alrobin

Ron, Yes, there is a trial download. 30 days, I believe.

Hi, Patrick, Thanks very much for the information. That sounds like a useful utility. I have noticed strange stripes across my images from time to time (more so with the old CD burner than the new one), so I know what you are referring to. It can be very annoying! Thanks for the tip - it would be worth following up on this.

I have found IMatch by "Photools" (US $60) a very good thumbnail database for keeping track of and finding images on a hard drive and/or CD's. "ACDSee" is also good, but I think I prefer IMatch, based on a crude comparison between the two. Plus, I am more familiar with IMatch. In IMatch, you can theoretically even draw a sketch and ask the database to find all photos similar to it. I have successfully searched for other photos on the basis of similarity to a chosen image. It also updates the database quickly if any changes are made or new images added to any of the folders represented in the system. After getting it set up and learning how to use it, I couldn't live without it, especially when it comes to finding images on various backup CD's and DVD's.

Ken, if you don't remember where it is, I'm sure I'll never find it either!

Ken, is this it? Screen Capture solution

Hi, Mike, Sorry this one wasn't as quick. That was about the extent of my knowledge on avi creation. If it still doesn't work without the music installed, then it must be something more complex. Give us some info on what avi options you have checked and maybe someone more knowledgeable will have some clues.

Hi, Naveed, Welcome to the Forum! You can achieve this by having identical images one after the other. For 26 letters you would need 3 x 26 = 78 identical images. On the first image of each set of three add button objects for each letter, "programmed" to go to the appropriate second image of the set of three representing each letter. On the second image of the set for each letter, add the sound clip representing that letter (using either customize slide or the "sound" line on the main window). Arrange to have the show advance to the next (third) image for that set after the appropriate time. For the third image, in customize slide, go to the music tab and check "Play background music" but do not add a music file. That will stop the previous sound clip. (Also, in Project Options, if you are using the "sound" line to add your music file, make sure "Don't interrupt sound comment..." is not checked.) If the buttons are copied from one slide to another, they will appear in the same place, and one will not notice that the slides have changed. Have fun!

Mikel, Welcome to the Forum! It sounds like a problem with the mp3 decoder. Try removing the music and creating an ".avi" file. Or, change the music to "Ogg" or "wave" and try that out to isolate the problem. Or it could be a missing sound or music file - check all references in the PTE project to music or sound and make sure all the path names are correct.

Connie, PTE won't run directly from the web page (it has to be installed in your pc first, either downloaded and saved on the HD or temporarily installed using the "run" option). First, though, the "exe" file has to be saved on your web-page server. To do this don't use the plugin option in FP. Simply upload the exe file (or, preferably, a "zipped" exe file) to your web site using an FTP program such as the ones guru mentioned, and then put a link on one of the pages directly to the file name itself. Another good FTP program is WS_FTP98 LE. You'll have to search for it with your favourite search engine.

Tammy, When you delete your PTE files and folders, make sure that you put aside and save the file "PTE.KEY" (if it's not too late) as this is your registration file and you will need it to unlock the new PTE program after you download and install it.

Ed, I agree with you - low-end digital projectors leave much to be desired and are not suitable for presentation of single images in camera and photo club competitions, particularly where they are matched up against conventional transparencies. These projectors are OK for slide shows, where the message and music partly make up for inferior individual images, or for tutorials or corporate presentations where the quality of the image is secondary in importance. I believe we should be saving our hard-earned revenue dollars for at least the next level up in quality. Here are a couple of web sites which I found useful in understanding the difference between the various technologies. Looks like a 3-chip DLP system would be appropriate for what we are looking for (if we could afford it!) An example of such a projector is the Panasonic PT-DW7000U, WXGA (1366 x 768) widescreen projector. Projector People Buyer Zone

Tammy, You're about the 4th person with this problem, and as far as I know, no-one has found a solution for it, other than re-formatting the HD, which is a sort of last resort. Unless Igor has any suggestions, I would either try to run the program on another pc, or re-format and start over. Or, perhaps it's a virus? Probably best to take your pc to a knowledgeable technician. If you do re-format, be sure to back up everything important, and be prepared for several days of work re-installing all your favourite programs. This is something that most high-end pc users are faced with every 2 or 3 years, anyway, so maybe you'll just have to "bite the bullet". I can't remember how many times I've had to reformat my hd - never because of PTE, though. Probably a good time to upgrade your pc and maybe even upgrade the operating system to Win XP. Best of luck!

Tammy, Here is a link to another recent discussion on this topic: Preview_Problems

Tammy, Welcome to the Forum! What version of PTE are you using? Also, what operating system?

Igor, There is a slight glitch in the "horizontal view" for PTE in screen resolution 800x600. The "light-table" and "thumbnail" icons at the bottom are too far to the right to be visible when the window is maximized. Could you please squeeze the "Add", "Remove Slide", and "Clear List" buttons further to the left so there is room to position the "Text", "thumbnail" and "light-table" icons where they can be seen in low-resolution windows? I should add that at present if the dividing line between the file list and the preview window is moved to the right, at some point the "Add", "Remove Slide", and "Clear List" buttons begin to move toward the right, too, squeezing out the "Text", "thumbnail" and "light-table" icons to the right.

Ken, You come up with the best links!

Igor, I like the idea of options, provided they are clear and user-friendly. In #1, how about 2 buttons as follows: 1: delete transition point only, and 2: delete transition point and corresponding slide? Otherwise, this will be a 2-button operation if option 2 is desired. Also, one might press button #1 to delete the transition and then forget whether slide-deletion button #2 was pushed or not. In #1, I don't see why it is necessary to have a command to "delete all slides", because even if one did use this option one would have to return to the slide list and add more slides before proceeding any further. So, one might as well close the timeline and then "delete all slides" from the slide list if that is what is desired. However, if one is deleting all slides from the slide list, one might as well start a new project. However, I don't see why one would want to rearrange transition points when rearranging slides, as the location of transition points are determined by the music. And, if a long transition is rearranged, it could overlap with another transition, so transitions should either be added, removed, or stay put. I agree with Andrew that 2-a should be the default from the slide list, as it was in PTE 4.30. 2-b would be useful, but only if it is combined with the option to add a transition between 2 slides as in my previous description whenever a slide is added to the slide list. Hope I haven't made this more complicated than it is. It's almost starting to feel like a "Gordian noose"!

Victoria, Welcome to the Forum. You just answered your own question - just copy and paste it!

speacock, I use dual monitors and have no problem with the program freezing. The only time I have had it freeze up in the past is when I have inadvertently deleted or moved an image file that I was still using in the object editor. It will lock up if it can't find a requested image.

Hi, WG, Welcome to the Forum, Yes, you can display the file name by clicking on Project Options / Comments and check "Set comments for all slides as:" and then choose one of the "Picture name" options. You can customize the "font" and choose the "position" of the comment above in the same menu window. If you want a different comment for a particular image, you can customize it in "Customize Slide", and if you click "Use own text preference" and add the new text on the "Comment" line at the bottom of the main window. To use the latter effectively, you should first choose the default comment in Project Options, close Project Options for the option to be applied, then open Project Options again and un-check "Set comments for all slides as:", and then set up the custom comments. This way, the custom comments will not be undone the next time you open Project Options. Hope this is not too confusing - play around with the different scenarios a bit, and you will become familiar with the way the various options work.

I agree with Andrew - if we can't have the option to use which method we prefer, with the default being to not remove a transition when a slide is removed, and vice versa, then we should leave the system as it was before. Also, it is not right to have it one way when removing transitions and the other way when removing slides. That would really be confusing.

Igor, I see now why you have added option a) to e); - it's because at present if you select "Timed Points / Delete all transition points" all the slides on the slide list will also be removed. How about a second option to move only the transitions to the right of the cursor? Then if all of the transitions were fine up to say slide #30 and then started to be out of sync, you could start over at slide 30 with a fresh timeline to the right of it.

Thanks so much, Igor, for the improvements to this feature. I like especially #1 and #3. However, I don't understand exactly how #5 would work. But this feature is improving.

Guido, Thanks so much for donating your time and resources and knowledge in this manner - this site will be very useful for newcomers to PTE and also to AV, as well as for us "ancients". And I feel honoured to be mentioned in a small corner of your new site and to have a link mentioned to my own site. I wish you every success in this new project! If there is any way in which we can help you out, please do not hesitate to call on us. I hope you'll be posting many of your own shows there, too?

Ron, It's part and parcel of the new beta - you get it without accessing it. Just use it. I quote from my first post in this thread: