Only one project at a time may be opened by eXPress Collage. If another project is opened, the previously opened file will close automatically.
Both the onscreen arrows and the arrow keys on the keyboard can be used to advance canvases one at a time.
The total number of canvases allowed per Collage .lit file is 500. The total number of imported images per file is 200.
The optimal color palette setting for eXPress Collage 2.1 is 16 Bit (65,536 colors) or above.
The optimal screen resolution (display size) for eXPress Collage 2.1 is 800x600. Collages may be viewed in 640x480 or 1024x768, but depending on the canvas size of the project, the Collage may seem too large or too small for the screen. All Navigators are optimally sized for 800x600 displays.
All imported images reside in Session Images, which acts as a sort of jumping-off point for placing images in the project. Session Images centralizes most other image-related functions.
To view a demo of eXPress Collage 2.1, choose File | Demo/Tutorial from the menu bar.
To view tutorials for eXPress Collage 2.1, choose File | Demo/Tutorial from the menu bar.
Use the Quick Start wizard to quickly and easily select a projectÆs template, theme and size, and to import images and text.
Before entering text into a text byte, enable the text byte by double-clicking on it, then place the cursor inside the text byte.
Images can be imported one at a time or many at a time. Multiple images can be imported by selecting the "Browse" option from the Import Images dialog box.
It is a good idea to delete all unused images from Session Images once the project is completed. Doing so will reduce the file size.
Collage projects can be saved as ".lit" files, which are viewable using Collage 2.1 or eXPress Collage Viewer 2.1. Collages can also be exported as stand-alone executables, viewable on any PC without installing either Collage or Collage Viewer.
Static arrows are the arrows visible when a canvas is displayed; clicked arrows are only visible during canvas advance.
Both project-specific and machine-specific preferences may be set via File | Preferences.
Images used as pictures can be auto-populated, which places all imported images as pictures, starting with the current canvas and allowing the projectÆs designer to specify the number of pictures per canvas.
eXPress Collage 2.1 includes three distinct viewing areas: the default project area, the Slideshow and the Navigator. While the default area comprises the main part of any Collage project, the Slideshow and Navigator may be enabled or disabled per project.
An Image Space is a non-intrusive border which facilitates the positioning of images on a canvas. Pictures are automatically sized and arranged to fit proportionally within the designated Image Space.
Templates can be invoked at any time during the creation of a project, but are best used during the beginning stages since any objects not supported by the template (or template style) will be deleted upon application of the template or template style.
Templates can be used as "starter" canvas layouts. After applying a template, objects on the canvas can be added, removed and Arranged. This "coloring outside the lines" of the template essentially places the canvas in Freeform mode.
Freeform mode features a default theme which can be changed by applying a standard theme, or by modifying each objectÆs properties (right-click on the object and choose Properties).
Freeform mode specifies a default Image Space to facilitate the positioning of images. The Image Space can be modified or removed, and does not prevent the addition of text bytes or other objects.
After moving or removing many canvases, use the Compact feature of Canvas Manager. This function will align the projectÆs true index with its virtual index, helping to maintain the order and integrity of the canvases.
eXPress Collage 2.1 supports up to ten (10) text bytes per canvas. To add a text byte to a canvas, choose Text | Add Text Byte.
If the imported text is too large for the active text byte, scroll bars will automatically be generated. The scrollbars are only visible when the text byte is enabled.
The Text | Wrap function distributes "extra" text (not visible without the aid of scrollbars), to other text bytes.
Use the Edit | Arrange function to resize and reposition images and text.
Selecting Arrange or Arrange with Grid will remove any Image Space(s) on the current canvas. Restoring the Image Space on the canvas will resize and reposition any images used as pictures to fit within the designated Image Space.
In addition to Arrange, the position and size of objects on a canvas can be manipulated by using the Repeat Objects feature (Project | Layout).
The Slideshow contains depictions of all images used as pictures in the project. The images may be shown full-size, as a percentage of the original size, or sized to fit the display area.
To exempt an object when applying a theme, from the "Standard Themes" dialog box select the objectÆs "Modify" button and then choose "Disable."
The style and color of an object can be changed after a theme has been applied. Right-click on the object and choose Properties to view style and color options for that object.
When viewing a Collage project, the canvas on display can be bookmarked for easy reference at a later time.
The optimal Canvas Size for viewing in 640x480 screen resolution, without menu or status bars, is 628x430.
By default, images are imported at 8BPP (bits per pixel), and exported at 85% compression. To modify these defaults, go to the Image tab under File | Preferences.
To reduce file size, use the Memory Optimization tool (Project | Optimization) to determine where memory is being wasted.
Slideshow images can be affected by certain batch operations used to optimize the project. If the appearance of Slideshow images is a concern, when reducing image dimensions choose "No larger than Canvas Size."
Any imported image placed as a picture may display a frame to enhance the picture. The style, color and width of the frame may be modified using the Frame Properties dialog box.
You can enable the Main Toolbar for quick access to common editing functions.
You can enable the Text Toolbar for quick access to common text editing functions.
Images imported into eXPress Collage 2.1 and placed as pictures may be accompanied by a caption. The caption may contain up to three lines of any length.
Text cannot be imported into a caption.
Enabling Password Security helps protect the integrity of a your Collage project. The best passwords are random combinations of numbers, letters and other characters which are hard to guess.
Keycode security allows the project's designer to "lock" a portion of the .lit file.
Use the Mute Arrow Sound preference to silence arrow sounds without disassociating the sound file.
Specific text bytes may be excluded from wrapping by choosing the "No wrap" option in the Text Byte Properties dialog box.
When viewing Canvas Manager, the numbers surrounding each canvas rendering represent various properties of the canvas. The upper left number is the Canvas Number; the lower right number is the Page Number. The lower left numbers represent virtual versus true indexes, essentially tracking canvases as they are moved within the project.
If a Collage project is intended to be viewed by a wide audience, the project designer should take steps to optimize the project, and perhaps even split the project into multiple files, so that it may be viewed on computers with low resources.
When applying Calendar changes to more than one canvas at a time, if you do NOT want to change the month on each canvas, choose "Apply to all canvases" with "Exclude dates" checked.
The "Show Wizard on New" preference prevents the Quick Start wizard from automatically deploying whenever File | New is selected.
Before printing, it is advisable to Print Preview the currently displayed canvas. In certain cases, adjustments may be required to center the display on the printed page.
The color, style and, in some cases, the size of an object can be modified by accessing
