Casio Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM User Manual

Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM

User's Guide

HOTALBUM COM Inc.

1. Introduction............................................................................................................................................................... 4

2. Using Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM.......................................................................................................... 5

2.1. Computer System Requirements and Disk Capacity.....................................................5

2.2. Installing the Software ................................................................................................7

2.2.1. Installing the Software from the Installation CD-ROM ..........................................7

2.2.2. Migration ........................................................................................................10

2.2.3. Installing from a HOT ALBUM Disk that Contains Images ...................................13

2.2.4. Uninstalling Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM...............................................18

2.3. Using the Software for the First Time .......................................................................20

2.3.1. Importing Images Directly from a Memory Card ..................................................20

2.3.2. Importing Images from Other Media....................................................................23

2.4. Main Home Screen Functions ............................................................................32

2.4.1. Importing Images into Photo Pocket...................................................................44

2.4.2. Upgrading and Other Settings ............................................................................51

2.5. Creating a Video CD .................................................................................................54

2.5.1. Selecting a HOT ALBUM Disk or Video CD Disk .......................................55

2.5.2. Selecting Images................................................................................................56

2.5.3. Checking the Order and Orientation of the Images.............................................58

2.5.4. Creating a Title Screen......................................................................................60

2.5.5. Adding Background Music..................................................................................62

2.5.6. Checking Images................................................................................................65

2.5.7. Writing an Album to a Video CD Disk .................................................................67

2.5.8. Image Write Complete Screen............................................................................69

2.5.9. Creating a Disk Case Jacket..............................................................................70

2.5.10. Configuring Print Settings and Printing...............................................................72

2.6. Creating a HOT ALBUM (Secure Save) .....................................................................73

2.6.1. Edit and Create .................................................................................................73

Selecting a HOT ALBUM Disk or Video CD Disk......................................................74

2.6.2. Selecting Images................................................................................................75

2.6.3. Checking the Order and Orientation of the Images.............................................77

2.6.4. Creating a Title Screen......................................................................................79

2.6.5. Inputting Comment Text into an Image...............................................................81

2.6.6. Adding Background Music..................................................................................83

2.6.7. Checking the Images..........................................................................................90

2.6.8. Saving and Album to a HOT ALBUM Disk...........................................................92

2.6.9. Image Write Complete Screen............................................................................94

2.6.10. Creating a Disk Case Jacket..............................................................................95

2.6.11. Configuring Print Settings and Printing...............................................................97

2.6.12. Backing Up Album Contents ..............................................................................98

2.6.13. Temporarily Saving In-progress Edits.................................................................99

2.6.14. Resuming an Editing Operation.........................................................................100

2.7. Copying a HOT ALBUM...........................................................................................102

2.7.1. Writing an Album to a HOT ALBUM Disk..........................................................103

2.7.2. Image Write Complete Screen..........................................................................105

2.7.3. Creating a Disk Case Jacket............................................................................106

2.7.4. Configuring Print Settings and Printing.............................................................108

2.8. Sending an Image as an E-mail Attachment.............................................................109

2.8.1. Selecting Images to Attach to E-mail...............................................................110

2.8.2. Confirming Mail Software Settings ...................................................................112

2.8.3. Sending Mail with Attached Images ..................................................................113

2.9. Printing...................................................................................................................114

2.9.1. Image Printing..................................................................................................116

2.9.2. Layout Printing................................................................................................123

2.9.3. Jacket Printing................................................................................................133

2.10. Ordering Prints .......................................................................................................136

2.10.1. Selecting Images and Specifying the Number of Copies....................................137

2.10.2. Checking the Print Data...................................................................................139

2.10.3. Saving the Order Data .....................................................................................140

2.11. Using the Album View .............................................................................................143

2.11.1. Using the Album View......................................................................................145

2.11.2. Printing the Album View...................................................................................148

2.12. Slideshow ...............................................................................................................149

2.12.1. Modifying Slideshow Settings ...........................................................................151

3. Using HOT ALBUM VIEWER.......................................................................................................................... 156

3.1. Using HOT ALBUM VIEWER....................................................................................156

3.2. Zooming Photos......................................................................................................158

3.3. Viewing a Slideshow................................................................................................159

3.3. Viewing a Slideshow................................................................................................160

3.4. Ordering Prints from a Print Service .......................................................................167

3.5. Copying Photos to a Folder.....................................................................................171

3.6. Saving Photos to a Computer..................................................................................172

4. Viewing HOT ALBUM Disks on a TV Screen ......................................................................................... 174

1. Introduction

HOT ALBUM is a totally new type of album that makes management of your images simple and secure, and lets you recall your images whenever you like. HOT ALBUM makes it possible to expand enjoyment of video images on your computer or on your TV.

HOT ALBUM provides you with the following three digital image management tools.

 Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM*1 Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM lets you transfer images from your digital camera to your computer. It also includes viewing, printing, and automatic e-mail attachment features for quick and simple, yet powerful digital image management.

 HOT ALBUM Disks HOT ALBUM disks let you save albums of digital images, complete with text comments or other editing, and store them externally from your computer. By saving separate copies of your albums on your computer and on disk helps to ensure that images are not lost due to computer problems or because a disk is misplaced. Double-storage of all your important images is highly recommended to protect against accidental deletion or loss. HOT ALBUM disks can be played back on a DVD player*2, and you can even add music to create highly entertaining slideshows of your images.

 HOT ALBUM VIEWER*3 HOT ALBUM VIEWER makes it possible to view images on a HOT ALBUM disk can be viewed even if the computer does not have Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM installed. This means you can give away disks as gift items, without worrying whether the recipient has the proper software.

This User's Guide mainly explains operations using the Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM special HOT ALBUM software.

*1: Installation is supported under Windows 2000, XP, and Vista. *2: Playback is supported on a Video-CD player, DVD player, or DVD recorder that supports

Video-DC (VCD) 2.0. Note, however, that playback may not be possible depending on the particular equipment being used. Visit our website at http://www.ha-hotalbum.com/ for the latest information.

*3: HOT ALBUM VIEWER operation is supported under Windows 98SE, Me, 2000, XP, and Vista.

2. Using Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM

2.1. Computer System Requirements and Disk Capacity

The recommended computer system environment for Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM is shown below. As standard Windows software, Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM should operate without any problem under this environment. Note, however, that operational response, image quality, sound quality during audio playback, and other factors depend on the performance and specifications of each particular system. Be sure to contact your system administrator before installing and using this software.

The following describes the capacity of HOT ALBUM disks.

・ Snapshot and Movie Data Maximum Number of Images: 240 (Size of each image is 1 KB to 30 MB.) Regardless of the number of images currently stored on the disk, the total amount of data stored cannot exceed 256 MB. Each movie file can be no large than 256 MB and no longer than 25 minutes.

・ Storage Capacities by Image Size (in Pixels) 2 million pixels (Fine): 220 to 230 3 million pixels (Fine): 140 to 150 5 million pixels (Fine): 90 to 100

2.2. Installing the Software

2.2.1. Installing the Software from the Installation CD-ROM

Place the installation CD-ROM into your computer and the installer will start up automatically.

On the screen that appears, click the [Start] button.

Click to view minimum computer system requirements.

Click to view an explanation about HOT ALBUM.

Read the End User License Agreement and then click the [I Agree] button.

A different screen will appear if you have an older version of HOT ALBUM MY BOX installed on your computer. For more information, see "2.2.3 Upgrading from an Older Version during Installation".

You can specify the drive name of the hard disk where you want to save image data. You can specify a hard disk drive name only if your computer has multiple hard disks, if its hard disk is partitioned into multiple drives, or if it has an external hard disk connected.

The amount of free space available on the A: drive will appear on the display. Select a drive that has at least 2 GB of free space available.

Specify the B: drive and then click [Install].

Important! ・ You will be able to change the specification of the save drive on the Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM version upgrade screen after installation is complete. See "2.5.4 Upgrading and Other Settings" for more information. ・ The software will be installed on your computer's C: drive, even if you specify another drive other than C: for storing images. The C: drive should have at least 2 GB of free space available for use as a work area.

2.2.2. Migration

The following message remains on the display as the software is being installed.

If you have Photo Loader image data stored on your computer, a Data Migration Tool will start up here to migrate the image data to Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM.

If you want to use your previously stored Photo Loader image data with Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM, click [Migrate].

If you want to migrate images later or if you choose not to migrate your existing images, click

[Migrate Later].

When you want to migrate images at any time after installing the software, perform the

following operation on the Windows [Start] menu to start up Data Migration Tool: [All Programs] -> [Casio] -> [Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM] -> [Data Migration Tool].

Clicking [Migrate] will start data migration and display the screen shown below.

At this time you should click a button to specify whether you want to delete the original Photo Loader image data or retain it.

On the screen that appears after data migration is finished, click [Close].

The message shown below appears after installation is completed successfully.

2.2.3. Installing from a HOT ALBUM Disk that Contains Images

The special software also can be installed on your computer from a HOT ALBUM disk to which images and other data has been written by another computer running Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM. Installing the software will copy the images from the HOT ALBUM disk to your computer at the same time.

Placing a HOT ALBUM disk that contains image data into the CD-ROM drive of your computer will launch HOT ALBUM VIEWER automatically. If it does not start automatically, use "My Computer" to navigate to the CD-ROM drive and double click "StartViewer.exe".

On the "HOT ALBUM VIEWER" screen, click [Install Photos and Application].

If your computer already has Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM installed, the button will change to [Save Photos] instead of [Install Photos and Application]. Proceed with the installation and you will be given a change to upgrade to a newer version if required.

See "3. Using HOT ALBUM VIEWER" for more information.

Important! ・ The green button in the lower right corner will not appear if your computer is running Windows 98SE or Windows Me. Installation and image registration are not supported on computers running these operating systems. ・ The software that is installed from a HOT ALBUM disk that contains images is different

(no Data Migration Tool, etc) from that installed from the CD-ROM.

On the screen that appears, click the [Start] button.

Click to view minimum computer system requirements.

Click to view an explanation about HOT ALBUM.

Read the End User License Agreement and then click the [I Agree] button. A different screen will appear if you have an older version of HA MY BOX installed on your computer. For more information, see "2.2.3 Upgrading from an Older Version during Installation".

The amount of free space available on the A: drive will appear on the display. Select a drive that has at least 2 GB of free space available.

Specify the B: drive and then click [Install].

The following message remains on the display as the software is being installed.

The message shown below appears after installation is completed successfully.

2.2.4. Uninstalling Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM

Perform the following operation on the Windows [Start] menu to start up HA Uninstall Tool:

[All Programs] -> [Casio] -> [Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM] -> [Uninstall].

In response to the confirmation message that appears, click [Yes] to uninstall.

Specify whether or not you want also to delete the image data associated with Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM.

Clicking [No] will retain the image data, which will be re-associated with the software the next time you install it.

On the "Maintenance Complete" screen that appears after the uninstall operation is completed normally, click [Finish].

2.3. Using the Software for the First Time

The first thing you need to do after installing Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM is import some images from your digital camera. There are two different methods you can use to import images into HOT ALBUM the first time: importing directly from a memory card and importing from a specified source.

2.3.1. Importing Images Directly from a Memory Card

When Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM is not running, insert the memory card that contains the images into your computer's memory card slot. This will start up Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM and display the screen shown below.

Click the [Import] button to start the import operation.

Important! ・If your computer does not have a memory card slot, use a card reader, card adapter, or some other commercially available device. If the automatic media monitoring feature is turned off, click "Settings and Software Update" on the Home Screen and then select [Monitor] for automatic media monitoring. ・ If the above screen does not appear automatically, perform the procedure under "2.3.2 Importing Images from Other Media".

See "2.5.4 Upgrading and Other Settings" for more information.

Thumbnails of all the images on the detected memory card will appear on the screen. Select the images you want to import. Initially all of the images are selected for import. Click an image to toggle it between selected and unselected. You also can select or deselect multiple images by dragging the mouse pointer across the screen.

Click to change the size of the thumbnails.

Shows the number of currently selected images.

Selects/Deselects all of the displayed images.

Important! ・If the detected digital camera, memory card, or folder includes an image type that is not supported by HOT ALBUM, the number of selected images value may be different from the number of images that actually are selected. Unsupported Image Types Unsupported movie files Compressed TIFF format file Snapshot file with a short side resolution of 1 pixels or less Snapshot file with a long side resolution of 5001 pixels or greater Importable but corrupted file See "2.1 Computer System Requirements and Disk Capacity".

After selecting the images you want to import, click the [Import] button. This will start import of the images.

A screen appears to let you know when image import is complete.

The imported images are stored in a storage area called "Photo Pocket." For more information, see "2.5.2 Importing Images with Photo Pocket".

The screen shows details about the image import operation. Click the [Next] button.

Important! ・During the import operation, the software checks to make sure that no two images have the same filename, file size, and shooting date. ・The number of images actually input may be lower than the number of images you selected

for import because some images are skipped because they are damaged, because they already exist in memory, etc.

2.3.2. Importing Images from Other Media

Under initial default settings, Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM starts up whenever you double-click the HOT ALBUM icon on your Windows desktop.

The screen shown below will appear if there are no images currently stored in Photo Loader with HOT ALBUM. Click [Start (Import Photos)].

Select where the images you want to import are located. [Digital Camera, Memory Card] [Computer] [CD, DVD] Click the button that corresponds to the location from which you want to import images.

Importing Images from a Digital Camera or Memory Card

Establish a connection between the memory card or digital camera where the images you want to import are located. The media is detected automatically and the software prepares to display the images.

Thumbnails of all the images on the detected digital camera or memory card will appear on the screen. Select the images you want to import. Initially all of the images are selected for import. Click an image to toggle it between selected and unselected. You also can select or deselect multiple images by dragging the mouse pointer across the screen.

Click to change the size of the thumbnails.

Shows the number of currently selected images.

Selects/Deselects all of the displayed images.

Important! ・If the detected digital camera, memory card, or folder includes an image type that is not supported by HOT ALBUM, the number of selected images value may be different from the number of images that actually are selected. Unsupported Image Types Unsupported movie file Compressed TIFF format file Snapshot file with a short side resolution of 1 pixels or less Snapshot file with a long side resolution of 5001 pixels or greater Importable but corrupted file See "2.1 Computer System Requirements and Disk Capacity".

After selecting the images you want to import, click the [Import] button. This will start import of the images.

Importing Images from a Computer Folder

The folders on your computer's hard disk appear in a tree structure. Select the folder that contains the images you want to import, and thumbnails of the images will appear on the screen.

Select the images you want to import. Initially, none of the images are selected. Click an image to toggle it between selected and unselected. You also can select or deselect multiple images by dragging the mouse pointer across the screen.

Click to change the size of the thumbnails.

Selects/Deselects all of the displayed images.

Shows the number of currently selected images.

Important! ・If the detected digital camera, memory card, or folder includes an image type that is not supported by HOT ALBUM, the number of selected images value may be different from the number of images that actually are selected. Unsupported Image Types Unsupported movie file Compressed TIFF format file Snapshot file with a short side resolution of 1 pixels or less Snapshot file with a long side resolution of 5001 pixels or greater Importable but corrupted file See "2.1 Computer System Requirements and Disk Capacity".

After selecting the images you want to import, click the [Import] button. This will start import of the images.

Importing Images from a CD or DVD

Set the CD or DVD disk that contains the images you want to import into your computer's disk drive. On the screen that appears, click the [Next] button.

This will display thumbnails of all of the images on the disk. Select the images you want to import. Initially all of the images are selected for import. Click an image to toggle it between selected and unselected. You also can select or deselect multiple images by dragging the mouse pointer across the screen.

Click to change the size of the thumbnails.

Shows the number of currently selected images.

Selects/Deselects all of the displayed images.

Important! ・If the detected digital camera, memory card, or folder includes an image type that is not supported by HOT ALBUM, the number of selected images value may be different from the number of images that actually are selected. Unsupported Image Types Unsupported movie file Compressed TIFF format file Snapshot file with a short side resolution of 1 pixels or less Snapshot file with a long side resolution of 5001 pixels or greater Importable but corrupted file See "2.1 Computer System Requirements and Disk Capacity".

After selecting the images you want to import, click the [Import] button. This will start import of the images.

A screen appears to let you know when image import is complete.

The imported images are stored in a storage area called "Photo Pocket." For more information, see "2.5.2 Importing Photos into Photo Pocket".

The screen shows details about the image import operation. Click the [Next] button.

Important! ・During the import operation, the software checks to make sure that no two images have the same filename, file size, and shooting date. ・The number of images you selected for import and the number of images stored may be different.

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