PhoA Help System

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Contents

Q&A

I have read and understood all the program documentation. But how in a hell do I create a photo album?

Take it easy, all you have to do:

  • You can create some folders (groups) for pictures. You do it by selecting Edit | Add group menu item or by pressing Alt+Ins shortcut keys - then the group is created "inside" the group currently selected. You may skip this step and add pictures directly to the photo album.
  • Highlight a folder to add pictures to (group or the photo album node).
  • Select Edit | Add pictures... menu item, Add pictures Wizard opens.
  • At the first page you select a folder with pictures. Check the checkbox Recurse subfolders if it contains nested folders with pictures. Click Next >.
  • At the Check files page you can choose exactly which files are to be added to the photo album. All the files are checked by default. Click Next >, and the adding process will start.
  • After adding has finished the program closes Wizard window and you see your pictures, or advances to the Log page (click Close if this is the case) - according to the program settings.
  • Save photo album to a file. That's all!

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How to switch to another interface language?

The default interface language is determined by the language used during program installation. You can change it by selecting Tools | Program settings... menu item -> General page -> Interface language.

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How do I change default thumbnail dimensions?

Each photo album can have its own thumbnail dimensions. These data are stored along with the photo album; you can alter it by selecting the photo album node in the group tree, and then selecting Edit | Edit... menu item.

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How can I enhance thumbnail quality?

Thumbnail quality is affected by the two factors:

  • Resampling filter used. Nearest Neighbor is the most quick one but images downsampled with it appear "fuzzy". The most soft contours are achieved by using B-spline, then Linear filters. You get more plain lines with Lanczos filter. To change resampling filter, select Tools | Program settings... -> Browse mode -> Resampling filter.
  • Compression level. Thumbnails are stored in JPEG format; this format compresses images with the price of some quality loss. You can change "size/quality" ratio for each photo album individually, by selecting photo album node in the group tree, and then Edit | Edit... menu item.

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Is it possible to write my photo album to a CD-ROM along with the program so I can view it on any computer?

Yes, it is. PhoA has been designed specially so as photo albums can be written onto a removable media together with the viewing tool itself:

  • Photo album files store relative links to picture files, whenever possible (relative to photo album file). Absolute linkage is used for pictures residing on a drive other than photo album's one, or on network drives. This allows writing photo album and pictures on a removable disk provided their relative position is unchanged. E.g.:
    • Before writing: photo album file: C:\My documents\Photos.phoa; base picture files folder: C:\My documents\Pics
    • After writing (onto a CD-ROM): photo album file: D:\Photos.phoa; base picture files folder: D:\Pics
  • PhoA doesn't require any additional files to run besides the main executable phoa.exe. You can place it in any folder on the CD.
  • For the program to load a given photo album, specify its path in the command line, eg: phoa.exe Photos.phoa
  • The most simple and efficient way to prepare the files and the photo album for writing onto a removable medium is using the Copy files operation.

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How do I write autorun.inf file for the photo album on a CD-ROM starts automatically?

The basic autorun.inf usage is like the following (you create it using any text editor, then place it into the root CD-ROM directory): 

[autorun] 
open=phoa.exe Photos.phoa
icon=phoa.exe,1
label=My photo album
This example assumes both program executable (phoa.exe) and photo album file (Photos.phoa) reside in root directory of the CD (so the autorun.inf does).
icon= line specifies a file containing icon to display in "My computer", and icon index (zero-based) in that file. For phoa.exe:
   0 - the program's icon;
   1 - photo album file's icon.
label= line specifies a drive label to display in "My computer". Refer to MSDN documentation for details.
NB: It is possible to use the autorun.inf creation feature of the Copy files operation.

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I want the program to open my photo album automatically when I start it. How?

You should start the photo album file itself, not the program. Eg. put a shortcut to your photo album C:\My documents\Photos.phoa, onto the Desktop, so when you execute it PhoA will start first, then the program will load this photo album.

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Is it possible to alter picture file paths?

Firstly, you are able to move picture files together with the photo album file provided their relative placement is unchanged (see writing to a CD).
Secondly, you can move picture files by using the Move files operation.
And thirdly, you may change picture file immediately using Change file... button on File properties page of the Picture properties dialog.

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