New to PtoE from Proshow

[invgrp2]

I'm new to PtoE (from Proshow producer) and so far I like the program....very easy to use and the output quality is great.

I've been able to figure of most everything but I'm stumped on adjusting the photo to fit into the area that's allowed in the cube.

Plus, is there a way to make changes to all photos in the cube at one time (like add boarders)?

That's it.

IG

[Ken Cox]

TRY HERE FIRST foe starters

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?/topic/17492-picturestoexe-online-help/?p=116246

ken

[Lin Evans]

Hi IG,

Welcome to the PTE forum!!

How are you creating your cube? Are you making it yourself or using a style? If using a PTE Style it would be best to use the PTE feature to add borders to your photos before selecting them for the cube style. It's "possible" to go into objects and animations and create a border on each of the sides of the cube one at a time, but much easier to set that default on before using the style to create the cube.

As for adjusting the area to fit into a cube, essentially the style "should" do that for you unless you are creating a cube manually. If you are creating it manually such as explained using one of my tutorials, you need to use square images to begin with.

If you can give us a few more details, perhaps we can help you get on the fast-track to creating and using cubes, etc.

If you could explain exactly what you want to create and perhaps post a line to you PTE file (just use "File" "Create Backup in Zip" and post the zipped file) we can help you figure it out.

Best regards,

Lin

[davegee]

"How are you creating your cube? Are you making it yourself or using a style? If using a PTE Style it would be best to use the PTE feature to add borders to your photos before selecting them for the cube style. It's "possible" to go into objects and animations and create a border on each of the sides of the cube one at a time, but much easier to set that default on before using the style to create the cube"

Lin,

Applying a style to an indexed image will negate any operations such as border.

DG

[Lin Evans]

Hi Dave,

Sorry I wasn't clear on that. I'm assuming that the border is an integral part of the image. I'll make an example later today and post.

Best regards,

Lin

[davegee]

If you add the border in PS then obviously it is an integral part of the image. If you make the border in PTE then the style will overwrite it. You can apply the style, add the border and then save as a new style. Then you won't have to do it again.

[Lin Evans]

Hi Dave,

That's one way to do it. Another is to add the border to a square image in PTE, save as a small square video such as 960x960 then use the video as the object for the existing PTE experimental cube style.

The easiest way to accomplish this is to use a freeware program such as PhotoScape which has multiple crop aspect ratios including 1:1. Cropping to a square takes about three seconds. Then in PTE you can add borders as desired and save the resulting still image as a video of about 30 seconds length (if you want to add additional effects - otherwise the video can be only a few seconds long). You can also add other styles before saving the square video such as snow, rain, whatever - then create a 30 second square optimized video. Copy and paste this six times, apply the cube style and you have video including border on all six sides of the cube.

Below is a link to a quickie demo zipped Windows exe....

http://www.lin-evans.org/pte/Projectsnowcube.zip

Best regards,

Lin

[davegee]

Wow, the lengths some people will go to........

At this time styles are not "additive" so any given style will overwrite any animation or (PTE) enhancements to an indexed image.

Maybe one day?

DG

[Lin Evans]

LOL - yep - maybe in a future version there will be an option to both save a converted still image and have additive capabilites with styles. There have been many times I have used a screen capture tool to capture an image composed in PTE such as two or more images with various opacity superimposed. It could be a great feature for people who don't have PhotoShop or other software where they can work in multiple layers. IMHO in many ways it's easier to compose such in PTE than in Photoshop.

Best regards,

Lin

[davegee]

Here is a re-configured version of the "Experimental Cube" Style.

The Border Colour and Width are both adjustable after applying the Style.

CUBE with Border.ptestyle

DG

Import a Style: http://docs.picturestoexe.com/en/slide-styles/import_style

[Lin Evans]

Perfect Dave - that should be the solution to the second part of the OP's question....

Best regards,

Lin

[davegee]

You already covered the other part:

"you need to use square images to begin with."

If you want to fit an AR other than square then you need to add masks within the style (not difficult) and in the resulting cube you would probably want/need to adjust each image for "best fit". I don't see any advantage in that when there are plenty of ways of creating square images. Pixbuilder will do that if PS is a problem?

DG

[Lin Evans]

Hi Dave,

Yes, you can crop square with a number of tools, but some are much "easier" and more intuitive than either Pixbuilder or Photoshop for the purpose of cropping to a square or other specific aspect ratios. If you haven't used PhotoScape you may want to have a look at it. It's far more intuitive for this type thing than Pixbuilder or Photoshop and there are numerous really nice features and it's free. Here's a link - it's worth downloading and trying... http://www.photoscape.org/ps/main/index.php

Best regards,

Lin

[davegee]

Hi Lin,

I followed the link and read the blurb.

While it would be OK for some my number one requirement of any photo software would be 16 Bit Layers. So, in my case, already having that, I don't feel the need to download.

But it is an option for the jpeg shooter, perhaps.

DG

[denisb]

You already covered the other part:

"you need to use square images to begin with."

If you want to fit an AR other than square then you need to add masks within the style (not difficult) and in the resulting cube you would probably want/need to adjust each image for "best fit". I don't see any advantage in that when there are plenty of ways of creating square images. Pixbuilder will do that if PS is a problem?

DG

May be I'm wrong, but you don't need to use square images.

With the slide style cube, images are automatically cropped to get the aspect ratio 1:1 needed for a cube.

If you don't agree with the cropped area, you can use offsetX or offsetY to change it.

Best regards

Denis

[Lin Evans]

Hi Denis,

That was my understanding as well:

"As for adjusting the area to fit into a cube, essentially the style "should" do that for you unless you are creating a cube manually. If you are creating it manually such as explained using one of my tutorials, you need to use square images to begin with."

Which is why I ask the OP for more information....

Best regards,

Lin

[davegee]

May be I'm wrong, but you don't need to use square images.

With the slide style cube, images are automatically cropped to get the aspect ratio 1:1 needed for a cube.

If you don't agree with the cropped area, you can use offsetX or offsetY to change it.

Best regards

Denis

"I've been able to figure of most everything but I'm stumped on adjusting the photo to fit into the area that's allowed in the cube."

Quite right Denis, but the only way to get the EXACT crop that you require WITHOUT having to edit the resulting Cube is to supply the Style with pre-prepared SQUARES.

We have assumed that the OP is using the Experimental/Cube Style. I am a little disappointed that he has not returned to clarify his problem(s).

DG

[Lin Evans]

Hi Lin,

I followed the link and read the blurb.

While it would be OK for some my number one requirement of any photo software would be 16 Bit Layers. So, in my case, already having that, I don't feel the need to download.

But it is an option for the jpeg shooter, perhaps.

DG

Hi Dave,

I guess I missing something. I can't really see the relationship between 16 Bit Layers and PTE. This software is useful for those making slideshows because is makes quick work of creating things like borders, various aspect ratios, etc. for preparing images for a slidshow. I wouldn't suggest it for the purpose of serious image manipulation but since what you use in PTE isn't 16 bit???

PhotoScape allows loading 16 bit tiffs and in the editor it loads all files automatically over a transparent background???

Best regards,

Lin

[davegee]

OK, I'll try again.

My main requirement of ANY photo editing package is 16 Bit Layers.

I start off with a RAW file and do all of my editing, blending (multiple images) etc in 16 Bit. I convert to 8 Bit JPEG at the last possible moment whether it is for PTE or any other use.

Since I already have software which gives me this requirement and does everything that Photoscape will do, albeit that the workflow might be different, I see no point in adding software which will not fullfill the quality requirement of 16 Bit Layers.

I don't want to post process in 8 Bit.

DG

[Lin Evans]

Hi Dave,

I guess what I didn't understand it why you think PhotoScape can't post process in 16 bit? It has RAW conversion, handles 16 bit tiffs, etc. Not that you need it because you can do what it does in PhotoShop, etc., but I thought you might want to look at it if only temporarily to see what the differences are.

My suggestion for people to try it is that it is much, much easier to do things with such as aspect ratio crops, add borders, split and combine files, etc. than Photoshop, Pixbuilder or most other editing software. Editing is a small part of what it is used for. It's really an excellent tool which the unsophisticated user can do things with which might take them literally weeks to learn how to do with Photoshop, etc.

Best regards,

Lin

[davegee]

I could not see any mention of Layers?

DG

[Lin Evans]

Trust me - it has layers. It loads all images into the editor portion over a transparent layer. That's how it allows creation of PNG files with transparency. It also converts many RAW files, etc. Many of the fancy borders, etc., are done in PNG with transparency. It's really a pretty sophisticated program..

Best regards,

Lin

[davegee]

P.S. It mentions Convert RAW to JPEG.

No TIFF Converssion?

DG

[Lin Evans]

Hi Dave,

I only use it for aspect ratio crops such as creating square images and for splitting and combining for the most part so I really don't know all the details about the RAW converter. I use mostly Sigma and Nikon and I "know" they don't have a converter which will handle Sigma RAW files and probably not the latest Nikon so I use Sigma SPP and Nikon and as of the latest version of Adobe Camera Raw, it now supports the latest Nikon RAWs. I'll see if I have an older RAW file to test it with and maybe then I can answer that.

Later: I found an older RAW to test and it appears that it only creates jpg from the RAW. I wouldn;t suggest it for the RAW converter any more than I would suggest a program like Fastone Image Viewer, etc. - that's really not its main use, rather a convenience I suspect. It's made for people who are not super competent with photo editing software but the interface is very good.

Best regards,

Lin

[tom95521]

Another freeware app that does batch 1:1 crop with optional border is FastStone Photo Resizer. Supports large number of image formats.

http://www.faststone.org/FSResizerDetail.htm

Tom