Smart Pix Manager FAQ


  1. The Help file says to select the XYZ item in the File menu, but I can't see the menu, what can I do?
     
  2. Why don't some animated GIFs display properly?
     
  3. After installing Smart Pix Manager I can no longer open my images in my favorite image viewer by double-clicking on them, why?
     
  4. I cannot get some multimedia formats to play, what should I do?
     
  5. I want to play some multimedia (*.MP3 and *.MOV) formats with a different player.  How can I do this?
     
  6. I have added new images to my system and done an update but they haven't been inserted into the database, why?
     
  7. How can I use Smart Pix with multiple users on a network?
     
  8. Why is there an keyword group in View mode called 'Other'?  I haven't created this group!
     
  9. Your documentation says that you support PDF files, but when I try to view a PDF file I get an Internet Explorer message saying 'Do you want to Load or Open this file?'
     
  10. I am having difficulties upgrading my v4.3 database for use in v5.  What should I do?
     
  11. After installing Smart Pix Manager all my image icons have changed to Smart Pix icons and now when I click on an image in Explorer, I no longer see an example image displayed.   Can I fix this?
     
  12. Windows crashed while Smart Pix was processing and now I get a database error when starting up Smart Pix.  What can I do?
     
  13. There are some files with a tilde (~) in their name in my image directories, can I delete them?
     
  14. Whenever I click on a Word file for display I am asked whether I want to download the file?  Why is this happening?
     
  15. Can your software display ART Files?
     
  16. How do I use wildcards so that my CD-ROM database can be shared with other people who may have a different letter for their CD-ROM drive?
     
  17. I want to access my Smart Pix Database with another application. Is that possible?
     
  18. Smart Pix always defaults to my last opened database, how can I specify the database that it should start up with?
     
  19. I have set up Smart Pix so that it can be accessed by users across our network, however while I everybody can access it I only want a few to have permission to add and amend the DB. Can this be done?
     
  20. How can I remove particular folders from my Favorite Folders List?
     
  21. I would like to be able to set the order in which my images display during a slideshow.  I know that I can change the viewing order by name, file size, etc., but is it possible to set my own order for displaying the files during a slideshow?
     
  22. What is the best way to move Smart Pix to another hard drive or computer?
     
  23. How can I change the video types that are supported by Smart Pix Manager?
     
  24. I have around 1300 images and 200 keywords in my database. When I add a new keyword, there is a long before it is added. Is it possible to speed this up?
     
  25. I received an error when trying to uninstall Smart Pix Manager. What should I do?
     
  26. I want to export a list of files and descriptions to use in Diji Album. How do I do this?
     

  27.  

1.  The Help file says to select the XYZ item in the File menu, but I can't see the menu, what can I do?
You have probably hidden the Menu, press Ctrl+M to redisplay it or 'Esc' to reset all your view settings.



2. Why don't some animated GIFs display properly?

Smart Pix Manager only supports standard animated GIFs, that is, where each frame is of the same size.  Some animated GIFs used on the Internet use one full frame and the following frames only display the image information that is changed.  Smart Pix Manager does not support this format at this time.



3.  After installing Smart Pix Manager I can no longer open my images in my favorite image viewer by double-clicking on them, why?

You have set the option to make Smart Pix Manager your default viewer.  To restore your previous viewer, select File|Supported Formats.
 
If you are using the 'Simplified User Interface options, click OK to the first dialog displayed and then in the next dialog (headed select formats) uncheck all the formats that are checked.
 
If you are not using the simplified interface, select the 'Associations' tab, then click on the Associations button beside Images and uncheck all the formats that are checked.



4.  I cannot get some multimedia formats to play, what should I do?

Smart Pix Manager will generally be able to play all files that have a valid MCI driver.  Windows 98 and 2000 should provide MCI drivers for all common formats which you want to play.
 
Exceptions:
 
RealNetworks formats (ra, .ram, .rm, .rmm):
 
Microsoft no longer includes support for RealNetworks in newer versions of Windows media player. Users wanting to play RealAudio or RealVideo need to obtain the RealPlayer. You can still access them via Smart Pix, see FAQ #5
 
QuickTime Formats (.mov, .qt):
 
Newer versions of Windows do not support files that are created with QuickTime version 2.0 and later. Users wanting to play such files need to obtain the QuickTime viewer from Apple. You can still access them via Smart Pix, see FAQ #5

If you have a format which you cannot play in Smart Pix Manager but can play in other software on your system, then it is possible that another MCI driver is being used, which is causing problems.

Please download the MCI Tester, run it and let us know what results you get.

If all else fails, you can set Smart Pix to use an external application to play the format. Please see FAQ #5.
 


5.  I want to play some multimedia (*.MP3 and *.MOV) formats with a different player.  How can I do this?
To have Smart Pix use an external player when you click on a file format you will have to specify that it is not a supported sound file, but rather it is a 'custom' file.  The process for this is:

i)  Select File|Supported Formats (you will need to have the Simplified Interface option switched off when you do this - you can find this on the first tab). 
ii)  Click on 'Select..' beside the Sound Files list
iii) Uncheck the MP3 Option and click OK
iv) Check the 'Custom Formats option'
v) Click 'Add and Select..'
vi) Click 'Add..', enter *.MP3 and click OK
vii)  Click on the Single Click tab and the custom formats option is set to 'Display with the Windows default program.'
viii) Click OK to exit



6.  I have added new images to my system and done an update but they haven't been inserted into the database, why?

You probably haven't added the images to one of your source directories.  Smart Pix will only check for new image files in directories that are contained in Source Directories list.  You can see your list of source directories by selecting Database|Settings and Source Directories, source directories tab.  You can add new source directories by clicking the 'Add' button.



7.  How can I use Smart Pix with multiple users on a network?

There is no problem with providing group access to a single Smart Pix database, but you will need to specify the database setting, 'Allow databases to be shared,' on all copies of Smart Pix Manager which are accessing the shared database. The quickest way to set this is click Ctrl+Shift+D which will pop up a dialog offering the best network settings (also see 'Sharing a Smart Pix Database on a Network' in the SMart Pix Help file and FAQ #19.



8.  Why is there an keyword group in View mode called 'Other'?  I haven't created this group!

If you have any keywords that you have failed to assign to an keyword group, Smart Pix will list them in the group 'Other'.

9.  Your documentation says that you support PDF files, but when I try to view a PDF file I get an Internet Explorer message saying 'Do you want to Load or Open this file?'
To support PDF files you need to install the free Adobe Acrobat Viewer which installs a browser plug-in.  You can download this from the Adobe Web Site 

10.  I am having difficulties upgrading my v4.3 database for use in v5.  What should I do?
    If you have followed the procedure on the V4.* Database Upgrade page and have still not been successful then you may want us to do the conversion for you (your content will remain confidential throughout).  However there is a charge of $50 for this process.  We appreciate that this may seem quite expensive, but the conversion is a very time consuming process.  Please e-mail sales@xequte.com for details.



11.  After installing Smart Pix Manager all my image icons have changed to Smart Pix icons and now when I click on an image in Explorer, I no longer see an example image displayed.  Can I fix this?

You have associated your images with Smart Pix Manager, you need to revert this association.  To do this, select File|Supported Formats.
 
If you are using the 'Simplified User Interface options, click OK to the first dialog displayed and then in the next dialog (headed select formats) uncheck all the formats that are checked.
 
If you are not using the simplified interface, select the 'Associations' tab, then click on the Associations button beside Images and uncheck all the formats that are checked.

12.  Windows crashed while Smart Pix was processing and now I get a database error when starting up Smart Pix.  What can I do?
 
One of your database tables has probably been corrupted.  Run the database utility to repair your tables:

i)  Download the Database Utility
ii)  Install and Run it.
iii) Select Utilities|Repair
iv) Browse to your database directory (usually C:\Program Files\Smart Pix Manager\DB\) and select one of your database tables (*.dat files, such as spm_file.dat).
v) Repeat Steps iii and iv for each of your tables (*.dat files)
 


13.  There are some files with a tilde (~) in their name in my image directories, can I delete them?
These may temporary files created by Smart Pix Manager. There are two kinds:
 
  • Files that have been moved into the database for secure storage (database image storage option only).  These files have a tilde in the extension, e.g. xyz.~jp.  By default, Smart Pix does not actually delete the images after inserting them into the database, merely renames them to a temporary name so that you can back them up before removal from your system.  After back up they can safely be deleted.
     
  • Temporary files, if you are using the Changed Extension or Database Storage method, Smart Pix sometimes needs to create temporary files, for example if you want to launch an image in an external viewer.  These files will have a tilde at the beginning of their name, e.g. ~xyz.bmp.  Generally Smart Pix will clean up these files automatically, but sometimes it is unable, i.e. if you have launched a file into Paint and leave it open when you close Smart Pix, Windows will not allow Smart Pix to delete the file.  These can be deleted.
     
  • There are sometimes files where the name ends in ~ and then a number, such as myfile~1.jpg  These are NOT temporary files, they are long files names that have been renamed by Windows!

    14.  Whenever I click on a Word file for display I am asked whether I want to download the file?  Why is this happening?
    The problem is likely to be that Word is either not installed on your system or is not set-up correctly.

    If you have tried reinstalling Word and still have problems, then it is recommended that you specify that Word is not a supported format so that Word is loaded when you want to display the file (rather than Smart Pix trying to display it).  The process for this is:

    i)  Select File|Supported Formats (you will need to have the Simplified Interface option switched off when you do this - you can find this on the first tab). 
    ii)  Click on 'Select..' beside the Common Formats list
    iii) Uncheck the Word Option and click OK
    iv) Check the 'Custom Formats option'
    v) Click 'Add and Select..'
    vi) Click 'Add..', enter *.DOC and click OK
    vii)  Click on the Single Click tab and the custom formats option is set to 'Display with the Windows default program.'
    viii) Click OK to exit



    15.  Can your software display ART Files?

    As far as we are aware the only program which can display ART files is the AOL internet browser.  If you want to keep an image which is displayed in the AOL browser, right-click it and select save, then save it as a .BMP file.  Our software can display a BMP file, though you might want to convert it to JPEG to make it smaller.
     

    16.  How do I use wildcards so that my CD-ROM database can be shared with other people who may have a different letter for their CD-ROM drive?
    In the Smart Pix Manager (v5.12 or greater) Help File there is a complete example.  You can find it by reading the 'Using Relative Paths' section of the Help File (or searching the help file for the text 'Example of using Relative Paths').
     



    17.  I want to access my Smart Pix Database with another application. Is that possible?

    An ODBC driver is available for accessing the database from other applications which support ODBC.  Please download ODBC.zip and read the included instructions.
     



    18.  Smart Pix always defaults to my last opened database, how can I specify the database that it should start up with?

    You need to call it with the /db: parameter specifying the directory of the database to open. For example (include the quotes!):
     
    "C:\Program Files\Smart Pix Manager\SmartPix.exe" /DB:"C:\My_DB_Directory"



    19.  I have set up Smart Pix so that it can be accessed by users across our network, however while I everybody can access it I only want a few to have permission to add and amend the DB. Can this be done?

    There are two ways you can control read/write access to a shared database:
    • Using NT permissions set the user-rights of the folder containing the database so that general users only have read access and power users have read/write access
    • Set the Read-Only option on all copies of Smart Pix Manager that do not have write access (under Database|Settings and Source Directories)



    20.  How can I remove particular folders from my Favorite Folders List?

    Select a file and display the Move Dialog using File|MoveĀ… Click on the Quick Links tab and select the folder you want to remove.  Right-click it and select 'Remove Folder from List'.  You can also do this using the Quick Move/Copy Flyover Tool



    21.  I would like to be able to set the order in which my images display during a slideshow.  I know that I can change the viewing order by name, file size, etc., but is it possible to set my own order for displaying the files during a slideshow?

    Yes.  To do this you need to bookmark (File|Bookmark) all of the files of the slideshow and then go to bookmarks mode and reorder then using the up/down buttons (or drag and drop).



    22.  What is the best way to move Smart Pix to another hard drive or computer?

    This is the best way:
     
    i) Copy the entire Smart Pix Manager directory (C:\Program Files\Smart Pix Manager\) to the new drive
    ii) Uninstall the OLD copy of Smart Pix Manager
    iii) Install Smart Pix Manager again to the new directory (over the copied files)
    iv) If you are moving any of your image source directories go to Database|Settings and Source Directories and use the 'Relocate' function to fix your file links.



    23.  How can I change the video types that are supported by Smart Pix Manager?

    To edit them:
    i) Select File|Supported Formats (you will need to have the Simplified Interface setting switched off when you do this - you can find this on the first tab of File|Options).
    ii) Click on 'Select..' beside the Video Files list
    iii) Check the video formats that you want to support and uncheck those that you do not want
    iv) Click OK to exit



    24.  I have around 1300 images and 200 keywords in my database. When I add a new keyword, there is a long before it is added. Is it possible to speed this up?

    Go into File|options, Other, Advanced and check the setting, 'Use dialog for keyword addition in right-click'



    25.  I received an error when trying to uninstall Smart Pix Manager. What should I do?

    You can uninstall it manually. Here are the steps:
    &nsbp;
    i) Delete the folder, C:\Program Files\Smart Pix Manager\
    ii) Click on the Start Menu button with the right mouse button and select 'Open'
    iii) Open the folder, 'Programs'
    iv) Delete the folder, 'Smart Pix Manager'



    26.  I want to export a list of files and descriptions to use in Diji Album. How do I do this?

    You will need Smart Pix, v5.3 or greater and Diji Album v3.1 or greater. These are the steps:
    i) Select the files that you want to add to your album (hold the Ctrl key down to select multiple files)
    ii) Select Thumbnails|Export Files to Diji Album Editor... (if this item is not listed then reinstall Diji Album Editor)
     
    Your list will be exported. To import this into Diji Album:
    i) Run Diji Album Editor
    ii) Create a new album file or open an existing one
    iii) Select Page|Import Page Wizard...

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