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FxFoto Support
Frequent Questions >
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Frequently Asked Questions
Following is a list of frequently asked questions about FxFoto.
Importing Photos:
Exporting Photos: (Print, EMail, Upload, Burn)
General Questions:
Sales Questions:
Installation Questions: (Purchase, Download, Setup, Registration, Activation)
FxFoto Tutorials:
Is my camera compatible with FxFoto?
We have tested most brands of digital cameras with FxFoto. In addition, if you have a card reader and a camera with removable standard memory cards, FxFoto will also work the reader and you may find it faster and more convenient. If you are having problems downloading pictures make sure you read How to import photos from my camera in this FAQ. FxFoto has not been tested with most movie cameras. While it may be able to import still pictures and even movies from many movie cameras, it is recommended primarily for still picture cameras. How to download photos from my camera to FxFoto? These are some general instructions for downloading photos from your digital camera. If you have a card reader for your camera, see How to download photos from my card reader to FxFoto in this FAQ. Depending on your camera brand and what version of the Windows you are using, you may have to install the camera manufacturer's software, known as a "driver", to allow your computer, and FxFoto, to recognize your camera. Be sure to carefully follow EXACTLY the manufacturer's instructions on installing the driver. IF YOU DO NOT INSTALL THE REQUIRED DRIVER, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TRANSFER PICTURES TO YOUR PC ! If you have lost or misplaced your driver software, you can usually download it from the camera manufacturer's web site. Before you start FxFoto's Import, be sure to:
Select the "Camera or device" button and you should see your camera listed. If you do not see your camera listed, go back and make sure the camera is turned on and plugged into your USB port. Also make sure you have installed the camera manufacturer's driver software. It may also mean that there are no photographs on the camera to be imported. Type in a new Folder name in the "Folder Name" text box, or select an existing folder name from the pull-down. Folder names should be descriptive of your photographs, for example "Bill's 40th Birthday Party" or "School Vacation". Click on the "Next" button. FxFoto will download and display picture thumbnails. Select the ones you want to import (a green tag indicates which pictures will import). You can select or deselect individual pictures by clicking on them once or twice. Click once to preview the picture. Click "Next" again. You can now optionally delete the pictures in your camera memory. If you want to keep them, click "Keep All". Or to have them erased from the camera's memory, click "Erase All". This saves you from having to delete them manually from your camera. On either the include or erase dialog, you can also (optionally) choose any keywords to associate with your pictures or create a new keyword. This helps in locating pictures in the future. Click "Finish" and FxFoto will import the pictures and they should show up in the left navigation pane. If you are still having problems, please contact
Unlike most brands, Canon cameras use WIA drivers for Windows XP or ME and TWAIN drivers for other versions of Windows such as Windows 98. If your computer does not have Windows XP, you probably need to install Canon's TWAIN driver by carefully following the instructions in the printed guide that came with your camera. The normal camera setup on the Canon CD-ROM often does not correctly install the TWAIN driver needed to interface with most Windows 98 applications, even if TWAIN is chosen. The TWAIN driver is required for non-Canon applications such as FxFoto and may not be installed even if the Canon photo software can import from your camera. Alternatively, you can usually remove the Canon memory card and import using a card reader without the TWAIN driver. How to download photos from my card reader to FxFoto? Card readers directly read your cameras pictures from your cameras memory card and transfer them to your PC. They provide an attractive alternative to downloading pictures directly from your camera. You can often remove the memory card from your camera and insert it in a card reader attached to your computer. Inexpensive card readers are available from many outlets such as CompUSA. If you are trying to download pictures directly from your camera instead, see How to download photos from my camera to FxFoto in this FAQ. Depending on your card reader brand and what version of the Windows you are using, you may have to install the manufacturer's software, known as a "driver", to allow your computer, and FxFoto, to recognize your reader. Be sure to carefully follow EXACTLY the manufacturer's instructions on installing the driver. IF YOU DO NOT INSTALL THE REQUIRED DRIVER, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TRANSFER PICTURES TO YOUR PC ! If you have lost or misplaced your driver software, you can usually download it from the manufacturer's web site. Before you start Import, be sure to:
Select the Camera or device button and you should see your camera listed. If you do not see your camera listed, go back and make sure the camera is turned on and plugged into your USB port. Also make sure you have installed the camera manufacturer's driver software. It may also mean that there are no photographs on the card to be imported. Type in a new Folder name in the "Folder Name" text box, or select an existing folder name from the pull-down. Folder names should be descriptive of your photographs, for example "Bill's 40th Birthday Party" or "School Vacation". Click on the "Next" button. FxFoto will download and display picture thumbnails. Select the ones you want to import (a green tag indicates which pictures will import). You can select or deselect individual pictures by clicking on them once or twice. Click once to preview the picture. Click "Next" again. You can now optionally delete the pictures in your camera memory. If you want to keep them, click "Keep All". Or to have them erased from the camera's memory, click "Erase All". This saves you from having to delete them manually from your camera. On either the include or erase dialog, you can also (optionally) choose any keywords to associate with your pictures or create a new keyword. This helps in locating pictures in the future. Click "Finish" and FxFoto will import the pictures and they should show up in the left navigation pane. If you are still having problems, please contact
What can I do about an Import error? Most digital cameras have driver software that must be installed before PC software can interface with the camera. Sometimes the camera installation does not install the required driver by default. So it is possible for the software that came with the camera to be installed and able to import and yet be unable to import from third-party software like FxFoto. You may need to go back to the CD that came with your camera and do a full installation or selectively install the driver. Sometimes it is even necessary to look in the camera's manual to get instructions. If that fails, try looking on the manufacturer's web site for an updated driver to download and install. Another common problem (and one that we do ourselves all the time) is to forget to turn the camera on and set it to transfer mode. Not all cameras have a special transfer mode (and it may be called something else). But if yours does and you don't have it set for transfer, you will not be able to import. Also, if the camera does not have any photos on it, FxFoto may not list it on the Import list. Most cameras present what is called a DCF interface. That means that when the camera is plugged in and turned on correctly (and the right camera driver software has been installed), a disk drive letter for the camera such as E: or E:\ appears in Windows My Computer. Opening that disk should show a folder named "DCIM" with sub -olders where the camera saves photos. If the camera does not show a disk drive letter when plugged in (or if there is not DCIM and photo subfolder), then FxFoto Import cannot see the camera. So you might check My Pictures when the camera is plugged in. A few cameras including most from Canon use a TWAIN or WIA interface, which works differently. With WIA, FxFoto Import will show "(wia)" at the end of the camera name and you cannot access the camera directly via Windows Explorer. If all else fails, you may be able to import with the software that came with your camera (and if you cannot, it is another sign that the driver software is not correctly installed or something is wrong with it). But if you have imported photos outside of FxFoto and know where they are on your PC, you can use FxFoto's Scan command (available as the bottom button on the Import dialog) to place links to those photos in FxFoto's left pane folders. How to use the FxFoto EMail feature with AOL? The FxFoto EMail feature is compliant with AOL versions 7, 8 and 9. It is not compliant with AOL versions 4, 5 and 6. If you have one of these early versions of AOL, you should upgrade to allow the FxFoto EMail feature to work with AOL email. If you still cannot send email using AOL 7 or greater using the EMail button in FxFoto, then it is likely that AOL is not set as the default email client on your system. The most common problem is that when you click the EMail button in FxFoto, Outlook Express (which is standard on Windows) starts up instead of AOL and fails to send email because it is not properly configured. This is easily corrected by making AOL your default mail client as follows:
The EMail command gives an error - what can I do? FxFoto's EMail command uses the Windows MAPI API to call your email client. A MAPI32.DLL error message usually indicates that your email client is not fully MAPI compliant, possibly because you installed some software that changed the MAPI dll's that your email was depending on. Sometimes re-installing or updating your email software can help. If you see an error message when you press OK from the second EMail wizard dialog in FxFoto, it is likely a MAPI error issued by Windows or your email software. If the FxFoto EMail command was working before, it is likely your MAPI configuration has changed. Did you install a new email or update your email program? You may have to reinstall your email client, or change some key settings in your email client. Unfortunately, they all work differently so we cannot give explicit instructions. If an email message pops up when you press OK from the second EMail wizard dialog, but there is an error when you try to send the message, then it is likely that your email software is not set as the default in Windows. FxFoto's uses Windows MAPI to call the default email client software. Sometimes email software does not set itself as the default. This means that Windows MAPI starts the original Windows default email software, which is usually Outlook Express. But since you have probably not configured Outlook Express to send email though your Internet Service Provider, you get an error when you try to send the message. The solution is usually NOT to set up Outlook Express, since this can be complex and may not even be possible with your Internet Service Provider (like AOL). Instead, you need to get your email software to tell Windows it is the default. Look for such an option in your email software settings or possibly try re-installing it and look for applicable settings that you might have not chosen before. Unfortunately, we are not knowledgeable about most email software. But we do have information about how to reconfigure AOL to be the default here: How to use the FxFoto EMail feature with AOL. You can use FxFoto's Upload command to send emails even with software that is not MAPI compatible. It just a little more difficult than FxFoto's EMail command. Another FAQ topic explains using Upload to send email here: How to send photos via web mail. How to send photos via web mail or incompatible e-mail software? The FxFoto EMail button requires a MAPI-compliant e-mail client. If you use one of the browser-based Web Mail services such as Hot Mail or Yahoo! Mail, FxFoto usually cannot automatically attach photos to messages since there is no e-mail software other than your browser to receive photo attachments. Also, sometimes other e-mail software is incompatible with Windows MAPI (or needs to be reinstalled or reconfigured to correctly support MAPI) so that FxFoto cannot pass e-mail attachments. However, FxFoto's Upload button, makes it much easier to send photos via Web Mail or any other e-mail client that is incompatible with FxFoto's EMail command.
How do I print multiple copies of the same photo? Just open the photo multiple times. If it is in the left pane, click on it more than once to open multiple copies. Then select more than one of the copies in the FxFoto Print Wizard. For example, to print four copies of the same snapshot on a page, open the photo four times and select all four copies to be printed in the wizard. Then choose the four-per-page snapshot format. How do I print on 4x6 or other sized photo paper? FxFoto normally sizes the printed image to whatever dimensions the printer reports for its current paper type setting. Your printer may have a setting for 4x6 photo paper. After you press Finish from FxFoto's Print Wizard, the Windows Print dialog appears allowing you to choose a printer and set preferences for it. The Print dialog will vary with different versions of Windows, but it should have a "Preferences" button (or the equivalent) which shows setup information for the selected printer. The Preferences dialog will vary with different printers and so we cannot give exact advise. But it will probably have a setting called "Paper size" or something similar. If it has a choice for the 4x6 paper you are using, set that and the printer should report an appropriate printable area to FxFoto to allow the print to stay in the paper. Some printers support "borderless" printing and if so, you may want to check "Borderless printing for whole-page photographs" in the second "Settings" dialog of FxFoto's Print Wizard so that FxFoto leaves off some of the image left and right or type and bottom to make it exactly fit the printable area reported by your printer's driver software. Also on the third "Format" dialog of the Print Wizard, you should choose something like "Composed Image" rather than the "4x6 Snapshots" format. The snapshots formats print multiple snapshots on a larger sheet of paper and are not appropriate for printing a single 4x6 on smaller paper. If your printer does not have the right paper type choice, you can also use the "Add page margins" and "Limit printed area" settings on the second "Settings" dialog of FxFoto's Print Wizard. These can force FxFoto to confine itself to just a portion of the printable area reported by the printer (such as an 8.5x11 page). But it will probably take some trial and error to adjust them to match where the smaller paper feeds on your printer. How do I print photos to exact specified dimensions? The FxFoto Print wizard makes it easy to print a few standard sizes like 4x6 inch snapshots. If those snapshot formats are not printing at the desired size, then you may have your printer preferences set for a smaller paper size and should set the printer for normal 8.5x11 inch paper. If you are trying for another size, you can do that too, but it takes a little more setup. The Print wizard's "Original Image" or "Composed Image" Format choices print each photo on a separate printer page and rescale it to fill the page. If your printer can be set for printing on specially sized photo paper, then you may want to use "Original Image" or "Composed Image" with your printer's preferences set to the desired print paper size. But since the photo may not have the correct width x height aspect ratio of the printer paper, FxFoto may add some extra space top and bottom or left and right to fit the whole photo in. You can fix this by checking "Borderless printing for whole-page photographs" on the second Print wizard "Settings" dialog. This will cause FxFoto to cut off a little of the image left and right or top and bottom to make it fit the printable page area dimensions. (If your printer supports true borderless printing, you might also want to select that in your printer's preferences.) You can also use "Original Image" or "Composed Image" with a specified "Limit printed area:" width and height in inches or cm in the second "Settings" Print wizard dialog, as long as your printer's preferences are set for paper with a printable area that is large enough. FxFoto will limit the printed area to the specified dimensions when the paper is larger. Here too, you may want to check "Borderless printing for whole-page photographs" on the second wizard dialog. Finally because you have the Deluxe Edition, FxFoto allows you to layout collages on screen with inch or centimeter scales so that they print as laid out using the "Entire Collage" Print wizard Format. When you use the New Collage command, can select "Printer Page Layout" on the second New Collage Wizard dialog, make sure it is set for your printer using "Select Printer" if needed, and set for "Inches" or "Centimeters", probably with "Grid Scale" checked. Or you can choose the 8x8, 12x12 or Custom page guides sizes. Then you can place one or more photos on the right pane collage window and crop and size them to the exact print dimensions you desire. It is possible to see an inch or cm scale on the right pane while you work. They should print as laid out using "Entire Collage" Format as long as you have your printer's preferences set for paper with a printable area large enough for the whole collage layout. How do I print borderless on photo paper? Printing borderless is tricky since it is a feature that not all printers support and so cannot be done with just software. The following discussion assumes that you are trying to print borderless on 4x6 inch photo paper. But the same principals apply for other paper sizes. When you print with one of FxFoto full-page formats like "Composed Image", FxFoto automatically sizes the print to fill the printable area reported by the printer. But there are a few things to consider. First, FxFoto normally prints the entire photo and so it must normally add white space above and below or left and right, since most photos are not quite the same aspect ratio as the printable paper area. So if the 4:3 photo (which is the aspect of most uncropped digital photos) is taller than the 6x4 inch paper (which is 3:2 instead of 4:3) then there must be white space on the left and right to make it fit. But you can avoid this problem by checking "Borderless printing for whole-page photographs" in the second "Settings" dialog of the Print wizard. That setting makes FxFoto cut off a little of the photo left and right or top and bottom to make it exactly fit the printable paper area. Next, for FxFoto to print to 4x6, your printer's driver software must have a 4x6 paper type and you must select it. The printer cannot tell what size paper is in the tray. So after you press Finish from FxFoto's Print wizard, the Windows Print dialog appears where you select the printer to be used. Pressing the Preferences button brings up settings for your particular printer that are part of the driver software installed when you installed the printer. Most will have a Paper Size setting, though it may be called something different. But not all will have a 4x6 paper selection. But this is still not enough for true borderless printing, since most printers have a printable area which does not cover the whole sheet of paper. Printers are usually designed to leave an unprintable margin at the edges to allow for paper feed irregularities and to avoid spaying ink beyond the edge of the paper. Printers specifically intended for photo paper will often have a special "borderless" setting somewhere in their Preferences, but it may have a different name. When set for borderless, the printer will report a printable area to FxFoto just as large as the paper or maybe slightly larger to compensate for slight feed irregularities. Most will require special paper with an extra perforated strip on one end so that the printer can grip the paper as it prints the last part of the photo. So you end up with a white border on one edge but can tear off that edge for a true borderless print. You would probably have to buy borderless paper specifically designed for your printer. And of course your printer may not support borderless printing. If you printer does not support the paper size you are using, it becomes much more difficult. You can use the "Limit printed area" and "Add page margins" settings on FxFoto's second Print wizard "Settings" dialog to restrict FxFoto to a particular area even if the printer driver is set to a larger paper size. You would still also want to check "Borderless printing for whole-page photographs" on the same dialog. But it will take some trial and error to adjust FxFoto to where your 4x6 paper is fed relative to a larger 8.5x11 (or whatever) sheet. Also, the printer must still grip the paper and so there must be a border along at least one side that you must cut off unless you have special perforated paper. Why is there an error when I try to burn a CD? Possibly you are using a "formatted" CD that has been prepared for use as a normal Windows disk that you can copy files to. The terminology may vary, but CDR software often has a mode where you can copy files to the CD-ROM one at a time or save them from any program or file selector by just choosing the CD-ROM's drive letter (like E: or whatever). Roxio CDR software often calls this "DirectCD" and calls the formatted CD's "prepared" for DirectCD. But other software may use other names. Such discs cannot then be written except via the "DirectCD" method and that always seems to be the problem when people report problems writing to a CDR. The problem is that these discs are not really blank and cannot be written by the Windows CD Writing Wizard (or by any method other than DirectCD). They can only be written by copying files to them using your special CDR software driver (like DirectCD). So you may need to put in a totally new CDR blank out of the box and not one that has been prepared for using with your CDR software. In fact you can use a disc that already has some stuff recorded on it by the Windows CD Writing Wizard (and the Windows CD Writing Wizard will add to it), but you cannot use one that has been specially formatted or prepared. Under Windows XP, FxFoto is not actually writing the CDR itself. Instead it is starting the Windows CD Writing Wizard (which you can also use from Windows XP Explorer by selecting files and pressing the "Copy To" toolbar button and targeting your CDR drive). How do I burn slide shows to DVD or VCD? FxFoto Media Edition creates VCD/SVCD/DVD compatible movies, but it does not record them to CD or DVD. To burn movie discs, you must switch to another CD/DVD creator application capable of burning MPEG files. The basic software comes recordable CD drives is typically not capable of recording MPEG movie files to CD. You must usually upgrade your CD creator software to the vendor's premium version to record movies. Or you can install another CD burn application that handles movies. For example, see www.VCDEasy.org for an inexpensive application that can record movie files to VCD and SVCD discs on most CDR recorders. The basic software that comes with most Recordable DVD drives is usually capable of recording MPEG movies to CD and DVD without upgrading. Once you have used FxFoto's Transfer Collage to Movie command, you must switch to your DVD or CDR software to burn the resulting MPEG movie file. However, you cannot just copy the MPEG file onto the CD or DVD. You must use the application's special movie or DVD or VCD option and must set it for the type of movie file you created in FxFoto: DVD, SVCD or VCD. Following are brief descriptions of how to burn movies with a few popular packages. Roxio Easy CD and DVD Creator 6 (e.g. "My Document\My Pictures") . (Note: it may take a long time for Creator to find and scan the files.) Close the "Import Files" window in Creator and click on the burn button in the lower right hand corner. Choose an "Output Disk Type" that matches the "Video Type" you chose in FxFoto (VCD, SVCD, or DVD). Click "OK" and your slide show will be burned to disk as a playable movie on most home DVD players. Be aware, only newer players support the VCD and SVCD formats, and not all of them support SVCD. Sonic MyDVD Plus (version 6.1) Sonic MyDVD (older version) VCD Easy 2.0 VCDEasy will load and check the movie file. and not all of them support SVCD. Why is there an error when I try to Upload? Unfortunately, although FxFoto can interface with a number of Upload services, we are not those web services and you would need to contact them directly for support. FxFoto accesses the Upload services over the web just as your web browser does. If your Internet connection or the web service's site temporarily stops working, then that may explain Upload errors that FxFoto reports. If so, you might want to try again latter. And of course, you have to have already signed up with the service and have login information. How to add text to a photo and then save it?
That pixels and inches are related is a common misconception, or maybe one that applies to other packages where each photo might be assigned a DPI (dots per inch) like 300 dpi. FxFoto can rescale a photo to any size, although it will start to look fuzzy if blown up too large. Printers can typically show maybe 300 or 600 dpi. (Though they often claim a higher resolution, in practice the effective resolution is lower since they typically cannot display 24 million colors per dot like a screen and so may require a few dots to exactly convey a given color). Anyway, if you take a 2 megapixel photo which has maybe 1600 pixels across, at 300 dots per inch that is about 5.3 inches. When you have FxFoto print a single such photo on a 10 inch full page, it may begin to look a little fuzzy, but it will probably look OK. If you took a 640x480 photo (about a third of a mega pixel) and printed it on a full page, it would look noticeably fuzzy. But it would look fine on screen (where there are maybe 800 x 600 pixels in a window). Since FxFoto can blow up a photo to different sizes on the display or printer, FxFoto does not use DPI (dots per inch) to size photos. Instead it allows you to save or send photos with a given maximum "resolution", which is the maximum number of pixels or dots across the photo (or vertically down the photo if it is taller than it is wide). Thus you might choose to email a photo using "Medium Image (640 pixels or less)". This would mean that FxFoto resizes the photo if needed to be a maximum of 640 dots either horizontally or vertically. If such an emailed photo were printed by the recipient at 300 DPI, it could look fuzzy if printed larger than 2.1 inches. Unless you choose to deresolve a photo to a smaller pixel size when you email, upload or save it, FxFoto normally keeps the full original resolution of the photo so that it prints as clearly as possible. Since digital cameras typically take photos which are between 1200 and 3000 pixels wide, full resolution photos require large files and may be very slow to send over the Internet. So we recommend that you choose one of the smaller sizes when emailing so that the resulting photo best suited only for on screen viewing rather than printing. In addition to providing the 3.5 x 5 and 4 x 6 inch printed snap shot formats, FxFoto version 3 of FxFoto allows you to layout collages in inches or centimeters on screen in the Deluxe Edition, and print these collages to scale (as long as the photo or collage fit inside the printable area of your printer page). Otherwise, FxFoto grows or shrinks the photo as needed (using a fairly advanced pixel blending technique) to fit whatever size it is printing or displaying. Why is there an error when I open left-pane photos? An open error usually occurs when you have moved pictures from the folder using Windows Explorer or another application. It will also occur if you rename the folder from Windows. If you do so, FxFoto will not know the photo's location anymore and will report that error, since it does not know where to find the picture(s). If you move or delete photos, it is best to use FxFoto to do so then it can properly track your photos. If you want to use Windows explorer to move them, you will have to resynchronize your folder by right clicking on it in FxFoto and choosing the "ReScan" Folder command. If you have moved the pictures to a new folder, you can use FxFoto's "Import" command and choose "Scan Local Folders" to scan the new folder. To explain a different way, FxFoto's left pane thumbnail images are really just links to your photo files. They are very small copies of the photo images made when FxFoto originally scanned or imported the photos. When you open them, FxFoto tries to open the original photo, which is just a file somewhere on your hard disk. If you erase or move photo files using another application, FxFoto's left pane links will point to files that are no longer there. Having FxFoto scan the folder again will fix its links, but if photo files are erased or moved from the folder they of course will not be found. How to stop Windows Explorer from using FxFoto to open photos? When you first install FxFoto, if you check "Make FxFoto the default handler for JPEG images" in the Setup dialog, then opening most photos from the Windows Explorer will start FxFoto to display the image. For Windows XP:
For Windows 98:
FxFoto requires at least an 800x600 pixel screen to correctly show its dialogs. And a 1024x768 screen is recommended. Most newer Windows PC's have at least this resolution by default. However sometimes software, especially some children's software, can only run at 640x480 and sometimes such programs will automatically switch your computer screen. To switch back to a higher screen resolution:
When you first install FxFoto, if you leave "Scan local disks for existing photographs" checked, FxFoto finds all photographs on your computer's local disk and makes left-pane thumbnail links to them. It skips photos in places normally used for temporary or program data. But if you uncheck "Scan local disks for existing photographs" on the FxFoto Setup dialog, then FxFoto does not scan automatically and leaves your left-pane blank. You can then use FxFoto's Scan command (available at the bottom of the Import dialog) to scan only those folders or groups of folders that you want to see in the left pane. If you scanned everything by mistake, you can remove the left-pane folders you do not want to see by clicking on their small thumbnail to the right of the folder name and choosing "Remove Whole Folder". Make sure you do NOT check "Also erase all folder photos from your disk" in the dialog that pops up, so that you remove the folder from FxFoto's left pane but not your photos! If there are too many unwanted folders that were scanned by mistake, the easiest approach may be to uninstall FxFoto and then re-install it again, this time making sure that you uncheck "Scan local disks for existing photographs" in the Setup. Look in Start Programs Triscape for "Uninstall FxFoto". Uninstalling removes all left-pane folders, but not the photos. Then re-install by running the downloaded FxFotoSetup.exe again or by downloading again. If there are only some photos that you don't want to see in a folder, then try the "Hidden Folder Photos" command, which can keep a list of "hidden" photos that do not show in the left pane until you use the Hidden Folder Photos again for the same folder to un-hide them. How do I save a transparent or non-rectangular cropped image? Saved image files are always rectangular. So when you crop with non-rectangular shapes like ovals, you would have to save the image with transparency information. FxFoto has made the areas outside of the crop transparent so what is below shows through. To save with transparency, you would need to save the cropped photo as PNG file. JPEG files do not support transparency, but PNG does. An irregularly cropped photo is still a rectangle but parts of it are transparent. FxFoto handles transparency in PNG files, though not all other software does. So if you open a PNG with transparency, the background will show through outside the crop. Saving a PNG with transparency was a little harder in older versions of FxFoto. In recent versions of FxFoto, use Save Image As and then in the second dialog choose "Add as a new picture to a left-pane folder" or "Target given path file name". Then pull down the "Save as type" and choose "Transparent PNG". In older versions, you have to choose "Original Image" on the first Save Image As dialog (because the composed formats save the white background with the composition). Then from the second dialog, you would have to choose "Target given path file name" and type .PNG at the end of the name (or Browse and choose PNG for the Save as type. The problem can be that most other software does not handle transparency. So if want to use the saved image in some other application and it does not support PNG transparency, it will probably substitute some color for the transparent portions outside the crop. The only workaround is to build the complete layout or a rectangular portion of it in FxFoto and save it as a non-transparent normal JPEG and insert the layout image as a unit into the other software. Or for a solid background, you can match FxFoto's background color with what you are using in the other program so they blend together. How do I show colored objects over black & white? 
The Correct Filter Effects "Black & White (Rope)" effect allows you to use a
rope to bound the effect. We did the the example on the right using the "Draw
Loop" button and carefully drawing a rope outline around the flowers. Then we
checked "Outside" before applying the Black & White effect. That takes some
careful drawing, which can be tedious. One nice feature about the "Draw Loop"
rope is that once you complete the loop, you can refine it by re-drawing from
one point on the loop back to another further along to change the rope over a
section (possibly while zoomed further in). But be careful that you start and
end right on the exiting rope or you will loose the old one and start another loop.There is another way to get that effect involving a brush rather than drawn rope. It is somewhat more complex, but you may find it easier to use a brush to stroke in the areas to be colored than to draw a rope outline. Make sure the Collage Add mode toolbar button (with four squares on the right) is down and click two copies of the same photo open into the right pane. Apply the Black & White effect to the entire second photo so that it is all black and white. Then slide it over the first color version of the same photo so that it is exactly on top and the two line up. Then go to the Correct "Color Brush" tab and choose the "Circle Brush" (or maybe the "Square Brush"). Move the "Transparency" slider all the way to the right to 255. You will probably want to set the "Edge Feathering" to 0 or a pretty small value. And set the "Brush Width" as desired. Then when you draw on the top black and white photo with the left mouse button, you will be applying transparency to parts of it so that the color version underneath shows through. You would then brush over the parts of the flowers or whatever where you want to show in color. When done, use the Save Image As command and use the "Composed Image" format (rather than "Original Image") to save the visible composite of the two photos with the color showing through in some areas. How do I replace a person or object in a photo? Maybe the best tool for that would be the Clone Brush under the Correct toolbar button. It is usually less noticeable to brush some background area from nearby over the object being removed. If there are similar objects elsewhere in the photo, you can also try copying them, but it may not look right unless the backgrounds are similar. If you have at least the Deluxe Edition, the Clone Brush can also use a source circle from another photograph opened into the same slide, so that might be used to brush a an object such as one person's head from another photo over the another head in the second photo. Using some Feathering may help hide the transition. Another approach is to use a drawn crop rope to cut out the object from one photo and slide it over a second photo in the same slide. In addition to a rough drawn rope Crop, you can use the Correct "Color Brush" Circle or Square brush with the Transparency slider all the way over to the right to 255 and brush transparency in any remaining background behind the desired person or object before sliding it over the target photo. Replacing objects or backgrounds can be difficult since software cannot really see the way we do and cannot identify foreground versus background objects. So depending on the photo, replacing objects invisibly might not really be feasible or might take a lot of work to brush away all of the background or to clone brush in just some other foreground object without any of its background. What is an FxFoto "Collage"? By "Collage" we really mean an FxFoto document file. FxFoto documents can hold one or more slides and each slide can have multiple images and thus be a collage. So the same document can be either a multi-slide slide show or a single-slide multi-photo collage (or a mixture). FxFoto uses the word "Collage" to represent both because we needed a short term for use on menus and toolbars. "Collage and/or Slide Show" was too long and "Document" was not descriptive enough. FxFoto's Help documentation has this explanation: FxFoto Slide Shows and Collages are very similar. A multi-photo collage is just a single slide with more than one image and the term “Collage” is used in FxFoto for both single and multi-slide presentations. FxFoto can save images in file formats like JPEG. But it can also save slide shows and collages in its own "Collage" *.FXF file format so they can be presented by the FxFoto Viewer or reopened and edited latter. A "Collage" file can have many separate image files embedded in it along with information on slide presentation effects and text. Does FxFoto support Apple computers? Sorry, but no. FxFoto will not run on an Apple Macintosh. FxFoto requires a Windows PC. What languages does FxFoto support? Currently, FxFoto is available only in English. Can I get a printable manual for FxFoto? We have converted the FxFoto Version 5.0.068 Help Documentation to printable formats. The underlined hyperlinks are not functional in these printable versions. Click here for the FxFoto Documentation in Acrobat PDF format. (1.4 MB) Click here for the FxFoto Documentation in Microsoft Word format. (1.8 MB) I purchased an FxFoto upgrade - why does FxFoto look the same? Possibly you have not entered your User Name and Registration Number into FxFoto. The upgraded editions use the same download as the Standard Edition. But until you enter the registration, many commands are disabled in the Standard Edition and just ask you to upgrade or operate only in trial mode so that you cannot save or send the photo. Start FxFoto and choose "Continue with Standard Edition". Dismiss any startup tips dialogs. Then click the "Help" menu at the top right of the FxFoto screen and choose the "Enter Registration Number" command. The "Registration Number" dialog appears. You must enter the User Name and Registration Number blanks correctly. There are quite a few features that become enabled with the Deluxe Edition. But of course the basic look of the FxFoto toolbar and windows remains the same so the differences do not jump out at you. In the Standard Edition, most of the Collage commands (accessible from the New and Save toolbar buttons and also from the File menu) are either disabled or extremely limited. The "Insert Custom Button", "Add Accent", "Save Collage Document", "Burn CD-ROM", and "Join Photos" commands are all disabled with greyed text and pressing one just asks you to upgrade. Also the "New Collage" and "Collage Settings" commands just clear the photos or set the background color in the Standard Edition but start sophisticated wizards in Deluxe which allow you to set a large number of collage and slide show settings. Plus all of the Correct "Filter Effects" are trial only unless you have Deluxe and you cannot save, print or send the results. If you open a photo into the right pane and Apply with the "Filter Effects" gives you an "FxFoto Trial Command" warning, then you have not yet entered your registration and do not have the Deluxe Edition enabled. The same applies to the Crop "Pull or Adjust Pattern" and the Draw "File Stamp" and "Clip Stamp" functions. And the Correct "Color Brush" dialog's Circle and Square Color Brush tools are also trial only in the Standard Edition. Finally the "Collage Add Mode" toolbar button (with four squares) and the ability to add more than one photo to a slide (to make a multi-photo collage) is trial only in the Standard Edition and you cannot save, print or send the result. So only the Deluxe Edition can make multi-photo collages and/or slide shows. The Creative and Media Editions have some extra commands not in the Deluxe Edition, including using "Arc Text", the extra "Cutters Library" for Crop Patterns, support for "Quck Sketch Templates", and the "Calendar", "Install New Font", "Remove Font" and "Web Site Collage" commands. The Media Edition also enables additional commands, including "Transfer Collage to Movie" and the "Folder Password Locking" command. I purchased an upgrade from Deluxe to Media Edition - why doesn't the registration work? Your Deluxe registration must be entered first before the Deluxe to Media registration will work. The Deluxe to Media registration requires that you have entered the Deluxe registration first. Start FxFoto, press "Continue with Standard Edition" and dismiss the startup dialogs as needed. Then choose "Enter Registration Number" in FxFoto's Help menu. First enter you Deluxe registration. If you do not have a record of your original Deluxe Edition User Name and Registration Number, contact FxFoto Support. Then use the same "Enter Registration Number" Help menu command a second time with your Deluxe to Media registration. If the second Deluxe to Media registration still gives an error and you have entered it correctly including the final @ and serial number, then you may have entered the wrong serial number when you purchased the Deluxe to Media upgrade and you should contact FxFoto Support. The Deluxe to Media serial number must match your original Deluxe Edition serial number as explained in the online ordering instructions. Activating FxFoto - what does this involve and what about errors? When you enter a purchased registration to enable deluxe features an "Activate FxFoto" dialog appears. Activation enables your deluxe registration on your computer. It contacts Triscape's Internet server at www.FxFoto.com, but only a short Activation Code Number is send, which contains your FxFoto registration serial number and a hardware identifier. No personal information is sent and the hardware identifier is completely anonymous and cannot be used to find you or your computer. Automatic Activation is fast and easy way to activate because FxFoto directly contacts www.FxFoto.com. It sends exactly the same activation number used by Manual Activation and nothing else. But it does require that the computer with FxFoto be connected to the Internet. Manual Activation allows you to activate FxFoto on a computer which is not online. You can write down or print your activation code and take that to another computer with an online Internet web browser. Just enter the code and write down or print the respond number, which you can carry back to your FxFoto computer and enter the next time you start FxFoto. Click here for our Manual Activation web page at http://www.fxfoto.com/activate Or if you are worried about Automatic Activation (not that you should be), you can use Manual Activation on the same computer. There are even convenient "Copy Number to Clipboard" and "Popup Web Browser Now" buttons on FxFoto's Activate dialog to make it easy. Press "Copy Number to Clipboard" and then "Popup Web Browser Now". Your default web browser should appear in a new window at our activation page. Right click on the blank and choose "Paste" to enter your code. But you must still write down or print or copy the response to the clipboard in order to enter it back in FxFoto. When you use Manual Activation, FxFoto will not get the response until you type or paste it into the FxFoto's Activate dialog, even if you used "Popup Web Browser Now". The most common Manual Activation problem is entering an incorrect number. If the error is "Incorrect Activation Code Number" or "Invalid Activation Response Number" then you did not copy the number correctly. Please copy and type the code and response numbers carefully to avoid mistakes. Note that both the code and response numbers contain only numeric digits 0 - 9 (plus dashes which are optional). If you are typing anything else, then that is the problem. 0 is always the number zero and cannot be entered as the letter O. 1 is always the number one and cannot be entered as L or I. If activation gives an error which says, "Cannot Activate - You have exceeded the maximum number of different computers or devices that may be activated", this means that you have installed FxFoto on too many computers. (Or that you have installed Portable Pictures on more than one U3 Smart Drive.) Your FxFoto License Agreement only allows FxFoto to be installed on a single computer or device. You can install FxFoto on a second computer if only you and no one else ever uses either FxFoto on both computers. But otherwise, you must purchase an additional FxFoto registration for each computer or device on which it is installed. Sometimes you might get that "Cannot Activate..." error because you moved FxFoto to a new computer and have stopped using it on the old one, possibly because the old one died. Or possibly because you repaired your computer and FxFoto now perceives it as a different machine. The automatic activation facility attempts to provide for both contingencies, but of course an automated system cannot be perfect. If there is a valid reason that FxFoto has been installed on another computer or on a repaired or upgraded computer that looks different, then please contact FxFoto Support and explain your situation and what kind of changes you may have made to your FxFoto computer. In most cases we would be happy to help. We need to know your FxFoto serial number or your User Name and Registration Number in order to help you. Why is there an error when I run the download? There are a few possibilities. Most likely, the download was aborted and incomplete or had transmission errors. If so, the solution is just to discard the old download and try downloading again. A very few people have computers that are somehow incompatible with the 7Zip install software used by our standard download. If this is a problem, we have an alternate download using a WinZip installer that you can try by clicking here: http://www.triscape.com/download/FxFotoSetupWZ.exe You can either save the FxFotoSetupWZ.exe file on your system, or use Run or Open to begin the setup. If saved, you can start the setup with "Run" in your Start menu. Then just follow the on-screen directions. How do I uninstall FxFoto? You will find Uninstall FxFoto in the Windows Start "Programs" or "All Programs" menu under "Triscape" and also in the Windows Control Panel "Add or Remove Programs" list, under "Triscape FxFoto". How do I update my copy of FxFoto with the latest version? To update your current FxFoto, simply download and install the new version over your current version. Do NOT uninstall the old version. If you uninstall, it will loose all your FxFoto folders (but not the pictures, of course). If you have a Deluxe or Creative Edition license, it will automatically be applied when you install the new version. To update, exit the current version of FxFoto and download and install the latest version at: http://www.fxfoto.com/fxdownload.htm Make sure you do NOT check the "Scan local disks for existing photographs" option on the install. Once complete, you will have reinstalled and updated to the latest version. How do I get the Deluxe, Creative or Media Edition after purchasing an upgrade? If you ordered a CD-ROM, you can optionally use the download prior to receiving the CD. The download has all Deluxe, Creative or Media Edition commands and capabilities once your registration is entered. However, the Creative CD extra graphics files, such as the digital scrapbooking kits and papers are far too large to fit in the download and will not be available until you install from the CD-ROM. You may also choose to wait until your CD-ROM arrives rather than download since the CD includes everything in the download. If you have not already done so, first download and install the Standard Edition of FxFoto at: http://www.fxfoto.com/fxdownload.htm You may also upgrade from a CD-ROM, but using the download assures you get the latest version. If you already have the latest version of FxFoto Standard Edition, you need not download again to upgrade to the Deluxe or Creative Editions. Unless already started by the Upgrade command, start FxFoto and go to "Enter Registration Number" in the Help menu. Enter both your User Name and your Registration Number exactly as they appear in the information provided from Triscape. The registration information appears in the final Thank You page after you order and it is also e-mailed to you. If you order a CD-ROM, the registration information also appears on the letter that accompanies your CD. You can cut and paste the User Name and Registration Number information from the final Thank You browser page or from the e-mail to avoid transcription errors. You can optionally enter your company or other organization in the User Organization field, or you can leave it blank. Then press "OK" and you will get a "Thank you" message. The Deluxe or Creative features will now be enabled. You can double check this by going to "Help / About". The second line in the dialog will indicate "Standard Edition", "Deluxe Edition", "Creative Edition" or "Creative Media Edition". If FxFoto reports that "The Registration Number is invalid or the User Name does not match", then you entered either your User Name or your Registration Number incorrectly. You must enter the User Name just as it appears on the information from Triscape (although capitalization can vary), which is the name used when purchasing the upgrade. If you type a different version of your name, it will not be accepted. You must also enter the Registration Number without mistakes (although capitalization, dashes and spaces can vary). Note that a "0" in your Registration Number is always the number zero and never the letter O. Errors are easier to avoid if you can highlight and right-click to copy and paste the User Name and then the Registration Number from the Thank You page or e-mail. How do I re-install FxFoto on a different computer or when I've reformatted my disk? Note that your software license agreement only allows you to install FxFoto on one computer at a time. You may install FxFoto on a second computer provided that it is used only on one computer at a time and always by the same person and that no other person ever uses it. Otherwise, a separate license is required for each single computer on which FxFoto is used. If you have not already done so, first download and install the Standard Edition of FxFoto at: http://www.fxfoto.com/fxdownload.htm You may also re-install from a CD-ROM, but using the download assures you get the latest version. Start FxFoto and go to "Enter Registration Number" in the Help menu. Enter both your User Name and your Registration Number exactly as they appeared in the information provided from Triscape. The registration information appeared in the final Thank You page after you order and it was also e-mailed to you. If you ordered a CD-ROM, the registration information also appeared on the letter that accompanied your CD. If you have lost your User Name and Registration Number information, please contact us using the online support form to request a copy of your registration. Please supply us with the name, address and e-mail you used when ordering FxFoto, plus the date or approximate date. I am having trouble registering FxFoto Standard Edition - what can I do? If you have not already filled out the registration form: Click here to Register FxFoto Standard Edition Hotmail and MSN often put the FxFoto Registration Number message in your Junk E-Mail folder. Due to the volume of registrations we cannot provide support for free registration problems. If you do not receive your registration e-mail, it is because of one of these common problems:
Sometimes due to technical problems or overloads caused by unusually high Internet traffic, e-mail servers do not immediately forward messages. This is most common at your ISP's e-mail server, but can also happen to messages in transit. In most cases, messages are spooled and then are processed later when the problem has been fixed. When such problems occur, e-mail messages can be delayed for many hours. In our experience, messages are usually not lost and eventually arrive. So please be patient. Please correct e-mail problems and then click here to register again. If you receive your registration e-mail but encounter an error entering the number, it is because of one of these common problems:
"Enter Registration Number" command in FxFoto's Help menu. If FxFoto reports that "The Registration Number is invalid or the User Name does not match", then you entered either your User Name or your Registration Number incorrectly. You must enter the User Name just as it appears on the information from Triscape (although capitalization can vary), which is the name used when registering or purchasing. If you type a different version of your name, it will not be accepted. You must also enter the Registration Number without mistakes (although capitalization, dashes and spaces can vary). Note that a "0" in your Registration Number is always the number zero and never the letter O. Errors are easier to avoid if you can highlight and right-click to copy and paste the User Name and then the Registration Number from the e-mail. |