Lin Evans

I agree with Xaver - it's quite arbitrary whether it's "on" or "off" by default. Those who use it more frequently will prefer it to be on and those who don't will prefer it to be off. Best regards, Lin

You didn't say "how" you want to split the image. You can do it horizontally, vertically, or with three across and three down rectangles. You can do it as David suggests with Photoshop or your favorite editor, or you can do it the "easy" way with PhotoScape. I would suggest trying PhotoScape, it's free, powerful, and easy to use. Splitting is only one of many features. See it here: http://download.cnet.com/PhotoScape/3000-2192_4-10703122.html Best regards, Lin

Hi Laszlo, This notification means that you have both music added through the projects options and music inserted on one or more slides via the "customize slide" option. When you have both, there is no way to synchronize the music and slides. Look at each slide and you will find at least one which has had music or sound added to the slide rather than via the projects options. If you remove this sound it should play normally for you. MP3's play really well with PTE - I would suggest not using the WAV format but rather use MP3's and just to be safe, load them into Audacity and export them out of there for perfect compatibility. Also, my suggestion would be to use PTE 7.0 because the audio capabilities are much better. If you are trying to do more sophisticated things with sound, you can add as many additional tracks as desired. You can use the "offset" to sequence the audio to start at any time during the show. Just put each selection on a different track and you have complete flexibility with audio. Go here to read a discussion of the error message you were getting: Best regards, Lin

Hi Dan, All of my tutorial links appear to work fine, but if you visited my site it links you to the tutorials which are referenced and linked here at PTE. I don't have anything specific about "making" masks but that's a very straight-forward process using any image software editor which will allow you to "paint" over an image then create transparency png files. Here is the location on this forum where you will find everyone's tutorials - it's a sub-category under "Frequently Asked Questions:: http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?/forum/8-tutorials-and-articles/ Best regards, Lin

Hi Gary, It's all there in Video Pad. When you click on "Save Movie" then from the popup menu "Video Output Setup" when you choose your file format you have a wide range of options. Depending on what you choose for an encoder, etc., you will have different choices. In some cases bitrate will be a choice and in other encoders you have no choice of bitrate but rather "quality," etc. You'll just need to play with it. Essentially, create yourself a tiny video clip and use it with the different options you have on your system. These will vary depending on installed software. Video encoders are much like audio codecs in that you may have a few or many depending on which ones reside on your individual computer. This is greatly different and depends on installed software and whether or not you have purposely installed things like DivX, QuickTime, etc. I can't answer for Igor about MOV/AVI and MP4 differential treatment, but I'm certain there are very good reasons for this and they likely have to do with the individual video encoders and envelopes used. Best regards, Lin

Hi Peter, It only takes a trip to the AVG forum to see that this is certainly not limited to PTE - AVG is finding false positives on installs like Chrome, Quicktim, Malwarebytes, etc. This is a widespread issue and people are getting fed up with it. Read some of the posts here: Here's a sample: ------------------------------------------------------------ This is the owner of YouTube Downloader. What is the escalation process for getting this false positive removed? While the AVG antivirus engine is no longer flagging our files, AVG Identity Protection is still flagging our installer as "Dropper.Generic2.CKPF". If you choose to put it in the vault, AVG then completely removes the entire YouTube Downloader application, not just the flagged installer file. It's been almost 2 weeks since AVG first started flagging us. I have filed a support request (AVG#0001396015) one week ago, and had two iterations with the support staff so far with no joy - they are unable to reproduce the problem despite my repeated instructions. I am tired of receiving emails from the AVG support staff which are void of any technical expertise, trying to solve AVG's mistake. What are my options to get this resolved short of releasing a new YouTube Downloader application asking my several hundred thousand users to file false positive reports with AVG until this is fixed? This is costing me time, users, and reputation, and my patience with AVG is growing thin. Thanks, Biennesoft ---------------------------------------------------- Here's a link to the thread: http://forums.avg.co...=show&id=139985 Best regards, Lin

Hi Gary, Unfortunately, I can't afford to buy the software I would like to use anymore so for video editing, I use the free version of VideoPad Video Editor. I generally save the output from my edits in VideoPad in MP4 format, then let PTE do its variable bitrate conversion using 100% quality on the slider - but that's only if I'm using a high resolution video. Many of my video inserts are rather tiny and used for special effects such as fire animation or other output from Particleillusions which don't really need super high video quality because the viewer can't see any difference regardless of bitrate, etc. You may want to read this link if you haven't already seen it: Scroll to the bottom and read Igor's comments about h.264, etc. I suspect that the same variable bitrate is used in the PTE conversions to AVI though I haven't verified this with Igor.... http://www.picturest...0225#entry90225 Best regards, Lin

Hi Gary, Not being familiar with the software, I'm not certain what may have happened, but file size is determined by multiple factors. Once you have reduced the size of the input still images to no larger than your intended display and use a reasonable compression, there is little more that can be done with them. Video, on the other hand, has a number of parameters which affect overall file size. It could be that even though the "parameters" are said to be "same as source" the compression level may be greater, or the bitrate may not be "variable". Just what "parameters" are being duplicated is often a question. When you save or convert a video with PTE using "best quality" the bitrate is variable. It "could" be that your software sampled and chose a lower bitrate as the "same" parameter. PTE uses a low bitrate when it doesn't affect quality and a higher one for parts of a video which need it for optimal quality. These factors might account for the small loss of quality you mention. Best regards, Lin

Hi Gary, Looks like fun was had by all! Nice show - makes one feel like they might know how a Gibbon feels!! Best regards, Lin

Hi Mick, You may find some interesting discussion about that here: Best regards, Lin

Thanks Colin! Nice one! And a Merry Christmas to you and your family as well !!! Best regards, Lin

Hi David, The only way you will probably appreciate the difference is to download a trial copy of PKZip and explore the myriad possibilities which are way too numerous to even attempt to explain. Your original question was "why" use a "third party" zip utility when Windows has one of its own. If you have Windows with a zip feature and all you do is zip and unzip a few files located in a single folder or adjacent folders on a single drive, then there is no good reason to change or use anything else. On the other hand, if you need data encryption security, have anything other than very "simple" zip requirements there are multiple reasons why the Windows supplied zip utility is decidedly insufficient. PK Zip is a full featured "program" like PicturesToExe. You have countless options and controls over what, how, when and where zip actions are to be performed. There are six major categories of Compression, Extraction, Security, Mail, View and Miscellaneous and within these categories literally hundreds of options. We have drifted far from the original suggestion to include a zipped executable as an option within PTE, but the bottom line is that some need the sophistication of programs like PKZip while others may be perfectly well served by the utility provided to most Windows and Apple users. The differences between PKZip and the included Windows zip utility are rather like the differences between the slideshow capabilities of say IrfanView or Fastone and PTE. Can you make a slideshow with Irfanview including an executable slideshow? Yes. Does it serve as a functional tool for those who wish to make slideshow presentations? In some cases the answer is yes. In other cases the answer is decidedly no. Let me ask you this: Would you trade the slideshow capabilities of Irfanview for those of PTE? My guess is that you would not. For people who have sophisticated zip requirements the situation is quite similar. One situation is an OS which has a feature which lets one zip or unzip a file(s) or folder of files. The other situation is a full featured software program dedicated to all the nuances required by corporations, government agencies and users with more complex needs. Best regards, Lin

Hi David, Whether or not you got a zip utility with your version of Windows depends largely on the OEM who built your system and their licensing agreement with Microsoft. or whether you bought the OS software directly from Microsoft, and which of the numerous "versions" you bought (home, professional, etc., etc.). There are numerous Window users who didn't get one of the zip utilities. I ran into this on a regular basis when I installed networks and large archive tape libraries for clients. The difference between PKzip ( and other "good" utilities such as 7zip) and the rather cumbersome zip utility provided by Microsoft is like night and day. The ability to read various zip type formats (there are dozens if not scores of different formats) is highly constrained with the build-in Windows version. The ability to include or exclude file types and various other useful features which are needed for corporate and government security purposes are missing from the skeleton version included with Windows. For purposes of simply zipping or unzipping a few files into an archive, the Windows version is fine. But if you have the need for versatility, it's just not there. If you must be certain that you can read from and write to the various and sundry forms of data compression which may be encountered, you certainly can't depend on the version supplied by Microsoft. If the version of zip included with Windows was sufficient, the numerous other vendors would be out of business. Rarely will you find major corporations depending on the "included" (or not) zip utility provided with many systems.There simply is not sufficient security. You might want to read some of the PKWare client reports here: http://www.pkware.co...success-stories I've used PK Zip since I first met and discussed compression with the founder, Phil Katz, back in the late 80's when he was working on PKARC. At that time we could create an executable zip format which made it possible to send zipped (ARC) files to customers and they didn't need to have the software to unzip them. They just needed that password. Personally, I won't use anything else... Best regards, Lin

Windows Zip is a "third party" zip. Zip was "co-invented" by the late Phil Katz, an outgrowth and vast improvement on ARC developed by Thom Henderson. The developer of PK Zip (Phil Katz Zip) improved and refined the process and produced what I think is by far the finest implementation of this. "Windows Zip" is a rather crude implementation and isn't available with all Windows operating systems. Best regards, Lin

I never send a URL as an attachment, just embed it in the body of the email as a link. If hotmail won't send an email with an embedded link, it's worthless in my opinion. I never use hotmail myself, but have had no problems with gmail or any of my normal email hosts. Too much "paternalism" with hosts today - they are becoming like Microsoft and Apple - they want to do everything for you and protect you from yourself !! LOL. Best regards, Lin

That's a problem with some overzealous email servers, but not with links, at least not in my experience. I rarely, if ever, send any of my shows via email but simply upload them to my site as zipped exe files and so far, at least, no one has had problems downloading them that way. There are numerous other advantages to zipped files such as security encryption with password, etc. Best regards, Lin

Why? I already have a better zip program (PK zip). Having to use another program external to PTE defeats the convenience of being able to create a zipped version of the exe and the exe version with one mouse click.... Best regards, Lin

Since we already create a zipped MacIntosh format as an option, and since almost everyone who uses PTE zips their executable files to send them to Beechbrook or to put them on their own website with a link, why not include both the EXE version "and" a zipped version containing the PC version of the EXE file as an option? It would greatly facilitate and save a lot of time. Lin

Hi Judy, If someone were to post a "question" about good presentation slideshow software there then we could respond, but it's difficult to just "plug" the software without a lead-in... Best regards, Lin

Panos of PanosFX has created a beautiful new snowglobe action for a Christmas present to his registered forum viewers. It's a free action and creates a very sophisticated globe which can be changed by the user to include a variety of different colors and so on. See and download it here - register on the Panos FX site before downloading: http://www.panosfx.com/ I've been working with Panos and have created a snow (and fire) animation for this new globe which was just released today. I have also created a brief tutorial in PC and Mac formats as well as demo's in both formats. Links are below as well as some basic instructions: Download three of the following five files from the links provided. If you have a PC, you will want the PC demo and PC tutorial files plus the "snowglobefxprojectfiles.zip. If you have an Intel based MacIntosh and you are running Windows via Bootcamp or other dual OS enabling utility, then you will want to download the Mac native exe zipped tutorial, the Mac native exe zipped demo and the same snowglobefxprojectfiles.zip file as the Windows folks use. Here are the links: http://www.learntoma...1/sgdemomac.zip (MacIntosh demo file) http://www.learntoma...tutorialmac.zip (MacIntosh tutorial file) http://www.learntoma...rojectfiles.zip (Project files for either Mac or PC) http://www.learntoma...11/sgdemopc.zip (PC demo file) http://www.learntoma...gtutorialpc.zip (PC tutorial file) http://www.learntoma...fxsg2011/sg.htm (800x600 video demo) The above files are zipped. The Project Files will need to be extracted for the MacIntosh, but the demo and tutorial zips will play without extracting them on the MacIntosh The PC versions will need to be extracted then play the exe files inside for the demo and tutorial. Create a folder and extract the content of the Project files inside. Watch the executable tutorial for an overview then: Step 1. Create the Snow Globe Next create your Photoshop PNG file using the new PanosFX SnowGlobe Action. If you plan to use the animated snow feature, then I suggest turning off "Reflection 2" via the Layers in Photoshop. The rather heavy reflection coupled with the snow overwhelms your picture inside the globe. Once you have your snowglobe, copy the file to the folder with your extracted project files for convenience. Next open PTE, click on File, Open and navigate to the folder where you extracted the files and open the .pte file found there. You will find two identical slides set up for a two minute animated display. The snow animation runs properly in one minute intervals. You can copy and paste your slide as many times as necessary but it's best to not change one minute per slide intervals or the velocity of the falling snow will be affected. Replace the image file as instructed in the tutorial with your own snowglobe creation. Delete the Mask Container containing the fire video if your image has no fireplace or other use for the fire animation. Either delete the PNG "frame" (which will undoubtedly not exactly fit your image unless adjusted as per the tutorial) or replace it with your own if you choose to in the same way you replaced the original snowglobe with your own. Decide if you want the sound and music or not and handle as per the tutorial. Get your own slide one working properly, then delete the demo slide 2 and copy and paste your own slide one in its place if you want more than a one minute animation. Step 2. Manipulate the Fire Animation if it's being used. The way a mask and the video work together is like this. The mask "container" allows the entire assembly to be moved around in different locations. All three components (mask container, mask and video) may be moved and sized individually, but care must be taken that the "mask" be positioned around the boundaries of the video as seen by the green bounding rectangle. When the mask boundaries are "larger" than the video boundaries, the entire video area will be seen. When the mask is "squeezed" into the boundaries of the video, the mask will constrain what is visible. So if you adjust both you can position the fire animation anywhere on your image and use the mask to determine how wide and "tall" the flames will be. By adjusting both you have great flexibility in positioning and sizing your flames. A little experimentation will quickly let you learn how to manipulate these two items for best effect. The video can also be changed in opacity so the fire could be extinguished or started at any time via keyframes. It's beyond the scope of this brief tutorial to explain keyframing, but if you need help, just post a message on the forum and I'll try to explain how to do more sophisticated things with your animation. Finally: Once you have your animation working as you like (use the preview feature in PTE) then simply click on "Publish" at the top of your screen on the left - then choose the appropriate venue. You can create a Windows executable file, a native MacIntosh file (suggest using the create in zip option), an HD Video or several other options for iPad, iPhone, etc. Merry Christmas from Lin and the folks at PicturesToExe. We hope you enjoy your animated globe and we wish to thank Panos for his amazing actions which make this all possible! Lin Evans December 2011

Hi Guys and Gals, The question was raised on a post here about "transparent text." My assumption was that it was a situation where what was desired was that we see the text as an image or even as a video which was "bounded" by the dimensions and shape of the characters. With that assumption, I made a brief tutorial and converted the AVI to MacIntosh and Windows PC zipped executable formats. For anyone interested in such - I've posted the new tutorials with my others (#28) on the "Tutorials and Articles" section here: http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?/forum/8-tutorials-and-articles/ The answer is "yes" we can do this when we use text as a mask. The "how to" is very simple and it's a very quick and informal tutorial. Best regards, Lin

Hi Gary, That works well - I'm certain you are already aware of this, but don't overwrite your originals with the reduced file size images. Essentially, the only time you need an image larger than your intended display audience (in your case 1920x1080 pixels) is when you are contemplating a deep zoom into picture details. In such a case you may want to use the original jpg from your D7000. If you are really trying to conserve overall file size, even then you may want to crop the original and simply use the crop rather than zoom into the full image. In terms of the file size of the executable file created by PTE, compressing jpgs will greatly affect this. In terms of resources on the system being used to play back the show, there is no difference between an uncompressed and greatly compressed jpg except perhaps image quality. As you are undoubtedly aware, jpg files are fully "uncompressed" in memory before they are displayed on a computer screen. So, for example, if we begin with a 10 meg file and use jpg compression to make it into a 3 meg file, for storage purposes inside an executable container, the compressed file will result in a smaller executable size. However, when that executable file is played by the system, it expands to its full 10 megapixel size and the system requirements to "play" this file are the same as if you had used the original. So the only way to actually achieve a resources relief is by removing pixels. This is done by resampling and saving the resampled copy of the original. Since the vast majority of display devices today have a resolution equal to or less than HD quality (1920 x 1080) there is no real advantage in your images being any larger than two megapixel resolution. The only exception to this being for deep zooms or in the unlikely event that your audience may be looking at your show on a four megapixel display device. There are a few of these and even "some" nine megapixel display devices - but they are out of the realm of "most" of your audience for slideshows. Whether you use Fastone, Irfanview or Photoscape is arbitrary. All will give you very "similar" results and all are equally satisfactory in my experience. Best regards, Lin

Hey Peter, LOL - Thanks! I think the only thing I've "mastered" here is having fun! And a very Merry Christmas to you and yours! Best regards, Lin

Hi Dave, If I understand you right, you would like the image to be in the "shape" of the text. That is the text itself would be composed of the parts of the image which could be seen through the text if the text were transparent as if the text had been cut out of a sheet of paper and you were looking through this cut-out from a distance and seeing what was behind the sheet of paper? If that's correct, the answer is yes. What you do is make your text pure white. Then you want to use the option to "rasterize the text" as a PNG file. Do this even though there will be a message that you no longer need to do this. Then you take your text file which will be automatically saved as "Text.png" and you use this text as your "mask." That is you right click in Objects and animations and choose "add mask" then you choose "from file". Choose the file "text.png as your mask and put the picture inside the mask between the mask and the mask container. Then you will see your text letters as if they were written with the picture elements. If you have problems either understanding how to do this or with the instructions, let me know and I'll make a sample file for you to study. I have made a tutorial on this - here are links for PC and MacIntosh: http://www.lin-evans...tutorialmac.zip (MacIntosh Version) http://www.lin-evans...ktutorialpc.zip (Zipped Windows PC Executable Version) If this isn't what you had in mind, perhaps what you need is text which has been outlined with "stroke" in Photoshop or Pixbuilder, etc. Make the text the same way as in my tutorial, then take it into Photoshop or Pixbuilder and use the "stroke" feature to make an outline. Then open this in Pixbuilder or Photoshop and "erase" the white part so that you see the checkerboard which represents "transparent." Then when you load this text on the layer above your image, you can see the image "through" the text rather than "in" the body of the text. The bottom line is you "must" have at least a border around the text which is opaque or you wouldn't be able to "know" there was text. Best regards, Lin