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KAI S PHOTO SOAP 2,KAI'S PHOTO SOAP 2
User Manual
173 pgs2.33 Mb0

ScanSoft KAI S PHOTO SOAP 2,KAI'S PHOTO SOAP 2 User Manual

1
User Guide
for Windows® and Macintosh
®
Trademarks
Kai’s Photo Soap 2 is a trademark of ScanSoft, Inc.
Copyright
Copyright © 1998–2000 by Scan Soft, Inc. Al l rights reser ved. No part of this p ublication may be transmitted, transcribed, reproduced, stored in any retrieval system o r translated into any language or computer language in any form or by any means, mech anical, electronic, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual, or oth erwise, without the prior written consent of ScanSoft, Inc., 9 Centennial Drive, Peabod y, Massachusetts 01960. Printed both in the United States of America and the United Kingdom. The software described in this book is furnished under license and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license.
Important N otice
ScanSoft, Inc. provides this publication “as is” withou t warranty of any kind, either express or implied, incl uding but not l im-ited to t he implied war ranties of merchantability or f itness for a particu- lar purpose. Some states or jurisd ictions do not allow disclaimer of ex-press or implied warranties in certain transactions; therefore, this statement may not apply to you. ScanSoft reserves the right to revise this publication an d to make changes from time to time in the content hereof without obligation of ScanSoft to notify any person of such revision or changes.
® ScanSoft, Inc.
9 Centennial Drive Peabody, Massachusetts 01960
Kai’s Photo Soap 2 User’s Guide
August 2000
2
Welcome to Kai’s Photo Soap 2 7
12 What’s New? 13 Getting Help 14 Starting and Quitting Soap 2 15 Exploring Kai’s Photo Soap 2 22 The Soap 2 Transporter 23 Undo, Apply, and Save 25 Using Albums 26 Export i ng Photos 27 Expanding Soap 2’s Power
TABLE OF
Installing Kai’s Photo Soap 2 29
Organizing Photos 31
32 Overview 32 Loading Photos 33 Working with Thumbnails 37 Previewing Photos 38 Getting File Information 39 Removing Image Files from your Computer 40 Switching Views 41 Working with Desktops 43 Sorting and Searching for Photos
Fixing Photos 48
49 Overview 50 What Kai’s Photo Soap 2 Can Fix 50 Using t he Tools
iii
54 Rotating and Sizing Photos 59 Adjusting Colo r 71 Automatically Fixing Photos 74 Healing Flaws 77 Smoothing and Sharpening 79 Removing Red Eye 80 Removing date and time stamps 81 Duplicating photo elements 83 Other Fun Effects 86 Having Fun with Masks
Composing Images 91
92 Building Compos itions 93 Working with Composition Layers 104 Adding Photos to your Composition 105 Adding Text 107 Adding Objects, Backgrounds, and Edges 108 Adding Shadows to Layers 110 Adding a Canvas Color 111 Saving and Reloading a Composition
Using Albums 114
115 Overview 116 Selecting an Album Style 117 Changing the Layout 118 Loading Photos
119 Adding Text 121 Printing Albums
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122 Saving Albums 122 Viewing Album Information 122 Sharing Albums
Printing Photos 123
125 Overview 126 Prin t ing a Single Phot o 127 Printing in Rows and Column s 128 Printing to Popular Sizes 128 Supported Aver y and Kodak Papers 128 Loading Special Papers Correctly 129 Printing to Perforated Paper
TABLE OF
130 Printing to Special Designs 132 Prin t ing Posters 133 Adding Backgrounds or Frames 134 Scaling Up or Down 135 Rotating Photos to Fit 135 Flipping for Iron-Ons 136 Repeating Images on a Page 136 Printing Page Text 136 Printing Filenames, Dates, and Headers 137 Setting Margins 137 Keeping Settings 138 Previewing
Sharing Photos 139
138 Page Setup
139 Sending Photos with E-mail
v
141 Exporting a Desktop as a Web Page 143 Exporting an Album as a Web page 145 Exporting Photos as a PhotoCube Web Page
(PC only)
Using Plug-Ins 147
Appendix A:Tips About Photos 151
152 Tips About Scanning 152 Selecting Photos
Appendix B:Key Shortcuts 154
154 Using Soap 2 Keyboard Shortcuts
Appendix C: Supported Papers 155
Glossary 156
Index 162
vi
Welcome to Kai’s Photo Soap 2
Kai’s Photo Soap 2 is the next generation of Kai’s Power Soap. Load photos from yo ur computer’s hard drive, a digital camera, a scanner, a picture CD, or right off the Internet. Collect photos, correct them, then tweak them with special to ols and filters. Present photos in digital photo albums and slideshows. P rint photos and even output t hem ready for the Web!
INTRODUCING SOAP 2
Some of the many thin gs you can do with Soap 2.
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What Can You Do with Soap 2?
With Soap 2, you can:
• organize your photos
• display and share photos in Soap 2 electronic photo albums
• repair damaged old photos
• create fun special effects
• add clip art, text, or cartoons t o a photo compo sition
• create artful collages, using multiple photos
• export photos or al bums to use on the W EB
• prepare photos to send over e-mail or in an interactive slideshow
• view photos in several ways
You can see your photos on a Soap 2 “desktop ” or “lightbox”.
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• print photos in rows and columns, or in popular sizes
INTRODUCING SOAP 2
You can print in rows or in popular sizes.
• crop and rotate photos
No more messing with scissors to trim a photo to the correct size. You can rotate or crop photos easily in Soap 2.
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• rescue torn, faded, dusty, or wrinkled photos
You can rescue torn, faded, dusty, or wrinkled photos.
• make a photo brighter or sharper.
Adjust the brightness or tweak the contrast to get a better look.
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• fix red eye or even remove a time/date stamp
INTRODUCING SOAP 2
Get rid of red-eye.
• create fun projects—worki ng with multipl e photos, u sing plug-in filters, addi ng clip art, text, backgroun ds or frames.
Get creative!.
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What’s New?
For those using Version 1 of Kai’s Photo Soap, there ar e so many cool new f eatures in Kai’s Photo Soap 2 that you’ll want to explore the entire program. Here are a few of the things you’ll find:
• The image window is sizabl e and Soap 2 now lets you wor k with multipl e photos, so you can fix and clone like crazy. Think of the possibilities.
• A Transporter lets you move photos between the Organize, Clean, Compose, and Pri nt areas of the product. Just drop photos into the Transporter then drag them out when you want to work with them.
• You can fix color problems wit h the new QuickColor tool, use Auto Enhance—a way to handle some phot o color problems one click at a time, paint right on a photo, and colorize photos for cool effects.
• There are multiple levels of Undo, so you can experiment... change your mind... and use the Undo command to step back through your changes.
• You can greatly expand S oap 2 capabili ties by using Phot oShop compliant filters. Apply these kinds of effects to the entire photo or bru sh them onto specific p arts of the picture.
• There are new ways to share pho tos. Layouts from l eaders in photo t echnology (like Avery and Kodak) help turn your computer into a mini-darkroom! Prin t sheets of photos, greeting cards, collages, and even post ers—right from Kai’s Photo Soap 2.
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Getting Help
You will find the answers to most of your questions within the pages of this User Guide. If you need further assistance, contact ScanSoft Technical Support on the World Wide
We b a t:
www.scansoft.com
INTRODUCING SOAP 2
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Starting and Qu itting Soap 2
To start Soap 2:
✤
Double-click the Kai’s Photo Soap 2 logo.
To quit Soap 2
✤
Choose Output menu > Quit Soap 2 or Input menu > Quit Soap 2. (You can also Press Ctrl
+ Q on Windows or Cmd + Q on a Macintosh).
If you’ve made changes to a photo, Soap 2 asks if you want to save your work before quitting. Refer to “Saving your Work” on page 24 for more about the ways you can save your work. As a rule of t humb, if you aren’t ready to actually make changes to the photo file you’re mod ifying, save your wor k using a new file name or save it as work in progress (a Soap 2 project or composition file).
To access your computer’s operating system while using Soap 2:
✤
Click in the upper ri ght or upper left porti on of the Soap 2 screen.
You can quit/minimize Soap 2 (Win). You can hide, select another program, or use the Apple menu (Mac).
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Exploring Kai’s Photo Soap 2
No more dusty boxes of pictures! Photo Soap 2 makes it easy to sto re photos. Th e Organize tab opens an area where you can load, view, and sort your photos. Select a photo, then drop it in the Transporter to work with it. From here, you can save a thumbnail desktop arrangement for later Soap 2 sessio ns; export a de sktop of thumbnai ls as a Web page; print selected photos; see a quick photo “slideshow” and prepare photos to send with an e-mail.Soap 2
Click the Organize tab to open, view, or sort photos.
Print, make slideshows, send photos over e-mail, expo rt for the Web, or Quit Soap 2 prog ram.
Converse with other Phot o Soap 2 users.
Help answers
View photos in different ways.
your questions.
INTRODUCING SOAP 2
Sort photos.
Open photos.
Drop photos on th e Transporter, then move them to other areas in Soap 2.
Load, view, and sort your photos in the Organize area.
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In Contact Sheet view, you can study photo s in a popular photographer s’ review sheet layout. Export this desktop view to HTML and drop it on a browser for a great way to pass photos around for review. From here, you can also print selected photos, make slideshows and send selected photos v ia e-mail.
Choose a Contact Sheet view from the View menu.
Drop photos on th e Transporter, then move them to other areas in Soap 2.
Look at photos in Contact Sheet v iew for easy recognition.
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Soap 2 Albums make it easy to display ph otos. Pick an Album style and just d rop photos into place. Add some t ext and your al bum’s complete. From here, you can print you r Album or export an Album to use on the Web.
Click Album, then put photos into Albums or Frames to be presented, printed, e-mailed, or posted on the Web.
Choose an Album or Frame style, then click the Select button.
INTRODUCING SOAP 2
Click Prev and Next for more Album styles.
Drag photos from the Transporter in to empty Album slots.
Display or print photos in cool electronic Albums.
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You can fix or enhance a photo in the Clean area. From here, you can also print or export a photo for use on the Web.
Use the Image menu to correct color, paint, crop, rotate, or add effects to your photo.
Click Clean to make changes t o a photo.
Zoom in or out.
Click to
Fix or enhance parts of y our photo, using t he Soap 2 tools.
access features
Choose an effect.
Adjust brush size.
Drag a photo from the Transporter.
Fix or enhance photos in Soap 2’s Clean area.
Move the photo in the window.
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To make fast adjustments to brightness, contrast, hue, saturatio n, red balance, green balance, or blue balan ce in your ph oto, choose Image menu > Quick color. The Quick color selector first lets you select what you wan t to change, t hen gives you vari ations or selections from which to choose. Pick what l ooks best to YOU.
Each time you click a variation, new variatio ns are displayed . Click until you get the l ook you like best. Hit Reset anytime you want to start over. And, be sure to try the Auto Enhance button!
Choose Quick color.
INTRODUCING SOAP 2
Compare selections with your original photo.
Try t h e Auto Enhance button!
Click the selection that looks best.
Select what you want to change.
QuickColor lets you adjust brightness, contrast, hue, sa turation, as well as red, blue, and green balance in your phot o. Make quick adjustments with QuickColor!
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The Compose tab opens an area where you can real ly get creative. After you’ve fi xed or modified photos, you can cr eate compositio ns by dropping one or more photos onto the canvas, adding objects (like cartoon elements), pu t in a little te xt, and gener ally hav e fun. From here, you can pr int, expo rt for use on the Web.
Control layer transparency. Set up shadows
Preview layers. Hide/Show layers.
Set background color
Edit layers. Stretch, move rotate a layer.
Add text to composition .Set text attributes
In the Compose area, you can build a picture. Drop photos on the canvas. Resize or stretch them. Rotate elements. Add some text. Put a cartoon in for fun. Add a background. Have FUN!
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The Print tab opens an area where you can choose from a variety of ways to print your photos. You can even create posters or a sheet full of wal let sized photos. It’s like having a darkroom in your ver y own home!
Click to set margins
Image filename
Click to rotate, scale, or edit images
INTRODUCING SOAP 2
Click to add text to your images
Click to setup printer page
Click to print
Drag to set margins Print Previe w
The Print ar ea giv es you a preview of what you’re printing and o ffers lots of great ways to print your photos.
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The Soap 2 Transporter
Using the Transporter
Use the Transporter to move thumbnails to other areas of Soap 2.
Kai’s Photo Soap 2 Transporter is an important part of Soap 2. The Transporter let s you move thumbnails around in the application, to work with them. Once you’ve loaded photos into Soap 2 and ar ranged them on the desktop, just dr op a photo or group of photo s onto the transporter.
From the Transporter, you can:
• drop thumbnails int o photo po sitions in Al bums. Refer to “Using Albums” on page 114 for more about using Albums.
• drop one onto the Soap area, to fix or enhance it. Refer to “Fixing Photos” on page 48 for more about fixing photos.
• drop one or more onto the Soap composition area t o get creative. Refer to “Composing
Images” on page 91 f or more about co mposing pictur es with photos.
• drop them onto pages in t he Print area. Refer to “Printing Photos” on page 123 for mor e about printing photos.
If you open a phot o in the C lean, Compose, Pr int areas, a thumbnail for that photo is automatical ly added to the Transporter. Any thumbnail added to the Tr anspor ter is also added to your Organize area desktop.
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Undo, Apply, and Save
An important difference between Soap 2 and other photo manipulation pr ograms is that in Soap 2, all of your changes are done t o a copy of y our photo. This means th at you can experiment freely, make changes, and THEN decide to either save or discard your work. You r original image file remains intact until you choose to change it.
Using Undo
If you change your mind while you’ re working with a ph oto, just Un do it! Undo reverses the last thing you did. For example: if you paint so mething on a photo, you can Undo what you painted. If you resize, delete, or drop a thumbnail on the transpo rter... you can Undo it.
Soap 2 even lets you Undo more than one time, so you can Undo or Redo a series of steps while you’re working. Soap 2 gi ves yo u 5 level s of Und o (m eaning yo u can Undo a series of five actions). You can change the number of times in a r ow that you can Undo actions.
INTRODUCING SOAP 2
If memory is a concern (which it often is), set the number of times in a row that you can use Undo to a small number. The more times in a row that you can Undo actions, the more memory Soap 2 required.
To Undo an action:
✤
Choose Edit menu > Undo. It’s just that easy!
Refer to “Using the Tools” on page 50 for information about using the Soap 2 Eraser to make detailed changes to eff ects you’re brushi ng onto part o f a photo.
To Redo an action:
✤
Choose E dit menu > Redo.
To set how many times in a row you can use Undo:
✤
Choose Edit menu > Preferences and set the number of times you can use Undo.
Applying Changes
When you’ve experimented with a photo and found a look that you l ike, it’s probably time to Apply your changes. The Apply butt on alter s the pix els (shor t for pi cture el ements—or those little tiny squares that make up your pi cture when i t’s displayed on your computer’s monitor) in the copy of your photo. Appl y does not affect your actual image fi le. You can click the Apply button as many times as you want, without changing your origi nal image file. Refer to “Saving your Work” on page 24 for infor mation about h ow to save your work.
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Apply sets a new baseline, so that future changes are based upon the effects you’ve “applied”. Reset returns your photo t o the last time you clicked Appl y. But don’t worry! If you change your mind, you can even Undo an Ap ply. Apply sometimes makes it easier for you to work on different areas of a photo. Say, for example, that you’ve modified the color of Luc’s shirt in a photo. Click Apply to set a new basel ine. Then, star t work on his hair color. That way, if you don’t like wh at you’ve done to his hair, you can Reset, without changing the color you applied to his shirt.
To apply changes:
✤
Click Apply.
Saving your Work
When you’re finished modifying a photo and ready to save your work, you can replace your original image file, save what you’ve done in a file with a new name, or save what you’re doing as a work i n progress. The op tions to save y our work depend on in which area of Soap 2 you’re currently working.
To revert to what was last saved:
✤
Cho ose Output> Revert to Saved.
To save a desktop arrangement (from the Organize area):
✤
Choo se Output menu > Save Desktop.
Use the Output menu > Save Desktop As command to save it usi ng a new file name—without overwriting an existing file.
To save an image file (from the Clean area):
✤
Choose Output menu > Save Image.
Use the Output menu > Save Image As command to save it using a new file name—without overwriting an existing file.
To save a composition, so that it can be edited at a later time (from the Compose area):
✤
Choose Output menu > Save Composition.
Use the Output menu > Save Composition As command to save it using a new file name—without overwriting an existing file.
To save a composition as a flat image file (from the Compose area):
✤
Choose Output menu > Build Image. Although you can certainly open and work with
the resulting image in Soap 2, any la yers you created in the compose area are not saved. This is sometimes referred to as a “flattened” image, since layers can no longer be edited. Refer to “Working with Composition La yers” on page 93 for more information about using layers i n a composition.
To save an Album (from the Album area):
✤
Choose Output menu > Save Album.
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Use the Output menu > Save Album As command to save it using a new file name—without overwriting an existing f ile.
Photo files can get l arge, containing a l ot of inform ation. Keep track of how many photos you save on your computer or just keep photo s you want t o work with. Move others t o storage. Too many photos can cause your hard dri ve to get full.
Using Albums
Displaying photos in Albums
You can display or present your pho tos in Soap 2 electronic Al bums. Albums are professionally drawn illu strations that look like a variety of al bums (or pictur e frames). To use Albums, you just select an Album style, then drag photos from the Transporter and drop them into avail abl e photo posi tions. I t’s that easy! Add some text and y our Alb um is complete. Refer to “Using Albums” on pa ge 114 for more information about using Albums. (Advanced users can even create their own Album styles to use with Kai’s Photo Soap 2.)
INTRODUCING SOAP 2
Once you’ve placed photos into an Album, you can:
• save the album and open it lat er
• export your Album to HTML to pu t it on y our Web site, refer to “Exporting an Album as
a Web page” on pa ge 143 for more about ex porting an Al bum as HTML pages
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• print an Album as a complete book or as individual album pages.
Displaying phot os in an Album.
Exporting Photos
Exporting Photos for E-mail
With Soap 2, it’s easy to send photos over the internet. Soap 2 saves your photos in an Internet friendly format, so all you have to do is attach them to an e-mail message. They’ll travel over the Internet in a self-contained mini-program. Once received, your friends, relatives, or clients can double-click the PhotoM ailer and browse through a "slideshow" of your most recent creations. Refer to “Sen ding Photos with E-mail” on
page 139 for mor e information about sending photos as e-mail attachments.
Exporting a Desktop as a Web page
Here’s a quick way to make your own personal Home page in a snap, using your favorite photos! You can post a desktop full of ph otos as your Web site, all with the help of Kai’s Photo Soap 2.
The HTML page that S oap 2 creates is interactive! Visitors to your site can move thumbnails around on the exported "desktop" or double-click thumbnails to see a full-size view of that photo. Refer to “Exporting a Desktop as a Web Page” on page 141 for more information about exporting desktops as HTML pages.
26
Exporting an Album as Web pages
Here’s a neat way to make your own personal Home page. You can post an Album full of photos as your Web site. The HTML page that Soap 2 creates is interactive! Visitors to your site can flip pages in the Album, or they can double- click on a phot o in the Alb um to see a full-size view of it. Refer to “Exporting an Album as a Web page” on page 143 for m ore information about expo rting desktops as HTML pages.
Exporting Photos as a PhotoCube Web Page (PC only)
You can export photo s as a 3D PhotoCube, which allows you to display them as a six-sided three-dimension al cu be. Note that t he Phot oCube ex port featur e is suppo rted o n the PC platform only and requires that you download a free MetaStream plug-in to view the cube as a 3D object.
The MetaStream™ 3D technology is a new open PC file format announced joint ly by
®
Corporation and M etaCreations Corporat ion. It en ables delivery and viewing of
Intel scalable 3D graphics.
To view a 3D PhotoCube, you and those with whom you share the PhotoCube need to install the MetaStream plug-in. You can find the plug-in at the following We b site:
INTRODUCING SOAP 2
www.metastream.com Refer to “Exporting Photos as a Photo Cube Web Page (PC only)” on page 145 for more
information about expo rting photo s as a PhotoC ube.
Expanding Soap 2’s Power
Using Plug-ins
Plug-ins are extra features that plug into Soap 2. Plug-ins offer special effects and extra tools that greatly expand the power of Soap 2.
With Soap 2, you can do something most other programs can’t do. You can br ush an effect onto just part of your photo, just like any ot her Soap 2 effect!
Filter Plug-ins
Usually, a plug-in applies an effect or a range of effects, like:
• creating a variety of spheres (Spheroid Designer)
• bend, twist, multiply, or otherwise manipulat e gradients or blends between t wo colors or tints of a color (Gradient Designer)
• creating textures for b ackgrounds and desig ns (Texture Explorer )
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• create glass, curls, tiles, welds, twirls, feedback, vortexes, and stereo noise (Compact Filters)
• camera lens effects (Lens f/x Filters)
Acquire Plug-ins
Other plug-ins let you load or export photos, li ke loading phot os from your digi tal camera, scanner, or using special printing options.
Free Plug-ins
Soap 2 includes three of the four famous Kai’s Power Tools 3 (KPT 3) special effect plug-ins. Re fer to Using Pl ug-Ins for more informat ion abo ut usin g plug-ins with K ai’s Photo Soap 2.
An example of a plug-in filter effect.
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Installing Kai’s Photo Soap 2
Installation instructi ons are provided f or both Windows and Macinto sh. Follow the instructions appropri ate to you r system.
Kai’s Photo Soap 2 is intended for local installation only. Do not attempt to install it onto a network server.
System Requirements (Windows)
Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 3 or lat er; 32 mb RAM for Windows 95/98; 64 mb RAM for Windows NT; 100 mb of hard-disk space; CD drive; 16 or 24 bit color (24 bit preferred ).
INSTALLING SOAP 2
System Requirements (Macintosh)
Power PC; System 8.1 or later; 32 mb RAM; 100 mb hard-disk space; CD drive; 16 or 24 bit color (24 preferred).
Windows Installation
To install Soap 2 on a Windows computer:
1 Launch Windows. 2 Insert the Kai’s Photo Soap 2 CD-ROM into your computer’s CD-ROM drive. The
Install Soap 2 dialog appears. 3 Double-click the Kai’s Photo Soap 2 logo. 4 Follow the instructions provided by t he installer. 5 The installation dialog display s an important ReadMe. Click “Continue” after
reading the complete ReadMe.
Macintosh Installation
To install Soap 2 on a Macintosh:
1 Insert the Kai’s Photo Soap 2 CD-ROM into your computer’s CD-ROM drive. The
Install Soap 2 dialog appears. 2 Double-click the Kai’s Photo Soap 2 logo.
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3 Follow the instructions provided by the installer. 4 The installation dialog displays an importa nt ReadMe. Click “Continue” after
reading the complete ReadMe.
Soap 2 Installation Tips
• If you plan to print photos, adjust the color on your monitor so that it matches the output of your printer. That way, when a photo looks great on your monitor you can print it without disappoi ntment.
• Working with photos requires a lot of memory (RAM). For best r esults when working on a Macintosh, increase the RAM avai lable to Kai’s Photo Soap 2 by allocating unused RAM to Kai’s Photo Soap 2, thu s allowing it to run faster and handle larger files more efficiently.
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