Lin Evans

Hi Moises, Very nice!!! Thanks!! Great use of the 3D Transform features and excellent choice for music too! Best regards, Lin

Sometimes they will "mute" the sound so your video will be silent... Best regards, Lin

Hi Eric, I guess, if you don't mind the three week delay in your presentation as you intended it. The problem is that it happens so often, many just give up on trying to get it straightened out. My bet is that if you use the same audio selection in another different show then post it to YouTube that you would have to again do the same all over again. Best regards, Lin

Barry is correct and this problem is exacerbated because some big players such as Sony (SME) apparently just try to blanket claim literally "all" music as theirs. They produce software used by YouTube which apparently identifies both lyrics and frequencies then makes the copyright ownership claim. It's often quite wrong and even artists who produce their own music under Creative Commons licensing such as Kevin MacLeod have had YouTube "argue" with them that their own creations were owned by SME - Bottom line is you can't win with big business/big money. They can get away with making their "claims" and by the time it gets straightened out the reason for your original production is lost in the shuffle. The entire thing is made even more complex by all the differences in copyright laws in different countries. For example, something which is in Public Domain in the United States, may still be under copyright law in the UK. Best regards, Lin

Hi Carol, There are two ways a slideshow made in PTE can be seen on a MacIntosh. 1. Output as a Video in a format amenable to Mac or Apple such as MP4 h.264 2. Output as a Native MacIntosh Executable Show The "Publish" function of PTE allows output as a Windows Exe, a Native MacIntosh exe, an AVI, an MP4 h.264, a Video for Mobile Devices or a DVD Video Disc. In order to publish, the show must be output from Windows. Whether that is Windows running on a Mac or on a PC is not really relevant. It's also possible to publish directly to Facebook or Youtube. Best regards, Lin

Hi Shirley, Right now, the only way to save a slide to a jpeg is by using a screen capture tool. This, of course, will only save the slide at the screen resolution. There have been discussions about this in the past and I believe the reason that such a feature has not been implemented was to protect the images from theft. However, I myself believe that being able to save a screen to a jpg could be a very nice "optional" feature which users might want to add to the Navigation Bar. One of the present optional features of the Navigation Bar (in the Air or Sky style) is to be able to "print." Adding a feature to allow a "save as jpg" should not be terribly difficult. If you wish, why not suggest this on the forum in the "Ideas and Suggestions for Next Version" and I will endorse your suggestion. Be sure and suggest that the entire screen including shadows, backdrop and such be saved. It would necessarily have to be still done at screen resolution I think, but still would be a very nice feature. There is a Windows Screen Capture feature in some versions of Windows, I think. I have never used it and prefer to use software such as HyperSnap or Snagit where you have the ability to carefully crop before saving. Best regards, Lin

Hi Da Campos, The "problem" is not with PTE - PTE only furnishes the code necessary to connect the movement of the object in the Object stack to Ctrl Pg Up, Ctrl Pg Dn, Shift Pg Up or Shift Pg Dn. The "problem" is with your laptop and the suggestion to try "Safe Mode" is only to determine if another program is interfering with the proper function of these commands. My suggestion is not that you normally need to "use" Safe Mode to run PTE, it is rather that using Safe Mode can help find where the problem is coming from. Thousands of people use PTE with notebook computers without this problem so in order to solve the problem it's necessary to systematically remove other running code. Running your system in the Safe Mode removes drivers and other software which may be loaded on startup. This will allow determining whether another program is interfering with the proper function of these keys. PTE is certainly not the only software which uses the Ctrl, Shift and PgUp/PgDn keys. If they do not work correctly, it would be helpful to find out why. Making code changes to PTE so you could drag the objects to the layer you wish would solve one problem, but the other problem still remains. Your system does not work correctly. Don't you want to know why? Best regards, Lin

Maybe we can determine why. What operating system are you running on your notebook and which processor? It is a pretty standard key call (Ctrl PgUp, Ctrl PgDn) and "should" work normally on any system so I'm guessing that some other running application is changing or controlling things. One way to find out is to start your system in the "safe mode" then open PTE and see if it works. If it does then work normally, it's just a matter of determining which running application is altering the process and controlling the key calls. Best regards, Lin

Hi Tom, Thanks - I missed the download arrow - don't use Google too much so not familiar... Best regards, Lin

Hi Da Campos, Are you saying that your notebook computer does not have Pg Up, Pg Dn, or Ctrl or Shift keys? Or, are you saying that you have them, but they do not work as expected? What happens if you "right click" on an object in the Objects List? Do you get a drop-down Menu? If yes, does clicking on one of the choices move objects up or down in the Objects List? What brand and model notebook computer do you have? Thanks, Lin

Hi Tom, Can they be installed on one's system or are they only for web use? Couldn't tell from the site.... It just seems to give a code to embed them on one's "website." Best regards, Lin

Having a Touch Screen in and of itself should not affect the quality of viewing beyond sticky finger prints.... Personally, I've never understood why the move away from "pointing devices" to touch screen. Some believe that what really affects viewing quality is whether or not the screen is "anti-reflective." Reflective screens may have deeper blacks and therefore provide more contrast in the right lighting (no ambient light to reflect). I personally prefer displays which do not have anti-reflective surfaces. I don't know whether there are both reflective and non-reflective available in the touch screen versions. I would be inclined to ask... Best regards, Lin

Does your laptop have an FN key or a NumLock? If so, it may be toggled so that pressing PgUp, PgDn isn't functioning as expected? Best regards, Lin

There are two primary ways of moving objects in the Objects and Animations list. First, to move an object up or down one position, highlight (select) the object then hold down the CTRL key and press PgUp or PgDn to move the object one level up or one level down. You may move a selected object to the very top or very bottom of the stack by holding down the Shift Key and pressing PgUp or PgDn. Child objects will remain with the parent in such a move. If an object you wish to move is a child of another object, you may highlight that object and right click and choose "cut" which will place that "child object" on the clipboard. Then highlight the parent you wish to move that child to, right click and choose "paste" and the child object will be pasted to the new object. Best regards, Lin

Hi Don, It's for emphasis only. As a long time university professor I wouldn't want to publish anything with such punctuation. On the other hand, it's easier and quicker than using italics or bold or other means of emphasis, so in informal forum communications it works for me. I suspect that using social network programs such as Facebook contribute toward such misuse because there are no provisions for italics or bold. There are numerous opinions on this; some for, and some against... Here are links to brief explanations: Quotation marks for emphasis link Another Explanation Best regards, Lin

Hi Select the slide you wish to remove the file name from on the slide list. Click on Objects and Animations tab to go to the Objects and Animations screen, Highlight "Text Comment" in the Objects List and press the Delete key. Save the PTE file... Best regards, Lin

Hi Adda, You can't modify the codes in the preset templates to change calls to exif information. This must be done by the developers. I'll move this to "Ideas" because, as Ken says, it's been discussed and needs to be considered by Igor for inclusion in a later version of PTE. Best regards, Lin

Hi Sue, As you can see from the responses, there are numerous ways to proceed with essentially identical results. Here are the advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of doing it as suggested by Xaver and Peter, with multiple slides and a simple crossfade transition (dissolve), is simplicity. You create four slides and simply dissolve between them. This can be done by creating the first and then copying and pasting it to create the second by adding the other portrait and then simply a third with the landscape desired. The down side is that if you want to do this on a number of different slides, you must duplicate your efforts and in the end will have a larger number of "slides" to deal with. In doing it as in my example, the advantage is template in that you have created a single but more complex slide which can be used over and again by simply "replacing" the elements with different images using PTE's replace feature in the Objects and Animations screen. Of course the down side is that you must spend the necessary time to properly keyframe the objects and the replacement slides must necessarily have the same aspect ratios and pixel dimensions as those in the template or it probably would not be worth putting in the time creating the template in the first place. There are indeed other ways of approaching this using masks, etc., but since you are really pressed for time right now, the "best" way to proceed is the way which makes more intuitive sense to you. Best regards, Lin

Hi Sue, There are several ways to do this. One way is as Xaver suggests. Another way this could be done is to first set sufficient time on the slide for all this to happen and then place the images (portraits) both in the same slide but on separate layers. That is, have one above the other on the Objects List. Then control the "appearance" of either by using the "Opacity" control. There is no need to use "masking" even though it "could" be used to do such a thing. Also you could add the landscape as an additional object on the slide in yet another layer and control its appearance by opacity and keyframes. It's quite feasible to do exactly what you wish by simply keyframing the opacity of the three "Objects." PTE uses the term "Object" to describe any image appearing on a "Slide." The "slide" is the "main Object" and any additional objects appear in that slide's "Layers" which simply means the "position" of the images in the Objects list beneath the main object. I have created a simple demo for you showing how this can be done. If you download then extract the following into a folder and then open the PTE file, you can study the slide and see how the keyframes control the "opacity" of each object over time. In the example (which is actually considerably larger in file size than necessary - I just grabbed some images) the portrait of the baby is set to 100% opacity and faded in on the left and the second keyframe (check objects and animations) is set to "hold" that opacity until it is faded to zero with the third keyframe. The second portrait of this child when she is about 12 years old begins with zero opacity on the first keyframe, held at zero percent opacity with the second keyframe until such time as it is to be faded in. Then it is faded in to 100% opacity by the third keyframe. Then both portraits are faded to zero percent opacity at the same time by their last keyframes. Simultaneously, the landscape is held at zero opacity by its first and second keyframes and then faded in to 100 percent opacity by its third keyframe. Once you have a single slide prepared in such a way and assuming that you have other slides you may wish to use in the identical fashion, you can simply copy and paste the completed slide and then use the PTE "change image" feature to replace the objects and background for subsequent slides. The original animation then serves as the "template" for subsequent slides. The only real "caveat" is that the original images need to be identical in dimensions or you will have to play with the zoom and pan settings or visually align each one after replacing the "template" files. My link to example Best regards, Lin

Hi Sue, By all means use jpg's rather than PNG files. Really the "only" time you should "ever" need to use a PNG file is if you have created an object where you want transparency so that the background shows through areas of your image. Otherwise, using PNG simply adds a great deal to the size of your exe file because it is uncompressed. Compressing in Photoshop at level 7 should give you excellent images. Also, there is no need to use images any larger than the display resolution "unless" you are doing deep zooms. For example, let's say you have scanned your images and you end up with a dimension of something like 3000 pixels wide by 2000 pixels tall. Almost no displays in "common" use are higher than 1080p which is 1920x1080. So to display these without a deep zoom in, 2000x1333 would be the optimal size. If you go into Photoshop and "resample" your 3000x2000 image down to 2000 pixels on the horizontal side (close enough to 1920 pixels) then the vertical will be 1333 pixels and Photoshop will automatically do this for you. If you intend to zoom in for a close look at a face, for example, then you could leave just that slide at the original 3000x2000 pixels. You would "not" need to redo effects in PTE because by default, PTE will automatically resize everything to fit the display being used by your viewing audience. That is you "visually" fit the image to the vertical aspect of your own display for each slide, and PTE will make it fit the vertical aspect of any display the show is shown on. You can use Photoshop to resize all your images, but it's "MUCH" easier to do if you download and install the freeware IrfanView or Fastone and use one of them (be sure and do a "copy" and resize and don't overwrite the originals). They have a "very" easy batch resize feature and it's much more "complex" to do batch resize with Photoshop. I suggest you make a folder and save "all" your original scans and never work with them. Copy them and work with the copy. If you get in trouble, just leave a message here and someone will give you a hand. Best regards, Lin

Hi Sue, One way you can achieve the "floating look" on a backdrop is to use PTE's "drop shadow" feature (Objects and Animations screen - Common Tab - Check "Drop Shadow" then click on "Customize" to choose opacity, angle, size and position of shadowing) - example below from one of my photos: Best regards, Lin

Hi Xaver, Yes, it could be considered such - but in this case a static change rather than dynamic changes via bridging keyframes. From a programming perspective perhaps the mixing done in the Screens tab then distributed across all slides just as the current background, gradient background or image. There are lots of possibilities and it isn't a major thing, but would add some utility, I think. Best regards, Lin

One thing which might be quite useful is to add "opacity" to the background image feature. Some time ago, as I remember, when a background image was universally applied to a slideshow, the image actually "appeared" in the Objects List and could be manipulated for each slide. With the later versions the ability to add a universal background image does not result in it being visible on a layer in the Objects list any longer. There are, of course, advantages and disadvantages to doing it this new way - perhaps more advantages than not, but it would really be nice if the "opacity" of the background image could be adjusted universally. By adding this capability to the Screen Tab, then background images could be made less "dramatic" right in PTE without having to manipulate them in Photoshop or other image editor. I believe that more frequently than not, a user might want a somewhat muted background rather than a normal image. Generally, when I use an image as a background and place it as a layer on the Objects list, I apply some transparency to tone it down and often add a pure white layer beneath. Actually, what would be perfect would be the ability to not only be able to adjust the "opacity" of the background image, but to be able to have "2" background images placed on separate layers and be able to adjust opacity for each. This would, for example, allow the user to use a pure "white" background on the lower layer and by adjusting its opacity, make a very pleasing combination with the image above. What I sometimes do now is to "mix" two images in PTE this way and screen capture the result to use as a background image. But how nice would it be to be able to do this all right in PTE? Lin

Hi Dom, Nice! Love the shadows and translucent reflections! Best regards, Lin

Hi Sue, What you want to do is very easy. If you click on "Project Options" then on the "Screen" tab you will find you have three choices. You can have a solid color, a gradient with either top/bottom or left/right of any two colors, or you can have an "Image" of your choice. First decide on what you want for a backgound, click on the appropriate choice then either choose the color or combination or an image from any folder on any attached drive. If you experiment with the "size" for the background "image," you will find that reducing it below 100% will result in a "tile" effect where you have the image duplicated multiple times. If you need to change the appearance of the background image, you will need to do that before you add it as the background by using an image editor. The background image does not appear in the "Object List" as an object for each slide so you can't adjust the opacity of it as if it were added to each slide individually. If you only have a few slides, you could add any slide as a background just by placing it a layer below the main slide by adding it as a separate object. In such case you can adjust the size, opacity, position, etc., of the background image individually for each slide. If you play with the "background" feature with just a few slides before you load the entire show, you will quickly learn how best to use this feature. If you have further questions, just ask here and one of us will help you. Best regards, Lin