Ulead PHOTO EXPLORER VERSION 8.0 User Manual

User Guide
Ulead Systems, Inc.
October 2002

2

First English edition for Ulead Photo Explorer version 8.0, October 2002
Copyright © 2002 Ulead Systems, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication maybe reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any

means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or storing in a retrieval system, or
translated into any language in any form without prior written permission of Ulead Systems, Inc.

Software license

The software described in this document is furnished under a License Agreement which is included
with the product. This Agreement specifies the permitted and prohibited uses of the product.

Licenses and trademarks

ICI Library © 1991-1992 C-Cube Microsystems.
Ulead Systems, Inc. and the Ulead logo are trademarks of Ulead Systems, Inc. All other product names

and any registered and unregistered trademarks mentioned in this manual are for identification purposes
only and remain the exclusive property of their respective owners.

© 2001 Ulead Systems. This software is based in part on the work of the independent JPEG Group.
Portions of this program are licensed under U.S. Patent No. 4,558,302 and foreign counterparts.

© 2001 Seiko Epson Corporation. All rights reserved.
PRINT Image Matching is a trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation.
The PRINT Image Matching logo is a trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation.
© 1990-2002 Info-ZIP. All rights reserved. Version used: Unzip: 2001-Jan-27, Zip: 1999-Oct-05.

Headquarters:

Ulead Systems, Inc.
http://www.ulead.com.tw
E-mail: [e-mail]

Japan:

Ulead Systems, Inc.
http://www.ulead.co.jp
E-mail: [e-mail]

Europe:

Ulead Systems GmbH
http://www.ulead.de
http://www.ulead.co.uk
http://www.ulead.co.uk/fr
E-mail: [e-mail]

North & South America:

Ulead Systems, Inc.
http://www.ulead.com
E-mail: [e-mail]

Asia-Pacific:

Ulead Systems, Inc.
http://www.asiapac.ulead.com
E-mail: [e-mail]

China:

Ulead Systems, Inc.
http://www.ulead.com.cn
E-mail: [e-mail]

3

What's Inside

Welcome to Ulead® Photo Explorer.............................................................................................................. 5

Things you can do in Photo Explorer......................................................................................................... 5

What's new in this version .......................................................................................................................... 8

System requirements ................................................................................................................................. 1 0

Installing and running the program .......................................................................................................... 10

Free photo sharing account at iMira .........................................................................................................10

Ulead Photo Explorer at a glance ................................................................................................................11

Photo Explorer Browser ............................................................................................................................ 11

Photo Explorer Viewer .............................................................................................................................12

Ulead Instant Viewer ................................................................................................................................12

About file format types ............................................................................................................................. 1 3

Customizing Photo Explorer ...................................................................................................................... 14

Setting up your work environment ...........................................................................................................14

Customizing toolbars ................................................................................................................................15

Browsing and previewing files ....................................................................................................................16

Displaying files in thumbnail or list view .................................................................................................. 1 6

Speeding up thumbnail display ................................................................................................................17

Thumbnail caching ...........................................................................................................................17

Displaying embedded thumbnails in digital camera images ............................................................... 18

Generating thumbnails...................................................................................................................... 18

Browsing for files ......................................................................................................................................1 9

Previewing files .........................................................................................................................................20

Working with folders and files ....................................................................................................................21

The Folder Pane ........................................................................................................................................ 21

About virtual folders ................................................................................................................................. 22

Creating a list of favorite folders................................................................................................................ 23

Managing files .......................................................................................................................................... 23

Archiving files ...........................................................................................................................................24

Working with digital cameras and scanners .................................................................................................25

Setting up auto-detection of digital camera or memory card ..................................................................... 25

Digital Camera Wizard ............................................................................................................................. 26

Getting images from a TWAIN device ...................................................................................................... 2 7

Viewing digital photo information............................................................................................................ 28

Modifying digital photo information ...................................................................................................... 29

Renaming and renumbering files ..............................................................................................................30

Changing file sequence by drag-and-drop ................................................................................................31

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Viewing images .......................................................................................................................................... 33

Using Photo Explorer Viewer ................................................................................................................... 3 3

Switching between folders .................................................................................................................33

Advancing through the images ..........................................................................................................34

Zooming in and out ........................................................................................................................... 34

The Global Viewer ............................................................................................................................35

Using the Ulead Instant Viewer................................................................................................................ 36

Advancing through the images ..........................................................................................................36

Zooming in and out ........................................................................................................................... 37

Editing images ...........................................................................................................................................38

Image editing tools ....................................................................................................................................38

Adjusting images ....................................................................................................................................... 39

Removing red eye ..................................................................................................................................... 40

Enhancing images that contain text .......................................................................................................... 40

Printing .................................................................................................................................................... 41

Fun prints you can create.......................................................................................................................... 41

Photo prints ....................................................................................................................................... 41

Thumbnail prints ..............................................................................................................................41

Cards ................................................................................................................................................. 41

Special Layouts .................................................................................................................................. 41

Working with video ................................................................................................................................... 42

Capturing and trimming video ................................................................................................................. 42

Capturing snapshots from video ...............................................................................................................43

Slideshow and other cool stuff .................................................................................................................... 44

Creating a slideshow ................................................................................................................................. 44

Adding background music ................................................................................................................ 46

Packaging files ........................................................................................................................................... 4 7

Viewing a slideshow .................................................................................................................................. 47

Burning slideshow discs ............................................................................................................................ 48

For PC viewing .................................................................................................................................. 48

For TV viewing .................................................................................................................................. 48

Other fun projects you can create ............................................................................................................. 4 9

Wallpaper........................................................................................................................................... 4 9

Calendar ............................................................................................................................................ 4 9

Screen Saver ....................................................................................................................................... 49

Working on the Internet ............................................................................................................................50

Sharing images on iMira.com .................................................................................................................... 50

Creating thumbnails for the Web ............................................................................................................. 51

Creating slideshows for the Web ............................................................................................................... 51

Scanning the Web for images .................................................................................................................... 52

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Ulead Photo Explorer makes digital photography fun on the PC. It combines tools for acquiring,
viewing, organizing, adjusting, and printing digital images in a single easy-to-use interface. Photo
Explorer is a must-have companion for digital camera, scanner, and video camera users, or for
anyone who needs to manage and share digital images and other media.

Things you can do in Ulead Photo Explorer

Here's an overview of what you can do in Ulead Photo Explorer. Refer to the chapters in this user
guide for more details.

Welcome to

Ulead® Photo Explorer

Adjust images

Make adjustments to images, such as straighten,
rotate, crop, balance color, remove red eye, etc.
Image adjustments can be applied to multiple
images at one time.

Acquire images

Acquire images from digital cameras, scanners,
or memory card readers.

Capture and trim video

Capture video clips from DV camcorders, PC
cameras, WebCams, motion cameras or capture
boards. Later, you can trim, convert and
optimize video clips.

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Ulead Photo Explorer User Guide

Preview images and other media

Instantly preview images, video and audio files
in Photo Explorer without actually opening
them.

Browse thumbnails

Ulead Photo Explorer displays files as thumbnails, allowing you to
visually browse through images and media files.

View images

Display images in larger views by switching to

Viewer mode or by opening images in Ulead
Instant Viewer.

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Ulead Photo Explorer User Guide

Print images in various layouts

Output single-image prints, greeting cards, or
print images in different photo sizes. You can
also print an index sheet of thumbnails for your
image collection.

Create slideshows

Assemble images, video and audio files into a
multimedia slideshow. Apply cool transition
effects to your slideshow.

Output Web thumbnails and Web
slideshows

Create Web photo albums and Web slideshows
ready to be uploaded to the Internet.

Share on the Internet

To share selected images on the Web, upload
them to iMira.com, Ulead's free image sharing
Web site.

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Ulead Photo Explorer User Guide

Memory card detection

The Camera Memory Card Detector can auto­detect digital camera connection or the presence
of an inserted memory card. When a camera
connection or memory card insertion has been
detected, the Camera Memory Card Detector
automatically launches Ulead Photo Explorer and
allows you to process media stored in memory
cards.

Zip folders

Archive your files into zip folders directly in
Photo Explorer. Zip folders are displayed as
virtual folders in the Folder Tree, and can be
browsed just like any normal folder.

CD catalogs

Create offline CD catalogs by scanning and
generating thumbnails for images and other
digital media.

Photo Explorer scans a newly inserted CD and
creates a catalog by generating thumbnails for
the media files found on the disc. CD catalogs
are added as virtual folders in the Folder Tree.
You can browse and search media files from the
CD catalog without inserting the disc into the
CD-ROM drive. Insert the CD only when
opening files.

What's new in this version

Archiving files, CD cataloging, and burning slideshow discs are some of the exciting new features in
Photo Explorer. Photo Explorer also offers many enhanced features that make file browsing, image
transfer from digital cameras, image editing and conversion, as well as creation of projects for the
Web more intuitive.

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Camera Memory
Card Detector

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Ulead Photo Explorer User Guide

Generate thumbnails for individual folders

Scan a folder to generate thumbnails only for that
folder (and its underlying subfolders).

Rating for images

Rank images from your most favorite to the least
favorite by setting a rating for each image. In a
way, rating images allows you to categorize them
without the need to move or rename the files.

Auto slicing

Scan several photos at one time, and use the
Auto slicing feature to automatically cut and save
them as separate image files.

Improved slideshow

More transition effects -- Choose from new
transition effects such as fade in/out, windmill,
etc., and apply them to image slideshows.

Background music track -- Use the music track
to add multiple background music to a slideshow.

Burn Photo Explorer slideshow CDs

Compose Photo Explorer (*.UES) slideshows
using images, video and multiple audio files, and
output them to CDs. A slideshow can be made to
automatically start when the CD is inserted into
the CD-ROM drive. A slideshow player
(Uesviewer.exe) will be included on the CD.

Lens Distortion effect

Use the Lens Distortion effect to correct the
distortion in camera images, usually caused by
the use of wide-angle lenses when taking images.

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Ulead Photo Explorer User Guide

System requirements

Before installing Photo Explorer, make sure your computer meets these requirements:

• Intel® Pentium® III or faster processor

• Microsoft Windows® 98, 2000, XP

• 64 MB RAM (or more)

• 35 MB available hard drive space for program files

• True Color or HiColor display adapter and monitor (recommended)

• 800 X 600 minimum display resolution

• Windows compatible pointing device

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher

• Internet connection (recommended)

• 16-bit or better sound card and speakers (recommended)

• DirectX 8.1 or higher (for video functions only)

Installing and running the program

Installing Photo Explorer is easy. Simply follow the on-screen instructions to complete the
installation.

To start the program, click the Photo Explorer icon from the Ulead Photo Explorer program group
on the Windows Start menu.

Free photo sharing account at iMira

The first time Photo Explorer starts, the Sign-up for Ulead's iMira dialog box opens allowing you to
sign up for a free photo sharing account at iMira.com. iMira.com is Ulead's photo sharing Web site
where you can upload your favorite images to share with family, friends or co-workers and order
photo prints. See page 50 for details.

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Customizable
Toolbar

Ulead Photo Explorer has a Browser that lets you browse, preview and manage the files and folders
in your computer, and a built-in Viewer which gives full-size view of images. Another separate
program, Ulead Instant Viewer, can also be used for viewing images.

Photo Explorer Browser

Just like Windows Explorer, Photo Explorer's Browser shows the hierarchy of drives and folders in
your computer at the left hand side and displays the files in a selected folder at the right. What's
special about Photo Explorer's Browser is that multimedia files can be shown as visual thumbnails
for easier identification. Simply click a desired file to immediately get an idea of the file's contents.
You can preview images and actually play sound, video or even GIF animation files without actually
opening them. Basic image editing functions are also available for enhancing images. In addition,
you can bring together images, videos and sounds to create a slideshow.

Ulead Photo Explorer

at a glance

Folder
Pane

Preview
Pane

Slideshow
Storyboard

Address Bar

Browse Pane

Description
Bar

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Ulead Photo Explorer User Guide

Photo Explorer Viewer

Photo Explorer has a built-in Viewer integrated
with the Browser. You can use the built-in
Viewer to:

• Get a full-size or full-screen view of images.

• Navigate through images using the keyboard,
toolbar buttons, or menu commands, or let Viewer
automatically step through the images.

• Copy, rename or delete an image file.

• Copy an image for pasting onto your desired image
editor.

• Rotate, flip and edit images, and then save the
changes.

• Create wallpapers and screen savers using your
images.

Ulead Instant Viewer

A standalone image viewer, the Ulead Instant
Viewer, also comes with Photo Explorer. It is a

simpler, independent application and its sole
purpose is only for displaying images. Use Ulead
Instant Viewer when you want to compare two
or more full-size images. Each image will be
opened in a separate window. You can also
associate file types like JPG, GIF and BMP
image files so that they will automatically display
in the Ulead Instant Viewer.

Note: Refer to the section, "Viewing images", on page
33 for more information on these two different types of
Viewer.

Ulead Instant Viewer windows

Photo Explorer's built-in Viewer

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Ulead Photo Explorer User Guide

About file format types

Ulead Photo Explorer supports quite a number of file formats. Many image formats can be edited in
Photo Explorer, and most of the popular video and audio formats can be previewed. Photo Explorer
provides a proprietary file format for creating multimedia slideshows. Photo Explorer can also
output in HTML and create auto-run CDs.

Editable formats

• Images:

BMP, CLP, EPS, FPX, ICO, IFF, IMG, JP2 (JPEG 2000 with Exif), JPC/J2K (JPEG 2000), JPG
(Exif properties are displayed), JPEG, JPE, PCX, PNG, PPM, PSD, PXR, RAS, SCT, TGA, UPI,
WMV

• Digital camera images:

Exif information can be edited and saved back to digital camera images.

Viewable formats

• Images:

001, BMP, CLP, CUR, DCS, DCX, EPS, FAX, FPX, GIF, ICO, IFF, IMG, JP2, JPC, JPG (Exif
properties are displayed), JPEG, JPE, MAC, MSP, PBM, PCD, PCX, PGM, PIC, PNG, PPM,
PSD, PSP (single-layer), PXR, RAS, RLE, SCI, SCT, SHG, TGA, TIF, UPI, WMV

• Video and audio:

AVI, MPG, QVT, WAV, AVA, MID, MP3

Proprietary format

• Slideshow:

UES (Ulead Photo Explorer slideshow )

Output formats

• Web pages:

HTML, JPG (for thumbnails), EXE

• For output to CD:

UES (Ulead Photo Explorer slideshow), EXE (auto-run CD), INF (auto-run HTML)

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Customizing Photo
Explorer

When using any application, it is important for you to set up a work environment that's comfortable
and convenient for you. Photo Explorer provides many options that can change the look and feel of
what's on-screen to suit your needs. You can also make Photo Explorer as your default image viewer
and editor, or configure other programs to open and edit your images.

Setting up your work environment

Tip: If you often do only simple edits with your images,

Photo Explorer can be an ideal image editor. To make
Photo Explorer your default image viewer and editor,
select the Associate category in the Preferences dialog
box and select the image file formats that you want to
automatically open in Photo Explorer.

The Preferences command in the File menu
allows you to define settings specific to Photo
Explorer. The Preferences dialog box lists
different categories which determine the
behavior of Photo Explorer, its overall
appearance, and the way thumbnails and images
are presented. Settings specific to your digital
camera can also be configured to ensure
accuracy in the information that is acquired
from your camera. Click a category to view and
change its settings in the Preferences dialog box.

The View menu provides commands that
determine the layout of Photo Explorer as well as
thumbnail display settings. You can also access
the Viewer from this menu. Use the available
commands to change the way files are displayed
and organized so that you can quickly identify
your files, or open up the Viewer to display your
images.

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Ulead Photo Explorer User Guide

Tips:

• Commonly used commands are also easily accessed
from right-click pop-up menus. When adding
buttons to the toolbar, you can consider adding only
those that are not listed in right-click menus.

• To display toolbar buttons with clear label
descriptions, click View: Toolbars and select the

Text label option.

Notes:

• To change the order of toolbar buttons, select a

button in the Current toolbar buttons list and click
the Move Up or Move Down button.

• To remove a button, select the button in the

Current toolbar buttons list and click Remove.

• Click Reset to change the selected toolbar back to

its default form.

Customizing toolbars

For quicker access to your favorite Photo Explorer commands, you can add them as buttons on the
Browser and Viewer toolbars and even arrange their order.

Take note that the toolbar in Photo Explorer's built-in Viewer is customizable. As for the Ulead
Instant Viewer, toolbar buttons are fixed and cannot be changed.

To add toolbar buttons:

1. Select File: Customize Toolbars.

2. From the Select toolbar drop-down list, choose a

toolbar.

3. In the Current toolbar buttons list, click the

button before which the new button will be
inserted.

4. In the Available toolbar buttons list, select a new

button to add.

5. Click Add to include the new button to the

selected toolbar.

6. Select the button size you want from the Icon
options list. Select Small Icon if you have set your
computer display at a low display mode, for
instance 800 x 600 or lower, and toolbar buttons
do not completely fit in the Photo Explorer
window.

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With the convenience of thumbnails and the familiar Windows Explorer functionality, Photo
Explorer makes it simple and easy to work with multimedia files.

Displaying files in thumbnail or list view

When you select a folder from the Folder Tree, multimedia files are displayed as visual thumbnails in
the Browse Pane on the right hand side of the Photo Explorer window. A thumbnail is a small
replica of the original image file or an icon representing a specific type of file. For videos and GIF
animation files, the first image in that file is used as the thumbnail.

If you want to view detailed information of your files, change to list viewing mode. Select View:
Thumbnail/List Mode to switch between thumbnail and list viewing modes.

Browsing
and previewing files

Tips:

• Choose which information you want to display with

thumbnails by selecting File: Preferences - Browser.
Display options are listed under the Browse Pane
display options group in the Preferences dialog box.

• When in List mode, click a column heading to sort
the column in ascending or descending order.

• To display more file information in
List mode, right-click a column
heading and select Columns.
Digital camera (Exif) information
such as the date picture was taken, shutter speed,
and other camera settings can be added as columns.

List mode

Thumbnail mode