive. To do this, select [Tools | Digital Camera | Browse] from the menu. You can also view and start a slide show of images directly from the camera. However, due to the limited bandwidth of the connection, it is recommended that you transfer the images to you disk drive before viewing.

Transferring Images from the Camera

The [Tools | Digital Camera | Transfer all] command can be used to transfer all images on the camera into the current folder rapidly. The images are automatically removed from the camera after transferring successfully.

Plug-ins

A plug-in is an application extension – much like a Windows DLL (Dynamic Link Library) – that allows program functionality to be added to ACDSee without changing the main application code. Many plug-ins allow additional file format support, while others pertain to feature enhancement.

ACDSee v3.1 (Update) supports the following plug-ins:

Ø HTML Album Generator

Ø SendPix

Ø JPEG Transform

Ø Adjust Levels

Ø Create and Print a Contact Sheet

Ø E-mail images

ACD Systems creates and distributes many of the plug-ins for ACDSee, but plug-ins can also be produced by third-party companies. Adding additional plug-ins is as easy as going to our web site at: http://www.ACDSYSTEMS.com/english/products/plug-ins/ and downloading the plug-in of choice. All plug-ins obtained from ACDSee’s web site are automatically placed in the appropriate directory when the downloaded file is executed (.exe). Due to ACDSee’s popularity, many more plug-ins are anticipated.

Plug-in help files

Several plug-ins are included with ACDSee and many of these have associated help files, including: HTML Album Generator, Create and Print a Contact Sheet, and the E-mail plug-in. When a plug-in is activated, the corresponding dialog box appears. In each dialog box, a Help button is available to activate the associated help files.

Types of Plug- ins

ACDSee supports several types of plug-ins.

Image decoding plug-ins

This type of plug-in allows ACDSee to decode a file format into an image that can be displayed, printed, converted, etc. A single plug-in can support several different image formats. ACDSee comes standard with plug-ins that support the most popular image formats. Additional image formats are supported by after-market plug-ins.

Image encoding plug-ins

This type of plug-in allows ACDSee to encode a file format. It is used by the File conversion feature and the [Save As…] command in the View and Photo Enhancer windows. ACDSee comes standard with plug-ins that support the most popular image formats. Additional image formats can be supported by adding additional plug-ins.

Archive handling plug-ins

This type of plug-in allows ACDSee to read the contents of archive files and browse them like a normal folder. A single plug-in can support several different archive formats. ACDSee comes standard with plug-ins that support the popular ZIP and LZH archive formats. Additional archive formats can be supported by adding additional plug-ins.

Digital camera plug-ins

This type of plug-in allows ACDSee to access a digital camera. A single plug-in can support several different cameras. Select the [Plug-ins | Settings | Camera] menu command to view the available plug-ins. Use the Properties button to access camera settings. To ensure a particular plug-in is enabled place a check in the box beside the camera plug-in.

The retail version of ACDSee includes plug-ins that support several different digital cameras. See Appendix 4: Digital Camera Support for the list of cameras that are supported. You can download additional camera plug-ins from our web site.

http://www.ACDSYSTEMS.com/english/products/plug-ins/

Command extension plug-ins

This type of plug-in adds commands to ACDSee’s [Plug-ins] menu that operate on the currently selected images. Examples of these plug-ins includes HTML Album Generator,SendPix, Email, Adjust Levels and Contact Sheet plug-ins to generate thumbnails and HTML albums plugins. Additional commands can be added by adding additional plug-ins.

Important: We cannot ensure quality of plug-ins that are not certified by ACD Systems.

Just like any other piece of software, in using a plug-in you are trusting that it is free from viruses and that the company that produced the plug-in is trustworthy.

Plug- in Settings

You can configure plug-in settings using the [Plug-ins | Settings...] command. The following settings can be changed:

Plug-in folder

By default, ACDSee locates plug-ins in the directory C:\Program Files\ACD Systems \ PlugIns. You can change the plug-in folder by clicking on the Browse button. The change will not take effect until you restart ACDSee.

Plug-in activation

By default, all plug-ins are enabl ed. You can disable a plug-in (for example, if it is causing a problem) by turning off the check box next to the plug-in in the list.

Plug-in priorities

Sometimes, more than one plug-in supports a given file type. In this instance, ACDSee uses the plug-in priorities to determine which plug-in will handle the file. The high-priority plug-ins are tried first, followed by the low -priority plug-ins. You can use the [Move up] and [Move down] buttons to change the relative plug-in priority. Plug-ins higher in the list have a high priority.

It is recommended that you give Susie plug-ins the lowest priority to prevent them from being used instead of the ACD plug-in, because they do not have the features and speed of native ACD plug-ins. Alternatively, you can disable specific Susie plug-ins that overlap ACD plug-ins in their format support.

A plug-in that claims to handle a given file extension is always given higher priority than plug-ins that do not.

Plug-in specific settings

Some plug-ins, such as Kodak Photo CD and Susie, let you set options specific to themselves. To do this, select the plug-in from the list and click the [Properties...] button. Then configure the plug-in specific options.

SendPix Plug- in

The SendPix plug-in that comes with ACDSee, lets you resample images into a web-friendly resolution. As part of this process, the images are stored on ACD System servers. To send images, type in the recipient's e-mail address and include a message about the images you wish them to view. The recipient is provided with a URL (Uniform/Universal Resource Locator) where they can view the images using a web browser: there is no need for the recipient to have specific software to view the images. A thumbnail contact sheet of the images can be viewed quickly without downloading all the images and then some or all of the images can be saved on the recipient's computer.

To send images using SendPix:

1. Select the pictures you want to send.

In the Browser File list, select an image by clicking on it with the primary mouse

button. To select additional files, hold down <Ctrl> while clicking on other files. To highlight a range of files, select the first item and then click the last item in the range while holding down <Shift> key. To select all items use the [Edit | Select All Files] menu command.

2. Select the [Plug-ins | SendPix] menu command or press the toolbar button.

3. In the dialog box that appears, type your e-mail address in the [From:] field, the recipient's e-mail address in the [To:] field, and a message about the photos.

4. Click OK to confirm and the images will be transmitted to the SendPix server for delivery.

SendPix will only support image files – when non-images are selected SendPix becomes disabled. With video files, a thumbnail image of the file is sent, but the entire file is not included. This is also true for the E-mail plug-in. The SendPix server holds images for a period of one month. Only those individuals with the correct URL can view the images on the server.

HTML Album Generator

HTML Album Generator is ideal for web site developers who want to quickly and easily create HTML photo albums. These albums can be used as web pages to be viewed with Internet Explorer or Netscape.

To create an album, follow these steps:

1. In ACDSee v3.1 and above, select the images that you would like to appear in the album.

2. Select [HTML Album Generator] from the Plug-ins menu or the toolbar button.

3. In the [Page Settings | Title] box enter a title for the album.

4. Click OK and the album will be created and then displayed.

The HTML Album Generator plug-in comes equipped with it’s own help file and contextsensitive help. For more information on how to use these, see Getting Help.

E-mail Plug-in

The E-mail plug-in allows you to send images by e-mail directly from ACDSee version 3.1 without using any external application.

Before e-mail can be sent for the first time, the e-mail plug-in must be configured.

To send e-mail, follow these steps:

1. In ACDSee, select the images you wish to send.

2. Select [Send images by e-mail] from the Plug-ins menu or the toolbar button.

3. In the [From:] drop down list, select your e-mail account.

4. In the [To:] edit box type the recipient(s) e-mail address(es). A comma should separate multiple e-mail addresses. There is a [Cc:] edit box available as well.

By clicking the address book button to the right of the [To:] or [Cc:] edit boxes, you can choose from a saved list of e-mail addresses that were previously used.

5. Type a subject in the [Subject:] edit box.

6. Type the message text in the [Message:] edit box.

7. Make sure you are connected to the Internet and then click the Send button.

The first time the E-mail plug-in is run it will attempt to automatically configure itself by importing the email settings from Outlook®,

Outlook Express®, Eudora® or Netscape®. If you

use a different program to send e-mail, you must configure the e-mail plug-in manually.

1. If the Options dialog box is not a lready displayed, click the [Options…] button.

2. Click the [Add…] button to add a new e -mail account.

3. In the [Full Name:] edit box type your full name (e.g., John Smith).

4. In the [E-mail Address:] edit box type your e-mail address (e.g., jsmith@ispname.com).

5. In the [SMTP Server]: edit box, type the name of your SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) Mail Server (e.g., mail.ispname.com). If you do not know the name of your SMTP mail server, contact your network administrator or your Internet Service Provider.

6. Click OK to finish adding the new account.

7. Click OK to complete the configuration.

Consult the online E-mail plug-in help file for the Advanced Options default settings. See the

Question and Answer section on page 88 for specific troubleshooting with the E-mail plug-in.

Contact Sheet and Print Contact Sheet

The Contact Sheet and Print Contact Sheet plug-ins pertain to contact sheet development and printing plug-ins for ACDSee (v3.1 and above specifically). Contact sheets are excellent for cataloguing large image banks. The Contact Sheet plug-in allows highly customizable image contact sheets, and HTML image maps to be created, while the Print Contact Sheet Plug-in was designed for printing contact sheets.

To create contact sheets, follow these steps:

1. In ACDSee v3.1 and above, select the images you would like to appear.

2. Select [Create a contact sheet] or [Create and print a contact sheet] from the Plug-ins menu or the corresponding toolbar buttons.

3. In the Contact Sheet dialog, as seen below, make the necessary configurations in the tabbed pages.

4. Make sure to specify the output path of where you would like the contact sheet to be saved (or, for Print Contact Sheet, the destination printer), and click OK.

Tabbed pages include: Page tab allows you to set

layout specific options. Thumbnails tab allows you

to set thumbnail specific options.

Labels tab allows you to add labels to your contact sheet.

Output tab (for Contact Sheet plug-in only) a llows you to specify output options for your contact sheet.

There are also options to add frames, bevel edges, drop shadows, background color, labels and mattes to your thumbnail images. The preview area will refresh to display any new settings applied (the preview is to scale). There is a check box option that allows you to create an HTML image map that corresponds to your contact sheet created. Use the context-sensitive help and the online help file for more information on all these options.

Adjust Levels Plug-in

The Adjust Levels plug-in in ACDSee v3.1 and above, allows you to adjust the brightness, contrast, whitepoint / blackpoint, and gamma settings of one or more images. Using this plug-in you will be able to select a group of images and adjust all of them as a batch.

By clicking the [Level settings…] button, it is possible to adjust the brightness, contrast and other values of your image.

If you are working with JPEG,

PNG, TGA, and TIFF images

the [Format settings…] button will be available. This button allows you to change settings such as the compression of the image.

It is important to keep in mind that changing the compression can affect image quality.

JPEG Transform

ACDSee offers a lossless JPEG rotation command which allows you to rotate a JPEG image, or group of JPEG images without decompressing, and recompressing and re-quantizing the JPEG information. This means that no quality is lost in the transformation.

Odd-sized images will be cropped to the nearest multiple of 8 or 16 (in each dimension).

1. Begin by highlighting one or more JPEG images in the Browser.

JPEG Transform is not available for any other image format. For example, if the images selected include a GIF image then the JPEG Transform option will be disabled.

2. Select [Tools | JPEG Transform…] and the dialog seen here will appear:

3. Choose one of the five rotation options available. Choose the [Apply to all] option if wanting to apply the transformation to all the images.

Wallpaper

4. Press OK.

If you select more than one image, the [Apply to all]

check box will be available. If you do not select this option then when you press OK, the next image will appear in the Lossless JPEG Transformation dialog and you can select a different rotation for each image. The actual rotations take place as a batch operation after all rotations are specified.

The Wallpaper commands let you set the wallpaper shown on the Windows desktop to any image. The selected image is first converted to BMP format and then saved as "ACD Wallpaper.bmp" in the Windows folder. ACDSee then changes the wallpaper settings in Control Panel to display this image.

Tiled, Centered and Restore

Ø With the wallpaper shortcut added to the toolbar, press the drop-down arrow next

the wallpaper icon and choose between Centered, Tiled, and Restore (as seen above). Alternatively, go to [Tools | Set Wallpaper | Restore].

Ø Holding down <Shift> when you click the wallpaper shortcut button is another

way to have the wallpaper tiled (rather than centered). Or, select the corresponding command from the [Tools | Set Wallpaper] menu.

If the image is larger than the screen, it will be shrunk to fit. In View mode, you can set the desktop wallpaper to part of an image by selecting the region of interest before invoking the wallpaper command.

Thumbnails

When browsing, you can view images as thumbnails by selecting [View | Thumbnails] from the menu. ACDSee generates and displays a thumbnail for each of the images in the current folder. You can set the size of the thumbnail using preferences on the Thumbnails options page.

Thumbnail Caching

Because thumbnail generation can be a time-consuming process, ACDSee provides a thumbnail caching feature. Whenever a thumbnail is generated for a source image, it is saved in a central database file. The next time ACDSee requires the thumbnail for that image, it can read the thumbnail directly from the database file rather than decoding the source image again. This greatly enhances the speed at which ACDSee gathers thumbnails.

See Customizing Using Options .

You can choose to compress the thumbnails stored in the cache by going to [Tools | Options | Miscellaneous]. This saves disk space, but it often requires more time to read the thumbnails back in. In addition, if you choose a compression option other than [None] or [Lossless], the thumbnails’ quality is noticeably degraded. By default, ACDSee stores thumbnails with no compression.

ACDSee also caches thumbnails for image files on read-only and removable disks. ACDSee uses the volume label of a removable disk to identify it. Therefore, you can have several disks of images, possibly with the same names, and ACDSee still caches the images on each disk correctly and without conflict.

If you modify an image whose thumbnail is cached, ACDSee automatically detects the change and regenerates the thumbnail the next time it is displayed. When you delete image files with ACDSee, the corresponding thumbnails are removed from the database to reclaim the space used.

However, if you delete, move or rename image files with Explorer, the thumbnails are not removed and space is wasted. To alleviate this problem and keep your database working efficiently, use the [Database | Maintenance…] command to delete old thumbnails, defragment and optimize the database file.

Database Maintenance

It is good practice to clean up the database periodically. In this way, database items that correspond to deleted images can be removed. This frees up disk drive space. It is important to note that if you are removing cached thumbnails of images that still reside on your system, then these thumbnails will be cached again after you view the images with ACDSee – unless [Tools | Options | Miscellaneous | Store thumbnails] is cleared. If you delete database information (metadata), it will be removed permanently.

To optimize the database follow these steps:

1. From the Browser, select [Database | Maintenance…] and the dialog box, as seen below, will appear. The Database content pane on the left, displays all directories in which optimization is possible.

2. Select a marked folder or a directory (i.e., one that contains database information). When selecting a parent folder, all subfolders will also be included.

3. Choose from one of the three buttons as described below, or right click on the folder and choose a command.

4. Click the Optimize button.

After clicking the Optimize button, there will be a progress bar to show the process taking place and approximate time involved. The total disk space that is saved from the optimization is shown.

If you make a change to the database using steps 1 to 3 above, the change is not finalized until clicking the Optimize button. If you close the dialog box, the changes will not take effect.

The maintenance options are as follows:

Removes all information for files and folders that do not exist on your system. These are referred to as “Orphans.”

Removes all information (metadata and cached thumbnails), within the selected item; this removes the “Folder” from the database.

Removes all cached “Thumbnails” within the selected item.

Cached information pertains to all metadata included with an image (i.e., the image property information), with the exception of digital camera information and image description.

If you have two or more drives (i.e., C: drive and D: drive), and you are concerned about disk drive space, it is possible to move the image database to the drive that has more available space. To do so, go to [Tools | Options | Miscellaneous] and change the location of the image database by choosing the Browse button. You will also have to manually move the *.dtf and *.ddf files to the new location as well.

Rebuild thumbnails

There are situat ions that may develop where your image will not be synchronized with the thumbnail image that is displayed in the File list. When this occurs, you can select the thumbnails and then use the [Database | Rebuild Thumbnails] command. This method is a selective thumbnail rebuild in contrast to deleting the cached folder or directory in the database maintenance procedure.

File management is one of the essential features to ACDSee. This section deals with many of the elements related to file and folder management.

Timestamp Command

You can change the last-modified timestamp of a file or group of files by selecting the files and invoking the [Tools | Change Timestamp…] command. You can set the last-modified timestamp either to the creation timestamp (date and time when the file was created), to the current system time, or to a specified date and time.

Deleting Files

Delete a file, folder or shortcut by selecting it and using the [Edit | Delete] command. The Filing tab of the Options dialog lets you spe cify whether to use the recycle bin when deleting files, and whether to ask for confirmation before deleting. You can bypass confirmation by holding down <Ctrl> when invoking the Delete command. You can also bypass the recycle bin by holding down <Shift> when invoking the Delete command.

The Favorites List

You can add applications to the Favorites list in order to access them quickly from within ACDSee. To open a file with a specific application in the list, just drag the file and drop it on the application shortcut.

For more information, see Favorites List Pane .

Finding Image Files

The [Tools | Find Images…] command – accessible from the Browser – can be used to search for image files that match filename or description keywords.

Search Scope

The scope of the search is limited to the selected folders, or, if no folders are selected, the current folder. The command can also be invoked from the context menu of a file folder or file folder shortcut. If a single folder is selected, the scope can be modified by typing a new path into the [Look in:] box.

The check boxes entitled [Include subfolders] and [Follow shortcut links], allow the search to be recursive. (i.e., to include subfolders as well).

Hidden files and folders are included in the search only if the [Tools | Options… | File List | Show hidden files] option is enabled.

Search Criteria

Filename patterns

One or more filename patterns can be entered in the Filename box to limit the search to files with matching names. A match occurs if a filename matches any of the given patterns. If a pattern does not specify a file extension, any file extension will be used in the match.

Descriptions, Notes, and Keywords

Descriptions, Notes, and Keywords or any portions of these categories can be entered in the text box. The appropriate check boxes must be selected below the text box. Words are separated by spaces and phrases (quotation marks are optional). A match occurs if the text matches any portion of the description, notes, or keywords.

If you enter both a filename pattern and description text, then an image must meet both criteria to be a match.

Author and Date

It is possible to search by author name in the text box provided. A section for the date is also included to search by time parameters – [File timestamp] or [Date in database].

Displaying Search Results

To start a search, click the Find button, or use the [Tools | Find Images…] command. Enter the search criteria and press the [Find Now] button. When the search is complete, the number of matching images found is displayed. The matching images can then be displayed in the File list of the Browser by clicking on the View button. If the [Auto-view results] option is checked, then any matc hes found will automatically be viewed after the search is finished.

Matching images are shown in Browse mode and can be seen in the File list section. To return to normal Browse mode functions, click a folder in the Folder tree, or select [Go | Back], or click the Back button located in the toolbar. After doing so, it is possible to perform a new search by making another selection.

Modifying Files and Folders

Renaming Files and Folders

You can rename files and folders in the File list, Folder tree and Favorites list.

To rename a file or folder:

1. Select the item.

2. Select [Edit | Rename] from the menu.

3. Type the new name.

4. Press <Enter>.

You can also rename an item by selecting it, waiting a moment, and clicking on the name with the primary mouse button. However, there is a Browser option to turn off this feature.

You cannot rename any file on a read-only file system such as the CD -ROM. With ACDSee v3.1 you can rename a drive.

Renaming a Series

You can rename a group of files according to a numbered series and change filenames and file extensions to upper and/or lower case.

For example:

Original names: BeaconHill1.jpg, BeaconHill2.jpg, Empress2.jpg New names: Victoria1_BeaconHill1.jpg,

Victoria2_BeaconHill2.jpg, Victoria3_ Empress2.jpg

1. Select the files.

2. From the menu, select [Tools | Rename Series…].

3. Select the [Specify a template to use for renaming files.] checkbox.

4. Enter a template name in the [Template:] field (this could be a word that is related to the series of images you want to rename).

5. Specify the starting index.

6. In the [Filename Case] field, highlight the desired option.

7. A table at the bottom of the dialog box indicates the filename changes that will take place.

8. Click OK.

Initially, the template and sta rting index are formed based on the first selected filename.

If you double-click on a filename in the left column, the current template and starting number will be reset based on the selected filename.

If you do not want to rename according to a template , deselect the [Specify a template to use for renaming files.] checkbox. Doing this causes all fields, except for the [Filename Case] field, to become inactive.

Describing Files

To ensure efficient navigation and personalization of your collection, ACDSe e lets you attach descriptions to files and folders to remind you of the context of an image, or image sequence. File descriptions are used by some other application programs (such as JPSoft’s 4DOS/4NT), but they are not supported directly by Windows. The file descriptions you create are stored in hidden files called descript.ion, such files exists for each folder. If you copy, move or rename files using ACDSee, your file descriptions will remain.

Copying Descript.ion files to CD’s

To copy images and their corresponding descriptions to recordable CD’s, ensure the [Tools | Options… | File List | Show hidden files] option is checked. With this option checked, it is possible to view and copy the descript.ion files in the File list. To do this in Thumbnails view, the [Tools | Options… | Thumbnails | All files (not just images)] option must be checked. With these options checked, you can drag and drop images along with their descriptions to the target location.

Using ACDSee’s [Tools | Find Images…] command, you can search through your file descriptions for matching words and phrases in order to locate images.

File description features

Ø Each file description can be up to 3800 characters long.

Ø Carriage returns and line feeds are not allowed in file descriptions.

Ø The file description for the currently selected file appears in the rightmost pane

of the status bar.

Ø In Browse mode file descriptions also appear in the rightmost column in Details

view and can be used to sort the files.

IMPORTANT: Copying, moving or renaming files using other programs, such as Explorer or the MS-DOS command prompt, will cause file descriptions to be lost!

To set/change a file description:

1. Select the file you want to describe.

2. Select [Edit | Describe…] from the menu.

3. Enter the new file description.

Ø When the File list is in Details view mode, you can also double -click a file

description to edit it. However, there is a Browser option to disable this feature.

Ø Files that reside on read-only file drives such as CD-ROM cannot be described.

To describe a group of files using the same file description:

1. Select the files you want to describe.

2. Select [Edit | Describe…] from the menu.

3. Check [Apply to all] at the bottom of the dialog box.

4. Enter the new file description.

Copying and Moving Files/Folders

Copy to/Move to

The [Edit | Copy To…] and [Edit | Move To…] commands let you copy or move one or more files to a different folder. Upon invoking the command, a dialog box appears allowing you to specify the target folder. A list of the most recently used target folders is shown to increase

efficiency. In the event of a filename collision, you can specify what action should be taken, when copying or moving a single file, specify a different filename.

Copy, Cut and Paste Files

The Copy, Cut and Paste commands can be used to copy and move files between folders.

To copy one or more files:

1. Select one or more items and then select [Edit | Copy] from the menu.

2. Browse to the folder where you want to place the selected file (or files).

3. Select [Edit | Paste].

To move one or more files:

1. Select one or more items and then select [Edit | Cut] from the menu.

2. Browse to the folder where you want to place the selected file (or files).

3. Select [Edit | Paste].

You can also copy, cut and paste files between ACDSee and Explorer. However, if you paste files into Explorer, the file descriptions are not preserved.

The Filing tab of the Options dialog contains several options that determine what ACDSee does when there is a filena me collision. This occurs in situations where a file in the target folder has the same name as one of the files being copied or moved.

Drag and Drop

You can select one or more items in the Browser File list or Folder tree, and then drag and drop it somewhere else.

To copy files or folders:

1. Select one or more items.

2. Drag the selection with the alternate mouse button and drop it onto a folder or shortcut to folder in the File list, Folder tree or Favorites list.

3. Select [Copy here] from the context menu.

You can also drag the selection with the primary mouse button. If you drop the selection into a folder on the same disk partition (e.g., from C: drive to C: drive), the files are moved by default. If you drop the selection into a folder on a different disk partition (e.g., from C: drive to D: drive), the files are copied. The mouse pointer shows a plus sign if the files will be copied. You can force the files to be moved by pressing <Shift>, and force them to be copied by pressing <Ctrl>.

The Filing tab of the Options dialog contains several options that determine what ACDSee does when there is a filename collision. This occurs in situations where a file in the target folder has the same name as one of the files being copied or moved.

To create shortcuts to files or folders:

1. Select one or more items.

2. Drag the selection with the alternate mouse button and drop it onto a folder or shortcut to folder in the File list, Folder tree or Favorites list.

3. Select [Create shortcut(s) here] from the context menu.

If you want to create shortcuts in the Favorites list, drag the files or folders using the primary mouse button and drop them onto the background of the Favorites list.

To open files with an application in the Favorites list:

1. Select one or more items.

2. Drag the selection with the primary mouse button and drop it onto the application shortcut.

Special drag & drop features

Ø When dragging an object within ACDSee, position the mouse near one of the

borders of the target window in order to scroll in the corresponding direction. The scroll speed is proportional to the distance from the border.

Ø If you are dragging items into the Folder tree, expand or collapse the currently

highlighted folder by either pressing <Space> or the other mouse button (e.g., click with the right mouse button if you are dragging with the left).

Generating File Listings

The [Tools | Generate File Listing] command lets you get a textual listing of the contents of the current folder. You can then print, save or edit the listing.

The information included in the listing is the same information displayed in Details view mode. The sort order of the listing, the columns shown and the order of the columns matches the respective settings of the File list. To find out how to show/hide, sort and change the order of columns, see File List Pane .

The generated File list text is saved to a file in the designated TEMP directory and opened using the default text editor (normally Notepad).

Launching Document Files

When you double-click a file that ACDSee does not recognize as an image, ACDSee launches the associated default application. The same thing happens when you double-click a file in Explorer.

The open and edit file actions

ACDSee lets you set two actions for each file type. The open action is normally the default action used by Explorer and other programs. The additional edit action lets you set up a secondary command. This feature is designed to let you invoke a different application for editing images, but you can use it however you like.

Setting the open and edit actions for a file type:

1. In Browse or View mode, select a file representing the type.

2. Select [Tools | Shell | Open with...] or [Tools | Shell | Edit with...]. In the window that appears, select an application to handle the action.

3. Check the box at the bottom of the dialog box to make the association permanent, or clear the box to launch the file with the given application without saving the new association.

4. Click OK.

When you initially set up ACDSee as the default application for file types, either during setup or with the [Tools | File Associations...] menu command, ACDSee automatically sets the previously associated applications as the applications for the corresponding edit actions.

Converting Images to Another Format

The [Tools | Convert…] command brings up the format conversion window.

Choose from the options provided to convert the selected image to another format (this method is only available in Browse mode). Some formats have encoding options that can be adjusted by clicking on the format settings button in the format conversion window.

To convert an image from View mode, use the [File | Save As...] command. The desired output format can be selected from the file type drop-down list. The converted image is written to a file with the same name as the original but with an extension matching the selected format.

Should the output file already exist, the action taken is determined by the selection made in the [Overwrite existing:] list options. If the [Remove/replace original] box is checked, the source file is deleted after a successful conversion.

Converting image in Browse mode

1. Select one or more images in the Browse mode.

2. Select the [Tools | Convert…] command from the menu or alternate click with the mouse and select [Convert…]

3. Choose the desired output format.

4. Some formats let you specify additional options.

5. Change the [Overwrite existing] and [Remove/replace original] options as desired.

6. Click OK.

In View mode

1. View the image you wish to convert.

2. Select [File | Save as…] from the menu.

3. Select the desired output format and options.

4. Enter the output filename.

5. Click Save.

If you select part of the image before saving, the saved image will be cropped to the selection.

In this section, we highlight various tips of operating ACDSee as well as customization features. There are a number of tips associated with viewing such as adjusting your display quality and viewing multiple images. This will be our starting place.

Optimizing Image Display Quality

Gamma correction

Ideally, every monitor would display an image the same way. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Each make of monitor applies its own characteristic nonlinear transfer function to the pixels of an image when displaying it. For this reason ACDSee allows you to specify a gamma correction value. A gamma value of 1.0 is normal, with no correction. Lower gamma values darken the image, while highe r gamma values lighten the image. The gamma correction option is located on the [Tools | Options…] display page.

No gamma correction is applied when you print or copy an image.

Color quantization and dithering

If you have a 256 or 32k/64k (high color) display, 24 and 32 bit images with 16 million colors must be processed by ACDSee before being displayed (in order to reduce the number of colors used). This two-stage process is called quantization and dithering. By selecting different quantization and dithering methods, you can choose to have a higher image quality and a slower decoding speed. That is, higher quality output will cost you some extra decoding time.

True color displays (16 million colors)

For true color displays, ACDSee always gives you the highest quality output possible. No quantization or dithering is required.

High color displays (32768 or 65536 colors)

For high color displays, the available quantization and dithering methods are:

No dithering Fastest, high quality output Ordered A little slower, very high quality output (default)

For many images, there is very little visible difference between these two methods. The superior output of the ordered dithering method is most noticeable in computer-generated

images. However, this option is recommended for general use since the difference in speed is hardly noticeable.

8-bit color Displays (256 colors)

For 256 color displays, the available quantization and dithering methods are:

1-pass ordered Fastest, reasonable quality output (default)

1-pass Floyd-Steinberg Somewhat slower, reasonable quality output 2-pass Floyd-Steinberg Much slower, good quality output

In 2-pass Floyd-Steinberg dithering, the image is decoded in two passes. In the first pass, ACDSee decodes the image and determines the optimal color palette. While this is being performed, the image is displayed using the 1-pass ordered method. In the second pass, ACDSee dithers the image using the optimal palette. After the second pass completes, the image is redrawn using the optimal palette. This method normally produces high quality output but takes longer than the single pass methods.

Viewing Multiple Images Simultaneously

Normally, the Browse window closes when you switch to View mode. You can keep the Browse window open while you open and view an image by holding down <Shift>.

In Browse mode:

1. Select an image.

2. Hold down <Shift> while doing one of the following:

Ø press <Enter> Ø or, alternate mouse click and choose View Ø or, select [File | Open]

Or:

1. Add an ACDSee application shortcut into the Favorites list by dragging and dropping the shortcut icon on the desktop into the Favorites pane.

2. Drag and drop the desired image files onto the ACDSee shortcut.

A new copy of ACDSee is started in View mode and the image is loaded. It is now possible to go back to the Browse window, select a different file, and repeat either method above.

Both methods let you modify whether subsequent images are opened in a new Viewer or in the same Viewer. Go to [Tools | Options | Miscellaneous] and in the [Startup files] section choose one of the options listed there.

If you make this change in the Options settings, you must restart ACDSee for the change to take place.

Viewing from a Single Window

Normally, ACDSee starts a new program instance and View window each time an external application calls it to view an image, so if an external application calls ACDSee several times, several View windows are generated. To reduce system overhead, you can instead configure ACDSee to use the same window for all images.

Here’s how to configure it:

1. Click Options.

2. Select [Tools | Options | Miscellaneous | Replace images in list] or [Add images to list].

The [Replace images in list] command closes all images in the current sequence and replaces them with the new image (or images). [Add images to list] adds newly opened files to the image sequence, allowing you to navigate back to previously viewed images.

See Image Sequences for more.

Customizing ACDSee

In order to achieve the greatest level of user satisfaction and operational efficiency, ACDSee has been developed so that you can customize many of its aspects to match your personal preferences or to better suit specific tasks.

Customizing Using Options

The Options window lets you change a wide variety of functions and features, so you can choose how you want to view and manipulate images.

To customize functions and features:

1. Click the Options shortcut button.

2. Click the tabbed page you wish to modify.

3. Choose your preferences.

4. Click OK to apply your changes temporarily, or select [Save settings] to apply them permanently.

Changes made to the Startup files section of the Miscellaneous page require a restart of the program in order to take effect. In addition, some settings can be changed using commands under the View menu. Most of these settings are automatically saved for future sessions.

As there are many settings to configure, we recommend using the button to bring up context-sensitive help. See Context sensitive help for more.

Customizing the ACDSee Browser Layout (v3.1 and above)

It is possible to change the panes that are displayed in the Browse win dow and then save these changes. In this way, you can choose from several Browser configurations.

To add a new pane:

Ø Click the [View | Browser panes] command and choose one of the options.

Active panes are indicated with a checkmark.

To remove a pane:

Ø Click [View | Browser panes] command and uncheck the option.

Ø Click the button at the top right of the pane inside the Browser.

You can also move an entire pane to a new area of the Browser by dragging and dropping. Click the topmost bar, then drag and drop the pane.

To save changes to the Browser configuration:

1. Select the [View | Layout scheme…] command.

2. Click the [Save as…] button and type in a name. The pane layout and the shortcut buttons in the toolbar will be saved.

To revert to a saved configuration:

1. Open the dialog box as described above.

2. Select a saved layout and click OK.

It is also possible to customize the Browser toolbar. See Toolbar and Command Extensions.

The File list pane cannot be moved.

Running ACDSee Automatically from Other Programs

It is often convenient to use ACDSee as a helper application for viewing images from other programs. When you installed ACDSee (from the Typical or Custom installation – as described in the Installation Steps), you were presented with a list of file types, which could be assigned to ACDSee to give it helper functionality. This list was automatically registered for you, so you could use ACDSee smoothly from other programs. However, other programs sometimes remove the default file associations installed with ACDSee.

To restore ACDSee as the associated application:

1. Select [Tools | File Associations...].

2. Place checkmarks beside the file types you want associated with ACDSee.

3. Click OK.

To assign an unlisted file type to ACDSee:

1. In Browse mode, select a file corresponding to the type.

2. Select [Tools | Shell | Open with...] from the menu. The Open With window appears.

3. Select ACDSee from the list.

4. Check the box at the bottom of the window that says: "Always use this program to Open this type of file."

5. Click OK.

Setting the View Window Size and Position

By default, the viewing window is automatically sized to fit the image displayed, and it is positioned in the center of the screen.

To position the window somewhere else:

1. Position the window where you want it.

2. Select [View | Save window pos.] from the menu.

To set a specific size and position:

1. Click Options for the dialog box.

2. Clear the [Viewer | Change window size to fit image] option.

3. Click [Save settings].

4. Position the window where you want it.

5. Select [View | Save window pos.] from the menu.

To set full-screen mode as the default:

1. Click Options for the dialog box.

2. Check the [Viewer | Full-screen] option.

3. Click [Save defaults].

Below are some of the frequently asked questio ns that apply to ACDSee and the E-mail plug-in. If your have a question that is not answered here it is suggested that you go to our Web site where there are more FAQ’s listed and updated on a regular basis:

http://www.ACDSYSTEMS.com/english/support/faq-library.htm

How do I navigate between the ACDSee Viewer and the ACDSee Browser?

By default, when you launch ACDSee you bring up the Browser. Here you will see a Folder tree on the left hand side and your image files on the right hand side.

To switch to the Viewer double-click the image file (or, select it and press [Enter] on your keyboard). The image will open in the Viewer. To return to the Browser double-click the image or pr ess the [Enter] key.

How do I open ACDSee in a specific folder?

1. With the alternate mouse button, single-click the ACDSee Icon on the desktop (a context menu will appear).

2. Click the [Properties] command at the bottom of the list. Then click the [Shortcut] tab of the dialog box that appears.

3. About halfway down there will be a box labeled [Target:]. In this box a path will be pointing to where you have ACDSee installed... "C:\Program Files\...\ACDSee.exe"

4. At the end of this add a space and [open ("Drive:\Folder")], i.e., To open a folder called "Images" on your "C:\" drive, the path would look

something like this: "C:\Program Files\...\ACDSee.exe" [open ("C:\Images\")]

The above path will not work if there are spaces in the folder name s.

Why won’t ACDSee view the GIF files I save from my AOL browser?

Even though the file extension says *.GIF, it is not really a *.GIF. AOL uses its own proprietary format for this type of image. The file is actually an *.ART file. ACDSee does not support *.ART files. When you save *.GIF images from your AOL browser do not compress the file. Please consult AOL for more information regarding this (this applies to ACDSee v3.0 not version 3.1 and above).

When I double-click an image file, it opens into software other than ACDSee. How can I get ACDSee to open my image files?

The problem is related to incorrect settings in the File Association registry. Do not use Windows Explorer to associate files with your ACDSee – it will not work correctly!

1. To set file associations in ACDSee, run the ACDSee Browser and click [Tools | File Associations…],

2. In the menu, check the boxes for the file associations you wish to be opened by ACDSee.

3. Click OK to Exit ACDSee.

Next time you double-click an image file with the types you have set, ACDSee will be the default viewer for them.

How can I get specific image types to open directly with software other than ACDSee?

Step 1:

1. Run the ACDSee Browser and click [Tools | File Associations…].

2. In the menu, clear the boxes for the file associations you wish not to be opened with ACDSee.

3. Click OK and exit ACDSee.

Step 2:

1. Find an image file (of the type you have deselected in ACDSee) in Windows Explorer. Select the image by single-clicking the image with the primary mouse button.

2. Click the file with the alternate mouse button. A context menu will appear, select the [Open with…] option. (Win 95 does not have the [Open with…] option.)

3. Here you will be given a choice of the software installed on your computer.

4. Select the appropriate program to open the file.

5. Add a check to the box [Always use this program to open this file] to make it permanent.

6. Click OK

If I add images to a folder that ACDSee is currently browsing, they don't show up unless I refresh the screen. How do I get the new files to show up in ACDSee Automatically?

You must enable auto-refresh.

1. To enable auto refresh launch the ACDSee Browser, go to [Tools | Options | File List].

2. Check [Enable auto-refresh]

3. Choose from the drop-down menu how you want the new images integrated with the existing ones.

How do I print a contact sheet containing multiple thumbnail images?

1. Select a number of images in the ACDSee Browser, click [File | Print].

2. Select the printer you wish to use and click OK. The ACDSee Print window will now open.

3. On the left hand side, under "Size" use the drop down menu and select Thumbnails.

4. To adjust the size of the thumbnails use the size adjustment controls directly under the drop down menu.

5. Once all the adjustments are finished, click OK to print.

Why do my thumbnails look different from the actual images?

On some systems that contain a large quantity of images, the thumbnail cache may become corrupt. Thumbnails for images may not appear the same as the actual image.

To correct this:

1. Launch the ACDSee Browser and go to [Tools | Options | Miscellaneous].

2. At the bottom is a check box labeled [Store Thumbnails] – make sure it is checked. Also, set the Thumbnail compression to High (from the drop down list).

3. You will now need to reset the thumbnails in the database. Go to [Database | Maintenance], click the bottom of the three vertical buttons .

4. Click Optimize.

5. Click Close.

Why do some of my *.GIF files appear all black?

Some GIF editors encode the image improperly, or the background color is set incorrectly. ACDSee correctly displays the image transparently over the specified background color, which results in a black image.

Some other software (most notably web browsers), override the background color specified in the GIF with their own background color; which is also correct (in this case it usually happens to produce the desired effect, unless the web page background happens to be black).

Why do my larger-than-screen-size images appear to smudge or smear when I scroll them in the Viewer?

This is a video card driver issue. Please visit the manufacture of your video card's web site and see if there are updated drivers available (there almost always are...even if you recently purchased and installed your video card).

I have moved my Folder tree or Preview area off the screen and can't retrieve it. How do I fix this?

With ACDSee v3.1, from the Browser, go to [View | Layouts schemes...] and double-click [Default layout]. This will reset your Browser panes to default.

Can I rotate images?

There are two methods of rotating images in ACDSee. Lossless rotation of images is available with JPEGs only.

1. Select the JPEG image (or images) you wish to rotate in the Browser.

2. Select the [Tools | JPEG Transform] menu command.

3. The next window will give you a thumbnail of the image you selected, and choices of rotation options.

4. Select the rotation option you wish and click OK.

To rotate other image types:

1. Single-click the image in Browse mode.

2. Select the [Tools | Edit...] menu command. This will launch the Photo Enhancer.

3. Select [Edit | Rotate] then click the desired rotation.

4. Save the file.

How do I prevent ACDSee from previewing my video and audio files?

Step 1:

1. In the ACDSee Browser go to [Tools | Options | Browser].

2. Clear [Preview audio/video clips].

3. Click OK.

Step 2:

1. In the ACDSee Browser go to [Plug-ins | Settings].

2. Clear the ID_AVI.apl and ID_MPEG.apl options.

3. Click OK.

Questions Related to E- mail Plug-in:

How can I get the e-mail plug-in to work with AOL?

You can’t. AOL does not support third party e-mail programs ; send your pictures with SendPix instead.

What should I do before sending an animated image?

Clear the [Convert images to JPEG format before sending] option on the [Advanced Options] tab.

I’m get the error “550 relaying to name@host.com prohibited by administrator.” What do I do?

You are trying to access a mail server that you are not allowed to use. Contact you network administrator or Internet service provider for the correct SMTP mail server.

What do I do when I get the error “Unable to connect to mail server?”

You have entered an invalid mail server name or you are not connected to the Internet.

Appendix 1: Updates, Support, Feedback, and License Information

Getting Program Updates

You can download software updates from:

http://www.ACDSYSTEMS.com/english/downloads/

If you are running ACDSee v3.0 or 3.1 then it is possible to get a free update by following these steps:

1. If you have Internet access, click the link above. You can access the same page by going to our main page (at: http://www.ACDSYSTEMS.com), holding your mouse over the word “Support” and clicking on Product Updates.

2. Under “Download software updates…” select Updates for ACDSee 3.0/3.1

3. Click either the North America or Europe download site to download the update appli cation to your computer.

4. After download is complete, double click acdsee31updater.exe to automatically update your software.

Technical Support and Feedback

Those who have purchased FotoCanvas will receive ongoing, preferred treatment by our technical support team, should the need arise! If you have any technical related questions or

general feedback, please contact us by e-mail at acdtech@acdsystems.com

If you do not have e-mail access, you may telephone us at 1 (250) 544-6701. Our office hours are Monday to Friday, 6 AM to 6 PM PST.

Your feedback is important to us in order to get an idea of how to make FotoCanvas a better product for you. Many features and portions of the interface continue to be influenced by comments from users. So, if you ha ve a grand idea for a new feature, or a better way of doing something, please drop us a note.

Licensing Information

1. License – By receiving and/or using this ACD Systems Ltd. ("ACD") software (the

"Software"), you accept the following User Agreement. Subject to the terms of this Agreement, ACD grants to you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license, without right to sublicense, to use this software in accordance with this Agreement and any other written agreement with ACD. This agreement is a binding legal agreement between ACD and the purchasers, users or evaluators of ACD software and products. If you do not agree to be bound by this agreement, remove this software from your computer now and, if applicable, return to us by mail any copies of this software in your possession.

2. Distribution – This software shall not be copied, distributed, transferred or sub-licensed in whole or in part except that you may make one copy for archive purposes only. For information about redistribution of this pr oduct...

WWW: http://www.ACDSYSTEMS.com E-mail: channelsales@acdnet.com Fax: 1 (866) 544-0291 (toll free)

3. User Agreement

3.1 Use –Your license to use this software is limited to the number of licenses purchased by

you. For more information about purchasing additional licenses of this software please e-mail at: customerservice@acdsystems.com

You shall not allow others to use, copy or evaluate copies of this software. Others may obtain a copy of this software from: http://www.ACDSYSTEMS.com

3.2 Use Res trictions – You shall use this software in compliance with all applicable laws and not for any unlawful purpose. Without limiting the foregoing, use, display or distribution of ACD software together with material that is pornographic, racist, vulgar, obs cene, defamatory, libelous, abusive, promoting hatred, discriminating or displaying prejudice based on religion, ethnic heritage, race, sexual orientation or age is strictly prohibited.

Each licensed copy of the ACD software may be used on one single computer location by one user. "Use" of the software means that you have loaded, installed, or run the software on to a computer. If you install the software onto a multi-user platform or network, each and every individual user of the software must be licensed separately or be covered by a site license.

You may make one copy of the licensed software for backup purposes, providing you only have one copy installed on one computer being used by one person (or number of users covered in a site license purchase). Other users may not use your copy of this program. If any person other than yourself uses ACD software registered in your name, regardless of whether it is at the same time or different times, then this agreement is being violated!

The sale of and or distribution of copies of this software are strictly forbidden without the prior written consent of ACD. It is a violation of this agreement to sell, loan, rent, lease, borrow, or transfer the use of copies of ACD software products.

3.3 Copyright Restriction – You shall not, and shall not attempt to, modify, reverse engineer, disassemble or decompile this software.

ACD's name and logo or graphics file that represents our software shall not be used in any way to promote products developed with our software. ACD retains sole and exclusive ownership of all right, title and interest in and to the software and all Intellectual Property rights relating

thereto. Copyright law and international copyright treaty provisions protect all parts of ACD software and pr oducts. No program, code, part, image, audio sample, or text may be copied or used in any way by the user except as intended within the bounds of the single user program. All rights not expressly granted hereunder are reserved for ACD.

3.4 Limitation of Responsibility – You will indemnify, hold harmless, and defend ACD against any and all claims, proceedings, demand and costs resulting from or in any way connected with your use of ACD software.

In no event will ACD be liable for any consequential, incidental, indirect, special or punitive damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for loss of profits, loss of use, business interruption, loss of information or data, or pecuniary loss), in connection with or arising out of or related to this Agreement, this software or the use or inability to us this software or the furnishing, performance or use of any other matters hereunder whether based upon contract, tort or any other theory including negligence. Our entire liability, without exception, is limited to the customers' reimbursement of the purchase price of the software (maximum being the lesser of the amount paid by you and the suggested retail price as listed by ACD) in exchange for the return of the product, all copies, registration papers and manuals, and all materials that constitute a transfer of ownership from the customer back to ACD.

3.5 Warranties – Except as expressly stated in writing, ACD makes no representation or warranties in respect of this software and expressly excludes all other warranties, express or implied, oral or written, including, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantable quality or fitness for a particular purpose.

3.6 Governing Law – This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the Province of British Columbia and the laws of Canada applicable therein. You hereby irrevocably attorn and submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Victoria, British Columbia, and any competent Courts of Appeal there from.

Contacting ACD Systems Ltd.

Web: http://www.ACDSYSTEMS.com

Customer Service and Orders

North America 24 hours a day, 7 days a week E-mail: customerservice@acdsystems.com Phone toll free: 1 (866) 244-2237 (ACDS)

International

Corporate Site Sales

E-mail: sitesales@acdsystems.com Phone toll free: 1 (800) 579-5309 Or: 1 (250) 544-6700

Channel Sales: OEM, VAR, Retail & Distributor

E-mail: channelsales@acdnet.com Phone toll free: 1 (800) 563-7138 Or: 1 (250) 544-6700

Mon to Fri, 6am to 6pm PST: 1 (250) 544-6700

Mon to Fri, 8 am to 5 pm PST

Mail and Fax Information

Customer Service and Orders

North America

International

Mail: ACD Systems Ltd PO Box 36 Saanichton, BC V8M 2C3, Canada

Fax: 1 (817) 265-6877 Mail: ACD Systems INC 2201 North Collins, Suite #100 Arlington, TX 76011, USA

Fax: 1 (250) 544-0291

Corporate Site Sales

Mon to Fri, 8 am to 5 pm PST

Fax: 1 (800) 819-2207 or 1(250) 544-0290

Channel Sales: OEM, VAR, Retail & Distributor

Mon to Fri, 8 am to 5 pm PST

Fax: 1 (866) 544-0291 or 1 (250) 544-0291

Appendix 2: Patterns and Wildcards

Patterns

With the [Find] command, patterns can be used to search for files with names matching specific criteria. A pattern can be as simple as a portion of a filename you are searching for, or it may include wildcards.

Ø Pattern matching is not case-sensitive.

Ø Separate multiple patterns with spaces or semicolons [;]

Ø If you want to match a pattern containing a space or semicolon, enclose the

pattern in quotes.

Wildcards

A pattern may include any of the following wildcards:

? Match any single character in the filename

e.g., ca?.jpg will match cat.jpg, cap.jpg, and car.jpg, but not cats.jpg

* Match zero or more characters in the filename

e.g., cat* will matc h cat.jpg, cats.jpg, and cathy.jpg

[…] Match any of the enclosed characters

e.g., ca[tr] will match cat.jpg or car.jpg, but not cap.jpg

[!…] Match any character not enclosed

e.g., cat[!0] will match cata.jpg and catb.jpg, but not cat0.jpg

[…-…]

\ Escape a wildcard character

Match any character in the specified range e.g., cat[a-f0-9] will match cata.jpg, catb.jpg, …, catf.jpg and cat0.jpg,

cat1.jpg, …, cat9.jpg

e.g., cat\[?\] will match cat[1] .jpg, cat[2] .jpg, etc…

If you do not include the wildc ard * in your pattern, the pattern will be matched as a substring.

e.g., cat would match cat, cathy and bobcat, and is equivalent to the pattern *cat*

Appendix 3: System Administrator Options

Controlling the User Interface

ACDSee allows customization of several flags that control aspects of the View mode user interface.

DisableBrowser Prevent user from using Browse mode DisableOpen Prevent user from using the Open and Remove commands DisableFileOps Prevent user from using Copy to, Move to, Delete, Rename

and Describe commands DisableWallpaper Prevent user from using Wallpaper commands DisablePrint Prevent user from using Print commands DisableOptions Prevent user from using Options command DisableOptionsSave Prevent changes made to options from being saved

ACDSee does not provide a way to change these options. The procedure outlined below changes these options directly by modifying the corresponding entries in the system registry.

1. Start NotePad.

2. Type the text below into notepad.

3. For each item you wish to disable, change the "00" to "01".

4. Save the file as options.reg

5. Open Explorer, alternate mouse click the saved options.reg file, and select [Merge] from the context menu.

– begin here –

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software\ACD Systems\ACDSee] "DisableBrowser"=hex:00 "DisableOpen"=hex:00 "DisableFileOps "=hex:00 "DisableWallpaper"=hex:00 "DisablePrint"=hex:00 "DisableOptions"=hex:00 "DisableOptionsSave"=hex:00

– end here –

Command Line Arguments

ACDSee offers the ability to use command line functionality for launching the program, browsing, printing images, viewing a slide show, and more.

Default behavior (no arguments)

When no command line arguments are given, ACDSee starts in Browse mode in the default folder.

Specifying images to view: You can supply one or more image files as the command line argument to ACDSee. You can even use wildcards:

e.g., acdsee c:\images\*.jpg start ACDSee and have it view all the .JPG files in the

c:\images folder.

If any filename includes spaces, you must enclose it in quotation marks:

e.g., acdsee "Metal Links.bmp" e.g., acdsee "C:\My Pictures\Spot.psd" D:\Downloads\*.jpg

Browsing a particular folder or archive

You may specify a particular folder or archive to Browse as the command-line argument:

e.g., acdsee c:\images\ would start the ACDSee Browser in the c:\images folder.

Starting in View mode (with no images)

You can start ACDSee in View mode without an image by specifying the /v command line switch:

e.g., acdsee /v

ACDSee ignores all other command-line arguments when the /v switch is present.

Printing

You can use ACDSee to print one or more images and exit by specifying the /p command line switch:

e.g., acdsee /p "C: \My Pictures\Spot.psd" "D:\Downloads\*.jpg"

You can bypass the pr inter selection and print setup dialog boxes that normally appear by adding an exclamation mark (!) to the /p switch.

e.g., acdsee /p! "Gloxina.jpg"

Slide show

Use the /ss command-line switch to specify that ACDSee should start a slide show on startup.

Use the /seq:forward, /seq:reverse or /seq:random to specify the order of the slide show.

e.g., acdsee /ss /seq:random "d: \images\*.jpg"

Full-screen mode

Use the /fullscreen command-line switch to specify that ACDSee should start in full-screen mode.

Synchronize to folder

Use the /sync <folder> command-line switch to specify that ACDSee should synchronize to the specified folder.

Shell Commands

Windows lets you associate a number of actions for each file type. The default action is usually open, which is normally invoked when you double-click an image in Explorer. ACDSee also supports most actions, including open.

To invoke a shell action

In Browse mode, click the file with the alternate mouse button and select [Shell <action>] from the context menu. To invoke the open action, select [Tools | Shell | Open] from the main menu in either Browse or View mode. Similarly, to invoke the edit action, select [Tools | Shell | Edit] from the menu.

To set or modify the Open and Edit actions

If the open or edit action is invoked, but the file selected is not defined, ACDSee displays a dialog box that lets you select the application to handle the action. It is possible to bring up this dialog to change the application for an existing action by selecting the [Tools | Shell | Open] with or [Tools | Shell | Edit] with command.

You can also set these and other actions by using the [View | Folder Options…] command of Explorer and clicking on the File Types tab.

DDE Interface

ACDSee is a DDE server application. The only supported DDE command is "open,’ which is used by the Windows shell to open image files using ACDSee.

Syntax:

Server cmd-line: ACDSee.exe /v

Service: ACDSee Topic: System

Command: [open[-add | -noadd][-viewall | -noviewall]("<image-file-1>", "<image-file-2>", …)]

add option

-add Add the specified images to the current image sequence

-noadd Replace the current image sequence with the specified images <default> Add or replace according to setting of [Miscellaneous | Startup] option.

viewall option

-viewall Add all images in the folder(s) containing the specified image(s) to the image sequence.

-noviewall Only add the specified images to the image sequence. <default> View all according to setting of [Viewer | View all images in folder] option.

Command examples:

[open-add("c:\images\apple.jpg", "c:\images\quince.jpg")] [open-noadd-viewall("c:\images\animals\dog.jpg")] [open-noadd("c:\images\animals\*.jpg")] [open-noadd("c:\images\animals.ais")]

Sample:

The following C sample illustrates how a client can use the "open" command with ACDSee. #include <ddeml.h>

/********** *DDEView * ***********/ static HDDEDATA CALLBACK DdeCallback(UINT, UINT, HCONV, HSZ, HSZ, HDDEDATA, DWORD, DWORD) { return (HDDEDATA)NULL; } int DDEView(const char* pszAppPath, // path to acdsee.exe (can just use // "ACDSee.exe" if ACDSee is installed // correctly) const char* pszFiles, // path to image file(s) – each file must be // enclosed in quotes and separated by a space int fAdd, // 0=>replace, 1=>add, -1=>according to options // setting int fViewAll) // 0=>view all in folder, 1=>only this, // -1=>options setting { DWORD idDDE=0; UINT err = DdeInitialize(&idDDE, (PFNCALLBACK) DdeCallback, APPCLASS_STANDARD | APPCMD_CLIENTONLY, 0); if (err == DMLERR_NO_ERROR) { HSZ hszDDEService, hszDDETopic; HCONV hconv; hszDDEService = DdeCreateStringHandle(idDDE, "ACDSee", CP_WINANSI); hszDDETopic = DdeCreateStringHandle(idDDE, "System", CP_WINANSI);

hconv = DdeConnect(idDDE, hszDDEService, hszDDETopic, NULL); if (!hconv && DdeGetLastError(idDDE)==DMLERR_NO_CONV_ESTABLISHED) { int rc = (int)ShellExecute(NULL, NULL, pszAppPath, "/v", "", SW_SHOWDEFAULT); if (rc <= 32) return rc; // try to connect to server every 50 ms for up to 1 second // (give server a chance to start up) for (int i=0 ; i<20 && !hconv ; i++) { hconv = DdeConnect(idDDE, hszDDEService, hszDDETopic, NULL); if (!hconv) err = DdeGetLastError(idDDE); Sleep(50); } } if (hconv) { char* pszCmd; char szVerb[80] = "open"; if (fAdd != -1) lstrcat(szVerb, fAdd ? "-add" : "-noadd"); if (fViewAll != -1) lstrcat(szVerb, fViewAll ? "-viewall" : "-noviewall");

pszCmd = (char*)malloc(lstrlen(szVerb) + lstrlen(pszFiles) + 5); // wsprintf does not work with >1024 character strings wsprintf(pszCmd, "[%s(", szVerb); lstrcat(pszCmd, pszFiles); lstrcat(pszCmd, ")]"); DdeClientTransaction((BYTE*)pszCmd, lstrlen(pszCmd)+1, hconv, 0, 0, XTYP_EXECUTE, TIMEOUT_ASYNC, NULL); err = DdeGetLastError(idDDE); free(pszCmd); } DdeFreeStringHandle(idDDE, hszDDEService); DdeFreeStringHandle(idDDE, hszDDETopic); DdeUninitialize(idDDE); } return err; }

void main() { DDEView("ACDSee.exe", "\"c:\\images\\cat.jpg\", \"c:\\images\\dog.jpg\"", 0, 0); }

Appendix 4: Digital Camera Support

Hewlett Packard PhotoSmart c20 Kodak DC 40 Kodak DC 120 Zoom Kodak DC 200 Zoom Kodak DC 210 Zoom Kodak DC 215 Zoom Kodak DC 220 Zoom Kodak DC 240 Zoom Kodak DC 260 Zoom Kodak DC 265 Zoom Kodak DC 280 Zoom Olympus D-600L Agfa ePhoto 780 Agfa ePhoto 780c Agfa ePhoto CL30 Agfa ePhoto CL30 clik! Agfa ePhoto CL50 Epson PhotoPC Epson PhotoPC 500 Epson PhotoPC 550 Epson PhotoPC 600 Sanyo DSC-X300 Sanyo VPC-G200 Sanyo VPC-G200EX Sierra Imaging SD640 Toshiba PDR -2 All FlashPoint Digita enabled digital cameras Hewlett Packard PhotoSmart c200 Nikon Coolpix 900

If you are running ACDSee v3.0 or v3.1 you will not have the entire camera support listed above. It is highly recommended to get the free update available on our web site. See Getting Program Updates.

100

ACD Systems ACDSEE SOFTWARE MANUAL

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Table of Contents

The World of Digital Image Management

About ACD Systems

New Features to ACDSee v3.1 (Update)

Uses for ACDSee

The Main Windows

Minimum system requirements:

Installation Steps

Silent install

Staying “InTouch”

Starting ACDSee

Getting Help

The main help file

The Browse Window

Browser Panes

Toolbar and Command Extensions

Path Box

Folder Tree Pane

File List Pane

From any File List View:

Favorites List Pane

Preview Pane

File Info Pane

Status Bar

Plug- ins Pane

The View Window

Viewer Layout

Toolbar

View Area

Status Bar

Navigation

Returning to the Browse Window

Image Sequences

Slide Shows

Zooming

Panning/Scrolling

The Photo Enhancer

Starting the Photo Enhancer

Enhancement Functions

Multiple levels of undo / redo

Cropping, Resizing and Rotating

Adjusting Color Levels

Applying Image Filters

Red- eye Reduction

Image Effects

Acquiring and Printing Images

Printing in View mode

Digital Camera Support

Plug-ins

Types of Plug- ins

Plug- in Settings

SendPix Plug- in

HTML Album Generator

E-mail Plug-in

Contact Sheet and Print Contact Sheet

Adjust Levels Plug-in

JPEG Transform

Wallpaper

Thumbnails

Database Maintenance

Rebuild thumbnails

Timestamp Command

Deleting Files

The Favorites List

Finding Image Files

Modifying Files and Folders

Renaming Files and Folders

Describing Files

Generating File Listings

Converting Images to Another Format

Optimizing Image Display Quality

Viewing Multiple Images Simultaneously

Viewing from a Single Window

Customizing ACDSee

Running ACDSee Automatically from Other Programs

Appendix 1: Updates, Support, Feedback, and License Information