Nova development PHOTO EXPLOSION User Manual

License Agreement

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY!

1. Grant of License. Nova Development Corporation ("Nova Development") hereby grants you a non-exclusive license to

use the Photo Explosion® software and related documentation (collectively, the "Software") solely in accordance with the terms and conditions of this license agreement ("License"). This License sets forth your rights and responsibilities and other terms and conditions that relate to your use of the Software. Before you use the Software, please read this License as carefully as you would read any other legal document. If you do not agree with all of the terms and conditions of this License, do not use the Software and return it within 90 days of purchase in accordance with the procedure set forth in the Money Back Guarantee section below for a full refund. Your installation or use of the Software means that you have read and agree to all of the terms and conditions of this License.

2. Reservation of Rights. Nova Development hereby reserves all rights not expressly granted by this License. Nothing in this License constitutes a sale or grant of any ownership rights in or to the Software.

3. Permitted Use. You may use the Software on only one computer at a time. The use of one disc on one computer and another disc on a different computer at the same time is a breach of this License. You may make one copy of the Software for archival or "back up" purposes. You should contact Nova Development to obtain a site license if you need to use the Software simultaneously on multiple computers or a network.

4. Prohibited Use.You may not use the Software except as expressly permitted by this License. For example, you may not: (i) copy or reproduce any part of the Software, except as permitted by law or Section 3 of this License; (ii) sublicense, copy, lend, lease, rent, transfer or otherwise make any part of the Software available to any third party, except in accordance with Section 11; (iii) decompile, reverse-engineer or disassemble the Software or otherwise attempt to obtain the source code of the Software; (iv) alter, translate, adapt or modify the Software in any way; or (v) remove or alter the copyright notices on the Software.

5. Use of Content. You may use the content (the "Content") included in the Software only for your personal, noncommercial use, as may be further described in the documentation for the Software. You may not use the Content for any other purpose whatsoever. For example and without limitation, you may not: (i) permit any third party to use or access the Content, to make products or otherwise; (ii) sell or otherwise commercially distribute products created using the Content; (iii) sell or distribute (commercially or otherwise) the Content as stand-alone images or clip art, or in graphics catalogs, design books, compilations, collections, templates, designs, stock engravings or the like; or (iv) distribute or make available electronic copies of the Content to third parties in any manner, including without limitation, via the Internet, on any tangible media or by broadcast.

6. Responsibility For Use Of Content.You are completely responsible for your use of the Content. You may only use the Content responsibly, in a manner consistent with the exercise of good judgment. For example, and without limitation, you may not use the Content in any manner that: (i) infringes the copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, right of publicity or any other right of a third party; (ii) is or may be libelous, defamatory or slanderous; (iii) denigrates or offends any ethnic, racial, sexual or religious group, or persons who are physically or mentally challenged; (iv) is designed to or will harass, threaten, defame or abuse others; (v) exploits images or the likeness of individuals under 18 years of age; or (vi) characterizes any other unlawful activity as acceptable, glamorous or desirable.

7. Third-Party Intellectual Property. Certain portions of the Content may consist of the copyrights, trademarks, service marks, trade names or other intellectual property of third parties. These portions of the Content are provided for the convenience of certain users of the Software who are expressly authorized to use them by their owners. You may not use any third-party intellectual property without their express authorization.

8. LZW Restrictions. The Software uses LZW compression/decompression technology licensed under U.S. Patent No. 4,558,302 and foreign counterparts. You may not use the technology covered by this Patent, except in your use of the Software, unless you are separately licensed in writing by Unisys to do so.

9. U.S. Government Restricted Rights. The Software is licensed to the U.S. Government with RESTRICTED RIGHTS. Use, duplication or disclosure by the U.S. Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS 252.227-7013 and the Commercial Computer Software clause at 48 CFR 52.22719, as applicable. Contractor/manufacturer is Nova Development Corp., 23801 Calabasas Road, Suite 2005, Calabasas, California 91302.

10. Export Restrictions. You are responsible for complying with all foreign and domestic laws and trade regulations. The Software and its underlying information and technology may be not downloaded or otherwise exported or re-exported: (i) into Cuba, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, North Korea, Iran, Syria, or any other country subject to a U.S. embargo, or to any national or resident of any of these countries or (ii) to any person or entity on the U.S. Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals or the U.S. Commerce Department's Denied Persons List or Entities List. By using the Software you agree to the foregoing and represent and warrant that: (i) no U.S. federal agency has suspended, revoked or denied your export privileges; (ii) you are not located in any such country or under the control of a national or resident of any such country or on any such list; and (iii) you will not export or re-export the Software to any prohibited county or to any prohibited person, entity or end-user as specified by U.S. export controls.

11. Assignment. You may only assign the Software to another party if that party takes the Software subject to all of the terms and conditions of this License. If you assign the Software, you may not use the Software or retain any copies of it in any format whatsoever and all of your rights under this License will immediately terminate.

12. Term. The term of this License with you will continue until you assign the Software in accordance with Section 11 or you breach any term of this License.

13. Money-Back Guarantee. Without limiting any of the provisions of Sections 14 through 17, if for any reason you are not satisfied with the Software you may return it in its original condition within 90 days of purchase for a full refund. If the store where you purchased the Software does not support this money-back guarantee, you may return the Software directly to Nova Development. Call Nova Development at the phone number listed on the back cover of your User Manual to obtain a return authorization number. Then send the Software, along with the original store receipt, to the address you are given when you call Nova Development. Nova Development cannot accept returns without prior authorization.

14. LIMITED WARRANTY. NOVA DEVELOPMENT ONLY WARRANTS THAT THE SOFTWARE WILL BE FREE FROM MATERIAL DEFECTS FOR A PERIOD OF 90 DAYS FOLLOWING ITS PURCHASE. IF A MATERIAL DEFECT OCCURS WITHIN 90 DAYS, YOU MAY RETURN THE SOFTWARE TO NOVA DEVELOPMENT FOR A FREE REPLACEMENT. EXCEPT FOR ANY ADDITIONAL RIGHTS THAT MAY EXIST IN YOUR JURISDICTION, THE FOREGOING REMEDY IS YOUR SOLE REMEDY FOR NOVA DEVELOPMENT'S BREACH OF THIS WARRANTY.

15. DISCLAIMER. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE FOREGOING EXPRESS WARRANTY, THE SOFTWARE IS LICENSED TO YOU "AS IS." NOVA DEVELOPMENT DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THE SOFTWARE, ITS USE OR THE WORK PRODUCT PRODUCED USING THE SOFTWARE: (i) WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR FREE OF INACCURACIES OR ERRORS; (ii) WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS; OR (iii) WILL OPERATE IN THE CONFIGURATION OR WITH THE HARDWARE OR OTHER SOFTWARE YOU MAY SELECT. NOVA DEVELOPMENT HEREBY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, MERCHANTABILITY AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

16. EXCLUSION. NOVA DEVELOPMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE FOR CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE OR SPECIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES RELATING TO LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA OR LOSS OF GOODWILL) ARISING OUT OF, RELATING TO OR CONNECTED WITH THE USE OF THE SOFTWARE, REGARDLESS OF THE NATURE OF THE CLAIM, AND EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

17. LIMITATION. IN NO EVENT WILL NOVA DEVELOPMENT'S TOTAL LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES ARISING FROM, RELATING TO OR CONNECTED WITH THIS LICENSE OR THE SOFTWARE EVER EXCEED THE PRICE YOU HAVE PAID FOR THE SOFTWARE, REGARDLESS OF THE NATURE OF THE CLAIM.

18. APPLICABILITY OF EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS. SOME JURISDICTIONS MAY NOT PERMIT CERTAIN OF THE EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS SET FORTH IN THIS LICENSE, IN WHICH CASE THEY MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

19. Miscellaneous. This License is governed by the law of California applicable to contracts entered into and performed entirely within California irrespective of its conflict of laws principles. Any action arising under, relating to or connected with this License or the use of the Software will be filed only in an appropriate court located in Los Angeles County, California, and the parties irrevocably consent and submit to the personal jurisdiction of such courts for such purposes. The Section titles in this License are for convenience only and will not be deemed to affect the provisions of the Sections. No waiver, amendment, supplementation or modification of any provision of this License will be effective, except pursuant to a written instrument signed by both parties. In the event that any portion of this License is held invalid or unenforceable, such portion will be deemed modified so as to make it valid and enforceable, consistent with the parties' intentions or if it cannot be so modified, will be deemed stricken, with the remaining portions of this License to remain in full force and effect. This License constitutes the entire understanding and agreement, and supersedes any and all prior or contemporaneous representations, understandings and agreements, between the parties with respect to the subject matter of this License. Nothing contained in this License will be deemed to create a joint venture or partnership between you and Nova Development, or to create any third party rights. The prevailing party in any action or proceeding arising under, relating to or connected with this License shall be entitled to recover from the other party the reasonable attorneys fees and costs incurred in such action or proceeding.

Acknowledgements

Nova Development wishes to thank the many people who contributed to Photo Explosion including:

Douglas Gintz, Eric Kaufman, Roger Bloxberg, Karen Brower,Tracy Chandler, Kristyl Cornell, Ryan Crippen, Gary Gonzalez, Lisa Helfstein, Todd Helfstein, Derek Jacobsen, and Shan Ogdemli.

In addition, we are also grateful for the work and support of Christina Canale, Jorge Dagang, Troy Doss, Marisa Eland, Dan Feldman, Kim Huang, Louis Jordan, Alex Khoras, Nick Kim, Juliet Kuo, James Lagasse, Rhea Lu, Alia Michaels, Susan Ragsdale, Russell St. Charles, Levi Salvador, Michael Schultz, Maya Sidharta, John Tsai, David Tseng, Dennis Yang, William Wood and Alex Wu.

©2002 Nova Development Corp. and its licensors. All Rights Reserved. Explosion is a registered trademark and Photo Explosion and the Nova logo are trademarks of Nova Development Corporation. Software developed by Ulead Systems, Inc. ©1992-2002 Ulead Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. JPEG Plug-In Module ©1992-2001 Ulead Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Portions of this software are based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group. Portions under license from Applian Technologies Inc. Portions under license from SplashData Inc.

Images ©1998-1999, 2002 Nova Development Corporation; ©1995 Expressions Computer Software; © Management Graphics, Ltd.; ©1995 Tanner Dokuments GmbH; ©1996-98 Focus Designs; ©1996 Cliptoart; ©1996-99 Hemera Technologies, Inc.; ©1995 Silicon 4 Multimedia; ©1997-98 Seattle Support Group; Contains type software from Bitstream, copyright ©1981-2000 Bitstream Inc. Font names may be registered trademarks or trademarks of Bitsream Inc. or their respective owners. Rights of all parties reserved.

KODAK and the KODAK Picture Friendly logo are trademarks of Eastman Kodak Company. Avery and all Avery codes are trademarks of Avery Dennison Corporation. Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are trademarks, or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Other product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

The templates in this product use the names of people and organizations as placeholders for your custom text. Any similarity to actual names is entirely coincidental.

Chapter 1. Introducing Photo Explosion

Welcome! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Registering Photo Explosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Conventions Used in This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Chapter 2. Installing Photo Explosion

System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Installing Photo Explosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Using Files from the Content and Bonus CDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Uninstalling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Chapter 3. Getting Started

Starting Photo Explosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

The Different Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Browse Mode Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Photo Mode Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Project Mode Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Printing Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Using Photo Explosion Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Chapter 4. Using Photo Explosion

Workspace Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Working with Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Saving Photos and Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Opening Existing Photos and Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Chapter 5. Getting Photos and Other Images

Importing Clip Art or Other Graphics Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Understanding Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Scanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Downloading from a Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Capturing Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Chapter 6. Organizing and Adjusting Your Photos

Browse Mode Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Organizing Your Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Adjusting Your Photos in Batches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

Chapter 7. Enhancing Your Photos

Photo Mode Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

Selecting Parts of Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Editing Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Fixing Your Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Adding Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Working with Painting Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Adding Graphic Elements and ‘Dressing up’Your Photos . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Chapter 8. Creating Projects

Project Mode Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

Working with Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64

Customizing a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66

Enhancing Your Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

Saving Your Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69

Chapter 9. Sharing Your Photos and Projects

Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70

Sending by E-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76

Creating Web Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77

Using Your Images on Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83

Making Images and Animations for Mobile Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87

Creating Photo Gifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90

Chapter 10. Advanced Special Effects

Advanced Special Effects for Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91

Adding Animation (Deluxe Version) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96

Advanced Special Effects for Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99

Chapter 11. Using Images and Installing Fonts

Vector vs. Raster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100

Finding and Using the Image You Want . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101

Installing Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102

Chapter 12.Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104

Appendix A. Supported File Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107

Appendix B. DVD PhotoPlay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Chapter 1. Introducing Photo

Explosion

WELCOME!

Welcome to Photo Explosion, the complete digital photo studio.

For as long as there have been digital cameras, there have been digital photo editing programs. Photo Explosion is the first product of its kind to deliver powerful photo editing features, spectacular special effects and professionalquality photo projects all together in one program.

Photo Explosion is an indispensable tool for organizing and enhancing your photographs. Photo Explosion allows you to acquire images from a wide variety of TWAIN-compatible devices (digital cameras, scanners and video cameras) and easily edit and apply cutting-edge effects to the images. Additionally, you can create photo-based projects to share with family and friends by transforming your pictures into artistic greeting cards, calendars, banners and even animated Web Cards.

With Photo Explosion’s many tools you don’t have to be a graphic artist to enhance and transform your photos. You can enhance your photos individually or make changes to groups of photos. You can also import and convert your photos into many different file formats.

Photo Explosion includes a wide range of project templates with millions of creative combinations.

Photo Management: With Photo Explosion’s unique user interface, it is now easy to keep track of your files. In Browse mode, you can use a Windows Explorer–like view to browse image, audio and video files visually and move the files into different folders, as needed.

Editing: Photo Explosion has a wide range of image editing tools from simple color correction to high-end photographic effects. You can also dress up your photos with fun props and decorative elements such as edges and frames. Photo Explosion’s Single-Click SmartEnhance™ Technology makes image editing easy for beginners. Or you may use advanced settings to create unlimited variations.

Projects: Photo Explosion has ready-made templates that you can combine with your own photos and text. These photo projects include: Photo Frames, 3D Crafts, Photo Calendars, Cards, Albums, Scrapbook Pages, Web Cards,

Web Pages, Web Shows and many other personal and business-related projects.

More ways to share: Instantly share your photos by e-mail, create an onscreen slide show or even make a web page with many output options to share your memorable photos over the Internet. You can also enhance your desktop with a practical calendar and wallpaper.

REGISTERING PHOTO EXPLOSION

Before you start enhancing your first photo or creating your first project, please take a moment to register. Once you do, you’ll be entitled to:

• Free Technical Support: We’re committed to making Photo

Explosion work for you. If you have any questions, please contact our support staff.

• Immediate Notification of Upgrades: You’ll hear about new versions

of Photo Explosion as soon as they’re available.

• Registered User Discounts: As a registered user, you’re eligible for

special prices on many new products and bonus offers on our other best-selling software products.

Note: There is a registration button on the screen that appears when you insert the Photo Explosion Installer disc.You can register Photo Explosion before you install it.

GETTING HELP

Don’t panic! Our friendly technical support staff is ready to help:

• Send an e-mail message clearly describing your problem to support@novadevelopment.com. We will reply within one business day.

• Visit our web site at www.novadevelopment.com/main/support.html for frequently asked questions and troubleshooting tips.

• Call us at 818-591-9600. Technicians are available from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Friday.

• Send a fax to 818-591-8885. We will reply within one business day.

• In Europe please contact Nova Development (UK) Limited:

Phone: +44 (0)1752 202507

Fax: +44 (0)1752 894833

E-mail: support@novadevelopment.co.uk

CONVENTIONS USED IN THIS GUIDE

• Bold text is used for keys, buttons, check boxes, radio buttons, menus or menu items, and text that you are directed to type.

• Italicized text refers to names for folders, files, disks or discs, windows, and dialog boxes. It’s also used for new terms, chapter or section references, and important ideas.

• Hierarchical submenus are noted as Submenu

➧

Submenu Item. For example, the Custom item of the Rotate submenu would be described as “Choose Rotate

➧

Custom from the Arrange menu.”

• Ctrl, Shift or Alt followed by a letter means hold down that key while pressing the letter. For example, Ctrl+S means hold down the Ctrl key while pressing the ‘S’ key.

• Click means click the left mouse button. Double-click means click the left mouse button twice in quick succession. Right-click means to click the right mouse button. Shift-click means hold down the Shift key while clicking the left mouse button.

• A shortcut menu is the menu that appears when you click the right mouse button over an object.

• Warnings, notes and tips look like this:

Note: Please don’t run with scissors.

Chapter 2. Installing Photo

Explosion

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

To run Photo Explosion you'll need a computer with a Pentium®166 or faster microprocessor; Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, Me or XP; 32 MB RAM; and a CD-ROM drive; and Microsoft®Internet Explorer 5.0 or above.

INSTALLING PHOTO EXPLOSION

1. Insert the Photo Explosion CD labeled Installer into your CD-ROM drive. In a few moments the Photo Explosion Installer startup screen should appear automatically. If it doesn’t, go to My Computer, open your CD-ROM drive and open the setup.exe program.

2. Click the Install Photo Explosion button.

3. Follow the instructions on screen to complete the installation.

Selecting the Typical Install option installs the software and supporting files needed to run Photo Explosion. This is the recommended installation and requires that you have the Photo Explosion Content CD in the CD-ROM drive when you want to work with the ready-made designs. Selecting the Full Install option installs the software, supporting files and the ready-made designs.

If you don’t have Internet Explorer installed or a version prior to 5.0, the Installer will prompt you to install Internet Explorer 5.5.

USING FILES FROM THE CONTENT AND BONUS CDS

Your Photo Explosion program includes content CDs that contain the readymade project templates, photographs and fonts.

The Content CD

Project templates are on this disc. If you selected the Typical Install option, you need to have the Content CD in the CD-ROM drive when you select and open a project. If you selected the Full Install option, the Installer copies the project templates on this disc to your hard drive.

Additional CDs

Additional items (such as photographs, fonts, software and ready-made designs) may be included with your version of Photo Explosion. The disc

label indicates the type of bonus content. You can view the photographs and additional templates using the multimedia browsing features of Photo Explosion. See Chapter 11: Using Images and Installing Fonts for details about installing fonts.

Bonus Software (Deluxe Version)

The Deluxe version of Photo Explosion includes bonus software that provides even more ways to enhance and share your photos.

• Create CD Slide Shows you can watch on TV. Share your photos with family and friends – even those that don’t have a computer. Burn photo slide shows onto CDs that play on most DVD players. You can even add background music.

• Transform photos into a 360° panorama. Easily transform a series of photos into a 360° or wide-angle panorama. Automatic photo stitching, alignment and color blending make it easy for anyone to create professional results in minutes. Post your panoramas online or send them by e-mail and allow viewers to “walk-through” the scene.

• Slide Shows for Palm® and Pocket PC PDAs. View photos full screen or as thumbnails on your Palm or Pocket PC handheld. You can enhance pictures and create stunning slide shows.

To install bonus software:

1. Insert the Bonus Software CD in the CD-ROM drive, double-click My Computer and open the CD.

2. Double-click Setup.exe to launch the Bonus Software Installation screen.

3. Click the Button associated with the software you want to install.

UNINSTALLING

If you want to uninstall Photo Explosion, you should use its uninstall program. The Uninstaller will properly remove all Photo Explosion files, settings and fonts.

1. Choose Settings ➧Control Panel from the Start menu.

2. Open the Add/Remove Programs control panel. The Install/Uninstall tab has a list of programs that you can remove.

3. Select Photo Explosion and click Add/Remove (or Change/Remove depending on your version of Windows).

4. Follow the instructions on screen to remove Photo Explosion from your hard drive.

Chapter 3. Getting Started

You have now installed Photo Explosion. If you haven’t registered yet, please take a moment to register online. If Photo Explosion is open, choose Online Registration from the Help menu or go to the Nova Development web site (http://www.novareg.com). Becoming a registered user entitles you to product updates, free downloads, and technical support should you have any problems with the Photo Explosion program.

STARTING PHOTO EXPLOSION

When you work with Photo Explosion, make sure your display is set to a resolution of at least 800x600 and either HiColor (16 bit) or True Color (24 bit) mode.

To start Photo Explosion:

• Choose Programs

➧

Nova Development ➧Photo Explosion from

the Start menu.

THE DIFFERENT MODES

Photo Explosion is a cutting-edge digital photo studio that is easy to use. You use Photo Explosion for three main purposes: browsing and organizing photos, enhancing photos and creating photo-based projects. For each of these purposes Photo Explosion has a different mode of operation.

Note: You can save and print your work in all modes.

Browse mode: You use this mode to store, organize, browse and otherwise enjoy your photos, projects, video and audio files. While in this mode, you can share your photo or project albums (folders) in many different ways. You can also convert your photos from one file format to another.

Photo mode: This is where you will do most of your work. You’ll find all the standard tools found in most image editors here, as well as many advanced features unique to Photo Explosion. It’s easy to open, adjust, paint, add text, create special effects, add decorations and dress up your photos.

Note: When you open a photo, you’re working on the original file. It’s therefore safest to save the file with a new name immediately after opening it. This will prevent you from accidentally overwriting the original photo.

Project mode: This is where you can produce unique photo-based creations. Don’t worry if you don’t have your own photos to use. Photo Explosion provides you with lots of samples that can get you started. You can easily create projects such as 3D frames and crafts, photo frames, calendars, business cards and greeting cards.

BROWSE MODE OVERVIEW

What You Can Do in Browse Mode

In Photo Explosion you view thumbnails of images in Browse mode. Browse mode is arranged in a convenient way for locating multimedia files. There is a folder tree in the Options panel, and the selected folder’s contents are viewed as thumbnails in the workspace. (Selected images are outlined in blue.)

In Browse mode you can:

• Select multiple photos.

• Adjust individual photos or groups in batches. You can use this for quick enhancements or for converting files.

• Locate and open multimedia files.

• Organize multimedia files. You can easily create new folders and move files between folders.

• Print thumbnails. You can print all (or just the selected) images in a folder.

• Obtain detailed information about selected image files.

Using Browse Mode

Locate and select a folder from the folder tree on the left to display the contents in the workspace.

You can arrange icons, change the thumbnail size, and specify the types of multimedia files to display using the toolbar buttons or commands on the View menu. An integrated search tool is also available to help you find files easily.

You can use the tools on the toolbar above the Options panel to move quickly among recently browsed folders.

Once you’ve located the images to edit, there are four ways to open them and switch to Photo mode:

• Double-click a thumbnail.

• With one or more thumbnail selected, click the Open button on the toolbar.

• Drag selected thumbnails to the Thumbnail Strip.

• Right-click one or more selected thumbnails and click Edit on the shortcut menu.

Note: You select multiple thumbnails by pressing Shift (for contiguous selections) or Ctrl (for non-contiguous selections) while clicking the thumbnails. If you have selected more than one thumbnail, all the photos open simultaneously and appear on the Thumbnail Strip.

Creating a Photo Album

Photo albums are folders that contain images. One important feature of Browse mode is its ability to easily organize your photos and other images into photo albums.

To create a photo album:

1. In the left panel, locate and open the folder (or disk) to contain the new album.

2. Click the New Album icon on the toolbar above the left panel.

3. Type a name for the album.

4. Move images into the album:

— Drag thumbnails from the Thumbnail Strip. — Select and copy images from other folders or albums. — Use the commands in the Get Photo menu on the Command panel

to acquire new images.

PHOTO MODE OVERVIEW

Unless you have a darkroom in your basement, traditional print photography offers little to nothing in the way of flexibility. If a picture is less than perfect when it comes back from the developer, there’s nothing you can do to fix it. Modern digital imaging, however, gives you creative freedom and the ability to fix images that were shot under less than ideal conditions. Photo Explosion’s Photo mode allows you to fix, enhance, edit and transform your digital photos.

What You Can Do in Photo Mode

When you have an image open in Photo mode, it fills the workspace. You’ll find a large selection of tools to prepare your images for projects, add special effects, or just touch up your photos. The editing and enhancing tools (for example, the Adjust tools) are all available on the menus after you click Edit on the Command panel.

When you work with a tool, the Options panel on the left has default presets where you can select a balanced effect. Alternatively, you can click Advanced mode to view the many options for each tool, giving you fine control over the tool’s attributes (like width, color and transparency). Every tool has a different set of options.

Note: When you open your photo in Photo mode, you are working on the original photo… not an untitled image. Therefore, you may want to save the photo with a new name to preserve the original file.

In Photo mode, you can select an area of a photo to copy that part of the image. The selection becomes a separate object. It is then independent of the rest of the base image. You can move selections and change them. You can add other objects to photos, including text, props, backgrounds and frames.

After making changes, if you want to keep objects as separate elements, save your image as a Photo Explosion file (*.UPX) or template (*.TPX) that you can go back and re-edit. Otherwise, save your photos as graphic files — to send your images to friends, use them on a Web Page project or open them in another program. You can select from several different graphic file formats (like *.BMP, *.GIF or *.JPG). The independent objects are merged into the photo and can no longer be edited.

Note: To quickly access tools that you’ve just closed, click the List the recently used tools button on the toolbar.

Enhancing a Photo (QuickStart)

Photo Explosion has many different ways for you to enhance your photos. Here’s one method to give you an idea of what you can do with your photos.

To enhance a photo:

1. Open the File menu and click Open

➧

Open Photo.

2. Locate and select the photo you want to open.

Note: If you don’t have any photos handy at the moment, open the Sample folder in the Photo Explosion folder on your hard disk.

3. Click Open.

4. Click Edit on the Command panel.

5. Open the Adjust menu and click Balance Color.

6. Select one of the preset color changes on the left.

7. Click Close.

8. Open the File menu and click Save As.

9. Locate and open a folder for the new file.

10. Name the file and click Save.

PROJECT MODE OVERVIEW

Project mode gives you a focused environment in which to create custom photo projects such as photo frames, scrapbook pages, crafts, stationery, and much more.

What You Can Do in Project Mode

You open a project template by clicking an item on the Get Project menu on the Command panel. Photo Explosion has many template categories including:

• Business & ID Cards

• Certificates

• Crafts — including 3D projects, magazine covers, body switches and trading cards

• Greeting Cards — including invitations and announcements

• Matching Sets — with invitations, cards, gift tags, labels, and more that match a given theme

• Photo Frames — both general and holidays/occasions

• Postcards — business and personal

• Scrapbooks — including album covers

• Signs & Posters — banners, flyers and posters

• Stationery — letterhead, envelopes, labels and notes

Additionally, there are blanks for you to create your own projects from scratch.

Creating a Project (QuickStart)

Photo Explosion has many different ready-made designs for various types of projects. Here’s one method for customizing a ready-made design.

To start a new project:

1. Open the Mode menu and click Project.

2. In the panel on the left, click Photo Frames and double-click General in the workspace. or Choose Photo Frames

➧

General from the Get Project menu.

3. Double-click one of the pre-designed photo frames. (You may be prompted to load the Content CD.)

4. Click Edit on the Command panel and then choose Add/Edit from the Te xt menu.

5. On the Options panel on the left, type your name or other text in the Te xt box at the top and click Apply. Click Close.

6. Double-click the photo placeholder and click Replace from My Computer.

7. Double-click one of the images that appears in the Options panel on the left.

8. Click Close.

9. Choose Save As from the File menu.

10. Locate and open a folder for the new file.

11. Name the project and click Save.

PRINTING OVERVIEW

You can use Photo Explosion to print your photos and projects in many different ways. Printing normally prints one image or project on a sheet of paper. However, if you are in Browse mode and select multiple photos, Photo Explosion prints multiple pages equal to the number of photos selected.

To print one image or project onto a sheet of paper:

1. If you’re in Browse mode, select an image. or If you’re in Photo or Project mode, have the image or project active.

2. Open the Print menu on the Command panel and click Normal.

3. In the Options panel, select the printer you want used for this print job.

4. Select a Paper Size.

5. Adjust the Layout options.

— Select either Portrait or Landscape orientation. — To add a title to the image or project, click Title and type a title in

the box.

— To maximize the image or project on the paper, click Fit image to

page.

— Set or clear the Center horizontally or Center vertically options.

6. Type the number of Copies or click the arrows.

7. Click Print.

8. Click Close.

You’ll find more specific information about printing in Chapter 9: Sharing Your Photos and Projects.

USING PHOTO EXPLOSION HELP

Photo Explosion features full online help including Photo Explosion Help, ToolTips, What’s This Help and context-sensitive help. Also, the Web Links menu on the Command panel gives you access to other helpful information — like Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and program updates.

The Help Menu

The Help menu contains three items.

• Photo Explosion Help (F1) has general information and step-by-step instructions for Photo Explosion tasks. It also contains tips and techniques for scanning images and working with photos from digital cameras.

• Photo Explosion Web Links give you a quick way to get to various Nova Development web pages.

• Online Registration allows you to register online at any time.

• About Photo Explosion shows the version and registration information for your copy of Photo Explosion.

Guide Tips

When a light bulb appears on the toolbar, you can click it to get information about the current mode you are in. You can turn this feature on or off in the Preferences dialog box

ToolTips

If you move the cursor over an active toolbar button, you’ll see a message giving you the button’s functionality or its name.

What’s This Help

If you click the What’s This Help button on the toolbar and then click an item in the workspace, you’ll get additional information about that item.

Context-Sensitive Help

When you have a dialog box on the screen and have a question about proceeding, you can get help directly from there by clicking the Help button.

Web Links

Check out the Nova web site periodically to keep yourself up-to-date with important program news and promos. The Web Links menu offers quick access to a number of useful links related to the program, and displays these web pages in the Photo Explosion workspace.

Chapter 4. Using Photo

Explosion

In this chapter, you’ll find detailed instructions that explain the basic features of the Photo Explosion interface. By the end of this chapter you’ll be familiar with the different elements in the workspace and know how to work with objects.

WORKSPACE OVERVIEW

The project workspace is where you view photos (Browse mode), edit your photos (Photo mode) and create projects (Project mode) in Photo Explosion. In addition to the standard Windows menu bar and the workspace viewing area, the workspace contains a Command panel with most of the Photo Explosion commands for accessing tools and projects, a Toolbar with icons depicting the most common commands, the Mode menu, an Options Toolbar for working with the contents of the Options panel, and a Thumbnail Strip.

Menu bar

A number of commands common to Windows applications are found here — like Save, Open and Exit.

Mode menu

The Mode menu is where you switch among Browse, Photo and Project modes. Browse mode is where you locate and organize files. Photo mode is where the majority of image-editing and enhancing takes place. Project mode is where you create cards and other items from templates.

Menu Bar

Options Panel

Thumbnail Strip

Mode Menu

Workspace Toolbar

Command Panel

Options Toolbar

Command panel

This area lists all the menus and tools available for the mode you are currently using. Clicking Edit on the Command panel shows or hides the

Edit menu bar. The Command panel items are always available (as are the Edit menu titles after you click Edit). These items and menu titles are gray

until you click them to view the menus.

Options panel

This panel on the left of the workspace area displays all the different possibilities and settings available for any given function. You select predefined tool attributes or set user-specified tool attributes using this panel. In Browse mode or Project mode, this area shows the hierarchical folder structure for the currently opened folder.

Thumbnail Strip

All active photos and projects appear as thumbnails on the Thumbnail Strip located at the bottom of the workspace. You can drag images from the Thumbnail Strip to add them to projects. To view an image or project quickly, double-click its thumbnail.

At the right of the Thumbnail Strip, there is a thumbnail of the active image or project. Clicking this thumbnail lets you navigate around magnified images that can no longer be displayed entirely on screen.

Workspace Toolbar

This toolbar, located above the main workspace area, has buttons relevant to the current mode and the current tool.

Options Toolbar

This toolbar, located above the Options panel, has buttons relevant to the current mode or the current tool.

Setting Photo Explosion Options

The Preferences command on the File menu allows you to set global program options.

In the Photo Explosion tab you can set:

• Generation quality: Determines the quality of images being used. High quality yields better images but uses more memory and takes more time. Good is the default.

• Associate picture files with Photo Explosion: Makes Photo Explosion the default image-editing program for all graphic files on your computer. If you open a graphic file (such as .BMP, .GIF or .JPG files), Photo Explosion will open automatically.

• Show Guide Tips: Has Photo Explosion show Guide Tips (Light Bulb) for the currently selected function.

• Turn on sound effects: Turns on or off sound effects associated with using the program.

• Web update checking system: When you select this feature, Photo Explosion will periodically check Nova Development’s web site for product updates.

• Enable command reminder: Pops up a reminder at the top of each Option panel letting you know which command opened this set of options.

• Monitor gamma: Adjusts the gamma correction of your monitor to match standards.

In the Plug-Ins tab

• Define additional folders for plug-ins: Select a box at left and then type the path for (or click the Browse button to locate) the folder that contains additional PhotoShop

-compatible plug-ins such as Kai’s

Power Tools™or Alien Skin™.

Changing the Views

The View menu has commands that affect how you see the thumbnails in the workspace. The Thumbnail Size submenu allows to increase or decrease the size of the thumbnails allowing you to see fewer or more thumbnails at a time. The Arrange Icons submenu commands affect the order of the thumbnails. The Browse For submenu filters the type of media file(s) that are visible while browsing.

Note: The filenames will not be visible for thumbnail sizes below 96 x 96. To view thumbnails that have long file names, select a larger size such as 128 x 128 or higher.

Customizing the Photo Explosion Workspace

Tired of looking at the same windows all the time? Photo Explosion makes it possible to change the workspace background and the skin around the Command panel.

Selecting a skin and background:

1. On the toolbar, click Change the appearance of Photo Explosion.

2. In the dialog box that appears, select from among the preset skins and backgrounds.

3. Click OK.

Note: To check the Nova web site for new skins, click Get Skins on the Web Links menu.

To use your own image as the workspace background:

1. Select an image in Browse mode.

2. Right-click and click Set As Background on the shortcut menu.

WORKING WITH OBJECTS

Objects are self-contained components placed on images or projects. These can be frames, shadows, text, images or the background. Also, when you select a part of an image and cut it out using one of the selection tools, that part of the image becomes a separate object. Objects can be changed without altering other parts of an image. For example, they can be moved in front of or behind other objects.

Each object has its own properties and attributes. For example, a text object has size, font style and color attributes; whereas an image object does not have font style attributes. Often, an object’s properties are accessible by right-clicking the object.

When you save an image as a *.UPX file or a project as a *.TPX file, each object’s characteristics and attributes remain editable for future editing.

To integrate an object into an image permanently, right-click the object and choose Merge on the shortcut menu. Alternatively, if you want to use or view an image outside of Photo Explosion, you need to save it in a standard image format like *.JPG or *.BMP. An image’s objects are automatically merged when you save the image in a standard image format.

Working with Objects

You can resize, move and apply effects to one or more objects.

To select objects:

• To select a single object, click it. A box appears around the object.

• To select all the objects in an image or a project, choose Select All (Ctrl+A) from the Edit menu on the Windows menu bar.

• To select a few objects, click the first object and then Shift-click each additional object.

To copy a selected object or group of objects, do one of the following:

• Choose Copy (Ctrl+C) and then Paste (Ctrl+V) from the Edit menu on the Windows menu bar.

• Right-click the selected object and click Copy on the shortcut menu. Right-click the selected object and click Paste on the shortcut menu.

To delete a selected object or group of objects, do one of the following:

• Choose Cut (Ctrl+X) from the Edit menu on the Windows menu bar. The object goes onto the Clipboard.

• Choose Clear from the Edit menu on the Windows menu bar.

• Press the Delete key.

If you are working in another image-editing application, you can copy all or part of the image to the Clipboard and paste it into Photo Explosion.

To paste the contents of the Clipboard onto an image or project:

• Choose Paste (Ctrl+V) from the Edit menu on the Windows menu bar. The contents of the Clipboard appear in your image or project as a separate object.

To move an object:

• Select the object, move the pointer inside the object and drag the object to a new location.

Working with Layers

When you add an object to a project, Photo Explosion puts the object in its own layer. As you add objects they get placed into layers on top of each other. You can change the order in which objects appear; therefore, for example, you can superimpose a text object on top of a picture.

To change an object’s layer:

• To move an object one level forward, select it and click the Bring Up button on the toolbar.

• To move an object one level back, select it and click the Send Down button on the toolbar.

SAVING PHOTOS AND PROJECTS

It is a good habit to save your work periodically to ensure that you don’t have to redo everything when unexpected events happen. Keep in mind that saving a project as a *.TPX file or saving an image as a *.UPX file means that you will be able to edit the individual objects when you reopen the file.

To save a photo or project:

1. Open the Share menu on the Command panel and click Save.

2. On the Options panel, locate the folder where you want to save the image or project.

3. Type a file name.

4. Select a File type for the image or project.

Note: Use BMP and TIF to keep the highest level of quality; use JPG for photos to be used on the Web or sent by e-mail; use UPX to save photos or

TPX to save projects with unmerged objects.

5. Select a Data type for the image or project.

Note: Data type describes how much color information is saved with the image. The more color information included in the file, the larger the file is. For the highest quality color, use True Color. Indexed-256 and Grayscale each contain up to a maximum of 256 distinct colors or shades of gray and are generally quite small. (With .TIF files 48-bit True Color and 16-bit Grayscale are also available for good quality images.)

6. Click Save.

Note: Use the Save As command on the File menu to specify advanced save options — such as file quality, compression or other options that are specific for each file type.

OPENING EXISTING PHOTOS AND PROJECTS

There are several ways to open photos in Photo Explosion.

To open an existing photo in any mode:

1. Click Open

➧

Open Photo on the File menu.

2. Locate the image in the Open dialog box.

3. Click Open.

The image opens in Photo mode ready to edit.

If you are in Browse mode and you’ve opened the folder containing the image:

• Double-click the thumbnail.

• Select the thumbnail and click the Open button on the toolbar.

• Drag the thumbnail to the Thumbnail Strip.

• Select the thumbnail, right-click it and click Edit on the shortcut menu.

Note: When in Browse mode, you can open more than one image at a

time. Select multiple images by pressing Ctrl (for non-contiguous selections) or Shift (for contiguous selections) while clicking the thumbnails.

To open an existing project while in any mode:

1. Click Open ➧Open Template File on the File menu.

2. Locate the project in the Open dialog box.

3. Click Open.

The project opens in Project mode ready to edit.

To open a project in Project mode:

1. Open the Get Project menu on the Command panel and click My Computer.

2. Locate the folder containing the project in the Options panel on the left.

3. Select the project and click Open. or Double-click the project.

The project opens in Project mode ready to edit.

Note: When in Project mode, you can open more than one project at a time. Select multiple projects by pressing Ctrl (non-contiguous selections) or Shift (contiguous selections) while clicking the thumbnails.

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Nova development PHOTO EXPLOSION User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Table of Contents

Chapter 3. Getting Started