Truelight

For the right audience, this program is good enough to be sold commercially (and better than a lot that -are- sold!). Have you considered seeking out some websites of ragtime and/or Scott Joplin fans and marketing your work? 300+ hours is a lot of time to put into a freebie. I was also intrigued by the relatively small size of the show, obviously due to the fact that .mid files were used. I suppose this same concept could be applied where the music files were .mp3 files, but the program size would become quite big, yes? Again... congratulations on such a polished piece of work!

Wow! I downloaded the new presentation from Rudi Reinbold - "Ragtime Jukebox" and am I ever impressed! Great graphics, professional layout, not to mention some great music! This shows a tremendous amount of work and attention to detail, plus the power of PTE in the hands of someone creative. It's been a long time since I've been this impressed with with a "slideshow." My hat is off to you Rudi! Download this show - You won't be sorry! Click here to download the "Ragtime Jukebox" from Beechbrook

I suggest you might try Imagewalker Imagewalker It will allow you to print contact sheets as well as make "webpages" in which the thumbnails are linked to larger images. A "webpage" (in HTML format) doesn't have to necessarily be on the web, it will live very nicely on a CD. This is how I'm now sending out my proof CDs to clients - I put a PTE main menu on the disc which autoloads. From that Main menu the viewer can chose to watch a slideshow or go to the html "webpage" where they can browse the thumbnails. I'm beginning to lean toward Xatshow more and more however, as it allows me to make a "multi-function" CD - put it in a PC and it will show a slideshow and allow HTML pages, put that same CD in a stand-alone DVD player and it will allow for slideshows to be watched on TV. And the new Xatshow just coming out (ver. 5.0) allows for visual menus too! I hate to keep touting "Brand X" on the PTE site, but c'mon Igor!... Your plans for PTE ver 3.9 are ok, but the longer you delay in making VCD capabilities a reality, the bigger lead the competition gains. If PTE ver. 4.0 doesn't have this capability I will be -very- dissapointed.

The new beta version of Xatshow now allows creation of DVD-like "chapters" (which is more a visual menu page used to launch multiple shows from a single CD. This is the same as Ulead DVD Pictureshow has had for a while. Another cool feature of this new version of Xatshow is the capability for what they call "Image captions." A strange way to describe them, but what this is is a way to add images over existing images on a slide. PTE already allows this, but one cool thing about Xatshow is it deals with any image transparency that may exist (for instance, .PNG files with transparancy work great!) or you can select a color to be transparent. I made a show with a "frame" that was transparent in the center and made that the default "image caption" for all slides in the show. I only had to do it once and it then appeared over all the slides in the show. I also praise the makers of Xatshow for not sucumbing to the pressure to add fancy transitions for VCD slideshows at the expense of image quality. However, if you do like nifty transtions, the PC-show and Web-show capabilities of Xatshow are very cool - 3D Page turns and all kinds of great stuff! The dissolves are also "smooth like buttah." Is anyone willing to host shows on their website that have been created with these other programs? Bart? We all love PTE, but there -are- other fish in the sea and it would be nice to see demos made with other programs. Here's the link to the new V.5 beta version of Xatshow -- Xatshow V5 beta

Good point. Not that this is a solution, but perhaps a workaround... make the PTE show AS a screensaver (.scr). Screensaver files will run just like an .exe and offer a bit more flexibility for your user. What I'd like to see (Xatshow has it) is an optional menu that will come up when your show is first run that allows the user to click a button to "Install this show as your default screensaver." Many of my users are computer rookies and couldn't install a screensaver themselves if their life depended on it. Why not make it easy for them? As new versions of PTE are developed, it would be nice to see the best ideas from other programs incorporated, especially ones with such practical useage as this.

ProShow Gold has a beautiful (inter)face, (a thumbnail/timeline style which I wish PTE would adopt!), but under the skin lies ugliness. Because it produces MPG files for taking the shows to VCD, the effects are (ugh!!) rendered. The dissolves for instance look very rough... not at all like the silky smoothness one sees with PTE. Now, perhaps if we all had a DVD burners and were going to -real- DVD MPEG-II format (instead of to a VCD format burned to a CD-R) we might see something, but until DVD burners drop to a price affordable to the common man, my opinion is stick to PTE for computer-based shows and use something like Xatshow (no transitions for VCD shows) which doesn't sacrifice image quality for gee-whiz transitions when you are making something for DVD-player viewing.

You are not alone in wondering if PTE will soon come in a version that can export shows for playing in DVD players (typically what are called "VCD" shows). There has been no indication from the developers here that is in the works, (but then they've never said, no they're not going to do that either.) In the meantime, a great little program for doing what you wish is Xatshow (with the new 5.0 version out now for beta testing). Http://www.xatshow.com As for your finished show playing in all DVD players... probably not. Most of the newer DVD players can play VCD shows, but older models may not. I suggest you spend some time at the site below where you can get an education on all things VCD -- http://www.vcdhelp.com

I've been a Xatshow fan for a while and this new version looks pretty good. I've only had the chance to do some basic testing so far... hope to provide a full "review" shortly. I'd also like to post a small show somewhere so that others might have a look, but it might not be "good form" to post on the Beechbrook site, which is so far just PTE work. Might anyone suggest a place I could post a small show for demo puposes? -Rick

I've been a Xatshow fan for a while and this new version looks pretty good. I've only had the chance to do some basic testing so far... hope to provide a full "review" shortly. I'd also like to post a small show somewhere so that others might have a look, but it might not be "good form" to post on the Beechbrook site, which is so far just PTE work. Might anyone suggest a place I could post a small show for demo puposes? -Rick

Visit this site - http://www.msnbc.com/modules/yip02/ Well worth the trip.

Now you're learning what Igor goes through.... Seriously though... only using a tiny box in the middle of the screen reminds me of the folks who spend $$ for huge monitors and then work in a tiny window, never maximizing it to full screen. Guess I'm quirky that way, but I want to snatch the mouse from their hand and yell at them -- maximize it!! Thanks again for your work. Don't let my critique and suggestions make you think you're unappreciated.

Last version? Aww... c'mon... Especially when "full screen" does not seem to really be full screen. Why have a little box with the program titles, etc centered in the middle of a sea of purple when you could really use the full screen for this?? What if the title to my show was "Photos from my trip to the San Francisco Zoo with Particular Focus on the Polar Bears" ? (I don't think that would fit in that little box). Can the menu not REALLY take up the full screen? You would also not have to spread the 60 titles over 3 menus. How about including a Version Number on the main screen too? (Gee... it's hard to get good help anymore... (LOL) ) Seriously... I -do- appreciate your great work on this program, but for use "old guys" with aging eyes, working in a little box when you have a big 19" monitor seems silly.

Speaking of keeping things in the same thread, what happened to the "Free Stuff" thread? I had to start a new one for my post on the thumbnails/calendar programs because I couldn't find the old one. Just another reason for more organization here!

Yes, I thought a calendar program might be a great addition given this time of year. Also, should you want to send people your calendars so they can print them themselves (and you can save the expense), I've found that the calendars this program makes can very nicely be converted into Adobe Acrobat .PDF files (providing you have Acrobat). Now I'm gonna have to get busy making up a customized 2003 calendar!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to the PTE crew!

2000 slides?!!! Isn't that "cruel and unusual" punishment for your viewers? Are you going to run this all in ONE show? I can see multiple shows, each run from a main menu (and PTE will do this very nicely). But 2000 slides (even if each were only displayed for say 3 seconds) would take over a hour and a half to run! -- Arrgghh... help me... I'm being slideshowed to death!!

I don't want to seem demanding in a forum that is not my own to command, but it is my opinion that we deparately NEED subcategories for messages in this forum. I am finding this new layout (and perhaps the increased use of it) makes it very difficult to determine what I've read and not read, what is new, and to find stuff I'm interested in reading v.s. fluff that perhaps I'm not so excited about. Like the Dpreview site, we very much need subcategories in the PTE forum! In fact...I would consider this a greater priority than the next PTE upgrade! This website and the help that is available here is one of the greatest advantages to using PTE as opposed to "Brand X." Greater organization will take that one notch higher. Igor... please let us know if this is forthcoming.

Gotta love good free programs! I think these two are quite good in that they are simple, without bloat, get the job done, and best of all - Free! PhotoPrint CD Jacket and PhotoPrint Calendar http://www.bento.ad.jp/freeware/english/index.html Enjoy!!

I downloaded the program from Beechbrook, but it does not seem to be full screen - just a small window in the middle of the page. Is the new version posted yet? I suggest you put "Ver. 1.X" (or whatever) on the main menu so people will know they have the current version.

Kurt... Your .exe files are relatively small. What is the resolution of your exported image files (.jpg?). Another other design parameters would be helpful. - Rick

Short, but sweet! Nice smooth animation. Tell us how you did this if you will. Thanks...

Marian... Try this experiment and see if your prints don't look EXACTLY the same... 1. Make a PTE show with two slides - Slide #1 is a photo with the dpi set to 10 dpi (use Photoshop, PSP, Irfanview, or whatever to do this) - Slide #2 should be the same photo, but with the dpi set to 300 dpi - be sure both photos are 800x600 2. Run the show and while Slide #1 is up, hit the "Print Screen" key to capture it to the buffer. Then go to your image editing program of choice and paste the captured image into it. Print the image 3. Repeat this process for Slide #2. 4. Write back and tell me if the two prints look any different. (BTW - We could all make our shows 200x150... That would not only prevent someone from getting a decent screen capture, but also make nice small .exe files -- )

You can lower the DPI if you like, but it makes NO difference if a screen capture is the way a user grabs the image. See my post here -- http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums//index...act=ST&f=2&t=39

You can change your images to 7 dpi if you like, but it will not make a difference if the viewer uses a screen capture to snatch your image. I tried a little experiment where I took the same image, sized it as a 10 dpi image and again as a 300 dpi image and placed the two as slides in a PTE show. Simply hitting <Print Screen> on the keyboard which grabs the image into the buffer (or using PSP which then works around the disable Print Screen option of PTE) grabs a screen resolution image. Both slides then are the same. Unless there is a way perhaps that Igor can "block the buffer" from all screen capture programs, I think putting watermarks on your images is about the only way (and of course that hurts the aesthetic qualities of the image). I'd like to think changing the dpi setting of your images will work, but my experiments show it will not. I welcome anyone who can show me where my experiment has a flaw.

Stu writes: So... you can somehow extract the images from the .exe file and get back the original .jpg files? Without sharing this with the world, perhaps you might e-mail me and tell me how this works. Occasionally I have images in my own PTE presentations and manage to lose the originals (or at least misplace them). The ability to "extract" back the images out of an .exe could be very useful. Let me know how this works if you can.

You can still do this in 3.80. Go to Project / Project Options / Set Comments for all slides as: Picture Name. === To the rest of the "gang" - this is a typical FAQ question. The new forum cries out for subsections! Lots of this information could be shared there. We might also have a section for "newbies" where the rest of us could go to help others. I'd also like to see a section called "Tips and Tricks" where interesting and less obvious uses of PTE could be shared.