The Photo Show

The PHOTO SHOW is the central program module for editing your photos.
You can use it to improve a photo, e.g. correct over-exposure  and underexposure, bad contrast, hues and red-eye effects.
You can change your photo completely by converting it to a black and white photo, add an old-fashioned sepia effect or make it look like an oil painting or sketch.
You can distort, mirror and rotate your photos and use a number of different effects.

You can also use the PHOTO SHOW as a photo manager to rate them, add titles and comments and have them filtered according to these and other metadata (only have certain images displayed).

The PHOTO SHOW can be opened as a separate program (separate icon on the desktop).
It can also be used to edit a photos from the object browser and the product editor.

Launching the PHOTO SHOW

... from the main program

Double-clicking a photo in the object browser or the product editor opens the image in the PHOTO SHOW.
A corresponding command is also available in the respective context menu of the photo.
In the object browser this is "My PHOTO SHOW", in the editor "Additional image settings..." -> "Edit image".

The image is shown as enlarged view in the PHOTO SHOW.

... as  separate program

You will find the "PHOTO SHOW" command in the context menu of a photo file on My Computer or the Explorer of your operating system.
Clicking this command launches the PHOTO SHOW and the photo is opened in the PHOTO SHOW.

During installation an icon is created on the desktop and a link is created in the start menu which you can use to launch the PHOTO SHOW directly.

Structure of the program window

Working with the PHOTO SHOW

Opening a photo

The PHOTO SHOW is launched with a view of a directory tree in the extended function view.
You can then navigate on the drives and directories of your computer.

The first file of the selected directory is first shown on the workspace, and all image files of the directory are shown as thumbnails in the storyboard below.
Clicking the thumbnail in the storyboard loads the corresponding image into the workspace.
The storyboard view is moved with the scrollbar below the storyboard.

You can also open an image with the "File" -> "Open image" command in the main menu.
The "File" menu item also includes other commands for saving and deleting files.

The quick start toolbar

Quick start tool "Display directory tree"

In the directory tree you can navigate to your photo directories in the same way as you can with the file browser (e.g. Explorer) of your operating system.
The image files in the selected directory are displayed on the storyboard or one of the index views as thumbnails.

Quick start tool "Display and edit metadata"

Metadata are information which are saved in the photo file but which are not displayed in the photo itself.
These include the EXIF data, for example the camera manufacturer, the camera model and the date on which the photo was taken, which are all saved by the digital camera.
Additional information such as a title, the name of the photographer and comments are metadata which you can enter and edit yourself.
These metadata can be used for file management, but it is not necessary for all data to be completed.
These metadata are entered and edited in the extended function view.

• The title can be any text which describes the photo as closely as possible, for example "Majorca, Catedral La Seu - entrance" or "Aunt Frieda unpacking presents" etc.
• The photographer is the owner of the copyright or the person who took the photos. In this way you can differentiate between the photos of different photographers.
• The copyright can contain the name of the person who owns the rights of copying and reproduction to the photo. This is generally the photographer, but can also be a company who commissioned the photo or which bought the reproduction rights.
• Modification date and the date of creation as well as the date on which the photo was taken are sometimes automatically entered by the digital camera and the operating system.
• The theme can be the name of a series of photos or the occasion on which the photo was taken, e.g. "Holiday Majorca 2005" or "Aunt Frieda's 80th birthday".
• The camera manufacturer and camera model are generally entered by the digital camera itself. However, some image editing programs remove these entries and you can add them again later.
• The program name is sometimes automatically entered by several image editing programs, also by the PHOTO SHOW, if the program saves the file again.
• Comments can be a list of keywords which can be used to search for the file. Or you can also note your personal or technical comments on the photo.
• The rating corresponds to the number of stars which you can enter further up by clicking the stars. It should be a number from 1 to 5; you can also enter a higher number, but more than five stars are not displayed.
  The more attractive you find the photo, the higher the number of stars should be.
  Uninteresting photos therefore have 0 stars, and are usually archived without being used.
  Photos are awarded 1 star if they can be used but are not very satisfactory.
  5 stars are awarded to photos which are very good and which are a pleasure to look at.
  Rate your photos according to your own criteria.

Changes to the metadata are saved immediately in the photos if no different option is set in the program options.

Quick start tool "Search in the metadata of the loaded photos"

Here you can use the metadata to search for specific photos.
The photos are filtered according to the metadata which meet the entered criteria.
Photos which do not meet these criteria are not displayed in the storyboard.
The search term for metadata filtering is entered in the extended function view.

• You can filter the photos according to the date taken.
  The time is always entered in the following format: "Day/Month/Year Hour:Minute:Second".
  For example, would you like to view all photos which were taken on 03/05/2008?
  Then set From: "03/05/2008 00:00:00" To: "03/05/2008 23:59:59".
  in the storyboard, and only the photos are displayed which were taken during this period of time.
• You can search for more or one photos using the title.
  You can also enter parts of a title. If you enter "Presents" the photo "Aunt Frieda unpacking presents" is also displayed.
• You can also use the theme to look for parts of the theme. For example, if you enter "Majorca" the photos with the theme "Holiday Majorca 2005" and "Holiday Majorca 2009" are shown. (If this theme is available.)
• You can also filter your photos according to the "Camera manufacturer", "Camera model", "Photographer" or "Software" and naturally also the "File name".
  Parts of these terms are also sufficient.
• You can also filter your photos by their rating.
  With the minimum rating: Set the minimum number of stars which the displayed photos should have,
  With the maximum rating: The maximum number of stars awarded to the photo.

Click "Apply" to filter the display of the photos in the storyboard.
Only the photos which meet all the entered criteria of the metadata.

Clicking the "Reset" button deletes the filter criteria and all the photos of the selected directory are displayed in the storyboard.

Quick start tool "Display window for photo effects"

The photo effects are responsible for artistic changes to the photo.

The photo effects are grouped on tabs according to their themes for easier orientation:

The "Standard" tab

This tab includes

• Greyscales

  This converts your photo to greyscales and looks like a black and white photo.

  Original	Greyscale image

• Sepia

  This effect makes your photo look like an old-fashioned, faded black and white photo.

  Original	Sepia

• Black and white

  Changes the light areas to white dots and the dark areas into black dots.
  Do not confuse with the "Greyscale" option, as the photo really only features the colours black and white.

  Original	Black and white

• Soft focus

  Makes the photo look slightly out of focus.
  The colours can also be made less intensive and covered with a white veil.

  Original	Soft focus

• Blur

  This is a motion blur.
  The angle of the movement and the intensity of the blur can be set with sliders.
  The blur runs at 0° from right to left, at 180° from left to right, at 90° from bottom to top and at 270° from top to bottom.
  The intensity varies from 0 (no motion blur) up to 100 (intense motion blur).

  Original
  Blur from right to left	Blur from top to bottom

• Background image

  A special effect which creates a subtle background from your photo.

  Original	As background

The "Art" tab

The "Art" tab features photo effects for applying an artistic effect to your photos.

The individual photo effects on this tab are:

• Oil painting

  This makes your photo look like an oil painting.
  Changing the brush radius makes the painting more or less abstract.

  Original	Oil painting

• Charcoal

  This is what your photo looks like if an artist would draw it with charcoal.
  The charcoal thickness defines the width of the lines or the smudging of the charcoal on the sheet.

  Original	Charcoal

• Relief

  This effect makes your photo look as if it has been carved from a surface including light and shadow effects.

  Original	Relief

• Poster

  This effect reduces the colour of the photo which makes it look more striking.

  Original	Poster

The "Distort" tab

This tab contains photo effects which are created by shifting the pixels.

The individual effects for distorting a photo:

• Swirl

  Moves the pixels in a circular motion around the centre of the image.
  This looks like a vortex in the photo.
  The angle is used to select the intensity of the swirl effect.

  Original	Swirl

• Arc

  This changes your photo to an arc or a segment of a circle.

  The circle segment shape size is selected by selecting the size of the arc.
  If the slider is at the far left, the photo is not distorted at all, if it is exactly in the centre, the photo is turned into a semicircular shape and if it is at the far right, the photo is bent by 360° to a full circle.

  The rotation angle is used to rotate the arc around its own axis.
  If the slider is in the centre, the photo is upside down.

  The width of the arc is changed by the inside and outside radius.
  If the slider for the inside diameter is at the far left (to 0), then the arc becomes a segment (slice of cake).

  Original	Arc

• Implosion

  The implosion draws in the pixels to the centre of the photo.
  The intensity of the effect is set by a slider.

  Original	Implosion

• Explosion

  An explosion distorts the photo from the centre point to the edge.
  The intensity of the effect is set with the slider.

  Original	Explosion

• Wave

  Distorts the photo to a wave pattern.
  The wave length determines how many peaks and troughs the photo contains, the amplitude of the waves, which means how high they are.

  Original	Wave

Quick start tool "Correct photo colour"

This function view contains commands for changing the colour and correcting the brightness.

• Contrast

  The intensity applies more or less contrast to your photo.
  The medium shade controller is used to adjust the image brightness, as the photo is overall somewhat darker with less contrast, and lighter with more contrast.

• Colour adjustment

  You can change the colour of your photo with the colour settings.

  The "shade" slider determines in which colour the photo should be set, and the saturation for how strongly the colour is applied to the photo.

Quick start tool "Rotate /scale/mirror or crop photo"

• Crop

  This is used to select a section of the photo with a frame, either to a specific aspect ratio or free-hand.

  With the fixed aspect ratios 3:2 and 4:3 (landscape format) as well as 2:3 and 3:4 (portrait format), the selection frame is set to these aspect ratios.
  If you change the height of the frame by moving the corner handles, the width changes automatically and vice versa.

  If you work free-hand, you define your cropped section yourself.

  The crop effect is applied by clicking the scissors icon in the function view.

• Mirror

  You can use the icons in the function view to mirror the photo horizontally (turn it upside down) or vertically (change the sides).

• Rotate

  If you click the rotation icons you turn the photo 90° in a clockwise direction, in an anti-clockwise direction or by 180°.

• Scale

  The size of the photo is given in pixels.
  To change the size of the photo, enter the new dimensions in the box with the option "New:".

  If the checkbox "Maintain aspect ratio" is checked, the new height changes when a new width is entered, or the width is changed if a new height is entered with the same aspect ratio.
  The box for changing the aspect ratio is then deactivated.

  If you click "OK", the photo is recalculated in the new size.

Quick start tool "Configure program"

Here you can enter various program settings.

• Maximum cache size:

  The cache is the amount of memory (RAM) of your computer which the PHOTO SHOW can occupy for display and calculation of your photos.
  A low value minimises the amount of memory, but also slows down the PHOTO SHOW.
  A high value ensures a high PHOTO SHOW processing speed, but other programs which may be running on your computer may be slowed down.

  Set the cache size to between 256 and 1024 MB.
  If the cache size is below 256 MB, the program will constantly access the hard disk, especially with large photo files, which slows the computer down.
  Otherwise the following applies: A lot helps a lot, and scrolling through the storyboard is faster with a larger cache.
  However, the operating system of the computer will normally not be able to assign more than 1024 MB.

• Save photos as:

  Here you can select the file format (name extension) of your photos.
  The edited photos are saved with this file extension.

  The following formats are available: bmp, jpeg, jpg, png, ppn, xbm and xpm.
  Normally jpg or png are selected.

• Start directory:

  This is the directory which is opened in the directory tree when the PHOTO SHOW is opened.
  The photo files in this directory are then shown in the storyboard.

  When you click "Select directory", a dialog box opens in which you can select a directory.

• Save photos in:

  This is the directory in which the PHOTO SHOW saves the edited photos.
  If no directory is specified, this is normally the directory which is currently opened in the PHOTO SHOW.  

  The "Select directory" button opens a dialog box in which you can select a directory.

• Slide show delay:

  You can start a slide show of the photos in the currently opened directory. (This function is described below.)
  Here you can set the time in seconds for which each photo should be shown before the next photo is displayed.

• Overwrite original when metadata changed

  This checkbox specifies whether the metadata of a photos are automatically saved after editing or not until the "Save" button is clicked.
  If this checkbox is checked, it is not necessary to save the photos specifically to apply the metadata to the photo.

Click "Apply" to save and activated the program options.
A corresponding dialog box opens when the program settings are exited if "Apply" is not previously selected.

Quick start button "Red-eye correction settings"

The "red-eye" effect often appears on photos taken with a flash in a dark environment. The flash lights up the back of the eye of the photographed person as their pupils are wider in a dark environment. This effect is unattractive.

• Correct whole photo

  This function automatically searches for almost circular red pixel areas in the entire photo and darkens them.
  It is very suitable to correct the red eyes of several persons on the photo at the same time.
  There is, however, the risk that other red areas in the photo are darkened.

• Select area

  This opens a selection window in the photo which restricts the correction to the selected area.
  Only the round red pixel areas are only searched for and corrected in the selected area.
  There is no risk that other red areas outside the selection are darkened.

• Select point

  Click the mouse pointer directly on the red eye in the photo. You can also zoom into the photo.
  Only the red pixels next to the selected point are darkened. This means that you have to repeat this for each red eye individually.
  This is, however, the most reliable method of correcting red eyes.

Click "Correct now" to apply red eye correction.

Quick start tool "Slide show on/off"

Starts an automatic slide show of the photos in the current directory in full screen mode.

At the lower edge of the window a toolbar appears during the slide show if you move the mouse pointer on the lower edge of the window.
With the buttons (from left to right) you can switch to the previous photo, close the slide show, stop the slide show and move on to the next photo.

The display time of each photo in the slide show is selected in the program settings.

When you close the slide show, the PHOTO SHOW is still in full screen mode. This can be closed by clicking the icon with the two diagonal arrows.

Quick start tool "Start "real Fotolumea mea to order photos or create a CEWE PHOTO BOOK"

Starts the real Fotolumea mea software for creating and ordering a photo book. 

The view and navigation bar

With the view and navigation bar you can change the view of the selected photos and navigate in the selected directory.
In addition you can quickly access functions which you often need without navigating through the windows.

• The zoom functions

  The magnifying glass icon and the zoom slider are located at the left of the view and navigation bar. These tools are used to enlarge or shrink the view of the selected photo.

  Tip: If your computer mouse has a scroll wheel, you can continuously scale up and scale down the view without a zoom factor.

• The rating stars

  You can add or change the rating of a photo quickly and simply with the aid of the rating stars.
  The more pleasing and effective you think the photo is, the more stars you should award it. The photos you like best are then given five stars.
  The photos of a lower quality are then given fewer stars or none at all.
  (Also refer below to the quick start button "Display and edit metadata")

• The icon for the index view

  Clicking this button (the grid) changes the preview mode. Instead of one large photo and the storyboard, you can see all photos as thumbnails.

• The navigation arrows

  With the aid of the "Show previous photo" and "Show next photo" options you can have the previous (left arrow) or next (right arrow) photo shown as a large selection image.

  You can activate full screen mode with the "Full screen on/off" option (with the two diagonal arrows).
  The image is then displayed over the whole screen. The view and navigation bar at the bottom of the image is only shown when you move the mouse pointer at the bottom of the window.
  You can close the full screen mode by clicking the same button in the view and navigation bar or by pressing the "ESC" button on your keyboard.

  With the "Rotate current photo by 90° anti-clockwise" and "Rotate current photo by 90° clockwise" buttons (the round arrows) you can turn the selected photo to the right (clockwise) or to the left (anti-clockwise).

• The delete button

  Think carefully before clicking the button "Delete the current photo from the hard disk" (the trash bin), as it irretrievably deletes the original photo from your hard disk.

• The "Shortlist" button

  The PHOTO SHOW creates a list of photos you want to shortlist. The currently selected photo is saved on the list by clicking the "Add photo" button.
  All photos selected in this way in the real Fotolumea mea editing and ordering software are displayed in the "photos" object browser in the "Shortlisted photos" selection box.
  You can therefore compile a shortlist of photos which you want to use later in the program.
  Shortlisted photos are displayed in the storyboard and in the index view with a green symbol to the top right of the preview image.

The main menu

The main menu and the drop-down menus contain the same commands which are featured in the quick start toolbar and several additional commands.

The respective key shortcut is shown next to a number of the commands in the drop-down menus.
These commands can then be entered directly from the keyboard, which saves time and permits smoother workflows.

The "File" drop-down menu 

The following functions are available:

• The "Load photos" menu item

  When you select this command the function view with the file tree opens.
  Look for the directory in which the photos are located which you want to view in the PHOTO SHOW, edit in a CEWE PHOTOBOOK or individually edit and order.

• The "Save photos as" menu item

  When you open a photo in another directory or want to save it with a different file name, click "Save photos as".
  A dialog box then opens in which the content of the directory is saved in which your selected photo is located.
  In the address line you can click on the triangle next to the path and then go to all other directories on your computer from which you can select the required directory to save your photos.

  For "file name" you can enter the (new) name with which your photo should be saved.

  If you want to select a different directory than the one which the software suggests, you can use the arrows next to the path to open the previous or next directory.
  The upwards arrow then opens the higher-level directory.

  To create a new directory click the folder icon next to the arrows in which you can then save your photo.

  Both icons to the right of the folder icon are provided to change the file view.
  You can choose between a list view and a detail view.
  With the latter option you will be able to see the file name as well as the size, format and the date the file was last changed.

• The "Save photos in directory" menu item

  Instead of an individual photo, the entire content of the open directory is saved in a different directory.
  This function works in the same way as "Save photo as", but you cannot give the individual photos a new name.

• "Delete photo" menu item

  With the "Delete photo" option you remove the selected photo from your hard disk.

• The "Discard changes" menu item

  As long as you have not yet saved the photo you are currently working on yourself, you can cancel editing with this command. The temporary photo with the changes is then deleted.

• The "Shortlist photo" menu item

  You can use this command to shortlist your photos for use in the real Fotolumea mea software.
  The photo file is not moved or copied, but a link to the photo is included in a list.
  Shortlisted photos are marked in the storyboard and the index view with a green symbol at the top right.
  All shortlisted photos are displayed in the real Fotolumea mea software in the "Photos" object view in the "Shortlisted photos" selection box.

• The "Start order" menu item 

  Starts the real Fotolumea mea software in a new program window.

• The "Discard shortlisted photos" menu item

  Deletes the list with the shortlisted photos. The photos themselves are not deleted.

• The "Options" menu item 

  Here you can adjust the program settings to suit your personal requirements.
  A detailed list of options is given in the description of the "Configure program" quick start icon. 

• The "About ..." menu item 

  This menu item gives you all information about the software manufacturer, copyright and the version of the software you are using.

• The "Close" menu item 

  If you want to exit the PHOTO SHOW, click "Close".

The "Navigation" drop-down menu 

If you have opened a directory with several photo files, all photos are shown in the storyboard at the bottom.
The selected photo is shown at the top in the object window.
With the "next photo" and "previous photo" menu items you can "thumb through" your photos.
Click "first photo" or "last photo" to open the first or last photo in the selected directory.

The "View" drop-down menu 

The following items are contained in the "View" drop-down menu:

• The "Slide show" menu item

  With the "Slide show" command you can view all photos in a selected directory in succession in full screen mode.
  You can specify how long each photo should be displayed in "File" --> "Options".

  Details on the slide show are given in the description of the quick start button "Slide show on/off"

  The "Scale to window" menu item 

  The selected photo is scaled into the available workspace and fully displayed.
  The aspect ratio is the same as the original.

• The "Fill window" menu item 

  The available workspace is fully filled with the photo.
  The photo width or height may be changed.
  The aspect ratio therefore does not correspond to the original.

  The "Original size" menu item

  The photo is shown in its full size. One pixel of the photo corresponds to one pixel on your computer screen.
  Should it be larger than the available workspace, part of the photo is visible.
  If you move the mouse pointer over the photo, a small hand appears with which you can move the photo to and fro in the window by holding the mouse button down.

• The "Grid view" menu item 

  All photos of the selected directory are shown next to one another or overlapping in the same way as on a light table for viewing slides.
  The storyboard is hidden.

• The "Storyboard on/off" menu item

  With this function you can switch the storyboard with the thumbnails on and off.

• The "Full screen on/off" menu item

  When you switch this function on, the photo is shown over the entire screen.
  Only the view and navigation bars remain visible.
  The main menu, tool bar, directory tree and the storyboard are hidden.
  If you wish to exit this view again, press "Esc" on your keyboard or click the "Full screen mode" (diagonal arrows) in the view and navigation bar.

• The "Zoom in" and "Zoom out" menu item 

  Clicking the "Zoom in" or "Zoom out" menu items displays the photo either one factor larger or one factor smaller.

  Tip: If your mouse has a scroll wheel, you can scale the photo up or down continuously without a factor.

The "Edit" drop-down menu

The following editing functions are available:

• The "Rotate right by 90° " menu item

  Rotates the photo by 90° in a clockwise direction.

• The "Rotate left by 90°" menu item 

  Rotates the photo by 90° in an anti-clockwise direction.

• The "Rotate by 180°" menu item

  Inverts the photo by rotating it by 180°.

• The "Mirror photo vertically" menu item 

  Mirrors the photo vertically so that it is shown "the wrong way around".

• The "Mirror photo horizontally" menu item 

  Mirrors the photo horizontally so that it is upside down.

• The "Scale photo" menu item

  Scales the photo to a new selected size.
  Details on this function are given further up in the section "Rotate/scale/mirror or crop photo".

• The "Contrast"  menu item

  The "Brightness, saturation and shade" menu item

  The "Gamma correction" menu item 

  These are functions for changing the shade and for correcting the brightness.
  They are described above in the section for the "Correct photo colour" quick start button. 

• The "Show red-eye correction" menu item

  To correct the "red-eye effect".
  Details are given above in the section for the "Red-eye correction settings" quick start button.

The "Effects" drop-down menu

The "Effects" drop-down menu contains the same commands as explained above in the section for the "Show window for photo effects" quick start button.

The "Search" drop-down menu 

• The "Search in metadata" menu item

  This search function can be used to search directly for specific photos on your computer.
  The prerequisite is that the metadata of your photos contain corresponding keywords or search terms.

  Details on metadata and searching in metadata are contained above in the sections  for the "Display and edit metadata" quick start button and "Search in the metadata of loaded photos" quick start button.