Topics
Triscape® FxFoto Viewer Topics

Introduction ...

Introduction

How To ...

Navigate the Collage

Purchase FxFoto

Install FxFoto

Uninstall FxFoto

Commands ...

Open Collage

Print

Toggle Full Screen

Exit

Copy

Slide Time

Options

Whole Collage View

Help Topics

About

Copyright 1997-2004 by Triscape, Inc. This document and the associated software and other data are copyrighted and all rights are reserved. Triscape is a registered trademark of Triscape, Inc.  FxFoto, FxFoto Viewer and FxViewer are trademarks of Triscape, Inc.  Microsoft, Windows and Internet Explorer are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.


Introduction

Triscape FxFoto adjusts, crops, prints and manages digital photograph images.

Yet it also gives you many advanced capabilities in one easy package.  FxFoto creates “collages” of photographs laid out as you wish.  Move and resize photographs and other images anywhere on the collage, which can be as large as you like.  You can even rotate images to any angle.  FxFoto provides easy ways to add text to your photographs with sophisticated effects.

You can create animated presentations that anyone can see with the free FxFoto Viewer, either photographic tours that animate the viewer from image to image, or slide shows with great transition effects.  A variety of available collage types include scrolling 3D perspectives similar to the Star Wars© introduction and albums where the viewer sees small thumbnail images and can click to zoom down for more detail.  And FxFoto really does zoom.  Triscape software animates the viewing window so that you move fluidly over a landscape of photographs and other images, both horizontally and vertically.  FxFoto makes it easy to view your images from any position and any degree of detail.

You can add hyperlinks to other photographs or even to web pages and also popup text which the viewer sees when the mouse hovers over an image.  FxFoto allows you to annotate and draw over and around your images.  It even supports automatic dialog balloon text over your photos.

Plus FxFoto gives you great ways to manage your photographs including image previews and favorites folders.  And it does more than just photographs, with including support for JPEG, PNG, BMP and Triscape VIB images as well as the ability to read and use animated GIF graphics.  It also supports HTML and can import HTML-formatted text and graphics from word processors and other applications.

FxFoto Features

•	Import Photos from your Digital Camera

•	Manage All Photos with a Single Scrollable Thumbnail View

•	Touchup, Frame, Annotate and Link Digital Photographs

•	Create Amazing Animated Photo Tours, Slide Shows and Collages

•	Send Photo Collages and Presentations over the Internet

•	Thumbnail Zoom-Down Photo Selectors

•	3D Photo Landscapes

•	Scrap Book Collages with Library of Frames and Accents

•	Small, Fast and Affordable

Photo Management: Features include: Automatic import from digital cameras; Organize photos into scrollable folders chronologically or alphabetically; Click on folder photos to add into collage or slide show; Drag photos to other folders or onto a collage or slide show; Search for folders or photos by name, date or keywords; Image preview selector and folder thumbnails make it easy to find photos; Image preview selector and folder thumbnails make it easy to find photos; Easy navigation controls allow you to fly over photos and collages and zoom to any magnification; Supports DCF, WIA, TWAIN and EXIF standards for digital cameras.

Photo Touchup: Blemish remover; Red-Eye correction; Clone Brush; Color Balance correction (automatic or manual);  Gamma correction; Contrast correction;  Brightness correction;  HLS adjustment; Flood photo region with color or transparency; De-resolve photos.

Photo Collages: Crop images;  Cutout images;  Feather images; Text with anti-alias, shadow, cutout, outline and other effects; Text titles, captions, overlays and dialog balloons for your photos; Realistic framing effects including 3D, Matt, Oval and an library of custom stretched Frame Images;  Rotate photos and text to any angle; Link photos to each other or to web browser pages; Create collages with text and photos pasted anywhere; Create slide shows with collages for each slide; Draw over and around photos with various pens and effects including Gyro Draw(tm) smoothing; Create 3D animated scrolls similar to Star Wars(r) introductions; Fade in and out, bounce in, zoom in or pan camera transitions between presentation slides;  Automatically create high-quality push buttons and mouse over effects.

Photo Publishing: E-Mail and save JPEG photos or entire collages of photos and effects; Print individual photos or multi-photo views; Favorites allow you to categorize and save your photographs and collages. Add HTML-formatted pages and input forms; Import formatted text from other application via HTML copy and paste; Handles JPEG, TIFF, PNG, BMP and VIB images and also reads animated GIF images; Special compression for faster access over the Internet;

Easy to Use: Simple wizards and dialogs; Unlimited Undo and Redo.

Requires: Windows 98 and a Pentium PC or the equivalent with 64MB memory and a 800x600 display; Supports MMX for faster display and so at least a Pentium II or equivalent with 128MB of memory is recommended.

The FxFoto Viewer is included with FxFoto.  But it is also free to download and use, so your friends and acquaintances can easily get the full impact of your photo presentations. The free Viewer is only a small download at www.FxFoto.com that typically requires less than three minutes even on slow modem connections.

Demonstrations

Most FxFoto versions give you the option of installing demonstration data into your My Pictures folder.  In order to keep the FxFoto Viewer application download size as small as possible, the included demonstration collages use only a few small and heavily de-resolved photographs.  They are intended to demonstrate software capabilities rather than pictures or image quality.  Try the Run Demonstration command in the Help menu to begin the presentation.

See also:

Navigating Collages


Navigation ToolsIntroduction
Navigation Tools

Note: Collages may limit the ways you can navigate in the Viewer, where the NavBar may not be accessible.  Many collages supply simple Next and Home buttons in the Viewer window, where Next steps through the slide show or tour (and you can also use the space bar or Tab key) and Home returns to the beginning of the presentation.

NavBar Controls

FxFoto allows you to move the window “camera” by clicking the mouse.  You drive the camera by clicking in the joystick control at the top of the left-hand NavBar or by clicking in the window.

There are three basic mouse navigation modes:

Grab Scroll is the normal default.  Just hold down the left mouse button over the collage to drag it horizontally in any direction.  Or hold down the right mouse button and move the mouse up and down to adjust the vertical zoom height.  Plus pointing just inside the edges of the FxFoto window shows a hand-pointer icon and clicking there moves you in that direction.

Drive Zoom navigation mode is more powerful than Grab Scroll, because you can move up, down and horizontally while holding down the mouse button over the collage.  Drive movement stops when you release the button.  Hold down the left mouse button to zoom down toward the point under the cursor for more detail.  Or hold down the right mouse button to zoom up to a higher level with a wider view.  You can move the mouse while zooming to change the zoom focus and drive your zoom direction.  To move horizontally, point just inside one of the edges of the FxFoto window and see a hand-pointer.  Then hold down the left mouse button to drive in that direction.  But while driving horizontally, the mouse works like a joystick and you can move around your initial click point to change direction and speed.

Grab Zoom mode works similarly to Grab Scroll, but it zooms up and down when you drag up and down with the left mouse button and drags horizontally with the right button.

All of the navigation modes also allow you to grab and scroll horizontally by holding down the middle mouse button or wheel.  This is a convenient way of quickly adjusting the view.  Also, rolling the middle wheel zooms you vertically up and down. However, some Window systems have the middle wheel button configured for special purposes, such as automatically moving the scroll bar, and so you may need to configure your Mouse in the Windows Control Panel to use the “middle button” in order to use it as expected in FxFoto.

 The NavBar joystick control is available with any of the navigation modes.

Hold down the left mouse button over any of the joystick direction arrows to move in any possible direction.  While holding down the button, your mouse becomes a joystick that allows you to change the speed and direction of horizontal movement.  The further you point from the center of the square, the faster you move and you can drag the mouse to change direction as you move.

Hold down the left mouse button over the green [+] plus area on the joystick to zoom down to see the collage in greater detail.  The view will zoom toward the last point clicked on the collage.  Or use the blue [-] minus area to zoom up for a wider view of the collage with less detail.

Control your speed with the slider control just under the joystick.  The Options dialog allows you to adjust the three available speeds.

NavBar Buttons

Under the joystick are three additional buttons:

The Back button moves you back to the last camera view.  It works similarly to a browser back button, but auto-pilots the camera view to remembered locations.

 The Next button moves you forward to the location before you pressed Back.  Moreover, if the collage has a virtual tour or slide show, the Next button steps you through the presentation.

The Stop button stops the auto-pilot.  You can also stop by just clicking anywhere in the FxFoto window.

Collage Viewer Buttons

Some collages show <Back and Next> buttons inside the Viewer window and these work identically to those on the NavBar.  You may also use the space bar or Tab keys to for Next and the Shift+Tab key to move Back.

There may also be a Home button which returns to the beginning of the virtual tour or slide show.  Or use the Home key on your keyboard.

Some collages may include a NavBar button inside the window to give you access to the left-hand NavBar controls.  Just click it to show the NavBar controls and then click again to hide them.  Finally, the Done button, if included, allows you to set a new Slide Time (if allowed) or to close the Viewer.

Finally, collages may make custom buttons and/or photographs or text into hyperlinks you can click.  When you hover your mouse over such images, the cursor turns to a hand pointer and clicking launches the associated link.  Links can start your default web browser to show an Internet URL site or document.  They may also auto-pilot your FxFoto view to another portion of the collage or even load a new collage presentation.

See also:

Introduction


Sales
Purchasing a License for FxFoto

This FxFoto Viewer is free to download from www.FxFoto.com and can be used without time limitation.

Please visit us at www.FxFoto.com and download a copy of the full FxFoto application that you can use to build your own collage presentations for this viewer.  The FxFoto Standard Edition is completely free and highly useful for importing, organizing, printing and e-mailing your photos.  But building and publishing multi-photo collages and slide shows requires the Deluxe Edition upgrade for which there is a small charge.

We at Triscape really hope you will like and use FxFoto.  If you do, please purchase an FxFoto Deluxe Edition license to help support our work.  We also value your comments and will endeavor to answer your questions addressed using our on-line contact information at www.Triscape.com or www.FxFoto.com.


Open Collage

Select this command from the File menu to see a file selector of available FxFoto collage files which can be opened for viewing.

You can also open image or collage files by dragging and dropping them from the Windows Explorer.


Print

Note: Some collages may disable this command.

You can choose either Print or Print Clicked Image from the File menu.  Print outputs the current view as you see it in the Viewer window including all visible images.

Print Clicked Image prints only the currently selected image.  Before using this command, you must first click on the desired image so that a dotted outline surrounds it.  If no image is selected, it defaults to Print and shows the current view.

You can check Print White Background in the Options to force the collage background to all white, which saves ink and looks better for most printers.  You can also check  Rotate Image to Best Fit the Page in the Options if you want wide photos or images to be rotated 90 degrees relative to your printers current setting (whether landscape or portrait) so that they best fit the available page.


Full Screen
Toggle Full Screen

This switches the Viewer to full-screen mode or switches back to a window.  You can also press Ctrl+F.  Full screen mode is useful for collage presentations to an audience.  However, the Windows Taskbar still appears at the bottom of the screen.


Exit

This command closes the FxFoto application.  As with other programs, you can also exit by clicking the [X] in upper-left corner of the window or with Alt+F4.


Copy to the Clipboard

Note: Some collages may disable this command.

This makes a copy of the currently selected image and places it on the clipboard.  It is also available on the toolbar or with Ctrl+C.


Whole Collage View

Note: Some collages may disable this command.

This pilots your view to show the entire collage from altitude.  It is available from the right-click popup menu.


Slide Time

Note: Some collages may disable this command.

This presents a dialog which allows you to set a new number of Slide Time seconds per slide and Continue.  It also allows you to Restart with the first slide.

This dialog appears when you press the Done button or choose Slide Time from the Edit Menu.  It also appears when press the Esc key or when you click or press any key when the Viewer has started full-screen without a menu.

The Slide Time can be a fractional number of seconds if desired.  It can also be set to 0 (zero) to prevent the Viewer from automatically switching slides until you press the Next button (or the space bar for non-full screen viewing).  Note that some slide shows specify specific times for certain slides and these cannot be overridden by changing the Slide Time,

You may also have the option to Exit the Viewer, but not if the viewer is a plug-in inside a browser.  If so, you can enter press the Exit the Viewer button or you can press the Esc key to exit.  Thus, the Viewer normally exits if you press Esc twice.  The first Esc shows this dialog and the second exits.


General Options

Note: Some collages may disable this command.

This dialog presents various FxFoto global settings.

Check Reload Last Collage on startup to show the previous collage if you start the program without a specified file.

Uncheck Animated Auto-Pilot to have the view jump to new locations rather than smoothly move over the collage landscape.

Check Progressive Loading of Collage Files to throttle the loading of large collages so that photos appear as they are read.

Check Easy One-Click NavBar Joystick to disable drive-style control for left-hand joystick.  When checked, you just quickly click to move a fixed distance rather than hold down the mouse button.  However, you will have less precise navigation control in this mode.

Check Rotate Printed Images to Best Fit the Page to print sideways if needed to better fit the image to the printer page.

Uncheck Print White Background to print the colored collage background as you see it in the view.  Leaving this checked can save ink and often looks better.

Check Show Navigation Toolbar to show the left-hand NavBar with its joystick and navigation controls.

Uncheck Enable Background Music to stop the Viewer from playing background music associated with collages and slide shows.

Change the Slow, Medium and Fast settings to adjust the three standard navigation speeds.  Note that some collages may override your speed setting.

Change the 3D Deresolve Min Screen Area to zero to always show 3D Perspective at full resolution if you have a very fast computer.  Otherwise set it to the view screen pixels (width times height) beyond which 3D must be de-resolved to be acceptably smooth.

Press the Restore FxFoto Default Settings button to clear all of your remembered FxFoto registry information and use the original defaults for all settings.  You are asked if you are sure, since you cannot undo this operation.


Help Contents
Help Topics

This command shows the FxFoto Viewer documentation that you are reading.  It is available from the Help Menu and also from the Help button in the left-hand NavBar.

See also:

About FxFoto


About
About FxFoto

This dialog documents the FxFoto model and version number and provides important copyright and trademark information.  The Triscape FxFoto application and all associated software, data and documentation are Copyright  by Triscape, Inc. and all rights are reserved.  Both Triscape and FxFoto are trademarks of Triscape, Inc.

FxFoto requires Windows 98 or better and a Pentium PC or equivalent with at least 64MB of memory and a display size of at least 800x600 pixels.  A Pentium II or better (or a Pentium I with MMX) is recommended and at least 128MB of memory is also recommended.  At least 16-bit display color quality is recommended.

Credits

Triscape FxFoto and the FxFoto Viewer were created and programmed by Steven C. Simonoff.  The software is written mostly “from scratch” for optimal size, speed and capability.

FxFoto uses ZLib routines created by Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler.

This software is also based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.

PNG image support is based in part on the PNG Reference Library provided by Group 42, Inc. and contributing authors.  See www.libpng.com.

TIFF support is based in part on software copyright 1988-1997 by Sam Leffler and copyright 1991-1997 by Silicon Graphics, Inc.  Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell the TIFF support software and its documentation for any purpose was granted without fee, provided that (i) the above copyright notices and this permission notice appear in all copies of the software and related documentation, and (ii) the names of Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics may not be used in any advertising or publicity relating to the software without the specific, prior written permission of Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics.

Downloadable setup software employs 7-Zip compression, copyright by Igor Pavlov and distributed under the GNU Lesser General Public License.  See www.7-Zip.org.

This software does not include LZW compression.


Support
FxFoto Support

But before you ask us a question, please check carefully to make sure it is not covered in this documentation or on our www.Triscape.com and www.FxFoto.com web sites.  If possible, upgrade to the most recent version of the software before contacting us.

Please give us as much background as possible with your question, including exactly what you were doing prior to encountering the problem and also the Windows version you are running.  If possible, supply us with a copy of the image or collage data file that causes the problem.  And please try it again before contacting us.  We can deal with repeatable problems much more easily to isolated events that we cannot duplicate.

You will also find information at www.Triscape.com or www.FxFoto.com for contacting us with questions and comments.  We particularly value your feedback.  And once again, thank you for your support, which allows us to provide the best possible support in return.

See also:

Installing FxFoto


Install
Installing FxFoto

Choose the installation target folder which is FxFoto in your Program Files by default.  Press the Browse Folder button for a directory selector dialog.

If you are only installing the free FxFoto Viewer, some of the following options are not available and are grayed.

Check Add an FxFoto link to the desktop to put a launch icon on your Windows background desktop wallpaper.  In addition, launch icons are always put in the Start Menu under Programs in a Triscape sub-folder.

Check Make FxFoto the default handler for JPEG Images if you want to launch FxFoto to view JPEG files you click in the Windows Explorer.  Note that some versions of Windows merely add FxFoto a group of Open With applications that appear when you right-click on a JPEG file in Explorer.  If FxFoto does not become the single default application, you can right click on a JPEG file in Explorer and choose Open With and then Choose Program at the bottom of the sub-menu.  Choose the FxFoto Authoring Application in the resulting dialog and also check Always use the selected program to open this kind of file to make FxFoto the future default for other JPEG files.

There are a handful of small demonstration collages included with your FxFoto setup.  Check Place demonstration data in the My Pictures folder to allow this data to be copied to your My Pictures folder (which is the initial default for the FxFoto file selector).

Check Scan local disks for existing photographs to have FxFoto automatically catalogue your photograph files when it first starts.  This scanning is necessary to use the FxFoto left-pane photo browsing and takes only a few minutes.  Uncheck to keep your existing photograph folders when updating FxFoto.  This setting does not apply if you are installing only the FxFoto Viewer.

Check Keep existing FxFoto option settings to avoid having the setup clean up any old settings from a previous FxFoto installation.  If this is left blank, then your remembered configuration is lost, but not your old photos and photo folders.  We recommend that you leave this unchecked in most cases.

Check Repair the existing FxFoto installation is desired to re-install your copy of FxFoto and re-initialize remembered settings and possibly folders.  When you press Install, you will be asked whether to Rebuild FxFoto Folders?  Press No to re-scan your existing folder organization for new or removed photos.  Press Yes to remove all existing FxFoto folder organization (but not the underlying photos) and rebuild all folders.

Press the Install button to copy FxFoto to the specified folder.  Note that the installation is often very fast and there is no problem if the setup is complete message appears immediately.

To start the application, look in Start Menu under Programs in the sub-folder named Triscape.

See also:

Register FxFoto

Uninstalling FxFoto


Register FxFoto

When you first install FxFoto, this dialog may appear.  You must enter your Name and Registration Number to enable the FxFoto Deluxe Collage Edition.

Your User Name must be typed exactly as it was when you obtained the license (although capitalization and punctuation may vary).  The User Organization may be your company, school or other organization name.  The Registration Number has sixteen numerals and letters such as 1234-5678-90AB-CDEF.  The dashes between the four-character groups are optional.  The number should use only digits plus the letters A through F, and 0 is always a zero.

It is usually best to use the right-click Copy and Paste commands to copy your User Name and Registration Number to this dialog exactly as they appear on your registration.  On the source e-mail or web page, hold down the left mouse button and drag to highlight the User Name.  Then right click and choose Copy.  Switch to FxFoto and right click in the name field to choose Paste.  Repeat for the Registration Number.

See also:

Installing FxFoto

Uninstalling FxFoto


Uninstall
Uninstalling FxFoto

To remove FxFoto from your computer, choose Uninstall FxFoto from the Triscape folder in your Start Programs menu.  Or you can choose Triscape FxFoto from your Control Panel’s Add/Remove Programs.

See also:

Installing FxFoto