PhotoGizmo Help

Welcome to PhotoGizmo, the premiere application for viewing, organizing, printing and sharing your digital photos.

Quick Help Links:

The Filmstrip	The Search Bar	The Viewer	The PhotoBackTM	Upgrade	Keyboard Shortcuts

 The Filmstrip

All the photos that you have in your My Pictures folder appear in the filmstrip along the bottom. If you keep your photos in a different folder, see the Search Bar section below on how to add a new photo folder.

Over the center of the filmstrip is the lens. The thumbnail under the lens is the current photo, and is projected onto the screen as a large slide.

If you have added photos since you last ran PhotoGizmo, the lens will be positioned over the first new photo.

Photos are labeled and grouped according to the current sort order. For example, when sorting by Date, each photo is labeled with the date, and the photos from a particular month are grouped together. Each group is separated by a thick dividing line.

The lens contains buttons to move around the strip. You can click the ">" or "<" buttons to scroll the filmstrip forward or back by one photo. You can use the jump arrows at left and right edges of lens bottom to jump back and forth between groups. For example, when sorting by Date, you can jump to photos in the previous and next months.

The Push Bar, which runs beneath the Filmstrip and through the bottom of the Lens, shows you where you are in your collection. It is also a navigation tool that lets you jump instantly to a particular photo or group of photos. Just hover your mouse over the Push Bar and run it up and down its length -- a tiny floating caption will tell you what photo or group you are above. Click to jump to it.

The Push Bar's behavior depends on how you have chosen to sort your filmstrip (the sort command is the last drop-down menu below the PhotoBack^TM, on the right side of the application).

• When the filmstrip is sorted by Roll, hovering your mouse over the push bar will display rolls to which you can jump.
• When the filmstrip is sorted by Date, hovering your mouse over the push bar will display specific dates to which you can jump.
• When the filmstrip is sorted by Title, hovering your mouse over the push bar will display file names to which you can jump.
• When the filmstrip is sorted by Rating, hovering your mouse over the push bar will display a particular rating to which you can jump.
• When the filmstrip is sorted by Folder, hovering your mouse over the push bar will display photo folders to which you can jump.

You can select photos to print, organize, or share by clicking the icons under the thumbnail, to the right of the label.

Clicking a thumbnail scrolls to that photo.

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You can control what is displayed in the filmstrip using the search bar above the strip.

The first control is the photo folder chooser.  Choose which folder of photos you wish to view. To add a new folder, click the "Add folder to listà" command that appears in the drop down menu. If you have added new photos since you started the program, choose the "Search for photos again" command.  To remove a folder from the list, click the ôRemove folder from listàö command that appears in the drop down menu.  Then select the folder you wish to remove from list displayed.

The second control is the text search box. To find just those photos whose PhotoBack^TM contains certain words, click on this box, type the words you want to search for and then hit Enter. In the drop down list are the last few items you searched for. Choose Everything - or type here (or delete the text) to stop searching by text.

The third control is the rating search box. Choose an entry from the dropdown list to just see those photos with matching ratings. Choose Any rating to stop searching by rating.

The fourth control is the sort chooser. The photos can be sorted and grouped by month, rating, folder and title. They can also be sorted by roll, a group of photos that were downloaded together.

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The viewer area contains various tabs:

• The View SmartPhoto tab shows the photo that is under the lens
• The Share tab shows the photos you are sending by email
• The Photos for Printing tab shows the photos you have selected to either print locally or them have professionally printed by dotPhoto
• The Organize tab shows the photos you have selected to copy to another location such as a hard drive or removable media.
• The Deleted Photos tab shows the photos you have deleted.  This tab is only visible when photos are selected for deletion.

The tabs appear along the top of the application. Click on a tab to switch to it.

SmartPhoto^TM tab

This tab shows the photo that is under the lens.

Under the bottom right corner of the photo are three destination buttons; print, share, and organize.

You can print a photo on your home printer or have them professionally printed by dotPhoto by clicking on the printer icon under the right side of the photo. The photo will be added to the Printing tab. After you have chosen your photos to print, go to the Printing tab to review and print them on your home printer or upload them for printing.

You can share a photo by clicking the people (share) icon under the right side of the photo. The photo will be added to the Share tab where you can then email them. After you have chosen your photos to share, go to the Share tab to review and either upload them or email them. When you choose to email your photos, they will be reduced in size so your email is small enough to send reliably and quickly.

You can copy a photo to another location (floppy disk, hard drive, removable media device) by clicking the folder icon under the right side of the photo. The photo will be added to the Organize tab.

To delete a photo, click the Delete button. The photo will be moved to the Deleted Photos tab.

You can rotate a photo by clicking one of the Rotate buttons.

* Masking selects the area you wish to crop. Select the size and orientation of the mask using the buttons to the bottom left of the photo. Then drag the lines of the black box to select the area of the photo you wish to crop. You can rotate the mask by clicking the Rotate Mask button on the crop mode toolbar. You can move the entire box by clicking on the visible picture and dragging to your desired location.

Once you have selected the part of the photo you wish to crop using the mask function click the Crop Photo button on the cropping toolbar to discard the unwanted portion.
Note: The crop function is not available for use when in full screen mode.

* The Red Eye feature allows you to remove the red eye commonly found in pictures. Click on the Red Eye button and then simply touch each red eye in the photograph with the pencil cursor and the red will be automatically replaced.

Click the PicFix button to fix a photo that is too dark or too light.

* Clicking the Make Black and White button once will transform a color picture into black and white. You can increase the black and white contrast by continuing to click on the button.

* The Make Sepia feature allows you to convert your photograph to an image with a reddish-brown tone. Continuing to click on the button will lighten the pictureÆs sepia tone.

The Undo button undoes the last edit made to that photo.

The Revert button undoes every change made to that photo and displays the original unedited photo.

Pushing the Play button starts and stops a slideshow.  This is a great way to sit back and view your collection.

The View Full Screen button is the rightmost button on the toolbar. Clicking it changes between normal and full screen modes. Double clicking the photo in the SmartPhoto tab does the same thing.

Printing tab

On the Printing tab, all the photos you have selected to print on your home print or for dotPhoto to professionally print appear as thumbnails. Clicking the Add Recent button will add the pictures in your latest roll to the tab. Clicking the Add Strip button will add ALL your photos to the tab.

The Upload to Album button uploads the selected photos to a dotPhoto online album. The Order Prints button uploads the selected photos to an album and orders prints. *The Print button will enable you to print your photos on your home printer. Click the button to launch the local printing preferences dialog. First select the layout you wish to use. Then select the number of copies you want. Make sure your desired printer is chosen. Select the paper size you have loaded into the printer and then select your desired printing orientation. Double check the print preview before hitting the Print button.

To take a photo out of the tab, click it and then click the Clear One button. To remove all photos from the tab, click the Clear All button.

Share tab

On the Share tab all the photos you have selected to share appear as thumbnails. Click Send Photos to email your photos. To take a photo out of the tab, click it and then click the Clear One button. To remove all the photos from the tab, click the Clear All button.  

Clicking the Add Recent button will add the pictures in your latest roll to the tab. Clicking the Add Strip button will add ALL your photos to the tab.

Clicking the Send Photos button will launch your computerÆs default email program.  This function only supports certain email programs including: Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Lotus Notes, AOL 7.0 or higher, Hotmail and Yahoo! mail. To use Hotmail as your default email program, you must have Internet Explorer 5.0 installed. To use Yahoo! mail as your default email program, click here for further information. For more information about PhotoGizmo's email function, view the Support FAQ.

* Organize tab

On the Organize tab, all the photos you have selected to copy to another location appear as thumbnails. Clicking the Add Recent button will add the pictures in your latest roll to the tab. Clicking the Add Strip button will add ALL your photos to the tab.

Click the Copy Photo button to copy your photos to another location. In the dialog window that appears, either select an existing location or create a new folder as the destination for your photos. You can choose to reduce the size of your photos by clicking the Downsize checkbox. You can choose to delete the original photos after they are copied by clicking the appropriate checkbox. You can also include a version of the PhotoGizmo software by selecting the last checkbox.

To take a photo out of the tab, click it and then click the Clear One button. To remove all photos from the tab, click the Clear All button.

Deleted Photos tab

If you delete one or more photos, a Deleted Photos tab will appear. You can send all the deleted photos to the Recycle Bin using the Empty Trash button. You can put a photo back in the filmstrip using the Restore button.

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Next to the slide is a digital photo back. It shows the photo's title and folder as well as its size and dimensions.

• You can rate your photo by clicking on the appropriate star.
• You can edit the title to quickly give your photo a meaningful name. Changing the title also changes the file name, so you can see your titles in Windows Explorer.
• The Caption describes what is going on in the photo.
• The Subjects are the persons or things that appear in the photo.
• The Event is what event this photo is taken at.
• The Place is the location where the photo was taken.
• The Date is when the photo was taken.

To add info, just click in a field and start typing. PhotoGizmo will try to complete what you type. You can add multiple values by separating them with commas. You can also click the stamp button to the left of the field and choose from the list of values you have already entered.

If your camera records the date with your photo, this date will be used for the Date field. Otherwise the file date will be used. You can edit the date if it is wrong by clicking it. You can click the Date stamp button to choose which date will be used.

The PhotoBack will also show you the size and dimensions of a particular photo and the name of the folder it resides in.
Note: You can hover your mouse over the folder name to view the entire folder path.

All the information that you enter on the PhotoBack (caption, subjects, event, place, and date) is embedded in the photo. This means that you can move your photos, share them with friends and family, and never have to reenter the PhotoBack information.

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Clicking the Continue Free Trial button will dismiss the dialog and allow you to continue your PhotoGizmo Pro trial period.

You can click the Purchase Now button to ensure that you will not lose any of the premium features when the trial period ends. You will be prompted to enter an activation code and your email address. If you do not already have an activation code, click the Get one now link and follow the instructions on the web page.

Clicking the Revert to Free Version button will immediately end your trial period, disable the premium features (designated with a * in this help file) and allow you to use the free PhotoGizmo without interruption.

When your trial period runs out, you will have the opportunity to purchase the PhotoGizmo Professional Edition or revert to the free version.

You can upgrade at any point in time by going to the Information tab (circled 'i' at the top right of the application) and clicking the Activate button.

Whether you use the free PhotoGizmo or the premium PhotoGizmo Professional Edition, the software will automatically notify you when a new version of the software is available for download.

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There are many keyboard shortcuts to make viewing and editing your photos quick and easy.

Note:  When you are editing information in the PhotoBack or typing into a Search control, some of these keys (e.g. Left) will not work as shortcut keys unless you hold down the Alt key with them.

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