New & Hot

By Kieran McNamee

Although HTML Assistant Pro is not a WYSIWIG Web page editor it still has some impressive features. A basic understanding of HTML is required to use this program effectively and if you know what you are doing it is sure to save you some time.

HTML Assistant Pro can convert word processed files (RTF) into HTML. If you want to get up and started in a hurry, there is an automatic page creator where you can enter the basic details of your page and the Assistant Pro takes care of the rest. An inbuilt previewer lets you see how your Web page is progressing as you work on it, while the inbuilt spell checker ensures that you make no tardy mistakes. One feature that I always find helpful in an HTLM editor is the use of coloured tags, which distinguishes them from normal text. HTML Assistant Pro supports all kinds of tags as well as ActiveX, Java and other multimedia components. When your work is finished it can be published using the Site Assistant and Quick Publish features.

Screen Thief is a screen capturing tool that has been around for quite a few years. The first DOS version of Screen Thief was created in 1993 and it has been through a number of incarnations since then. It is important to note that Screen Thief is a screen capturing tool with some image editing features, rather than an image editor with some screen capturing features. The screen capturing capabilities are impressive and make capturing a simple task.

You can use Screen Thief to capture the entire desktop, an active application, an active window or a user defined area. The destination of the screen shot can be set to the image window, disk, printer or clipboard. File formats are limited to BMP, TIF, PCX, PNG and DIB. Defining different screen capture styles and assigning individual hotkeys to each allows you to take different captures without having to adjust the settings each time. As well as hot keys, there is a delayed capture feature that warns when the screen will be captured with a countdown display and audible beeps. Another handy feature is its the ability to be put to sleep. The program becomes completely invisible until woken up, but the hotkeys remain active.

Desktop Themes may not be one of the newest pieces of software around but it sure is hot. Many Windows 95 users have already realised the benefits of installing Desktop Themes rather than forking out the extra money for Microsoft's Plus! pack. This brilliant program allows you to install themes and configure your desktop just the way you like it.

For those not in the know, a theme is a collection of sounds, icons, pointers, and font settings, along with a colour scheme, wallpaper and screensaver. All these elements can be packaged into a theme file and distributed on CD-ROMs and the Internet; or you can create your own. With Desktop Themes you can install these themes as well as make minor adjustments to the elements of your desktop. The interface is well set out with ten different sections. There is a Miscellaneous section that allows you to set options such as loading random themes on startup and enabling animation of windows. The Screens section allows you to specify alternative startup and shutdown screens without having to manually change the file names.

Sitting in the system tray you can specify whether you are using Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer then select from the three different resolutions or a WebTV resolution. You can also have BrowserSizer take into account the room that would be taken up by the taskbar or the Office Bar if it is used. BrowserSizer is a very simple tool with no bells or whistles. There are a few minor bugs -- the program crashes if Netscape is resized too quickly -- but it is still a great little program.

As its name suggests, this tool allows you to convert any slab of text into a fully formatted HTML document. The text can come from a file or from the contents of the clipboard. All you have to do is press the Convert button and Text2Web takes care of the rest.

There are a couple of options that you can set, such as the output format and the font face and size. Do not expect Text2Web to convert your selected text exactly the way you intended. Text2Web is a simple program but it may prove to be a real time saver for some Web page creators.

PhotoTools is a set of feature-rich plugins for Adobe's PhotoShop. You need to have PhotoShop installed but if you only have the tryout version of PhotoShop from the September apcmag.cd you can use PhotoTools by making a copy of PhotoShop's PHOTOSTO.EXE file and renaming it to PHOTOSHP.EXE.

PhotoTools consists of seven image filters and a PhotoAnimator tool. The filters available through PhotoTools are PhotoBevel, PhotoButton, PhotoCastShadow, PhotoEmboss, PhotoGlow, PhotoGroove, and PhotoTexture. Applying each filter brings up a window with a whole pile of individual settings that you can fiddle with. The real time previews allow you to play around with the settings until you find the effect that you are after. PhotoTools provides some impressive effects for your images and is very easy to use. Anyone who uses PhotoShop for image creation and editing will be sure to find PhotoTools a handy piece of arsenal.

Have you ever tried to compare the contents of two directories by opening two Explorer windows? Even if you haven't there may come a time when you will need to compare directories. DCW (Direct Compare for Windows) can do this for you and present the results in a split screen format. Situations that may require the comparison of two directories include synchronising the contents of a desktop with a laptop, applying program updates on multiple computers, and trying to figure out why one person's software configuration works while another's doesn't.

DCW allows you to filter the contents of the two directories so you can compare only what you want. You can also decide to display only matching files, unmatching files or all the files. DCW also has an AutoSync feature that automatically highlights the newest and missing files in both directories.

HVS JPEG is a sophisticated image tool that allows you to create JPEG images of the highest quality and smallest size. Working as a filter within any paint program that supports the PhotoShop 3.0 filter standard, the HVS JPEG settings are accessed from within the paint program. Installation involves copying three files to your paint program's plugin directory.

HVS stands for Human Visual Systems, Digital Frontiers' proprietary technology. It has a number of benefits including a better signal to noise ratio and improved image compression. On loading the HVS JPEG filter, a window appears with a number of adjustable settings. The Q (for quality) setting of your JPEG image can be adjusted with a sliding bar that ranges from best compression to best quality. There are statistics displayed that allow you to see how large your file will be, what compression ratio it will have and the estimated length of time you will need to downloaded it over a 28.8 Internet connection.

Executor is a fantastic program that basically turns your PC into a Mac. Of course it is not a perfect replication of the Mac OS, but you can open and work with Macintosh files -- you can even install and run some Mac programs. (None of the programs I tried would work, but there is a compatibility list available from the ARDI Web site.)

This is the more stable DOS version of Executor so the display was not 100%, but it was definitely the Mac desktop, not Windows. Executor has a number of Mac programs built in such as the Stuffit expander, and a couple of games. If you use Mac's at work or Uni and a PC at home then you are certain to find a use for Executor. Students are also given the option of purchasing the full version of Executor at a discounted $US65.

MainActor is a multimedia processing package consisting of a timeline-based video sequencer, MainActor Sequencer, and an animation processor, MainActor Video Editor.

The interface of the MainActor Video Editor is not as user friendly as the Sequencer but it does have some powerful features for easy creation of clips. Saving your project as MPEG or any other type of video format is a simple procedure and the use of REXX scripts allows you to automate commonly used functions.

Creating effective Web graphics has never been easier than with Adobe ImageReady. It offers specific features to find the right balance between size and quality, to help you to create stunning images that take only a short time to download.

Anyone responsible for creating Web images would do well to have a go with this 30-day trial and then purchase the full product.