1. What is a JPEG Error #67 (also appears as a Huffman error)?
2. There are lots of files with a tilde (~) in their name in my image directories, can I delete them.
3. I have copied new images to my computer and done a database update but they haven't been inserted into the database, why?
4. Why does it take so long to display the thumbnails in Disk Browse mode?
5. Why do I only see the default (light bulb) thumbnail for all my images in View and Edit modes?
6. After installing Smart Pix I can no longer open my images in my favourite image viewer by double-clicking on them, why?
7. The Help file says to select the XYZ item in the File menu, but I can't see the menu, what can I do?
8. I can't navigate Smart Pix using my Wheel Mouse, even though I have set the Wheel Mouse option.
9. After using Smart Pix I now have hundreds of files with the extension '.THB' on my hard drive. Can I delete them?
10. When I run Smart Pix I get an error relating to Borland Database Engine, what can I do?
11. Why don't some animated GIFs display properly?
12. Why is there an attribute group in View mode called 'Other'?
13. I have deleted all the file references in my database, but my database hasn't reduced to the size of any empty database, why not?
14. I can't find my files after I inserted then into the database, why?
1. What is a JPEG Error #67 (also appears as a Huffman error)?
These errors are caused by incomplete JPEG's. Generally JPEG's which have not been fully downloaded. You may be able to open these files in an Image Editor and then resave them to your hard drive to avoid this error.
2. There are lots of files with a tilde (~) in their name in my image directories, can I delete them.
They are generally temporary files that can be deleted. Smart Pix creates two kind of temporary files:
- Images which have been inserted into the database and have a tilde in the extension, e.g. xyz.~jp. By default Smart Pix does not delete images after inserting them into the database, merely renames them to a temporary name so that you can back them up before removal from your system. You can delete these.
- Temporary files, if you are using the Changed Extension or Database Storage method, Smart Pix sometimes needs to create temporary files, for example if you want to launch an image in an external viewer. These files will have a tilde at the beginning of their name, e.g. ~xyz.bmp. Generally Smart Pix will clean up these files automatically, but sometimes it is unable, i.e. if you have launched a file into Paint and leave it open when you close Smart Pix, Windows will not allow Smart Pix to delete the file. These can be deleted.
There are sometimes files where the name ends in ~ and then a number, such as myfile~1.jpg These are NOT temporary files!
3. I have copied new images to my computer and done a database update but they haven't been inserted into the database, why?
You probably haven't added the images to one of your source directories. Smart Pix will only check for new image files in directories that are contained in Source Directories list. You can see your list of source directories by selecting Database | Source Directories. You can add new source directories by clicking the 'Add' button.
4. Why does it take so long to display the thumbnails in Disk Browse mode?
In Disk Browse and Bookmarks mode Smart Pix creates the Thumbnails dynamically, that is, as they need to be displayed Smart Pix creates the Thumbnail and displays it. This is the most efficient method on a fast computer, but may be too slow on older computers. If this is a problem you should select the setting to 'Save Thumbnails permanently to your hard drive' under Options, which increases the speed many-fold
5. Why do I only see the default (light bulb) thumbnail for all my images in View and Edit modes?
You probably haven't used the Thumbnail Builder to create thumbnails for your database files. Select Database|Create Thumbnails. Also Note that Smart Pix can only display default thumbnails for the following image types: ICO, WMF and EMF.
6. After installing Smart Pix I can no longer open my images in my favourite image viewer by double-clicking on them, why?
You have set the option to make Smart Pix your default viewer. To restore your previous viewer:
a) In Explorer select a GIF image.
b) Hold down the Shift Key and click on the highlighted file with the right mouse button
c) Select the 'Open with..' option.
d) In the dialog that opens, browse the list of applications and if you can locate your preferred viewer select it.
e) If you cannot locate it, click the 'Other' button and select the program from your hard drive. Click OK.
f) Ensure the 'Always use this program to open this kind of file' option is checked.
g) Click OK.
h) Do the same with a JPG file.
7. The Help file says to select the XYZ item in the File menu, but I can't see the menu, what can I do?
You have probably hidden the Menu, press Ctrl+M to redisplay it or 'Esc' to reset all your view settings.
8. I can't navigate Smart Pix using my Wheel Mouse, even though I have set the Wheel Mouse option.
There is a problem with the Wheel Mouse support that causes it to stop working after using Full-screen mode. You can stop this problem by selecting the Option 'Do not maximise the screen in Full-screen mode'. This issue will be dealt with in the next update.
9. After using Smart Pix I now have hundreds of files with the extension '.THB' on my hard drive. Can I delete them?
If you have set the option to save thumbnails to the hard drive then Smart Pix will automatically create THB files when displaying thumbnails in Disk Browse and Bookmarks mode, this allows you to speed up the thumbnail display. You can delete them if you want to save space. If you do you should also switch off the setting 'Save thumbnails to the hard drive' under Options or they will be created again when you view thumbnails in that directory.
10. When I run Smart Pix I get an error relating to Borland Database Engine, what can I do?
You probably have an application installed on your computer that uses an older version of the Borland Database Engine, such as the Corel Suite. You will need to install the full BDE version of Smart Pix. Please visit our support page for more information: http://www.xequte.com/support.html
11. Why don't some animated GIFs display properly?
Smart Pix only supports standard animated GIFs, that is, where each frame is of the same size. Some animated GIFs used on the Internet use one full frame and the following frames only display the image information that is changed. Smart Pix does not support this format at this time.
12. Why is there an attribute group in View mode called 'Other'? I haven't created this group and it isn't listed in my current groups list!
If you have any attributes that you have failed to assign to an attribute group, Smart Pix will list them in the group 'Other'.
13. I have deleted all the file references in my database, but my database hasn't reduced to the size of any empty database, why not?
When fields are removed from a database the space that their data occupied still remains. A good analogy is a shelf of books, if you remove a book from the middle of a shelf, the width of the all books remains constant because the space occupied by the removed book has not been reclaimed. What is needed is to push all the books together to take back any space left by removed books. With databases this is called 'packing'. After removing fields you need to 'repack' your database to reclaim the space. A repack is performed every time you do a Database Update (file | Update Database). However not all tables can be repacked while the database is running so to force a full repack you should run Smart Pix with the '/repack' parameter, for example, select Start Menu | Run and type (including quotes):
14. I can't find my files after I inserted then into the database, why?
How Smart Pix treats the image files referenced by the database depends on your storage mode. By default (only the default is available in the unregistered version) Smart Pix does nothing to your files only stores information about where they are located on your hard drive.
However If you are using:
Database storage: Smart Pix will copy the images from your source directories and store them in its encrypted database. The original files will be renamed from myimage.jpg to myimage.~jp, etc, so you know it is safe to delete them.
'Changed Extension' storage mode: Smart Pix will rename all your files to the same name but with a new extension, e.g. myimage.jpg will become my image.dll or what ever extension you have chosen.
So if you have been viewing the images in another viewing program or using Smart Pix's 'Disk Browse' mode it will appear that they have disappeared. They haven't, they are still there but the image security is hiding them from other programs. The only way you can view them now is in Smart Pix's View, Edit or Bookmarks modes. If you want to access them with other programs you can convert your storage mode back to Normal or move/copy the files to a directory that is not in your source directory list.
