Arcsoft PHOTOBASE User Manual

ArcSoft PhotoBase Quick Start Guide

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to ArcSoft PhotoBase™, the ultimate multimedia organizer that lets you store, manage
and access important image, audio, video and even document files. Mastering PhotoBase is
easy! Simply create albums of your files and enter information in the customizable Information
Fields. Then, choose from a wide variety of activities:

• Find files easily with the powerful Sort and keyword Search functions

• Drag-and-drop files within an album or into other albums

• Organize your hard drive by creating catalogs of all your multimedia files

• Create self-running slide shows of images to present or give to others

• Send video postcards with background images, video and audio

• Archive and share important files by copying and/or moving entire albums
to floppy disks, CDs and other removable media

• Make an HTML page of photos instantly with the Make Web Album feature

• Launch third-party programs from Photobase by dragging and dropping the appropriate files
into the “Hotlink” bar

• Print thumbnail albums in different sizes with frames, borders and descriptions

This Quick Start Guide shows you how easy it is to get started in PhotoBase! It contains a
“Getting Acquainted” section to show the basics in PhotoBase, as well as a section on “Using
PhotoBase” to take you through key activities and projects. You will find step-by-step instructions,
tips and notes throughout this guide. In addition to this Quick Start Guide, you can learn more
about PhotoBase by using the program’s online Help (located in the Help menu). Online Help
provides easy-to-find information on specific features and commands, and is most helpful when
printed out. For important notices about PhotoBase, please review the ReadMe documentation
located in the PhotoBase directory.

System Requirements:

• Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0 or 2000

• VGA monitor w/16-bit color (or better) display

• CD-ROM drive for installation

• 30 MB hard disk space

• Pentium recommended or equivalent processor

• 16 MB RAM (32 MB recommended)

• CD-ROM drive for installation

• Mouse

Supports:

• Popular multimedia formats including BMP, TIF, JPG, GIF, PCD,
PCX, TGA, FlashPix, AVI and WAV

• TWAIN-compliant devices

• CD-Recorder or CD-Rewriteable drives

• ArcSoft Zipshot and other video capture devices or cards

• Video for Windows-compliant devices

• Sound cards

GETTING ACQUAINTED

Important Terms

• Left and Right Clicking - Throughout this guide, you’ll be asked to use both the left and right
mouse buttons. In general, “click” means “click once on the left mouse button”. “Right-click”
means “click once on the right mouse button”. “Double-click” means “ click twice on the left
mouse button”.

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• Album Thumbnails - Thumbnails are small visual representations of actual files. Right-click

Title Bar

Tool Bar

Menu Bar

Album Title Menu

Scroll Bar

Album Thumbnails

Label Names

Status Bar

Information Fields

“Hotlink” Bar

on a thumbnail to view file properties (the location and size of a file, and the date it was
created). By deleting a file or moving it to a new location, the existing thumbnail will no longer
be linked to that file. Therefore, you would need to create a new thumbnail for the new file
location. Likewise, if you double click on a thumbnail to open an image on a floppy, without
the floppy in the drive, you will not be able to access the image.

• Shift/Control Keys - Use these keys to make more than one selection at a time. To select
multiple sequential thumbnails in an album, click on the first thumbnail, hold down the Shift
key, then click on the last thumbnail. To select multiple non-sequential thumbnails in an
album, click on one of the thumbnails, hold down the Control key, then click on all other
thumbnails.

The Basics

This section shows you the basics of using an album in PhotoBase. Follow these steps in order
while referring to Fig. 1.

Fig. 1 PhotoBase Application Window

1. Open a new album

There are two ways to open a new empty album. You can either start PhotoBase, which
automatically defaults to opening a new album. Or, if you are already in PhotoBase you can click
on the Album Title Menu and select the album titled [New].

2. Add files to the album

PhotoBase represents the following files as thumbnails in the album: BMP, TIF, JPG, GIF, PCD,
PCX, TGA, FlashPix, AVI and WAV. In addition, you can include documents, spreadsheets and
other files in an album to create a “storyboard” of related files.

a. Click the Add Tool from the Tool Bar. The Add to Album dialog box will appear.
Note: The default Files of Type category is “All Image Files”. This automatically displays

image file types such as BMP, TIF and JPG. Similarly, the default Look In directory is

“Photos”, which displays sample PhotoBase images.
b. Add one image by clicking on one of the sample PhotoBase files. Click Open.
c. Click the Add Tool again.

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d. Add several images by holding down your Shift or Control key while clicking on different

files. Click Open.
e. Click the Add Tool again.
f. Add non-image files by changing the Files of Type category to “All File Types”.

This allows files other than images (e.g. DOC, TXT, XLS, HTML, MPEG) to be

inserted in your album. Select one or more of these files, then click Open.

Note: PhotoBase supports standard variations of the following image file formats: BMP,

JPG, GIF, PCD, PCX, TGA and FlashPix. However if one of your images does not open,

it may be an uncommon variation that PhotoBase does not support. If this is the case, try

opening the file with the software that created it. Save the file in a common file format.

3. Add images to the album using a TWAIN device

If you do not have a digital camera, scanner or other TWAIN device, you may skip to the next
step.

a. Click the Acquire Tool from the Tool Bar. The Select Source dialog box will appear, listing

all TWAIN devices installed on your system.
b. Click the device you want to use. Click Select. A TWAIN interface with acquiring options

specific to your device will appear. (For instructions on acquiring, consult
the manual that came with your TWAIN device.)
c. Acquired images will automatically be added to your current album.

4. Save the album

Always remember to save your changes! Click the Save Tool from the Tool Bar to save your
current album. For learning purposes, name the album you just created TEST, then click OK.

5. Open an existing album

To view and open other available albums, click on the Album Title Menu. For learning purposes,
select the sample album titled PHOTOS. Your screen should look similar to the one pictured in
Fig. 1 (although you may have more rows of thumbnails depending on the resolution setting of
your monitor).

6. Add descriptive text

To document important information about a file and make it easy to sort and search, add
descriptive text to the Information Fields and customize the Label Names. See Fig. 1.

a. Using the current album, click on any thumbnail.
b. The default label names should read Title, Date and Description. To customize, click on

Label Names from the Album Menu. Type “Today's Date” instead of “Date”, then click

OK. The album will show the change.
c. In the Information Fields, enter up to 3 lines of descriptive text.
d. Click the Save Tool to save your changes.

7. More Cool Features

See online Help for information on how to use...

• Delete - lets you delete files from the current album

• Delete an Album - lets you delete the current album and its contents

• Rename an Album - lets you give the current album a new name

• Duplicate an Album - lets you make a copy of the current album while retaining its

original

• Capture - lets you capture still images, video and audio

• Record Audio - lets you record audio WAV files that can be attached to image files

• Album Properties - displays helpful information about the current album including: the

name of the album, number of thumbnails, size of the album, total size of files in the

album and a description.

• File Properties - displays the image file location, image size (in pixels), file size (in bytes)

and file date.

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Now that you know the basics in PhotoBase, you are ready to start “Using PhotoBase”!

USING PHOTOBASE

Here you will be shown step-by-step instructions for accomplishing key tasks and projects in
PhotoBase:

• Find your file using the Sort and Search features

• Archive your files by copying them to a different location

• Create a Slide Show

• Create a Web Album

• Create a Video Postcard

• Set up and use the Application “Hotlink” bar

• Use the PhotoBase Image Editing Tools

• Print your selected images or the entire album

Find your file using the Sort and Search features

Sort and Search offer you a variety of ways for locating files.

• Sort organizes files in your current album by Name (of file), Type (of file format), Size (of file),
Date (of file creation), Description (or the third Information Field) or Reverse order (of these
sort options).

1. Open the album you want to organize.

2. Click Sort from the Edit Menu. Choose from the available sort options.

3. Click Exit. The album will automatically be sorted.

• Search looks throughout selected albums for a particular file(s). It then moves your search
results to another album.

1. Click Search from the Image Menu. A Search dialog box will appear.

2. Under “Search In”, choose the album you want to search. To choose more than
one album, hold down the control or shift key while making your selection.

3. Under “Store In”, choose the album for storing your search results.

4. Under “Search For”, type the keyword.

5. Under “Search Field”, select where the keyword should appear.

6. Click Search. The search results will appear in the designated “Store In” album.

7. Click the Save Tool if you want to save the new album.

Archive your files by copying them to a different location

The “Copy Image(s) To” command lets you easily make backups of your files on floppy disk or
removable media, without changing the thumbnails or original locations of the files.

1. Open the album containing the files you want to move.

2. Click once on the first thumbnail to select it. While holding down the shift key, click once

on the last thumbnail. All thumbnails will be selected. (To select only certain images, use
your control key instead of your shift key.)

3. Click Copy Image(s) To from the Image Menu.

4. Click the Browse button to specify where you want the files copied.

5. Click Copy to confirm.

Note: In addition to the “Copy Image(s) To” command, there are other options for
creating backups of your important files. The “Move Album” command moves (not copies)
all files in the current album from their current locations to a new directory. This
command also updates the thumbnails accordingly. The “Copy Album” command makes
a copy of the current album and its thumbnails, while leaving files in their current
locations. (For information on these commands, see online Help.)

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Create a Slide Show

Create and save a full-screen multimedia presentation of images with transitions, titles, and music
or narration. Slide shows will run on any Windows 95, 98 or NT 4.0 system.

1. Open the album containing the files you want to present in a slide show.

2. Click the Make Presentation Tool from the Tool Bar. Choose "Create a Slide Show". A

“Wizard” will take you through the creation process.

1. Follow the instructions on selecting your images and adding audio. Click Next after each

selection.

Tip: To select more than one image for your slide show, hold down your control key while

clicking different images.

Note: When adding audio to your slide show, you will need to choose one of the following

options:

• Play Single Audio File - includes a selected WAV audio file and synchronizes the slide

show to match the length of the audio. This is best for adding background music or
narration that doesn't need to match exactly to any particular slide.

• Play Attached Audio Files - includes any WAV files attached to images.

• No Audio - ignores any attached audio files and includes only the pictures. See online

Help for more information on the Audio feature.

4. Once you see the Select Destination window, specify where you want to save your slide

show - either to a disk, blank writeable CD-ROM or another directory.

5. Click Finish. Your slide show will be saved to the specified location as an EXE file.

Copies of the slide show contents (the image files) will also be created and saved to the
same directory.

Tip: PhotoBase will save one slide show and its contents per directory. Therefore, to

create multiple slide shows, you should make separate directories for each show and
name them accordingly.

Tip: Add each slide show to your “Hotlink” bar for quick access to all your presentations.

6. To play the slide show locate the EXE file and double-click on it. The Slide Show dialog

box will appear with the following options:

• Auto-loops - plays the slide show in a continuous loop

• Effects - presents a transition effect between images

• Seconds - lets you specify how long each image is displayed on the screen
Once you have chosen your settings, press OK to begin the slide show.

During the slide show, press the Enter key at any time to manually advance to the next
slide. Press the Esc key to stop the slide show.

Note: If you experience problems in playing the slide show, make sure the EXE file and
all slide show contents are contained in the same directory.

Create a Web Album

Lets you create an HTML web page of thumbnails to display on any web browser (e.g. Netscape
Navigator or MS Internet Explorer).

1. Open the album containing the thumbnails you want to include on your web page.

2. Click the Make Presentation Tool from the Tool Bar. Choose “Make Web Album”.

A “Wizard” will take you through the creation process.

3. Follow the instructions on selecting your thumbnails, designing your layout and selecting

the text to be displayed. Click Next after each selection.

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Tip: To select more than one image for your slide show, use your shift/control keys.

4. Once you see the Select Destination window, specify where you want to save

your web album - either to a disk, blank writeable CD-ROM or another directory.

5. Click Finish. Your web album will be saved to the specified directory as an HTML file.

Copies of the web album contents (the image, audio, video and text files) will also be
created and saved to the same directory.

Tip: PhotoBase will save one web album and its contents per directory. Therefore, to

create multiple web albums, you should make separate directories for each web album
and name them accordingly.

6. To view the web album, locate the HTML file and double-click on it. This will automatically

open the file within your web browser. Or, you can open your web browser first, click on
File/Open, and then locate the HTML file.

Note: If you experience problems in viewing the web album, make sure the HTML file
and all web album contents are contained in the same directory.

Create a Video Postcard

Design digital "postcards" containing video, audio, images and text.

1. Click the Make Presentation Tool from the Tool Bar. Choose "Create a Video

Postcard". A "Wizard" will take you through the creation process.

2. Follow the instructions on selecting a template, writing a postcard message and selecting

your video (AVI, MPEG or MOV) file. Click Next after each selection.

3. Once you get to the Select Destination window, specify where you want to save your

postcard - either to a disk, blank writeable CD-ROM or another directory.

4. Click Finish. Your video postcard will be saved to the specified location as an EXE file.

Copies of the postcard contents (the video and image or background files) will also be
created and saved to the same directory.

5. To play the postcard, locate the EXE file and double-click on it.
Note: If you experience problems in playing the postcard, make sure the EXE file and all

postcard contents are contained in the same directory.

Set up and use the Application "Hotlink" Bar

Launch files right into your favorite programs using PhotoBase's "Hotlink" Application bar. Just
create shortcut icons of your programs in the “Hotlink” bar, then drag your desired file to the icon.

1. Click Setup Applications from the Album Menu, or right-click on an empty area of the

“Hotlink” bar. The Setup Application dialog box will appear.

2. Click Select to locate the EXE file of your desired application. For learning purposes,

choose a digital imaging program such as ArcSoft PhotoStudio (pstudio.exe). (If you do
not have an imaging program, your Internet browser can also open images; use
Iexplorer.exe for Internet Explorer or Netscape for Netscape Navigator.) Click Open.

3. Type a description in the Name field, such as TESTAPP. Click Add. An icon representing

TESTAPP will appear in the “Hotlink” bar.

4. Open an album containing the image you want to drag into TESTAPP.

5. Place your cursor on the thumbnail. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the

thumbnail to the TESTAPP icon. Your image will automatically open in TESTAPP.

Tip: To launch an application from the Hotlink bar, simply click once on its icon.
Note: PhotoBase’s “Hotlink” bar is compatible with many popular programs including

desktop publishing, image editing, word processing and Internet browsing applications.
However, if a thumbnail is dragged to a program that is not compatible with that program,

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the application may not open the file. (For example, a BMP image file cannot be dragged
into MS Word. The file must be a DOC file.)

Use the PhotoBase Image Editing Tools

PhotoBase gives you convenient, easy-to-use tools for editing and enhancing your selected
image.

1. Double-click on the image thumbnail that you want to edit. The edit window will appear

with the following options. (Make as many edits as you need.)

• Crop Tool - discards the portion of the image surrounding the "crop selection box". Click

the Crop Tool. Draw a crop selection box by placing your cursor where you want to start
the "corner" of the box. While holding down the left mouse button, drag the cursor to the
opposite "corner". Let go of the mouse when you have drawn your desired box. (To
center the box on the image, see "Center Crop Area Tool".) To crop the image, right-click
inside the box.

• Rotate Tool - turns the entire image clockwise or counter-clockwise. Click the Rotate

Tool. Place your cursor on the image. Hold down the left mouse button to "grab" the
image. Then rotate the image to any position. Let go of the mouse when you are finished.

• Adjust Brightness Tool - adjusts the brightness of the image. Click the Adjust

Brightness Tool. Use the slide bar to apply the effect.

• Adjust Contrast Tool - adjusts the contrast of the image. Click the Adjust

Contrast Tool. Use the slide bar to apply the effect.

• Adjust Saturation Tool - adjusts the color saturation of the image. Click the Adjust

Saturation Tool. Use the slide bar to apply the effect.

• Center Crop Area Tool - works in conjunction with the Crop Tool to center the "crop

selection box". Once you’ve drawn your box with the Crop Tool, use the Center Crop
Area Tool to center the box on the image. To crop, right-click inside the box.

• Zoom In Tool - zooms in on the image for a closer look. Click the Zoom In

Tool as many times as needed.

• Zoom Out Tool - zooms away from the image. Click the Zoom Out Tool as many times

as needed.

• Sharpen Image Tool - sharpens areas that appear fuzzy. Click the Sharpen Image Use

the slide bar to apply the effect.

• Undo Tool - removes the last edit made. Click the Undo Tool. The last change made to

the image will automatically be undone.

• Record Audio Tool - lets you record and attach an audio WAV file to the image.

Click the Record Audio Tool. The Audio Capture dialog box will appear.
Use the tape recorder-like features to record from a microphone (See online Help
for more information on capturing audio.) Click the “X” button to exit the
audio window.

• Play Audio Tool - plays the WAV file attached to the image. (If a WAV file is not

attached to the image, this tool will be unavailable.) Click the Play Audio Tool.

2. e you’ve edited your image, click the “X” button in the top right corner to exit the edit

window. You will be prompted to Save (using the same file name), Save As (using a
different file name), or Don’t Change.

3. If you choose Save or Save As, right-click on the album thumbnail you just edited and

select Refresh to update it.

Print your selected images or the entire album

The Print command offers you many options for creating customized printouts of your images
with frames, borders, backgrounds and descriptions.

1. Open the album containing the image(s) you want to print.

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2. Click on the image you want to print. Use your shift/control keys to select

multiple images.

3. Once you’ve selected your images, click Print from the Album Menu. In the Print dialog

box, several printing options will appear:

• Print Context - lets you print all the thumbnails in the album, just the selected

thumbnails, or a range based on the placement of thumbnails in the album.

• Print Banner - lets you include descriptions or names at the top (Header) and bottom

(Footer) of each printed page.

• Print Quality - determines the quality of your printout. Low Quality is recommended for

fast printing and test printouts. High Quality is recommended for the best
color/sharpness.

• Print Size - lets you print your images in different sizes. On a standard 8.5" x 11" sheet

of paper, you can print up to 16 Small, 9 Medium or 4 Large images.

• Print Description Text - when selected, this option will print the text from the Information

Fields below the corresponding image.

• Print Uniform Image Size - when selected, this option will crop images to fit a uniform

print size for all of the images. This will create a unified look for the entire album.

• Print Page Number - when selected, the page number will appear at the bottom center

of each page.

• Print Multimedia Thumbnails - when selected, both image and non-image thumbnails

will print.

• Frame Options - lets you add a frame and/or background to your images.

To view the available frames and backgrounds, drag the slide bar and click on your
desired choice.

• Preview - shows you how your printout will look.

• Print - begins printing your page with the selected print options.

• Print Setup - lets you change printers and printer settings.

• Exit - lets you exit without printing.

4. Once you have selected your print options and are ready to print, click the Print button.

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