Getting Started with Firehand Ember 2000

 What Is Firehand Ember 2000?

Okay, so how do I…?

 View the contents of a folder

 Open several folders at once

 Customize Ember’s thumbnail display settings

 Restrict which files Ember displays

 Select files

 Copy and move files

 Search for specific files

 Color correct graphic files

 Resize graphic files

 Rotate graphic files

 Convert graphic files from one format to another

 Print graphic files

 Send files via Email

 Browse files “full screen”

 Move, rename, delete, and create new folders

 Use Ember as the default image viewer

 View graphic files with non-standard file extensions

 Use Ember to work with non-graphic files

 Create “contact sheet” index images

 View a “slide show” of graphic files

 Use Ember as the system screensaver

 Enable or disable the desktop wallpaper Autochanger

 Use Ember with other graphics applications

 Use Ember with a newsreader or Internet browser

 View, play, and organize audio and video files with Ember

 Construct stand-alone executable slideshows, screensavers, and photo albums from groups of images, or automatically export images in HTML format as a “photo gallery” website


What is Firehand Ember 2000?

Visualize...

View several folders at once containing any number of image files. Ember thumbnails them all on the fly at lightning speed. Choose a different preview size, sort order, view filter, and preview caption configuration for each folder you view, if you like, or use a set of global viewing preferences you've configured for all your folders. Display your image previews on a solid background color or atop an image that really "sets them off." Add decorative preview frames. Maybe put a descriptive title in a stylized font at the top of the window. But that's just for eye-appeal while you're browsing. Want a closer look or need to make some changes? A simple double-click on a preview opens the full-sized image in Ember 2000's Pop-up Imager module. Zoom in or out with a click of your mouse. Apply a wide variety of color corrections and special effects. Crop, rotate, reflect, change color depth, resize and resample. Draw arrows and text captions. Then, resave your images in a variety of formats. Now you're ready to really show them off! Fire up Ember 2000's slideshow module, or full-screen "file gallery," or activate Ember's desktop wallpaper autochanger applet from your system task tray and use your entire Windows desktop as a presentation surface. Ember 2000 even includes a powerful screensaver component, complete with multiple transitions, randomized playback, multi-folder traversal capabilities, background audio support, and much, much more -- so Ember can go to work whenever you stop working....

Organize...

Create, rename, delete, and move image folders around right inside Ember -- using Ember 2000's folder pane that works just like Windows Explorer (errr...only better). Create your own customized image filing system. Then, organize your images by simply dragging and dropping their thumbnails -- in groups, if you like, since Ember 2000 allows you to multiply select images by dragging a selection marquee around them. It doesn't get much easier than that. Ember even automatically detects and resolves name conflicts when images are moved into new folders! And with Ember, deleting unwanted images only requires a single key-stroke. (Don't worry, though, you can always retrieve your deleted graphics from the Recycle Bin if you need to....)

Utilize...

Ember 2000's unique interface makes it as simple to use and distribute your graphic files as it is to view and organize them. Drag and drop from Ember's thumbnail window to attach pictures to Email messages, or newsgroup postings. Embed a graphic in a word-processing document or spreadsheet with a drag/drop, or with a copy/paste operation. Install an image as your new desktop wallpaper or a folder background with a single keystroke. Generate contact sheet indices from selected files, or send whole groups of pictures to your printer using Ember 2000's powerful new print engine. And, of course, tight integration with Firehand Lightning II -- the picture display and distribution system from Firehand Technologies -- means you can export image sets directly from Ember as richly-formatted, compressed and encrypted compound image files ready for transmission across the Internet or conversion directly into photo gallery websites!


View the contents of a folder

There are several ways to open a folder in Ember and thumbnail all graphic files of supported formats contained in that folder.  You can:

Use the Folder View Pane

By default, the Folder View Pane appears on the left-hand side of Ember’s display.  The Folder View Pane is laid out like Windows Explorer, and works very similarly.  To select a folder for viewing, simply click the mouse on it.

Use the “Open Folder” command

If you have disabled the Folder View Pane (via Ember’s View menu) to make more thumbnail viewing area available, Ember places an “Open” button on the toolbar.  (A corresponding “Open Folder” command also appears on Ember’s File menu.)  To view the contents of a folder, click the “Open” button or choose the “Open Folder” command and then select the desired folder from the resulting folder tree listing.

Select a folder from the “Most Recently Used” folder list

Unless you disable this feature via the General Options dialog, Ember tracks each folder you open and maintains a “Most Recently Used” folder list on its File menu.  This allows you to quickly reopen a folder you have recently accessed by simply selecting its name from the menu.

Use the folder context menu in Windows Explorer

Ember’s installer adds a “Browse in Ember” item to the context menu of all folders on your computer.  This allows you to open a folder in Ember directly from Windows Explorer: simply right-click the folder you wish to view, and select “Browse in Ember” from the context menu.  If Ember is not already running, it will be launched.  It will then proceed to open and display the contents of the selected folder.

Drag a folder onto Ember’s desktop icon and drop it

The desktop shortcut Ember’s installer places on your desktop is a drop target for folders dragged from Windows Explorer.   When a folder is dropped on the desktop shortcut, Ember will be launched (if it is not already running). It will then immediately open the dropped folder and display its contents.


Open several folders at once

By default, if the thumbnail window displaying the contents of a folder is maximized within Ember’s main window frame, opening a new folder causes the previous folder to be closed and the maximized thumbnail window to be “recycled.”  To create a new thumbnail window when a folder is opened – so that the contents of multiple folders can be viewed simultaneously – simply de-maximize the active thumbnail window before selecting a new folder, or disable the “Automatically recycle maximized window” option on Ember’s “General Options” dialog.


Customize Ember’s thumbnail display settings

Ember recognizes two different sets of display preferences.  Global settings (set via the “Global Folder Settings” command on Ember’s View menu) are those settings and preferences used by default whenever a folder that has not been customized is opened in an Ember thumbnail window.   If custom folder settings have been applied to the folder (via the View menu’s “Customize Active Folder” command), those custom settings are used instead of the global settings.  In other words, if a particular folder has custom settings, those settings override the global folder settings Ember maintains.

Important: Custom display settings can be applied to a particular folder only if the “Use global folder settings only” checkbox on the General Options dialog (accessible from Ember’s View menu) is not checked.  If this checkbox is checked, any previously-specified custom folder settings are ignored (until the box is subsequently unchecked) and all folders use the global settings.

Global folder settings are divided into six categories – each corresponding to a tab on the Global Folder Settings dialog box; custom folder settings are divided into seven categories – each corresponding to a tab on the Customize Folder dialog box:

•	Background (global and custom)

Use this category of settings to specify a background image or tile (if desired), and its placement.  You can also specify a window background display color.

•	Layout (global and custom)

Use this category of settings to specify thumbnail size and spacing.  Note that if the “Use global folder settings only” checkbox on the General Options dialog is checked, controls for adjusting the global thumbnail size and spacing are also present on Ember’s main application toolbar.

•	Framing (global and custom)

Use this category of settings to specify a thumbnail frame style and color.

•	Captions (global and custom)

Use this category of settings to specify what information is displayed beneath each thumbnail preview, and how the information is styled.  A control is also present to enable and disable the appearance of file attribute information in a pop-up “tip” window when you pause the mouse over a particular image preview.

•	Filter (global and custom)

Use this category of settings to specify which files in a folder are actually displayed.

•	Sequencing (global and custom)

Use this category of settings to specify the display order of thumbnail previews in a folder.  You can elect to sort the display in ascending or descending order by file name, by file modification date, or by file size.

•	Title (custom only)

Use this category of settings to specify a title (and its styling) that is to appear at the top of the thumbnail window associated with a particular (customized) folder.


Restrict which files Ember displays

When you open a folder in Ember, by default Ember thumbnails and displays all files in supported graphics formats; if you enable the “Show icons for unsupported file types” option on Ember’s General Options dialog, it will display all files in the folder – even those it does not know how to thumbnail.  However, sometimes you will want to restrict the display to some subset of the files in a folder.  For example, you may wish to view only files of a particular file type (that is, with a particular file extension); likewise, you may wish to view only those files whose names match a particular pattern.  Ember’s view filtering capability allows you to do this within a particular folder or within all folders.

To restrict the file display in a particular folder:

1) Open the “General Options” dialog and ensure that the “Use global folder settings only” checkbox is not checked (otherwise you cannot change the view settings of individual folders separately).  Close this dialog.

2) Click the mouse in the thumbnail window whose display you wish to restrict (to make this window “active”).

3) Select “Customize Active Folder” from Ember’s View menu.

4) Select the “Filter” tab on the resulting dialog.

5) Enter a “filter” into the provided edit box using standard DOS/Windows wildcard characters.  For example, to view only files with a .BMP extension, enter “*.BMP”.  To view only files whose names contain the letter ‘x’, enter “*x*”.

5) Click the dialog’s “OK” button.

Note that this view filter will remain part of the folder’s customized view settings until you remove it, or install some new view filter.

To restrict the file display in all folders:

1) Open the “General Options” dialog and ensure that the “Use global folder settings only” checkbox is checked (otherwise the view filter you supply will not affect any folders to which you have applied customized view settings).  Close this dialog.

2) Select “Global Folder Settings” from Ember’s View menu.

3) Select the “Filter” tab on the resulting dialog.

4) Enter a “filter” into the provided edit box using standard DOS/Windows wildcard characters.  For example, to view only files with a .BMP extension, enter “*.BMP”.  To view only files whose names contain the letter ‘x’, enter “*x*”.

5) Click the dialog’s “OK” button.

Note that this view filter will remain part of your global folder view settings until you remove it, or install some new view filter.


Select files

Ember 2000 supports the selection of single files as well as groups of files.  Most of the file selection mechanisms familiar to Windows Explorer users are present in Ember 2000:

•	To select a single file with the mouse, simply click on the file’s thumbnail preview.

•	To select several non-contiguous files with the mouse, click the first thumbnail with the mouse, and then hold down the Ctrl key on the keyboard and click the other thumbnails sequentially.

•	To select a range of files with the mouse, click the first thumbnail with the mouse, and then hold down the Shift key on the keyboard and click the last thumbnail in the desired range.

•	To select a block of files with the mouse, simply drag a selection marquee around them by clicking above and to the left of the first thumbnail in the block and holding down the left mouse button while dragging to the lower right thumbnail in the block.

•	To select a single file with the keyboard, simply move the caret to the file’s thumbnail using the arrow keys on your keyboard.

•	To select a range of files with the keyboard, move the caret to the first thumbnail in the range using the arrow keys on your keyboard, then hold down the shift key and use the arrow keys to move the caret to the last thumbnail in the desired range.


Copy and move files

There are two primary mechanisms for copying and moving files in Ember: drag/drop and clipboard operations.

Copying and moving files by dragging and dropping:

Ember’s powerful drag/drop implementation allows you to copy or move files by simply dragging their thumbnails.  Organize your files by dragging thumbnails (singly, or many at once) from open thumbnail windows and dropping them onto desired folders in the folder view pane.  You can also drag thumbnails between thumbnail windows, and even onto your desktop, and into folders displayed in Windows Explorer.

When dragging using the left mouse button, you can force a copy operation by holding down the Ctrl key on your keyboard during the drag/drop operation; to force a file move, hold down the Shift key.

When dragging using the right mouse button, a context menu appears when you release the mouse button to effect the drop: choose the “Copy” command from the context menu to copy the selected file or files from the source folder to the destination; choose the “Move” command to move the selected file or files; choose “Cancel” to abort the drag/drop operation.

Copying and moving files using the system clipboard:

You can also use Windows system clipboard commands to move or copy files in Ember.  Simply select one or more thumbnail previews in an open thumbnail window, and then choose the “Copy” command on Ember’s Edit menu.  This places a copy of the selected files on the system clipboard.  You can then paste these file copies into another thumbnail window in Ember (using the “Paste” command on Ember’s Edit menu), or onto your system desktop.   If, rather than selecting the “Copy” command, you select Ember’s “Cut” command, subsequently invoking the “Paste” command results in a file move operation, rather than a copy.


Search for specific files

1) Click the mouse in the thumbnail window corresponding to the folder you wish to search (to ensure it is the active window).

2) Click the “Find” button on Ember’s toolbar.

3) Enter a search string into the resulting Find dialog using standard DOS/Windows wildcard characters.  For example, to search for files that have a .BMP extension, enter “*.BMP”.  To search for files whose names contain the letter ‘x’, enter “*x*”.

4) Click the dialog’s “OK” button.

Ember searches for the first file in the folder whose name matches the specified search string.  If no matching file is found, a message appears.  Otherwise, the first matching file is selected in the active thumbnail window and the “Find Next” dialog appears.  Click the “Find Next” button to find the next file in the folder (if any) whose name matches the search string.  Click the “Find All” button to select all files in the folder whose names match the specified search string.


Color correct graphic files
(Firehand Ember 2000 Standard Edition Only)

Ember 2000 allows you to color correct graphic files singly or in groups.

To color correct a single graphic file:

1) Select the file’s thumbnail in Ember’s thumbnail window.

2) Click the “Display” button on Ember’s toolbar (or simply double-click the selected thumbnail with the mouse) to open the selected image in Ember’s Pop-up Imager.

3) Select “Color Correction” from the Pop-up Imager’s Retouch menu.

4) Adjust the image’s color settings using the slider controls on the Color Correction dialog.  These controls allow you to correct image brightness, contrast, gamma level, saturation, tint, and color balance.

5) Click “OK” to close the Color Correction dialog and apply your color adjustments.

To undo the adjustments and restore the image to its original appearance, select the “Undo Retouch” command from the Pop-up Imager’s Edit menu.  To save the retouched image, select the Imager’s Save command from the File menu.  When you subsequently close the Pop-up Imager, you will see the file’s thumbnail in Ember’s thumbnail window automatically update to reflect the new appearance of the image.

To color correct a group of graphic files at once:

1) In Ember’s thumbnail window, multiply select the thumbnails of the images you wish to color correct as a group.  (For best results, it’s important that all of the selected images have a similar sort of color character.)

2) Select the “Color Correct” command from Ember’s Process menu.

3) Using the slider controls on the Color Correction dialog, set the color corrections to be applied to the group of files.  These slider controls allow you to correct image brightness, contrast, gamma level, saturation, tint, and color balance.  Note that you can use the buttons immediately beneath the “Before” and “After” previews on the dialog to step between images in the selected group to see the effect of the current set of corrections when applied to particular images in the group.

4) Click “OK” to close the Color Correction dialog and apply your color adjustments to each image selected in Ember’s active thumbnail window.  As the color adjustments are made to each file, you will see the file’s thumbnail automatically update to reflect the new appearance of the image.

Note that Ember converts each graphic file in the selected group to a standardized internal format before undertaking any mass transformation on a file group.  After completing the transformation, Ember then attempts to resave the altered files using their original formats and file names.  However, Ember cannot always do this because it does not support writing files in every format it is capable of reading.  If you select for a mass processing files in formats Ember cannot write – for example, PCX files or PCD graphics –  it will still be able to do the mass transformation operation on the files, but it must save them in a format that differs from their original format (and it must, correspondingly, change their filenames so that the files bear extensions valid for their new types).  Ember’s default behavior when mass processing files of types it cannot write is to save them in Windows Bitmap (.BMP) format.  You can change the default output format to any other image file output format Ember supports via the “Default output format” control found on Ember’s General Options dialog.


Resize graphic files
(Firehand Ember 2000 Standard Edition Only)

Ember 2000 allows you to change the dimensions of graphic files singly or in groups.

To resize a single graphic file:

1) Select the file’s thumbnail in Ember’s thumbnail window.

2) Click the “Display” button on Ember’s toolbar (or simply double-click the selected thumbnail with the mouse) to open the selected image in Ember’s Pop-up Imager.

3) Select “Resize” from the Pop-up Imager’s Edit menu.

4) Specify new pixel dimensions for the image using the controls in the provided dialog box.

5) Click “OK” to close the Resize dialog and cause the Pop-up Imager to resize the image.

To undo the resize operation and restore the image to its original dimensions, select the “Undo Resize” command from the Pop-up Imager’s Edit menu.  To save the resized image, select the Imager’s Save command from the File menu.

To resize a group of graphic files at once:

1) In Ember’s thumbnail window, multiply select the thumbnails of the images you wish to resize as a group.

2) Select the “Resize” command from Ember’s Process menu.

3) Using the controls on the Resize dialog, set new pixel dimensions for the group of files.   Note that if you check the dialog’s “Constrain proportions” checkbox, the new dimensions you specify in the Resize dialog will be treated as “boundary” dimensions; each selected image will be resized to best fit those boundary dimensions while retaining its native aspect ratio.

4) Click “OK” to close the Resize dialog.  Ember will proceed to resize each of the selected files.

Note that Ember converts each graphic file in the selected group to a standardized internal format before undertaking any mass transformation on a file group.  After completing the transformation, Ember then attempts to resave the altered files using their original formats and file names.  However, Ember cannot always do this because it does not support writing files in every format it is capable of reading.  If you select for a mass processing files in formats Ember cannot write – for example, PCX files or PCD graphics –  it will still be able to do the mass transformation operation on the files, but it must save them in a format that differs from their original format (and it must, correspondingly, change their filenames so that the files bear extensions valid for their new types).  Ember’s default behavior when mass processing files of types it cannot write is to save them in Windows Bitmap (.BMP) format.  You can change the default output format to any other image file output format Ember supports via the “Default output format” control found on Ember’s General Options dialog.


Rotate graphic files
(Firehand Ember 2000 Standard Edition Only)

Ember 2000 allows you to rotate and reflect graphic files singly or in groups.

To rotate/reflect a single graphic file:

1) Select the file’s thumbnail in Ember’s thumbnail window.

2) Click the “Display” button on Ember’s toolbar (or simply double-click the selected thumbnail with the mouse) to open the selected image in Ember’s Pop-up Imager.

3) Select an appropriate rotation/reflection command from the Pop-up Imager’s Edit menu.  To rotate the image counter-clockwise a quarter turn, select the “Rotate Left” command.  To rotate the image clockwise a quarter turn, select the “Rotate Right” command.  To reflect the image about the vertical axis (swapping the left and right sides of the image), select the “Reflect Horizontally” command.  To reflect the image about the horizontal axis (inverting the image), select the “Reflect Vertically” command.

To undo the rotation/reflection operation and restore the image to its original appearance, select the “Undo Rotation” or “Undo Reflection” command from the Pop-up Imager’s Edit menu.  To save the altered image, select the Imager’s Save command from the File menu.

To rotate/reflect a group of graphic files at once:

1) In Ember’s thumbnail window, multiply select the thumbnails of the images you wish to rotate/reflect as a group.

2) Select the “Rotate/Reflect” command from Ember’s Process menu.

3) Choose a desired rotation/reflection operation by clicking the corresponding radio button on the Rotate/Reflect dialog.

4) Click “OK” to close the Rotate/Reflect dialog.  Ember will proceed to rotate or reflect each of the selected files, as specified.

Note that Ember converts each graphic file in the selected group to a standardized internal format before undertaking any mass transformation on a file group.  After completing the transformation, Ember then attempts to resave the altered files using their original formats and file names.  However, Ember cannot always do this because it does not support writing files in every format it is capable of reading.  If you select for a mass processing files in formats Ember cannot write – for example, PCX files or PCD graphics –  it will still be able to do the mass transformation operation on the files, but it must save them in a format that differs from their original format (and it must, correspondingly, change their filenames so that the files bear extensions valid for their new types).  Ember’s default behavior when mass processing files of types it cannot write is to save them in Windows Bitmap (.BMP) format.  You can change the default output format to any other image file output format Ember supports via the “Default output format” control found on Ember’s General Options dialog.


Convert graphic files from one format to another
(Firehand Ember 2000 Standard Edition Only)

Ember 2000 allows you to convert the formats of graphic files singly or in groups.  If you elect to convert a group of files at once, you can opt either to replace the original copies of the files with the new versions, or to retain the originals.

To convert a single graphic file:

1) Select the file’s thumbnail in Ember’s thumbnail window.

2) Click the “Display” button on Ember’s toolbar (or simply double-click the selected thumbnail with the mouse) to open the selected image in Ember’s Pop-up Imager.

3) Select the “Save a Copy” command from the Pop-up Imager’s File menu.

4) In the resulting standard Windows Save As dialog, specify a location, a filename, and a type for the converted file.

5) Click the dialog’s “OK” button and the Pop-up Imager will export a converted copy of the file.

To convert a group of graphic files and overwrite the original file versions:

1) In Ember’s thumbnail window, multiply select the thumbnails of the images you wish to convert as a group.

2) Select the “Convert” command from Ember’s Process menu.

3) Choose an output format using the drop list on the Convert dialog and click the “OK” button.  Ember will proceed to convert each of the selected files to the selected format, replacing each of the source files with the converted version.

To convert a group of graphic files and retain the original file versions:

1) In Ember’s thumbnail window, multiply select the thumbnails of the images you wish to convert as a group.

2) Select the “Files” command from the “Export” submenu found on Ember’s Process menu.

3) Choose an output format using the drop list on the Export dialog, and specify a destination directory for the converted file versions.  (Note that you can export the converted files to the same directory in which the source files reside.)   When you click “OK” Ember will proceed to generate a copy of each selected file, and then will convert that copy to the selected format, and will write that converted copy to the specified destination directory.


Print graphic files

Ember 2000 allows you to print full-size images – one per page – or groups of descaled images – several on a page.

To print one or more full-size images (one per page):

1) Select “Page Setup” from Ember’s File menu, and on the resulting Page Setup dialog specify the page orientation and margins you wish to use for your print job.  Then close the dialog.

2) In Ember’s thumbnail window, select one or more thumbnails corresponding to images you wish to print.

3) Click the “Print” button on Ember’s toolbar.

4) Click the “Print images” radio button in the “Content” section of the Print dialog.  If you want Ember to rescale each image to fit the page margins you’ve specified, click the “Stretch/shrink to fit margins” checkbox.  Otherwise, Ember will print each image in its native dimensions (adjusted for resolution differences between your computer display and your printer).  If a given image is too large to fit within the specified margins, Ember will crop it accordingly.  If you want Ember to print the name of the file at the top of each printed page, click the “Include source header” checkbox.  If you want Ember to place a page number at the bottom of each printed page, check the “Include page numbers” checkbox.

5) Click the “OK” button to close the Print dialog and send the print job to your printer.

To print multiple descaled images (several per page):

1) Select “Page Setup” from Ember’s File menu, and on the resulting Page Setup dialog specify the page orientation and margins you wish to use for your print job.  Then close the dialog.

2) In Ember’s thumbnail window, select the thumbnails corresponding to images you wish to print.

3) Adjust the thumbnail size and spacing used within the active thumbnail window.  (This same size and spacing – adjusted for resolution differences – will be used in your print job.)  If you have applied custom folder settings to the folder in which the images reside, select the “Customize Folder” command from Ember’s View menu; if the folder in which the images reside utilizes global folder settings, select the “Global Folder Settings” command from Ember’s View menu.  In either case, you can then adjust the size and spacing of the thumbnail images displayed (and to be printed) by clicking the “Layout” tab on the Folder Settings dialog and then using the slider controls.

4) Adjust the caption information used within the active thumbnail window.  (This same caption information will be printed beneath each image in your print job.)  Without closing the Folder Settings dialog, click the “Captions” tab and enable the desired caption items.  Now, close the Folder Settings dialog.

5) Click the “Print” button on Ember’s toolbar.

6) Click the “Print previews” radio button in the “Content” section of the Print dialog. If you want Ember to print the name of the source folder in which the printed images reside at the top of each printed page, click the “Include source header” checkbox.  If you want Ember to place a page number at the bottom of each printed page, check the “Include page numbers” checkbox.

7) Click the “OK” button to close the Print dialog.  Ember will determine based on the thumbnail preview size and spacing you have selected, as well as the caption information you have specified, the page size and orientation and margins, and so forth, how best to arrange the selected images on the printed page and where to break the pages.  When it has made these determinations, it sends your print job to the printer.


Send files via Email

Emailing graphic files is easy with a little help from Ember. Launch your favorite Email application and create and address a new message.  Then, in Ember, select one or more thumbnails of images you wish to Email and, using your mouse, simply drag them onto the Email message you’ve prepared, and drop them.  Ember and your Email application will coordinate the embedding of the images in your message.  Then, just send the Email.


Browse files “full screen”

As an alternative to a thumbnail view of your graphic files, sometimes it’s helpful to be able to step rapidly through images displayed full-screen, so you can get a better look.  Ember supports four full-screen browsing modes:

•	In “Default Size” full-screen browsing mode, all image files are displayed in their native dimensions.  To enter Default Size full-screen browsing mode, select an image thumbnail and then choose the “Default Size” command from the “Display Full-Screen” submenu found on Ember’s File menu.

•	In “Descale to Fit” full-screen browsing mode, all image files are displayed in their native dimensions if they can be displayed in the full-screen window without being cut off; if they are too large to fit within the full-screen window without being cut off, they are descaled until they will fit within the full-screen window without being cut off.  To enter Descale to Fit full-screen browsing mode, select an image thumbnail and then choose the “Descale to Fit” command from the “Display Full-Screen” submenu found on Ember’s File menu.

•	In “Best Stretch” full-screen browsing mode, all image files are displayed enlarged or descaled to precisely fit the full-screen window while maintaining their native aspect ratios.  To enter Best Stretch full-screen browsing mode, select an image thumbnail and then choose the “Best Stretch” command from the “Display Full-Screen” submenu found on Ember’s File menu.

•	In “Unconstrained Stretch” full-screen browsing mode, all image files are displayed stretched to exactly fit the full-screen window without, necessarily, maintaining their native aspect ratios.  To enter Unconstrained Stretch full-screen browsing mode, select an image thumbnail and then choose the “Unconstrained Stretch” command from the “Display Full-Screen” submenu found on Ember’s File menu.

Note that once you have entered a full-screen browsing mode, you can freely switch to any of the other browsing modes by right-clicking the full-screen browser window and selecting another view mode from the context menu.

To step, full-screen, between images in the active folder once you are in a full-screen browsing mode, simply using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard.

To automate the full-screen browser (so that it steps sequentially through images in the current folder on a timer), tap the space bar on your keyboard (the timer delay is configurable via the “File Gallery” command accessible from Ember’s View menu).

To close the full-screen browser and return to Ember’s thumbnail display, tap the Esc key on your keyboard.


Move, rename, delete, and create new folders

Ember 2000’s Folder View Pane features a set of powerful folder management functions, allowing you to create, move, rename, and delete the file system folders in which you store your graphic files.

To create a new folder:

1) In Ember’s Folder View Pane, right-click the folder under which you wish to create the new folder.

2) Select the “New Sub-Folder” command from the resulting context menu.  Note that this command will be enabled only if you have selected a folder that can have subfolders.  (For example, this menu item will be grayed if you right-click "My Computer” in the folder view pane, because the “My Computer” item cannot have subfolders.)

3) A new folder will be created, and will be initialized with a name like “New Folder.” Type in a new (preferably more descriptive) name for the folder, and tap the Enter key on your keyboard to finish creating the folder.

To move a folder:

There are two ways to move folders within the Folder View Pane (note that not all folders are moveable):

•	Click the folder you wish to move and, while holding down the left mouse button, drag the folder to some target folder under which you wish to place it.  Release the mouse button to move the folder to this new location and make it a sub-folder of the specified target folder.

•	Right-click the folder you wish to move and then select “Move” from the resulting context menu.  A folder selection dialog will appear.  Choose the target folder under which you wish to move the selected folder, and then click the dialog’s “OK” button.  Ember will move the selected folder, making it a sub-folder of the target folder.

To rename a folder:

1) In Ember’s Folder View Pane, right-click the folder you wish to rename.

2) Select the “Rename” command from the resulting context menu.  Note that this command will be enabled only if you have selected a folder that can be renamed.  (For example, this menu item will be grayed if you right-click "My Computer” in the folder view pane, because the “My Computer” item cannot be renamed.)

3) The folder’s name will be selected for editing within the Folder View Pane. Type in a new name for the folder, and tap the Enter key on your keyboard to complete the rename operation.

To delete a folder:

There are two ways to delete folders within the Folder View Pane (note that not all folders can be deleted):

•	Click the folder you wish to delete (to select it) and then tap the Del key on your keyboard.

•	Right-click the folder you wish to delete and then select “Delete” from the resulting context menu.

In either case note that you will be prompted to confirm the folder deletion unless you have disabled the “Confirm deletions” option on Ember’s General Options dialog.  (It is strongly recommended that you leave the “Confirm deletions” option enabled.)


Use Ember as the default image viewer

Your system’s default image viewer is that application launched by Windows whenever you double-click an image file icon in Windows Explorer.  It is recommended that you configure Ember as your default image viewer.  To do this, simply open Ember’s General Options dialog from the View menu and click the “Set Associations” button.  Be sure that all extensions displayed in the resulting Set Associations dialog are moved to the “Selected” column, and then click the “Close” button.  Ember will update your system registry to “associate” itself with your image files and become their default viewer.

To dissociate Ember from your image files, simply open the Set Associations dialog from the General Options dialog, and move all displayed file extensions to the “Not selected” column.  Then, click the “Close” button.  Ember will properly update your system registry such that it is no longer your default image viewer.  Note that Ember “remembers” which application was previously associated with your file extensions and will restore this previously-used application as your system’s new default image viewer.


View graphic files with non-standard file extensions

Ember is designed to recognize supported graphic file types by examining their file name extensions.   When you open a folder in Ember, by default Ember will display only those files in the folder whose extensions correspond to standard image file types it supports (ie, .JPG, .BMP, .GIF, .PCX, .PNG, .TGA, and so forth).  Sometimes, though, you may need to configure Ember to recognize and display image files of supported types that have non-standard file extensions.  To do this:

1) Open the General Options dialog from Ember’s View menu.

2) Uncheck the “Assume file extensions are correct” checkbox.

3) Check the “Show icons for unsupported file types” checkbox.

4) Close the General Options dialog.

Ember will immediately begin to examine every file in each open folder without regard to their file extensions.  Those graphic files whose internal format Ember recognizes will be thumbnailed.  Icons will be displayed for all other files.


Use Ember to work with non-graphic files

Though Ember is specifically designed as an image file manager, it can also be used to manage non-graphic files.  Indeed, because of its layout flexibility, many use Ember as a replacement for Windows Explorer.  Simply check the “Show icons for unsupported file types” checkbox on the General Options dialog accessible from Ember’s View menu.  Ember will continue to display graphic thumbnail previews of all files of recognized image types when you open a folder.  But it will also display icons for all files of types it doesn’t recognize.   These “iconized” files can be dragged and dropped, copied and pasted, deleted, renamed, and searched within Ember as if they were thumbnailed image files.  And when double-clicked, these files are opened from Ember just as they are from Windows Explorer.


Use Ember with other graphics applications

Ember’s Pop-up Imager is a powerful tool for touching up and manipulating image files.  But sometimes you may want to make use of the capabilities in other graphics applications as well – and Ember is designed to make this easy.  Simply select a thumbnail preview in one of Ember’s open thumbnail windows, drag it into the other imaging program with your mouse, and drop it.  Then, alter the image however you like.  When you’re done making your changes, all you have to do is save.  Ember will detect the changes you made to the image in the other application and automatically generate and display a new thumbnail preview for it.


Use Ember with a newsreader or Internet browser

Because Ember 2000 automatically refreshes its thumbnail windows whenever the contents of the underlying folders change, Ember makes an ideal companion to your favorite Web browser or newsreader.

Open your usual download folder in Ember before beginning a download session.  Then, as you download graphic files into that folder using your browser or newsreader, thumbnails of the downloaded files will immediately appear in Ember.

For best results while monitoring a download session, be sure the download folder sort order is configured in Ember such that as each file in turn is downloaded it is displayed in the first position within the thumbnail window.  To do this:

1) Open the “General Options” dialog from Ember’s View menu, and ensure that the “Use global folder settings only” checkbox is not checked (otherwise you cannot customize the download folder separately). Close this dialog.

2) Select “Customize Active Folder” from Ember’s View menu.

3) Select the “Sequencing” tab on the resulting dialog.

4) Choose “By Date” from the “File Arrangement” drop list, and click the “Descending” radio button.

5) Click “OK” to close the dialog and apply this custom sequencing scheme to the download folder.


Create contact sheet index images

Ember 2000 features a powerful contact sheet generator that allows you to construct composite images from groups of thumbnails.  Often contact sheets are used as a sort of graphic index.

To create a set of contact sheet images:

1) Select the desired set of image previews to be featured in the contact sheet set.

2) Adjust the display attributes of the folder in which the selected images reside; these same attributes will be used in the generated contact sheet set. (If you have applied custom folder settings to the folder, select the “Customize Folder” command from Ember’s View menu; if the folder in which the images reside utilizes global folder settings, select the “Global Folder Settings” command from Ember’s View menu.  In either case, you can then use the controls on the resulting Folder Settings dialog to adjust the display attributes – background color, tiling, caption format and style, thumbnail size and spacing, and so forth – of the folder.)  When you are satisfied with the display settings, close the Folder Settings dialog.

3) Choose the “Create Contact Sheets” command from Ember’s Tools menu and, on the resulting dialog, specify the desired pixel dimensions for each page in the contact sheet set.  Then, click the “OK” button to close the dialog.

4) You will next be prompted to select a destination folder for the contact sheet images, as well as a format for the contact sheet images.  When you have made your selections, click the “OK” button to close the Contact Sheet File Export dialog and initiate the contact sheet generation operation. Note that Ember will automatically determine based on the layout settings of the source folder, as well as the contact sheet size you have specified, how best to arrange the selected previews on the contact sheets and how many contact sheets to generate.


View a “slide show” of graphic files

Ember 2000 has two separate components that can be used to display an automated presentation of graphic files: the “File Gallery” and the “Slideshow.”

The “File Gallery”:

The “File Gallery” is the automated mode of Ember’s full-screen file browser.  It is very tightly bound to Ember (indeed, it can run only within Ember), and can be conveniently launched from either Ember or from Ember’s Pop-up Imager.  It features four different image stretch modes, and always proceeds through the files in a folder in the order the files are displayed in Ember’s thumbnail window.

To launch the File Gallery from Ember:

1) In an open thumbnail window, select the preview of the image with which you wish to begin the File Gallery presentation.

2) Select the “File Gallery” command from Ember’s View menu, and specify the rate at which you wish the presentation to proceed.  Then, close the dialog to enter the File Gallery.

(To terminate the File Gallery, simply tap the “Esc” key on the keyboard.)

To launch the File Gallery from the Pop-up Imager:

1) Holding down the Ctrl key, tap the Enter key on your keyboard to transition from the Pop-up Imager to the full-screen browser.

2) Right-click the browser window and choose the “Run File Gallery” command from the resulting context menu.  Note that the rate at which the File Gallery proceeds is governed by the last value set in the “File Gallery” dialog (accessible from Ember’s View menu).

(To terminate the File Gallery, simply tap the “Esc” key on the keyboard.)

The “Slideshow”:

Ember’s “Slideshow” is a separate, full-featured application included with Ember 2000; it may be launched and configured from within Ember, or entirely independently of Ember.  It features a number of display modes, can be run in a window or full-screen, supports file and folder randomization, can traverse single folders or entire directory trees, includes a variety of transition effects, supports background audio playback, and has quite a number of other features and options.

To configure and launch the Slideshow from within Ember:

1) Configure the Slideshow by setting the various options found on the Slideshow Options dialog accessible from Ember’s View menu.

2) In an open Ember thumbnail window, select the preview of the image with which you wish to begin the Slideshow presentation.

3) Choose the “Slideshow” command from Ember’s View menu.  Ember will launch the Slideshow player, will set its root folder to the folder displayed in Ember’s active thumbnail window, and will begin the Slideshow presentation with the selected file.

You can control playback of the Slideshow via the control bar found at the bottom of its display window.  To close the Slideshow, select the “Exit” command from the Slideshow’s File menu.

To configure and launch the Slideshow independently of Ember:

1) Double-click the “Firehand Ember Slideshow Player” shortcut installed on your desktop by the Ember installer to launch the Slideshow.

2) Configure the Slideshow by setting the various options found on the Options dialog accessible from the Slideshow’s View menu.

3) Select a folder for display (or to function as the traversal root if you have configured the Slideshow to traverse multiple folders) via the “Open” command found on the Slideshow’s File menu.

When you dispatch the folder selection dialog, the Slideshow will immediately begin playing.  You can control playback via the control bar found at the bottom of the Slideshow’s window.  To close the Slideshow, select the “Exit” command from the Slideshow’s File menu.


Use Ember as the system screensaver

There are two ways to configure Ember’s screensaver engine:

To configure the screensaver from within Ember:

1) Select the “Screensaver Options” command from Ember’s View menu.

2) Ensure that the “Use Ember Screensaver as current system screensaver” checkbox (on the Options dialog’s “General” tab) is checked, and then set the wait time (or, in other words, the idle interval before Windows automatically initiates the screensaver) using the “Wait (in minutes)” control at the bottom of the “General” tab.

3) Use the other controls on the Options dialog to specify a source folder (for the images to be used in the screensaver presentation), a display mode, a presentation sequence and speed, a background color and transition effect, a background audio score (if desired), caption text styling, and so forth.

4) Click the “OK” button to close the Options dialog and register Ember’s screensaver as your current system screensaver.

Windows will automatically invoke the screensaver when it detects that your computer has been idle for the interval you specified.  If you would like to preview the screensaver, simply right-click the small, purple Ember Wallpaper Changer icon in your task tray, and select the “Run Ember Screensaver” command.

To configure the screensaver outside of Ember:

1) Right-click your Windows desktop and select “Properties” from the resulting context menu.

2) On the system Display Properties dialog, click the “Screen Saver” tab.

3) Select “Firehand Ember” from the “Screen Saver” drop list, and set the desired wait interval (which is the number of minutes Windows waits before automatically initiating the screensaver upon detecting that the system is idle).

4) Click the “Settings” button to display the Firehand Ember Screensaver dialog.

5) Click the “Options” button to display the Screensaver Options dialog. Use the controls on this dialog to specify a source folder (for the images to be used in the screensaver presentation), a display mode, a presentation sequence and speed, a background color and transition effect, a background audio score (if desired), caption text styling, and so forth.  Then, click the “OK” button to close this dialog.

6) Click the “OK” button on the Firehand Ember Screensaver dialog to close this dialog as well.

7) Click “OK” on the system Display Properties dialog to finish registering the Ember Screensaver as your current system screensaver.  If you prefer to preview the screensaver first, click the “Preview” button.


Enable or disable Ember’s desktop wallpaper Autochanger

There are two ways to configure Ember’s wallpaper Autochanger applet:

To configure the Autochanger  from within Ember:

1) Select the “Wallpaper Changer Options” command from Ember’s View menu.

2) Ensure that the “Enable wallpaper changer system service” checkbox (on the Options dialog’s “General” tab) is checked if you wish to enable the Autochanger; deselect this option if you wish to disable the Autochanger and remove it from memory.

3) If enabling the Autochanger, use the other controls on the Options dialog to specify a source folder (for the images to be used as your desktop wallpaper), a display mode, sequencing options, and so forth.

4) Click the “OK” button to close the Options dialog.

If you have enabled the Autochanger, its icon will appear in your system task tray, and the applet will begin to automatically update your desktop wallpaper according to the settings you supplied.

Note: If you would like to manually advance the Autochanger, simply double-click its task tray icon.

To configure the Autochanger outside of Ember:

Important: You can only configure the Autochanger applet outside of Ember if it is enabled and its icon appears on the system task tray.

1)  Right-click the Autochanger’s system task tray icon, and select the “Configure Wallpaper Changer” command.

2) If you wish to disable the Autochanger and remove it from memory, deselect the “Enable wallpaper changer system service” checkbox (on the Options dialog’s “General” tab).  Otherwise, use the other controls on the Options dialog to specify a source folder (for the images to be used as your desktop wallpaper), a display mode, sequencing options, and so forth.

3) Click the “OK” button to close the Options dialog.

If you have disabled the Autochanger, its icon will disappear from your system task tray as it is purged from memory.  Otherwise, the updated configuration you have supplied will immediately take effect and the Autochanger will begin to operate accordingly.


View, play, and organize audio and video files with Ember

The Firehand Media Xtension Add-In is an optional component that enhances Ember 2000 with multimedia file support.  Just drop the Media Xtension into your Ember 2000 installation and suddenly you will be able to thumbnail, organize, and play back digital video files (.MPG, .AVI, non-proprietary .MOV), audio files (.WAV, .AU, .MP3, .AIFF, .SND), and MIDI music files (.MID, .RMI), right alongside your image files.  The Media Xtension also extends Ember 2000’s file gallery, slideshow, and screensaver components with multimedia support.

For more information, please see http://www.firehand.com/mediax


Construct stand-alone executable slideshows, screensavers, and photo albums from groups of images, or automatically export images in HTML format as a “photo gallery” website

These functions are included in Firehand Lightning II – the companion product to Firehand Ember 2000.

If Firehand Lightning II is installed on your computer, it will automatically integrate with Ember 2000.  You can then simply select in Ember’s thumbnail window the previews of the images you wish to include in your executable slideshow, screensaver, or photo album – or your “photo gallery” HTML website – and then select the “Send to Compound Picture File” command from Ember’s Tools menu.  Lightning II will be launched (if it is not already running) and Ember will export the selected files to Lightning – they will immediately appear in Lightning’s construction window.  You can then apply free-form captions and searchable keywords, audio annotations, a multi-track background audio score, a title page, and a variety of display effects to the images, and then export the entire image set in whatever display format you prefer.

For more information, please see http://www.firehand.com/lightning