Bethan

Hello Ron Not sure if this is what you mean but on XP at least I use right-click on the desktop, select 'arrange icons by', and then toggle 'show desktop icons'. This hides or reveals all icons including 'recycle bin.' Beth

Hello everyone, As this is a thread about 'backing up' data I thought I might mention a number of applications I use that I find quite useful for transferring data to external drives etc. Salty Brine - Folder Clone Salty Brine - Folder Match From : http://www.saltybrine.com/ Genie-Soft - Genie Back-up Manager 6 Pro http://www.genie-soft.com/default.html Of these Genie provide a very comprehensive solution, while the Folder Clone option provides a great 'click and run' solution needing minimal configuration. Hope these are useful to someone. Beth

Hello Brian and Maureen Yes, I did wonder if there would be much response to the dual monitor issue. I would love PTE to have dual monitor functionality - but more for my own delight than anything else. Dual montors are fantastic for imaging work though. Brian, the latest Photoshop (CS2) actually allows documents to be dragged out of the application window and onto another monitor so I guess that's a small move toward 'duality' - just a little one! I had been thinking about a hardware solution so your ideas were very useful Brian. Thank you!

Hi I am just curious to know whether anyone else uses PTE on a dual monitor system. I use something called UltraMon that allows me reasonable control over my twin monitors. I set the displays at different resolutions so I can have a preview of how things might look on a different screen. PTE itself does not have built-in dual monitor capability (I believe...), something that might be useful in future versions? I strongly believe that most graphics/presentation software should support dual monitors and allow for preference setting. Also, I am whether people would support the idea of PTE being able to produce presentations that could utilize twin monitor systems? Of course, this may be an uncommon configuration for home users, but I provide presentations sometimes for people who do use this set-up. This is really just 'testing the water' on this issue. Beth

Hi Like Alrobin I have used Imatch by Photools, and also ACDsee. Another useful program is SmartPix by Xequte Software. Each of these uses catalogue systems and can allow for back-up also. Imatch is probably the most powerful but ONLY if you are prepared to learn and use scripting - when it's full potential is released. The development of Imatch is being slowed however by issues to do with RAW image data files as many of the users of this program are pro photographers. The latest version of ACDsee is a complete re-write I believe of version 6 which was horribly bloated. There is a French program called Armadillo Photomedia - but while it seems to offer considerable cataloguing power the English translation seems quirky to say the least and does not make for an easy experience.

Hi CC Thanks cc. From my right click context menu I can indeed access Winamp, Helium or Windows Media Player. However, when I am working with PTE I tend already to have loads of imaging and sound software open already (photoshop, fireworks, goldwave etc) and hence the idea that a built-in preview button would not require me to leave the PTE window, or indeed open yet another piece of software. Winamp is my configured player and it has the irritating habit of always switching me to its own screen when I play an mp3 etc... It's just one of those things I can work with 'as is' but in an ideal world..!

Hilquite - I had exactly the same problem with the first two recent betas - no music, no preview. This vanished again with beta 3 and the preview now works perfectly. Don't think this will be at all related to photoshop or xp service pack installations.

Something on my PTE wish list I have been meaning to ask for for a long time is a music/soundtrack preview button available from the Project Options>Music>Add dialogue. Often I may prepare several mixes of a soundtrack and then forget which one I intended to use for a project (I have a terrible memory). Currently I need to open my music program every time I want to refresh my memory. Recently I used another program that actually had this option and greatly increased my workflow. Just an idea...

Admin wrote: I would, by preference, never delete a transition from the slide list, although the option to change a transition type/effect from the slide list is useful. In essence, I never use PTE without a soundtrack - often using music with less common time signatures - so placement of transition points is simply a disaster when based either on luck or time calculations! One of the greatest functions of PTE has to be the more or less real-time interaction with the soundtrack - and PTE allows me to get 'close' to the music - hence my earlier unhappiness with the strict linkage of transition points with the slides themselves. VERY happy that there will be an option to select deletion of either slide OR transition point!

I have to agree with ADB: I have been using PTE for three years plus and have been a little uneasy with the strict attachment of transition points to specific images. For me, a transition point is a core ingredient whereas an image may be changed many times to reflect a change in tempo or music style. I find it a little disconcerting that deletion of transition points clears the image list as I have tended, in the past, to use the 'slide list' as a repository of images from which I pick and choose. Having tested the latest betas I find myself longing for an 'option' which allows either image or transition to take priority (mentioned elsewhere too I think). That said, PTE remains one of the best examples of its genre around!