Epson ALBUMMAKER 2 Owner Manual

®

User’s Guide

NPD1320-02

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Seiko Epson Corporation. The information contained herein is designed only for use with this product. Epson is not responsible for any use of this information as applied to other products.

Neither Seiko Epson Corporation nor its affiliates shall be liable to the purchaser of this product or third parties for damages, losses, costs, or expenses incurred by the purchaser or third parties as a result of: accident, misuse, or abuse of this product or unauthorized modifications, repairs, or alterations to this product, or (excluding the U.S.) failure to strictly comply with Seiko Epson Corporation’s operating and maintenance instructions.

Seiko Epson Corporation shall not be liable for any damages or problems arising from the use of any options or any consumable products other than those designated as Original Epson

Products or Epson Approved Products by Seiko Epson Corporation.

EPSON is a registered trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation.

Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

General Notice : Other product names used herein are for identification purpose only and may be trademarks of their respective companies .

Copyright © 2005 Seiko Epson Corporation. All rights reserved.

Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction and Setup

How to Read This Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Cautions and Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Overview of EPSON AlbumMaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

File output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Write to CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Export movie file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

EPSON AlbumMaker System Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

EPSON AlbumMaker Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

EPSON AlbumMaker Software Suite Installation . . . . . . . . . 13

Template Converter setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Template Data Collection Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Chapter 2 Basic Workflow

EPSON AlbumMaker Startup and Shutdown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

EPSON AlbumMaker startup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

EPSON AlbumMaker shutdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Creating a New Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Step 1 Selecting a type of creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Step 2 Selecting photos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Step 3 Editing layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Step 4 Outputting files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Writing to CDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Choosing a default CD writing application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59



Step 3 Writing to CD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Exporting Movie File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69


3


Step 3 Exporting movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Printing Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Chapter 3 Editing Layouts

Common Editing Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Select and unselect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Changing the size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Deletion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Replacing items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Adjusting positions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Adding shadows to items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Making transparent items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Grouping items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Undo/Redo operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Editing Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Rotating an image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Cropping an image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Applying special effects (filters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Correcting an image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Editing Clipart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Editing clipart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Adding clipart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Editing Text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Changing text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Deleting text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Changing the format of text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Curving a text frame. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Editing Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Drawing a shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Editing a shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

4

Chapter 4 Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Cannot import images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Current product is beyond repair. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Text is not displayed correctly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

No image thumbnails are displayed in the Images tab. . . . 117

The Start button in the Export Movie File Setting window is disabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Error Message List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Write to CD error messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Select Photos error messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Export Movie File error messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Undo/Redo error messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Chapter 5 Reference Information

EPSON AlbumMaker Folder Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Using Template Converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

About Template Converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Applications Supported by Template Converter . . . . . . . . . 121

Operating procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Uninstalling the Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Deleting the template data collection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Deleting the program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Uninstalling Template Converter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Customizing EPSON Photo Memory Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

About copyrights on sound files for EPSON Photo Memory Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Selecting the background music for EPSON Photo Memory Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Displaying information when replaying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Customizing Movie File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

About copyrights on a sound file for the movie file . . . . . . 133

Selecting background music for a movie file . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

5

Chapter 6 Dialog Boxes

Registering/Managing Photos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Select Photos window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Editing/Managing Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Main window for pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Editing/Managing Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Main window for items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Editing Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Color Balance dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Crop/Cutout dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Soft Edge dialog box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Brightness/Contrast dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Convert to Sepia/Monochrome dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Floating Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Dimensions dialog box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Transparency dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Fill/Stroke dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Rotate/Flip dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Shadow dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Text dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Preferences dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Saving Jobs/Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Save as dialog box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Save as Template dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Job Info dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Outputting Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Print dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Export dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Write to CD Setting dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Export Movie File Setting dialog box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Glossary

Index

6

Chapter 1

Introduction and Setup

How to Read This Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Cautions and Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Overview of EPSON AlbumMaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

File output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Write to CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Export movie file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

EPSON AlbumMaker System Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

EPSON AlbumMaker Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

EPSON AlbumMaker Software Suite Installation . . . . . . . . . 13

Template Converter setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Template Data Collection Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Introduction and Setup 7

How to Read This Manual

Cautions and Notes

c Cautions must be observed to avoid damage to your equipment.

Notes contain important information and useful tips on the operation of your product.

Screens

This manual uses the screens from Windows XP in the descriptions.

Note:

The templates for individual products shown on the screen may differ from the content of the actual product template.

Overview of EPSON AlbumMaker

The EPSON AlbumMaker software suite offers a variety of useful features. It imports images and combines those images with a template. You can then choose to save your product to hard disk or print it from your EPSON printer. You can also record those images to CD or export them as a movie file.

Files output from AlbumMaker can be printed at very high quality with the EPSON Professional Portrait Printing System

(PPPS) using EPPLayout.

See the PPPS user’s guide or the EPPLayout online manual regarding detailed operations for EPPLayout.


File output

AlbumMaker provides various types of products (such as albums) by arranging photographs with a template. For details,

refer to “Creating a New Job” on page 26.

Write to CD

AlbumMaker provides the Write to CD feature that allows the writing of images and EPSON Photo Memory Player to a CD. For

details, refer to “Writing to CDs” on page 59.

EPSON Photo Memory Player overview

EPSON Photo Memory Player is a new type of player software that allows images recorded to CD to be played as a slide show together with background music.


EPSON Photo Memory Player system requirements

Windows:

OS:

CPU:

Windows XP/2000 Professional/Me/98 SE

Intel Pentium III compatible processor, 500MHz or better

Memory: 64 MB or more

(The amount of memory required may differ depending on conditions of use.)

Video card: 32 bit 4 MB VRAM (800

×

600), or better

CD-ROM drive:

16

×

speed or faster

Sound: Sound Blaster compatible sound card and speakers

Browser: Internet Explorer 4.0 or later, Netscape Navigator 4.0 or later, or equivalent

Macintosh:

OS: Mac OS 9.x/Mac OS X 10.2.x/10.3.x/10.4.x

CPU: Power PC G3, 800 MHz or better recommended

Memory: 64 MB or more

(The amount of memory required may differ depending on conditions of use.)

Video card: 32 bit 4 MB VRAM (800

×

600) or better

CD-ROM drive:

16

×

speed or faster

Browser: Internet Explorer 4.5 or later, Netscape Navigator 4.0 or later, Safari 1.0 or later, or equivalent


For operating methods, refer to the help menu in the lower left corner of the EPSON Photo Memory Player main screen.

Export movie file

AlbumMaker offers an Export Movie File feature that allows you to export movie files created from a series of images. For details,

refer to “Exporting Movie File” on page 69.

Printing

AlbumMaker allows the direct printing of products on EPSON

printers. For details, refer to “Printing Files” on page 75.


EPSON AlbumMaker System Requirements

The following system is required to operate AlbumMaker.

OS: Windows XP (Home Edition/Professional)

SP2 or later

*1

Windows 2000 (Professional) SP4 or later

*1

CPU: Pentium 4, 1.7 GHz or better

Memory: 512 MB or more (1 GB or more recommended)

HDD: Program installation drive - 1 GB or more

Video Resolution: 1024

×

768 or larger, full color or better

*2

DVD/CD-RW drive:

Necessary when using the Write to CD feature.

*1

NTFS file system is recommended.

*2

5 GB or more free space is required when exporting a movie file.

Note:

❏ AlbumMaker will not work if EPPLayout has not been installed.

Install EPPLayout before using AlbumMaker.

❏ You must log on as the computer administrator to use AlbumMaker.

❏ To write to DVD, a third-party authoring application must be installed.


EPSON AlbumMaker Setup

AlbumMaker setup consists of installation of the software suite and template collection. When setting up AlbumMaker, first install the software suite, then the template collection.

Note:

You must log on as the computer administrator before installing

AlbumMaker.

EPSON AlbumMaker Software Suite Installation

The AlbumMaker software suite is installed from the System

CD-ROM.

Installation Menu

The following programs can be installed.

❏ EPSON AlbumMaker 2.0

Installs AlbumMaker 2.0.

❏ EPSON AlbumMaker Template Converter 2.0

Installs Template Converter 2.0. Template Converter is a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop 6.0/7.0/CS. It is used to directly export layout frames (DNF files) used for templates from

Adobe Photoshop.

❏ Adobe Reader 7.0

Installs Adobe Reader 7.0. Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0 or later is required to read the EPSON AlbumMaker User’s Guide.

❏ ICC Profile (Adobe)

Installs Adobe ICC profiles.


1. Place the System CD into the CD-ROM drive.

The Software Installation menu will start automatically.

Note:

If the Software Installation menu does not start, use My Computer to view the contents of the CD-ROM and double-click the

EPSETUP.EXE

file.

2. Select the programs to install, and click the Install button.

3. Click the Next button.


4. Select I accept the terms of the license agreement , and click the Next button.

1

2

5. Enter the user information, and click the Next button.

❏ The name registered for the current computer user is automatically displayed in the User name field. Change it as required.

❏ Enter your company name, affiliated organization names, etc. in the Company name field.


❏ Enter the serial number from the sticker affixed to the

CD-ROM case for the Serial No field.

6. Confirm the installation folder for the program, and click the

Next button.

Normally, the installation destination of the program does not need to be changed. However, if a change is required, click the Browse button to select a different installation folder.

7. Confirm the program folder, and click the Next button.


8. Confirm the settings, and click the Next button.

The settings that have been made are displayed under

Current Settings. Check the contents to make sure they are correct.

When the Next button is clicked, InstallShield Wizard will begin installing the program.

When installation is complete, the InstallShield Wizard

Complete screen is displayed.


9. Click the Finish button.

If the Please refer to the “README” check box is selected, the readme file will be displayed. Be sure to read this file, since it will contain the latest updated information that could not be added to the manual.

Note:

If other programs were selected on the Software Installation menu, program installation will continue. Otherwise, the exit screen is displayed.

This completes the AlbumMaker installation. The shortcut icon for AlbumMaker is created on the desktop.

Template Converter setup

When EPSON AlbumMaker Template Converter 2.0

is selected in the Software Installation menu, the EPSON AlbumMaker

Template Converter Setup starts up automatically.


1. Click the NEXT button.


1

2


3. Confirm the installation folder for the data files, and click the

Next button.

When the Next button is clicked, the program is copied to the selected folder.

When setup is complete, the InstallShield Wizard completion screen is displayed.


This completes Template Converter setup.


5. Click the Exit button on the Software Installation screen.

This completes the program installation. Continue with the following procedure to install the template collection.

Template Data Collection Installation

The templates for EPSON AlbumMaker are installed from the

Template CD-ROM.

1. Place the Template CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive.

The InstallShield Wizard will start automatically.

Note:

If the InstallShield Wizard does not start automatically, use

Explorer to view the content of the CD-ROM, and double-click the

Setup.exe

file.




1

2


4. Confirm the settings, and click the Next button.

Confirm the template installation destination displayed under Current Settings.

When the Next button is clicked, EPSON AlbumMaker

Template Data Collection Setup will begin installing the templates. When installation is complete, the InstallShield

Wizard Complete screen is displayed.


This completes the installation of the template data collection.


Chapter 2

Basic Workflow

EPSON AlbumMaker Startup and Shutdown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

EPSON AlbumMaker startup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

EPSON AlbumMaker shutdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Creating a New Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26



Step 3 Editing layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Step 4 Outputting files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Writing to CDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Choosing a default CD writing application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59



Step 3 Writing to CD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Exporting Movie File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69



Step 3 Exporting movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Printing Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Basic Workflow 24

EPSON AlbumMaker Startup and Shutdown

This section explains the startup and shutdown procedures for

AlbumMaker.

EPSON AlbumMaker startup

The startup method for Windows XP is described here.

Note:

Before starting up AlbumMaker, make sure that EPPLayout has been installed.

AlbumMaker will not work if EPPLayout has not been installed.

1. Select Start - All programs - EPSON AlbumMaker 2.0 -

EPSON AlbumMaker 2.0

.

Note:

If you are using Classic Start menu for Windows XP or Windows 2000, select Start - Program - EPSON AlbumMaker 2.0 - EPSON

AlbumMaker 2.0

.


EPSON AlbumMaker shutdown

To shutdown AlbumMaker, select File - Quit in the main window.

You can also click the Close button in the top right corner of the window.

Creating a New Job

In AlbumMaker, products are created from existing templates or on freemount pages that you can design yourself. Regardless of the types of layout, operation procedures for creating products are similar.

The basic file output procedures on AlbumMaker are explained below.


Step 1 Selecting a type of creation

1. Click the Create New Job button on the startup screen of

AlbumMaker.

Note:

If the main window is displayed, click the Create New Job button.

2. Specify a new job in the Create New Job dialog box.

Select Use Freemount to create a product on a freemount page, or Use Set Template to create a product from templates. Enter the name for the job, and then click the

Browse button and select the folder for saving the job.

1

2

3


Note:

Click the Info button, and then enter the customer name and comment for the job in the Job Info dialog box. Click the OK button to return to the Create New Job dialog box.

3. Click the OK button.

When the OK button is clicked, a dialog box is displayed depending on the selected type of page.

❏ When Use Freemount

is selected, refer to “Setting job information” on page 28 to specify the freemount page.

❏ When Use Set Template

is selected, refer to “Selecting a template” on page 35 to select a template.

Setting job information

Specify the paper, the number of pages, and the background design for a new job in the Freemount dialog box.


1. Select the View Style from Single page or Double-spread for the page.

2. Specify the Size of the paper.

Select the page size from the Size drop down list.


Note:

If the required page size is not listed, select User Defined , and enter

Name, Width, and Height in the Custom Page Size dialog box. Click the New button to register the custom page size, and then click the

Close button.

3. Select the Orientation from Landscape and Portrait for the page.

4. Enter the Number of pages.


When Single is selected in View Style, enter a number from 1 to 30. When Double-spread is selected in View Style, enter an even number from 2 to 30.

Note:

The number of pages you can select varies depending on the page size.

To specify the background design, refer to “Specifying background color of pages” on page 33, or “Specifying background image of pages” on page 33.



The Freemount dialog box closes, and the following message appears.

6. Click the Yes button.

The Select Photos window appears.

In the Select Photos window, select the photos for laying out

on the page of the product. Refer to “Step 2 Selecting photos” on page 38.

Note:

If the main window is displayed, click the Open Select Photos button on the Images tab.


Specifying background color of pages

1. Select the Background Design check box in the Freemount dialog box.

2. Select Color , and click the color button.

*

* Color button

3. Select a color in the Color dialog box.

Click the Define Custom Colors button to create a customized color.


The Color dialog box closes.

Specifying background image of pages

1. Select the Background Design check box in the Freemount dialog box.


2. Select Image , and click the Browse button.

1

2

3. Select an image, and click the Open button in the Open dialog box.

4. Specify the Indicate .


Select Fill to enlarge the image to cover the entire page. Select

Inside Fit to resize the image to as near page dimensions as possible while maintaining image aspect ratio. Select Tile to fill the page with copies of the image.

Selecting a template

Select a template for a new job in the Select Template window.

1. Select the folder that contains templates from the folder tree.

*

* Folder tree


2. Select a template.

*

* Slider

Note:

❏ The selected template thumbnail is displayed at the right of the window. To enlarge the thumbnail, move the slider.

❏ If you select the thumbnail and click the icon, an enlarged template image is displayed in the Template Viewer.

❏ To change the view of the template into a list or thumbnails, click the button.

❏ To display the template’s properties, right-click the template in the list, and select Information .



The Select Template window closes, and the following message appears.

4. Click the Yes button.

The Select Photos window appears.

Note:

If the main window is displayed, click the Open Select Photos button on the Images tab.


Step 2 Selecting photos

Select and copy images to a group folder to use them in the main window.

1. Click the Add Group button in the Select Photos window.

2. Enter the Group name, and click the OK button.

1

2


3. Select the group folder, and click the Select New Photo button.

2

1

4. Select the folder that contains the images you want, and then select one or more images in the Open dialog box.

Click an image to select it.

Multiple images can be selected by clicking them while holding down the Ctrl key.


c Caution:

Do not remove a card or other memory device while it is being accessed. Doing so may damage it.

Note:

❏ JPEG, TIFF (RGB, uncompressed) and BMP image files can be read.

❏ To select all images in the folder, click the Select All button.

5. Click the Copy or Move button.

The selected images are copied or moved to the group folder.

The Open dialog box closes.

When the Move button is clicked, the original images are deleted from the folder.

6. Click the Close button.

The Select Photos window closes and the main window appears.


Step 3 Editing layout

Create the product by adding images, text, clipart, and shapes to the pages.

Laying out images

You can design your own layout using freemount pages, or you can place images in the image frames on predesigned templates.

You can also place empty image frames on the page.

1. Select a group from the drop down list on the Images tab.


a b

2. Drag an image thumbnail to the freemount page or to the desired image frame on the template.

d e c a. Page b. Image frame c. Page list d. Selected group e. Image thumbnail

You can also add images to template pages using the following procedures.

❏ Select a thumbnail and click the Insert button, or double-click a thumbnail to insert it in an image frame.

Images are automatically placed in image frames in numerical frame order. To display the image frame number, select View - Show Image Frame Number .

❏ Drag a thumbnail to the desired location without using an image frame.


When designing page layout, you can add image frames regardless of the type of page. Once an image frame has been added, you can place images in the frame using the operations

described above. See the section, “Adding image frames” on page 44 for further information.

If the Perform CMS Conversion of Layout Image check box on the Preferences - Color Management tab is selected when the image is positioned on a page, the image’s color space

(defined with the embedded ICC profile) is replaced by this software’s work color space.

Note:

❏ To select images from the folder tree, click the Select

Explorer or Group view button, and select Explorer.

❏ The image’s properties can be displayed by right-clicking the image in the selected group.

❏ It is possible to add freemount pages to a product by selecting the Add Page button in the main window. One product can contain up to 40 pages.

❏ It is possible to place and edit templates on freemount pages. To place a template on a freemount page, drag the thumbnail from the Page Template tab in the main window. For details on the

Page Template tab, refer to “Editing/Managing Items” on page

140.

Inserting multiple images at one time

Selecting multiple images from the selected group, and then clicking the Insert button will automatically place the images in the empty image frames. The images will be placed in the order of the photograph date/time (or the file creation date/time) starting with the oldest, regardless of the order in which they were selected.

The selected images are placed only in the image frames on the current page.


Note:

Multiple images in the group can be selected by clicking them while holding down the Ctrl key.

Adding image frames

It is possible to add an image frame to the page by clicking the

Add Frame button. An empty image frame, with the same aspect ratio as the current page, appears in the center of the page.

The new frame number is one, and the existing frames’ numbers

increase consecutively. Refer to “Common Editing Operations” on page 80 for image frame enlargement/reduction, rotation,

deletion, and other editing operations common to most of the items.

Editing image

Edit the image as required. Crop/Cutout is explained below, as an example of image editing.

1. Click the Item Edit Mode button in the main window.

2. Select the image to be edited.

Note:

The zoom setting can be changed to make editing work easier. Click the Zoom In or Zoom Out button.


3. Click the Crop/Cutout button.

You can also select Crop/Cutout from the Edit button.

Note:

You can also display a menu showing various editing commands by right-clicking on the image on the page.


a

4. On the Before screen, drag the handles of the crop area frame to change the size. Click inside the frame to drag the frame to the desired position. Select a type of cutout from the Cutout list, and then click the OK button.

b a. Crop area frame b. Cutout list

The edited image is displayed on the After screen.

You can change cutout type and crop area until the desired result is obtained as long as you do not press the OK button.


The cutout is performed, and the results are shown on the page.

For details on editing images, refer to “Editing Images” on page 94.

Positioning text

Position the text as required.

1. Click the Input Text Mode button in the main window.

2. Click and drag the mouse on the page in the location you want to position the text.


3. Enter text in the text frame.

To finish entering text, click the Item Edit Mode button.

Change the text properties (font, size, and others) as necessary.

For details on editing text, refer to “Editing Text” on page 109.

Changing text positioned on the page

Click the Item Edit Mode button. Double-click the text frame to change, and edit the text.

Change the text properties (font, size, and others) as necessary.

For details on editing text, refer to “Editing Text” on page 109.

Positioning clipart

Position clipart as required.

1. Click the Clipart tab.


2. Select the folder in the folder tree where clipart that you wish to position is stored.

3. Select a clipart from the clipart list, and click the Insert button, or double-click the clipart.

The clipart appears in the center of the page, you can change the clipart position as necessary.

It is also possible to lay out a clipart by dragging and dropping it to the desired position on the page.

Note:

JPEG, PNG, and WMF file formats are used for clipart files displayed in the Clipart list.

a b a. Folder tree b. Clipart list

You can change the size of clipart that has been positioned on a page. In addition, you can retain the horizontal/vertical ratio by holding down the Shift key while resizing.


Note:

❏ No more than 10 pieces of clipart can be positioned on one page.

❏ You can create and save your own clipart. For details, refer to

“Editing Clipart” on page 106.

Positioning shapes

Position shapes as required.

1. Click the Select Mode button, and select a shape from

Rectangle , Rounded Corners , Ellipse , or Line .

2. Click and drag the mouse on the page.

The selected shape appears in the dragged area.


Change the shape’s properties (fill, stroke, and others) as necessary.

For details on editing shapes, refer to “Editing Shapes” on page 112.

To complete the page layout, repeat the steps from “Laying out

images” on page 41 to “Positioning shapes” on page 50.

Note:

You can save a job by selecting File - Save in the main window. It is also possible to rename and save a job by selecting File - Save as in the

main window. For details on saving jobs, refer to “Save as dialog box” on page 159.

To resume the saved job, click the Select Job button on the startup screen, or select File - Open Job in the main window. And then select the job in the Select Job window.


Step 4 Outputting files

Output the designed pages to a file for printing.

1. Select File - Export in the main window.


2. Specify the storage location, file name and file format.

Note:

When EPPLayout has been installed, you can make EPPLayout start automatically after a file is output. Select the Auto Run

Application after Export check box, and select EPPLayout from the drop down list.


3. Specify the Pages in the Export dialog box.

Select All to save all pages from the current job. To save only selected pages, choose Range and enter the page numbers as follows:

❏ To select a series of pages, specify the range with a hyphen, as in 5-8.

❏ To select individual pages, separate page numbers with commas, as in 1,3.

❏ To specify a combination of individual pages and ranges of pages, use both hyphens and commas, as in 3-5,7,9.

To print only the page currently displayed, select Current

Page .


When the pages to be output are checked in the Album Viewer window, select Checked Pages Only . For details on the checked pages on Album Viewer, refer to

“Editing/Managing Pages” on page 138.

4. Specify the Page Subset.

Select All Pages in Range , Even Pages in Range , or Odd

Pages in Range .


5. Click the Save button.

When the Save button is clicked, the file is output.

When outputting multiple pages, 3-digit consecutive number are affixed to the specified file name before output.

Note:

❏ The resolution of the stored file is determined by the paper size.

❏ If the Perform CMS Conversion of Layout Image check box on the Preference - Color Management tab is selected, selected profiles are embedded when TIFF or JPEG files are output.


Printing (EPPLayout operation)

If the Auto Run Application after Export check box is selected for EPPLayout, EPPLayout is starts up after the file has been saved.

On the EPPLayout screen, the folder to which the output file is saved is automatically referenced, and thumbnails are displayed in the thumbnail screen.

1. Set Size to the same as that selected in AlbumMaker, and select a template corresponding to the print size. Or, click the

Free Layout tab.

Note:

Refer to the PPPS user’s guide for more information regarding

EPPTemplate.

2. Click the Select all button in the thumbnail screen, and drag and drop thumbnails in the template screen.

*

* Thumbnail screen


3. Click the Print button.

Print with PPPS.

For details on printing with PPPS, refer to the PPPS user’s guide.


Writing to CDs

In AlbumMaker, the Write to CD feature allows the writing of images and EPSON Photo Memory Player to a CD.

The basic Write to CD procedures on AlbumMaker are explained below.

Choosing a default CD writing application

When using Windows XP, you can select whether to use the

Windows XP default CD writing application, or a different CD writing application. To use a different writing application, you must select it in advance. These settings are made once and saved in AlbumMaker.

1. Select File - Preferences in the main window.


2. Click the CD Writing tab in the Preferences dialog box.

3. Click Registered Application , and select the CD writing application from the drop down list.

Note:

If the required application is not listed on the Registered Application drop down list, click Others . Then click the Browse button and select the path for the application.

4. Click the OK button to save the settings.


Note:

When selecting a CD writing application, the file name compatibility must be set to “Joliet compliant.” Before using a Write to CD feature, make sure that the selected application is “Joliet compliant.” For details, refer to the CD writing application manual.


1. Click the Create new job button in the main window.


2. Select Write to CD / Export Movie File , and click the OK button.

1

2

The Create New Job dialog box closes and the Select Photos window appears.


For details on selecting images, refer to the relevant sections in

“Step 2 Selecting photos” on page 38.

1. Copy images to the required group.

2. Select the images to write to CD.


3. Click the Write to CD button.

The Write to CD setting dialog box is displayed.

Step 3 Writing to CD

When using Windows XP default CD writing software

1. Click the Write button in the Write to CD Setting dialog box.


For information about the settings of the tabs in the Write to

CD Setting dialog box, refer to “Write to CD Setting dialog box” on page 164.

2. Place the CD-R (CD-RW) in the CD-ROM drive.

If there is data already on the CD, the following dialog box will appear. Select Take no action and click the OK button.

1

2

Copy the file to the writing work area. When copying is complete, a balloon message will appear in the Windows task bar.

3. Click the balloon message.

A list of files that can be written will be displayed.


4. Select File - Write these files to CD .

The CD writing wizard will start.


Enter the CD name if necessary, and click the Next button.

Writing to the CD will start. When writing is finished, the

Completing the CD Writing Wizard dialog box will appear, and the CD tray will open.



When using CD writing software (Windows 2000/XP)

1. Click the Write button in the Write to CD Setting dialog box.

Note:

The writing method set for the CD is displayed in Settings.


2. Place the CD-R (CD-RW) in the CD-ROM drive.

If there is data already on the CD, the following dialog box will appear on Windows XP environment. Select Take no action and click the OK button.

1

2

The Write to CD dialog box will appear. Follow the instructions in this dialog box to write to CD.

3. Click the Start button.

The writing application set in Preferences - CD Writing will start.


4. Drag and drop the CD icon in the CD-Writing dialog box to the CD writing application window.

The files to be written are transferred to the writing application.

5. Write to CD is performed by the writing application.

Once you have confirmed that writing is finished, remove the

CD-R (CD-RW) from the CD-ROM drive.

The procedures will differ depending on the writing application used. For details, refer to the manual for your writing application.

6. Close the writing application window.

7. Click the Close button in the CD-Writing dialog box.

Return to AlbumMaker.


Exporting Movie File

In AlbumMaker, the Export Movie feature makes a movie file that shows images with background music.

The basic procedure to export movies with AlbumMaker is explained below.


1. Click the Create new job button in the main window.


2. Select Write to CD / Export Movie File , and click the OK button.

1

2

The Create New Job dialog box closes and the Select Photos window appears.


For details on selecting images, refer to the relevant sections in

“Step 2 Selecting photos” on page 38.

1. Copy the required images to a group folder.

2. Select the images to export to the movie file.


3. Click the Export Movie button.

The Export Movie File Setting dialog box is displayed.


Step 3 Exporting movie

1. Enter a name for the movie file in the Export Movie File

Setting dialog box, click the Browse button, and select the folder for saving the file.


2. Select the Sequence Type from Type-A, -B, or -C for displaying images.

Click the Play button to view a sample of the selected sequence type. Click the Stop button to stop the effect.


3. Select the method for sorting images by Created Date or by

File Name.

4. Select Default or Custom for Back Ground Music.

When selecting Custom , click the Browse button, and select the path for the music file.


Click the Play button to play the selected music. Click the

Stop button to stop the music.

5. Click the Start button.

Exporting the movie file starts.

Note:

❏ When movie files are exported, they are saved to the selected folder. Use a third-party authoring application to record the movie to DVD.

❏ The Start button in the Export Movie File Setting window is disabled while a movie is being exported.

Printing Files

The jobs for file output products can be printed from

AlbumMaker without EPPLayout.

1. Create a file output product.

For details on creating file output products, refer to the

relevant sections in “Creating a New Job” on page 26.

2. Select File - Print in the main window.

The Print dialog box is displayed.


3. Select an EPSON printer from the Printer Name drop down list.

Note:

To specify the printing preferences, click the Property button.

4. Specify the pages you want to print.

Select All to print all pages from the current job. To print only selected pages, choose Range and enter the page numbers as follows:

❏ To select a series of pages, specify the range with a hyphen, as in 5-8.


❏ To select individual pages, separate page numbers with commas, as in 1,3.

❏ To specify a combination of individual pages and ranges of pages, use both hyphens and commas, as in 3-5,7,9.

To print only the page currently displayed on the page, select

Current Page .

When the pages to be printed are checked in the Album

Viewer window, select Checked Pages Only . For details on

checked pages in Album Viewer, refer to “Editing/Managing

Pages” on page 138.

5. Specify the Page Subset .

Select printing All Pages in Range , Even Pages Only , or

Odd Pages Only in the range.


6. Enter the number of copies from 1 to 10, and click the Print button.

1

2

When the Print button is clicked, printing will start.

Note:

If the Perform CMS Conversion of Layout Image check box on the Preferences - Color Management tab is selected, be sure to select ICM for the color management settings in your printer’s properties before printing.


Chapter 3

Editing Layouts

Common Editing Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Select and unselect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Changing the size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Deletion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Replacing items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Adjusting positions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Adding shadows to items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Making transparent items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Grouping items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Undo/Redo operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Editing Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Rotating an image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Cropping an image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Applying special effects (filters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Correcting an image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Editing Clipart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Editing clipart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Adding clipart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Editing Text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Changing text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Deleting text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Changing the format of text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Curving a text frame. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Editing Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Drawing a shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Editing a shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Editing Layouts 79

Common Editing Operations

When editing a product, the same basic operations are used to edit images and text. Common procedures to edit layouts are explained below.

Items

“Items” refers to the following:

❏ Page templates

❏ Images (image frames)

❏ Text (text frames)

❏ Clipart

❏ Shapes

Note:

❏ A layout frame can be positioned on the page as a page template.

Though layout frames only offer settings for images, they can be saved as page templates when associated with items in

AlbumMaker.

❏ To associate an item with a layout frame, select an item and then choose Associated with Layout Frame from the Edit menu.

Select and unselect

Click the Item Edit Mode button in the main window before selecting or deselecting items. Click on an item to select it. To deselect an item, click anywhere except on the item.


For multiple item selection

❏ Multiple items can be selected by clicking them while holding down the Shift key.

❏ When Edit - Select All is selected, all items on the page are selected.

❏ When Edit - Cancel All is selected, all selections are cancelled.

Note:

When multiple items have been selected, highlight one of the items by clicking on it. When settings for the highlighted item are specified, adjustments made to that item are applied to all of the originally selected items.

For selection of layered items

❏ To select the lower item when items overlap, click on the item while holding down the Ctrl key. When three or more items overlap, continue to click until the item you want is selected.

❏ To select multiple lower items, click them while holding down the Shift and Ctrl keys.

Movement

You can move items (images, text, clipart, page templates, and shapes) positioned on the page.

1. Select the item you wish to move.

2. Drag and drop it to the desired position.

Note:

Items can be moved using the keyboard arrow keys. When the arrow keys are pressed while holding down the Ctrl key, the amount of movement with each press is increased.


Changing the size

The sizes of items (images, text, clipart, page templates, and shapes) positioned on the page can be changed.

It is possible to change the sizes of more than one selected item together.

An example of an image is shown below.

1. Select the item whose size you wish to change.

Handles will appear around the item.

When the cursor is placed on a handle, the cursor form changes.

2. The item is enlarged and reduced by dragging the handles.


Note:

❏ You can change the size of item that has been positioned on a page.

In addition, you can retain the horizontal/vertical ratio by holding down the Shift key while resizing.

❏ The item’s size can be adjusted from 0.12 inches to 1.5 times the longer side of the page.

Rotation

Items (images, text, clipart, and shapes) positioned on the page can be rotated.

It is possible to rotate more than one selected item together.

An example of an image is shown below.

1. Select the item you wish to rotate.

Handles will appear around the item.

When the cursor is placed on the handle at the upper edge, the cursor form changes to that for the rotating mode.

2. Drag the upper edge handle in the direction you wish the item to rotate.

Any degree of rotation is possible.


Note:

❏ Only the image positioned in the image frame can be rotated. Refer

to “Rotating an image only” on page 94 for details.

❏ The page templates can be rotated with the Rotate/Flip dialog box.

For details, refer to “Rotate/Flip dialog box” on page 151.

Deletion

Items (images, text, clipart, page templates, and shapes) positioned on the page can be deleted.

c Caution:

When deleting a page template, all associated items are also deleted.

1. Select the item frame you wish to delete.

Multiple items can be selected.

2. Press the Delete key.

The item is deleted.

It is also possible to click the Edit button, and select

Delete , or select Delete from the menu that is displayed by right-clicking the item.

Note:

❏ When deleting an image or text, the image frame or text frame is also deleted. Deleting only the image frame or text frame is not possible.

❏ When an image that has been associated with a layout frame by selecting Associated with Layout Frame from the Edit menu is deleted, only the image is deleted. The image frame remains on the page.


Replacing items

Items (images, clipart, and page templates) positioned on the page can be replaced. Image replacement, clipart replacement, and page template replacement are all possible.

An image replacement example is shown below.

1. Select the item you wish to replace on the page.

2. Click the Images , Clipart , or Page Template tab according to the type of the item selected on the page.

3. Select a replacement item from the item list, and click the

Replace button.

a b a. Edit item b. Item targeted for replacement


The item is replaced.

Adjusting positions

The positions of items (images, text, clipart, and shapes) positioned on the page can be adjusted.

For a page template, only the order of the layers can be changed.

Adjust the position with the Align menu

1. Select the item whose position you wish to adjust.

Selection of more than one item is possible by clicking while holding down the Shift key.


2. Select a command from the Align button.

Align Right

Align Top

Align Left :

:

:

Align Bottom :

Align Center -

Horizontal :

The selected item is moved to the right edge of the item that was selected first.

The selected item is moved to the top of the item that was selected first.

The selected item is moved to the bottom of the item that was selected first.

The selected item is moved to the left edge of the item that was selected first.

The selected item is moved to the center of the horizontal direction of the item that was selected first.


Align Center -

Vertical

Centering -

Vertical :

:

The selected item is moved to the center of the vertical direction of the item that was selected first.

The selected item is moved to the center of the vertical direction for multiple selected items.

Centering -

Horizontal :

Center on Page : The selected item is moved to the center of the page.

Align Width : Width of the other items is adjusted to the width of the item that was selected first.

Align Height :

The selected item is moved to the center of the horizontal direction for multiple selected items.

Height of the other items is adjusted to the height of the item that was selected first.

Bring Forward : The selected item is moved one layer forward.

Send Backward : The selected item is moved one layer back.

Bring to Front :

Send to Back :

The selected item is moved to the front.

The selected item is moved to the back.

Note:

❏ Alignment menus ( Align Left through Align Height ) are disabled when multiple items are not selected.

❏ Alignment menus ( Bring Forward through Send to Back ) are disabled when multiple items are not positioned on the page.


Specifying the position of objects

The positions of image frames, text, clipart, page template, and shapes can be adjusted.

1. Select the item whose position you wish to adjust.

Multiple items can be selected.

2. Click the Edit button, and select Dimensions .

3. Specify the object location and size.


To specify the location, enter the values of the horizontal and vertical axis coordinates in the Horizontal and Vertical fields.

When a size value is entered, the item is changed to the specified width and height.

Note:

To specify the size regardless of the vertical/horizontal aspect ratio of the item, clear the Fixed Aspect Ratio check box.

4. Click the Apply button.

The settings are applied to the item and you can view the effect on the page. If the Apply button is not clicked, the settings will not be applied.

You can also press the Enter key to apply the settings.

Click the Close button on the upper right of the dialog box after completing the settings.

If multiple items are selected, the size values entered in the

Width and Height fields do not affect the items.

Adding shadows to items

The shadow effect can be applied to items (image frames, text, and shapes) positioned on the page.

1. Select the item you wish to edit.

2. Click the Edit button, and select Shadow in the main window.

The Shadow dialog box is displayed.


3. Select the Drop Shadow check box.

4. Specify Color, Offset, Gradation, and Transparency.

Note:

For more information about adding shadow, see “Shadow dialog box” on page 151.


The settings are applied to the item and you can view the effect on the page. If the Apply button is not clicked, the setting is not applied.



Making transparent items

A value of opacity can be applied to items (image frames, text frames, clipart, page templates, and shapes) positioned on the page by specifying a percentage value in the Transparency dialog box.

1. Select the item you wish to edit.

2. Click the Edit button, and select Transparency in the main window.


The Transparency dialog box is displayed.

3. Move the Rate slider to specify the rate.

It is also possible to enter a value (0 to 100) directly.


The settings are applied to the item and you can view the effect on the page. If the Apply button is not clicked, the setting is not applied.



Grouping items

The items (images, text, clipart, and shapes) positioned on the page can be grouped. It is possible to move or rotate the group without changing their layout in relation to each other.

1. Select the items you wish to group.


2. Select Edit - Group - Set Group .

Note:

To cancel the group, select the group, and select Edit - Group -

Ungroup in the main window.

Undo/Redo operation

When the Undo button is clicked, previously performed operations can be canceled. To perform the canceled operations again, click the Redo button. Up to 300 operations can be performed with Undo/Redo.

Note:

Undo/Redo only applies to operations performed on the current page.

When the page is changed, Undo/Redo information is reset.


Editing Images

In the Edit layout step for creating a product, it is possible to place filter effects on positioned images, or to perform cutouts, rotation and cropping edits. The image editing that can be performed in

AlbumMaker is explained below.

Refer to “Common Editing Operations” on page 80 for image

replacement, enlargement/reduction, rotation, deletion, and other editing operations common to all items.

Note:

Image frames retain image-only rotation value, image-size adjustment value, and image-cutout value information even if the associated image is replaced.

Rotating an image

It is possible to rotate an image itself, or to rotate the image frame.

Note:

This edit operation can be performed for multiple images placed on the page.

Rotating an image only

You can rotate only the positioned image, without rotating the image frame.

1. Select the image frame of the image you wish to edit.

2. Click the Rotate Photo button in the main window.

The image is rotated 90 degrees to the left.


Note:

The content of this edit is reflected on the page, but this does not affect the source image file.

Rotating the entire image frame

The image positioned on the page and its image frame border can be rotated together at a specified angle to the left.

1. Select the image frame you wish to edit.

2. Select Rotate/Flip from the Edit button.

The Rotate/Flip dialog box is displayed.

Note:

You can also perform Rotate/Flip from the menu that is displayed by right-clicking the image.

3. Specify the angle of rotation.

Enter the angle from 0.0 to 359.9 degrees in the Rotate field.


The settings are applied to the image and you can view the effect on the page. If the Apply button is not clicked, the setting is not applied.



Note:

This edit is reflected on the page, but this will not affect the source image file.


Flipping an image (horizontally/vertically)

An image can be flipped vertically or horizontally.


2. Select Rotate/Flip from the Edit button.

The Rotate/Flip dialog box will be displayed.

Note:

You can also perform Rotate/Flip from the menu that is displayed by right-clicking the image.

3. Select the Horizontal or Vertical check box.


The settings are applied to the image and you can view the effect on the page. If the Apply button is not clicked, the setting is not applied.



Note:


Cropping an image

Cropping/Cutouts

An image can be cropped to the desired size, and cut out to the selected type of cutout.


*


2. Click the Crop/Cutout button in the main window.

The Crop/Cutout dialog box will be displayed.

Note:

You can also perform Crop/Cutout from the menu that is displayed by right-clicking the image.

3. Drag the handles of the crop area frame on the Before screen.

* Crop area frame

To adjust the position of the frame, click inside the frame to drag the frame.

The effect can be viewed on the After screen.


4. Select a type of cutout from the Cutout list.

To return to the default settings, click the Reset button.

Note:

If multiple images are selected, the Apply to All Selected Photos check box appears. Select this check box to execute the same action for all images.


The settings are applied to the image and you can view the effect on the page.


Note:

If the multiple images are selected and the Apply to All Selected

Photos check box is not selected, continue the setting until all of the selected images are edited.


Note:


Applying special effects (filters)

A special effect filter can be applied to an image.

Setting softness

The image’s edges can be softened.


2. Click the Edit button, and select Soft Edge .

The Soft Edge dialog box appears.

Note:

You can also apply Soft Edge from the menu that is displayed by right-clicking the image.

3. Move the slider to adjust the edges.


The preview image will become softer when the slider is moved to the right.

It is also possible to enter a value (0 to 100) directly.

The effect can be viewed in the After screen.


Note:





Note:



Note:


Converting to sepia/monochrome

The image is converted to sepia or monochrome.


2. Click the Edit button, and select Sepia/Monochrome .

The Convert to Sepia/Monochrome dialog box is displayed.


Note:

You can also convert to sepia or monochrome from the menu that is displayed by right-clicking the image.

3. Select Sepia or Monochrome , and move the slider to specify the degree.

It is also possible to enter a degree (-100 to 100) directly.

1

2

The effect can be viewed on the After screen.

To return to the default settings, select None , or click the

Reset button.

Note:






Note:



Note:


Correcting an image

The tint, brightness and contrast of the image can be adjusted to change the image.

Adjusting the color of an image

The color of an image as a whole can be adjusted, or a certain color

(field of color) can be changed.

1. Click the image frame of the image you wish to correct.

2. Click the Edit button, and select Color Balance .

The Color Balance dialog box appears.

Note:

You can also perform Color Balance from the menu that is displayed by right-clicking the image.


3. Move the various color sliders to adjust the color of the image.

Color is adjusted by moving the Red Color , Green Color , and Blue Color sliders. It is also possible to enter values (-100 to 100) directly.


Note:

❏ When changing the color of clipart, the original horizontal/vertical ratio is shown inside the dialog box, even if you have changed the ratio by editing the clipart.

❏ If multiple images are selected, the Apply to All Selected

Photos check box appears. Select this check box to execute the same action for all images.





Note:



Adjusting brightness/contrast

You can set the image brightness and contrast.

1. Click the image frame of the image you wish to correct.

2. Click the Edit button, and select Brightness/Contrast .

The Brightness/Contrast dialog box is displayed.

Note:

You can also adjust Brightness/Contrast from the menu that is displayed by right-clicking the image.


3. Move the sliders to adjust the brightness and contrast of the image.

❏ Move the Brightness slider to adjust the brightness of the image. It is also possible to enter values (-100 to 100) directly.

❏ Move the Contrast slider to adjust the contrast. It is also possible to enter values (-100 to 100) directly.


Note:






Note:



Editing Clipart

In the Edit layout step for creating a product, you can replace and edit (frame border rotation, vertical/horizontal flip, cutout, color change) clipart.

Also, it is possible to select clipart that you have created, and to arrange it on the page.

The clipart controls are explained in this section.

Refer to “Common Editing Operations” on page 80 for clipart

replacement, enlargement/reduction, rotation, deletion, and other editing operations common to all items.


Editing clipart

You can rotate frames, flip horizontally or vertically, cutout, and adjust colors of positioned clipart.

Clipart edit operations are the same as for images. Refer to the

appropriate sections in “Editing Images” on page 94 for details.

c Caution:

When rotating frames, the preview display may differ from the original image.

This is an effect of the process for increasing the display speed, and does not mean that the original image has been degraded.

Note:

Only one piece of clipart can be selected from the Clipart list.

In addition to using the Insert and Replace buttons, clipart can be positioned by double-clicking, and by drag and drop.

Adding clipart

You can create your own clipart and to select it from the

AlbumMaker Clipart tab.


1. Create a piece of clipart using illustration software.

Possible file formats are JPEG, (*.JPG, *.JPE, *.JPEG), PNG

(*.PNG) and WMF (*.WMF).

2. Create a folder and give it a name related to the clipart that is stored in it, so you can recognize it later, and then save the clipart file to that folder.

3. Copy the clipart folder you created to the User original folder under CLIPART in AlbumMaker2 .

The CLIPART folder in AlbumMaker2 is located along the path shown below, if the default installation destination folder was used.

C:\Program Files\EPSON\AlbumMaker2\CLIPART\User original

Note:

The clipart folder is placed under the destination folder when

AlbumMaker is installed if you are using Windows 2000 or you change the location of the installation folder.


Creating clipart with transparent features

When creating a clipart file, create a PNG file in advance using your illustration software. Since PNG format files have transparent features, it becomes transparent when the transparent area in the illustration software is positioned as clipart.

When creating the PNG file make it the size you wish to display, at 360 dpi in RGB mode.

Editing Text

In the Edit layout step for creating a product, it is possible to position new text or edit existing text. It is also possible to perform editing operations such as attribute changes for text strings, positioning, etc. Text editing is described below.

Refer to “Common Editing Operations” on page 80 for text

enlargement/reduction, rotation, deletion, and other editing operations common to most of the items.

Changing text

You can edit existing text positioned on the page.

1. Double-click the text frame you wish to change on the page.

2. Edit the text in the text frame.

Deleting text

You can delete text positioned on the page.


1. Select the text frame to delete.

2. Press the Delete key.

The text frame is deleted.

It is also possible to click the Edit button, and select

Delete , or select Delete from the menu that is displayed by right-clicking the text frame.

Changing the format of text

You can specify the font type, size, text color, style, and alignment of text. Format can be changed when newly positioning text strings or for existing text strings.

1. Select the text frame you wish to change.

2. Click the Edit button, and select Text in the main window.

The Text dialog box is displayed.

3. Specify the font, size, color, style, and alignment.

Note:

For more information about changing the format of text, see “Text dialog box” on page 152.



The settings are applied to the text and you can view the effect on the page. If the Apply button is not clicked, the settings are not applied.



Curving a text frame

1. Select the text frame to change.

A yellow handle will appear on the center of the text frame.

When the cursor is placed on the handle, the cursor form changes to the shape for curving mode.

2. Drag the handle on the center of the text frame up or down.


Editing Shapes

In the Edit layout step for creating a product, AlbumMaker allows you to create shapes (rectangles—with or without rounded corners, ellipses, and straight lines) on the page. You can apply color to these shapes and edit them in a variety of other ways. This section introduces the various controls available for creating and editing shapes.

Refer to “Common Editing Operations” on page 80 for shape

enlargement/reduction, rotation, deletion, and other editing operations common to most of the items.

Drawing a shape

You can draw rectangles, rounded corners, ellipses, and lines on the page.

1. Click the Select Mode button, and select a shape from

Rectangle , Rounded corners , Ellipse , or Line .


2. Click and drag the mouse on the page.

The selected shape appears in the dragged area.

Note:

❏ To draw regular shapes, drag the cursor while holding down the

Shift key.

❏ To draw a line at an angle of 45 degrees, drag the cursor while holding down the Shift key.

Editing a shape

You can specify the fill and stroke of shapes positioned on the page.

1. Select the shape you wish to edit.

2. Click the Edit button, and select Fill/Stroke .


The Fill/Stroke dialog box is displayed.

3. Specify fill and stroke for the shape.

Note:

❏ When editing a straight line, the Fill setting is disabled.

❏

For more information about editing a shape, see “Fill/Stroke dialog box” on page 149.


The settings are applied to the shape and you can view the effect on the page. If the Apply button is not clicked, the setting is not applied.




Chapter 4

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Cannot import images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Current product is beyond repair. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Text is not displayed correctly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

No image thumbnails are displayed in the Images tab. . . . 117

The Start button in the Export Movie File Setting window is disabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Error Message List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Write to CD error messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Select Photos error messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Export Movie File error messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Undo/Redo error messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Troubleshooting 115

Troubleshooting

Problems that may occur during the use of AlbumMaker and their solutions are described below.

Cannot import images

If the following message appears at the Selecting Photos step, check the image size.

An image that cannot be registered has been found. Check the image size, the length of the file name, etc.

Check that the image size is not above the maximum value (length or height are 10000 pixels), or below the minimum value (width or height are 32 pixels), and that the path and file name are not over 255 characters.

Current product is beyond repair

If the current product you are working on cannot be fixed by editing it, you can use the same template and do the editing work over. Delete the current page template. Then, place the thumbnail of the same page template from the Page Template tab in the main window.

Text is not displayed correctly

When displaying the entire page on screen, the text is reduced so it fits on the screen. However, the text may appear bold or protrude out of the frames. Set the zoom to 100% to solve this problem.


No image thumbnails are displayed in the

Images tab

Copy images to a group folder in the Select Photos window and select the group folder from the drop-down list in the Images tab.

Select a folder containing images from the folder tree in the

Images tab.

The Start button in the Export Movie File Setting window is disabled

While exporting a movie file, another movie file cannot be exported.

Error Message List

Error messages displayed during the use of AlbumMaker and their solutions are described below.

Write to CD error messages

The writing application has not been set. Click Write to CD in Preferences to make the necessary settings.

The AlbumMaker Write to CD feature is performed using the

Write to CD feature of Windows XP, or with other CD writing applications. To use other CD writing applications, specify the CD writing application to use in Preferences .

Refer to “Writing to CDs” on page 59 for details.


Select Photos error messages

Not enough disk space for the work area.

There is less than 500 MB of free space on the hard disk. Adding photos to a group folder requires a minimum of 500 MB or free hard disk space, you can increase the available hard disk space by deleting unneeded files.

Export Movie File error messages

Not enough disk space for the work area.

There is less than 5 GB of free space on the hard disk. Exporting a movie requires a minimum of 5 GB or free hard disk space, you can increase the available hard disk space by deleting unneeded files.

To use this function, you need to install QuickTime.

QuickTime must be installed on your computer to export movie files. Please install QuickTime.

Undo/Redo error messages

Not enough operating system (Windows) virtual memory.

Reset Undo information.

Not enough operating system (Windows) virtual memory.

Reset Redo information.

There is not enough memory available to undo/redo. Increase the available memory by closing any unnecessary windows and exiting any other applications that may be running.


Chapter 5

Reference Information

EPSON AlbumMaker Folder Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Using Template Converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

About Template Converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Applications Supported by Template Converter . . . . . . . . . 121

Operating procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Uninstalling the Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Deleting the template data collection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Deleting the program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Uninstalling Template Converter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Customizing EPSON Photo Memory Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

About copyrights on sound files for EPSON Photo Memory Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Selecting the background music for EPSON Photo Memory Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Displaying information when replaying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Customizing Movie File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

About copyrights on a sound file for the movie file . . . . . . 133

Selecting background music for a movie file . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Reference Information 119

EPSON AlbumMaker Folder Configuration

When the AlbumMaker is set up, a containing program files including the execution files, user data, and preferences information, will be created. If the default installation destinations are not changed during setup, the folder organization will be as follows.

C:\Program Files\EPSON\AlbumMaker2

The following folders are created in the AlbumMaker2 folder:

CDR :

CLIPART :

HELP :

MOVIE :

Stores the runtime viewer copied during Write to

CD

Stores the clipart

Stores the HTML files for the Help menu

Stores movie files


SHAPEDB : Stores types of cutouts

TEMPLATE : Stores template data

Using Template Converter

About Template Converter

Template Converter is a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop. You can use it to create layout frames (DNF files) for EPSON

AlbumMaker.

Template Converter makes it possible to perform a series of operations, from layout frame image creation, to alpha channel creation and layout frame creation (DNF File output), with a single tool, Photoshop.

When Template Converter is plugged into Photoshop, the Output

DNF files submenu is added to the File - Export menu. By executing a DNF File output command in Photoshop, you can directly create a layout frame that can be used as a template base.

Applications Supported by Template Converter

Template Converter supports Adobe Photoshop 6.0/7.0/CS.

For more information on Template Converter setup, see

“Template Converter setup” on page 18.


Operating procedures

The following procedures describe how to create a layout frame with Template Converter.

Sample: Create 8.3

×

11.7 inches size layout frame.

c Caution:

The layout frame image used for DNF file creation must be in

4-channel mode (RGB + alpha channel).

1. Start Photoshop to create an 8.3

×

11.7 inches size layout frame image.

Note:

For more information about Photoshop, see the Photoshop documentation and help files.


For more information about the folder in which a layout

frames are saved, see “EPSON AlbumMaker Folder

Configuration” on page 120.

2. Click the Create new channel button in the channel palette.

The alpha channel is created.


3. Create an area to place a photo using tools and effects, such as the rectangle tool and gradation. It’s also possible to place text in this area.

Note:

For easier operation on the alpha channel layer, enable the channel palette to show RGB channels and create a guide where you would like to place the photo.


4. Select File - Export - DNF File output from the menu to output the DNF file.

The DNF File output screen is displayed.

Note:

It is possible to save the DNF output process to the action palette, and then execute it from the palette. This is useful way creating DNF files for multiple layout frame images. This process can be automated by recording the procedures for outputting DNF files and then playing them later.

For more information about recording/playing procedures, see the

Photoshop documentation and help files.


5. Specify a storage location and filename, and click the Save button.

A DNF file is created.

Uninstalling the Software

When uninstalling AlbumMaker, delete the template data collection first, and then delete the program.

Deleting the template data collection

1. Select Start - Control panel .

The Control panel window is displayed.

Note:

When using the Classic Start menu of Windows XP or

Windows2000, select Start - Settings - Control panel . When using Windows 2000, double-click the Add/Remove programs icon, select EPSON AlbumMaker Template Data

Collection , and click the Change/Remove button.


2. Click the Add or Remove Programs icon.

3. Select EPSON AlbumMaker Template Data Collection 2.0

, and click the Remove button.



Uninstallation will start. When file deletion is complete, the

Maintenance Complete dialog box will be displayed.


Template Data Collection uninstall is complete.

Next, the program is uninstalled.


Deleting the program

1. Double-click the Add or Remove Programs icon.

2. Select EPSON AlbumMaker 2.0

, and click the Remove button.


Uninstallation will start. When file deletion is complete, the

Maintenance Complete dialog box will be displayed.



AlbumMaker uninstallation is complete.

Note:

If AlbumMaker is uninstalled, the program will be deleted. However, jobs, image files and other user original data will not be deleted. To delete user data completely, use Windows Explorer to delete the

AlbumMaker2 folder inside the EPSON folder.

If the default data folder was not changed during setup, the folders will be as follows:

C:\Program Files\EPSON\AlbumMaker2

Uninstalling Template Converter

To remove the Template Converter plug-in from Photoshop, delete the OutDNF.8be file from your Photoshop plug-in folder.

The plug-in folder location varies by Photoshop version in your computer. Display the OutDNF.8be file by using My Computer or Windows Explorer, and delete it.


Photoshop 7.0

\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop7.0\Plug-Ins\Adobe

Photoshop Only\Import-Export

Photoshop 6.0

\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop6.0\Plug-Ins\Adobe


Photoshop CS

\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop CS\Plug-Ins\Adobe


Customizing EPSON Photo Memory Player

The copyrights and selection of sound files in EPSON Photo

Memory Player are explained below.

About copyrights on sound files for EPSON Photo

Memory Player

Copyrights and other related rights on the three types of sound files for EPSON Photo Memory Player in this program are owned by Seiko Epson Corporation. Any modification is prohibited without permission.


Selecting the background music for EPSON

Photo Memory Player

The MP3 format sound files can be used for the background music for EPSON Photo Memory Player. To change the music, select the sound file on the Back Ground Music tab in the Write to CD

Setting dialog box. If you want to use your own sound file, prepare an MP3 format file specified below. For more information

on selecting the background music, refer to “Write to CD Setting

- Back Ground Music tab” on page 166.

The MP3 file specifications are as described below:

Stereo: 160 kbps

VBR (variable bit rate):

Sampling rate:

Channels:

Stereo mode:

OFF

44.100 kHz recommended

(22 kHz possible) stereo

File size: joint stereo

12.5 MB or less for the three tunes

Displaying information when replaying

When replaying EPSON Photo Memory Player or clicking the

Information button, you can display information regarding the customer such as creator information or a short commercial message.


To display player information, prepare a JPEG file of 640

×

480 pixels as an information file and select the information file on the

Menu Image tab in the Write to CD Setting dialog box. For more

information on selecting the information file, refer to “Write to

CD Setting - Menu Image tab” on page 164.

c Caution:

If the image size is not as specified, EPSON Photo Memory Player replays the image the same as the usual image display.

Customizing Movie File

The copyrights and selection of sound files in the movie file are explained below.

About copyrights on a sound file for the movie file

Copyrights and other related rights on the sound file for the movie file in this program are owned by Seiko Epson Corporation. Any modification is prohibited without permission.

Selecting background music for a movie file

The MP3 format sound files can be used for the background music for a movie file. If you want to use your own sound file, prepare an MP3 format file as specified below. For more information on

selecting background music, refer to “Step 3 Exporting movie” on page 72.

The MP3 file specifications are as described below:

Stereo: 160 kbps


VBR (variable bit rate):

Sampling rate:

Channels:

Stereo mode:

File size:

OFF

44.100 kHz recommended

(22 kHz possible) stereo joint stereo

12.5 MB or less total for the three tunes


Chapter 6

Dialog Boxes

Registering/Managing Photos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Select Photos window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Editing/Managing Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Main window for pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Editing/Managing Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Main window for items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Editing Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Color Balance dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Crop/Cutout dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Soft Edge dialog box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Brightness/Contrast dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Convert to Sepia/Monochrome dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Floating Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Dimensions dialog box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Transparency dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Fill/Stroke dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Rotate/Flip dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Shadow dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Text dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Preferences dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Saving Jobs/Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Save as dialog box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Save as Template dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Job Info dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Outputting Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Print dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Export dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Write to CD Setting dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Export Movie File Setting dialog box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Dialog Boxes 135

Registering/Managing Photos

Select Photos window

Copy images to AlbumMaker and sort them into the groups you created.

Add Group button: Adds a group folder under the All

Photos folder.

Delete Group button: Deletes the selected group folder and the images contained in the group.


Select New Photo button:

Remove Photo button:

Used to add images to

AlbumMaker. When the button is clicked the Open dialog box is displayed, allowing you to select the original images to be added to your product. Clicking the Copy or Move button in the dialog box copies or moves selected images to both the current folder and the

All Photos folder.

Removes the selected images from AlbumMaker. Even when an image is removed from the group folder, that image exists in the All Photos folder.

To completely remove the image, remove it from the All Photos folder.

The original images are not removed even when you operate this button.

Photo Rotate button: Rotates the selected image 90 degrees to the left.

The original images are not rotated even when you use this button.

Slider:

Photo Viewer button: Starts Photo Viewer for viewing up to six enlarged images in the selected group folder.

Slideshow button: Starts the slide show of images in the selected group.

Enlarges or reduces the image thumbnail.


Write to CD button:

Export Movie button:

Close button:

Opens the Write to CD setting dialog box.

Opens the Export Movie File

Setting dialog box.

Closes the Select Photos window, and returns to the previous screen.

Editing/Managing Pages

Main window for pages

Although the pages of a product are specified when creating a new job, the pages can be edited in the main window regardless of the type of the page.


Create New Job button:

Open Job button:

Save Job button:

Undo button:

Redo button:

Zoom In button:

Opens the Create New Job dialog box to start a new job.

Opens the Select Job dialog box to open the saved job.

Overwrites the job on the existing data.

Cancels the previously performed operations.

Redoes the previously canceled operation.

Enlarges the view of the page.

Decreases the view of the page.

Zoom Out button:

Add Page button:

Delete Page button:

Album Viewer button:

Used to open the Add Page dialog box to add freemount pages to the job. The Background setting is available in the Add Page dialog box.

Deletes the page currently displayed in the main window.

Starts Album Viewer so you can check the job before printing it.

You can mark pages in Album

Viewer by putting a check mark in the check box on each page.


Page list: By clicking the page thumbnail, the current page is changed to the selected page. To change the order of the pages, drag and drop the page you want.

Editing/Managing Items

Main window for items

Select an item or multiple items on the page, and edit them in the main window.

Item Edit Mode button:

Click this button to select items on the page to edit them.


Input Text Mode button:

Draw Rectangle button:

Select Mode button:

Add Frame button:

Click this button to click or drag the cursor on the page to make a new text frame.

Click this button to drag the cursor on the page to draw a shape you want. The name and icon of this button differs depending on the shape you selected.

Selects the type of shape

(Rectangle, rounded corners, ellipse, line).

Adds an image frame.

Edit button:

Align button:

Selects the edit feature for the selected items and a dialog box is displayed according to the selected feature.

Selects the alignment feature for the selected items.

Rotate Photo button: Rotates the image in the selected image frame 90 degrees to the left.

Crop/Cutout button: Opens the Crop/Cutout dialog box to crop and cut out images with the selected shape.

Insert button: Inserts the images, clipart, or page template from the Images ,

Clipart , or Page Template tab to the page.


Replace

Images

Clipart

button:

tab:

tab:

Page Template tab:

Replaces the selected images, clipart, or page template on the page with ones on the Images ,

Clipart , or Page Template tab.

Displays a list of thumbnail images.

Select Explorer or Group view button:

Selects Group or Explorer for selecting images.

Thumbnail size can be adjusted using the slider in the upper right corner on the Images tab.

Open Select Photos:

Opens the Select Photos window to copy or move images to

AlbumMaker.

Displays clipart selected from the folder tree as thumbnails.

The thumbnail size can be adjusted using the slider in the upper right corner on the Clipart tab.

Used to display page templates selected from the folder tree as thumbnails.

The thumbnail size can be adjusted using the slider in the upper right corner on the Page

Template tab.


Editing Images

In each dialog box for editing images, the original image is displayed in the Before screen, and the image after editing is displayed in the After screen.

The setting is reflected on the image in the main window, but the original image file is not modified.

Color Balance dialog box

The color of the image can be adjusted.

When adjusting the color of clipart, the original horizontal/vertical ratio is shown inside the dialog box.

Multiple images can be selected, and their color can be adjusted all at once.


Red Color/Green Color

/Blue Color:

Each color can be adjusted with its slider. It is also possible to enter the values directly.

Crop/Cutout dialog box

The original image can be cropped at the specified coordinates and size. A shape can be specified and cut out from the image.

Click the desired shape with the mouse to select it. There are 42 types of cutouts.

Multiple images can be selected, and cutout can be done to all of them at once.


Cutout list: Select the type of cutout.

Select blank to return to the original non-cutout image.

Soft Edge dialog box

The edge of the image can be softened.

Multiple images can be selected, and their edges can be softened all at once.

Softness slider: The edge softness can be adjusted with the slider. It is also possible to enter the values directly.


Brightness/Contrast dialog box

The image brightness and contrast can be set.

Multiple images can be selected, and their brightness/contrast can be set all at once.

Brightness slider:

Contrast slider:

The brightness can be adjusted with the slider. It is also possible to enter the values directly.

The contrast can be adjusted with the slider. It is also possible to enter the values directly.


Convert to Sepia/Monochrome dialog box

The image can be converted to sepia or monochrome (gray scale).

Multiple images can be selected, and they can be converted to sepia or monochrome all at once.

Sepia/Monochrome

Filter:

None :

Used to prevent the specified image from being converted when multiple images are selected.

Sepia :

Convert the image to sepia by moving the slider. It is also possible to enter the values directly.


Monochrome :

Convert the image to monochrome by moving the slider. It is also possible to enter the values directly.

Floating Windows

Dimensions dialog box

You can set position and size information for the selected item.

Location:

Size:

Set the horizontal and vertical axis coordinates that indicate the position of the left and upper side of the item.

The coordinates can be set in 0.01 inch increments.

Set the width and height of the item.

The size can be set in 0.01 inch increments.


Fixed Aspect Ratio check box:

If selected, frame borders maintain their aspect ratio (the ratio of height to width) even when they change size.

When this option is cleared, the size of items can be changed regardless of their aspect ratio.

Transparency dialog box

The transparency information for the selected item can be set.

When a text frame is selected, the transparency can be set for the text frame only.

Specify the value of the transparency by moving the Rate slider or entering the value directly.

Fill/Stroke dialog box

You can specify the stroke and fill of the shapes.

When selecting a line, only the stroke can be specified.


Fill check box:

Color button:

Stroke check box:

Type:

Color button:

Thickness:

Select this check box to fill the inside of the selected shape with color.

Click to select the color to use as fill.

Select the color, or click the Define

Custom Colors button to create the color you want in the Color dialog box, and click the OK button.

Select this check box to change the stroke of the shape.

Used to change the type of the stroke for the shape.

Click to select the color of the stroke for the shape. Select the color, or click the Define Custom Colors button to create the color you want in the Color dialog box, and click the OK button.

Used to change the thickness of the stroke for the shape.


Rotate/Flip dialog box

The selected item can be rotated to the left, and can be flipped horizontally or vertically.

The setting is applied to the image in the main window, but the original image file is not modified.

Rotate:

Flip of Items:

Enter the degree of rotation.

Select to flip the image horizontally or vertically.

Shadow dialog box

The shadow effect can be added to an item.


Drop Shadow check box:

Color:

Offset:

Gradation slider:

Transparency slider:

If selected, the shadow effect appears behind the item.

Color button:

Click the color button to specify shadow color. Select the color, or click the Define Custom Colors button to create the color you want in the Color dialog box, and click the OK button.

Brightness slider:

Specify shadow brightness.

Specify horizontal and vertical shadow length.

The gradation can be specified by moving the slider.

The shadow becomes darker when the slider is moved to the right.

Specify shadow transparency.

Text dialog box

You can specify the format of text positioned on the page.


Font:

Size:

Color:

Style:

Alignment:

Select the desired font from the font list.

Select or enter the text size.

Specify the text color. Click the color button to select the color you want.

Click on the Define Custom Colors button to create the color you want.

Changes the text to bold, Italic, and

Underline.

Select the text position in the text frame between align left, center, align right, and justify.

Preferences

Preferences dialog box

The Preferences dialog box is displayed by selecting File -

Preferences in the main window.


Preferences - General tab

General settings are performed on the Preferences - General tab.

Temporary Folder:

StartUp Operation:

Layout Method of

Image:

Empty Photo Group

Warning Dialog at

Create New Job:

Specify the path for saving temporally files, click the Browse button, and select a folder from the folder tree. Then click the OK button.

Select whether the Starting Dialog is displayed at startup.

Select whether the images are rotated according to the shape of the image frame when they are positioned.

Select whether to display the dialog that allows you to select images in the

Select Photos window before the main window is displayed.


Preferences - Unit/Grid tab

The measurement unit and the grid size in the main window are set on the Unit/Grid tab.

Measurement Units:

Grid Size:

Select the measurement unit from

Inch or mm .

Enter the value of the grid size. The range is 0.25 to 2.5 inches (5.0 to 50.0 mm). The unit of the grid size changes according to the setting in

Measurement Units.


Preferences - CD Writing tab

Select the CD writing application for the CD Write feature.

Registered

Application :

Others :

Select the Windows XP default CD writing application or a registered CD writing application.

Select a CD writing application that is not listed on Registered

Application .


Preferences - Color Management tab

When positioning images on the main window, you can use the

Color management tab to specify whether to do a color conversion of the images when the file is output.

Perform CMS

Conversion of Layout

Image check box:

The default setting for this check box is selected.

If ICC profiles are embedded within the image when images are positioned during layout, the image’s color is converted to AlbumMaker’s work color. Bitmap images and images without profiles are not converted and are displayed with

AlbumMaker’s work color.

Also, sRGB profiles are embedded when outputting images in TIFF or

JPEG format.

If the check box is cleared, sRGB spaces that use a profile are not converted.


Working Color Space: Select sRGB , Adobe RGB , or Apple

RGB for the work color space.

Case of Has No Profile: Select whether the image is regarded as sRGB or not, when the profiles are not embedded within the image.

Preferences - Quality tab

You can specify resolution when printing or exporting products

(jobs).

Super B (13 below:

×

19 in) or Specify resolution for paper sizes that are Super B (13

×

19 inches) or smaller.

The default value is 320 dpi.

Over Super B (13

×

19 in): Specify resolution for paper sizes that are larger than Super B (13

×

19 inches). The default value is 180 dpi.


Saving Jobs/Templates

Save as dialog box

Even if the job is not completed, it is possible to save it while editing the layout.

To display the Save as dialog box, select File - Save as in the main window.

File name:

Job Info:

Enter the file name for the job. Up to

32 letters can be entered.

Customer Name:

Enter the customer name for the job.

Up to 32 letters can be entered.


Comment:

Enter the comment for the job. Up to


Save as Template dialog box

Save the job that has been completed to use as a template.

To display the Save as Template dialog box, select File - Save as

Template in the main window.

File name: Enter the file name for the job. Up to



Format:

Template Info:

Select the type of template from Set

Template or Page Template.

Customer Name:

Enter the customer name for the job.


Comment:

Enter the comment for the job. Up to


Job Info dialog box

The Job Info dialog box shows the job name, customer name, and comment.

To display the Job Info dialog box, click the Info button on the

Create New Job dialog box.

Name:

Customer name:

Enter the names for the job.


Enter the customer names for the job.



Comment: Enter the comments for the job.


Outputting Files

Print dialog box

Specify the print setting for the product to directly print with an

EPSON printer.

To display the Print dialog box, select File - Print in the main

Window.


Export dialog box

You can export products (jobs) in the Export dialog box. However, you cannot export “Write to CD” or “Export Movie” products.

File name:

Save as type:

Auto Run Application after Export check box:

Enter the file name for the job. Up to


Select the file format.

If selected, the application selected in the drop down list starts, after the product is exported.


Write to CD Setting dialog box

The settings for the Write to CD feature can be specified here.

Write to CD Setting - Menu Image tab

On the Menu Image tab, select the skin file for EPSON Photo

Memory Player.

Menu Image list:

Add button:

Delete button:

Preview :

Shows the skin files for EPSON Photo

Memory Player.

Displays the dialog box to add skin files to the Menu Image list.

Deletes a selected skin file in the

Menu Image list.

Shows the image of the skin file selected in the Menu Image list.


Write to CD Setting - Custom Loading Image tab

On the Custom Loading Image tab, select the image for the menu of EPSON Photo Memory Player.

Custom Loading Image: None :

Nothing displayed on the menu of

EPSON Photo Memory Player.

Use Image File :

Select an image by clicking the

Browse button and select the path for the image.

Preview: Show the preview of the selected custom JPEG on Custom Loading

Image .


Write to CD Setting - Back Ground Music tab

On the Back Ground Music tab, select the background music for


Sequence list:

Selected Sequence Back

Ground Music:

Select the type of effects for the sequence.

Default :

Selects the music from the pre-installed background music for


Custom :

Selects the music file other than the pre-installed background music.

Click the Browse button, and select the path for the music.

Play :

Click to play the selected music.

Stop :

Click to stop playing the selected music.


Write to CD Setting - Option tab

On the Option tab, select whether to write the original images to the CD.

Original Photos: Does not write original photos to the CD.

:

If selected, only the data for EPSON

Photo Memory Player is written to the

CD.

Write original photos with the

Photo Memory Player to the CD.

:

If selected, the original image files are written to the CD with EPSON Photo

Memory Player.


Export Movie File Setting dialog box

You can specify the settings for the Export Movie File feature here.

Export Movie File

Name:

Sequence Type:

Sort:

Enter a name for the movie file. Click the Browse button, and select the path for saving the file.

Select a sequence type for the images.

Play :

Plays the movie file.

Stop :

Stops playing the movie file.

Select the order of the images.


Back Ground Music: Default :

Used to select the pre-installed background music for the movie file.

Custom :

Used to select a music file other than the pre-installed background music.

Click the Browse button, and select the path for the music.

Play :

Plays the selected music.

Stop :

Stops playing the selected music.


Glossary

Item

An object, such as a page template, an image, text, clipart, or a shape, that can be positioned on a page.

Layout frame

The layouts upon which templates are based contain image-position and size information only. You can position one layout frame on a page, associate an item with the frame, and save the layout frame as a page template. To create a new layout frame, use the Adobe Photoshop Template Converter plug-in. The DNF file exported from Template Converter can be used as a layout frame.

Page template

A template for a single product page that can be edited as an item. When a layout frame has been positioned on the page, it is treated as a page template containing image information only. To use the layout frame, associate an item with the frame and save it as a template.

Set template

A template for multiple pages of a product. Set templates can be used when starting a new job.

Skin file

An EPSON Photo Memory Player menu screen design. Skin files are provided by EPSON. You cannot create your own skin files.

Template

A pre-designed layout for creating a product. Templates include image frames and other items, and allow you to create a product by simply placing the desired items. When working with double-spread pages, a single template page is used to create each double-spread page.

Glossary 170

Index

A

Adding clipart, 107

Adding image frame, 44

Adding shadow, 90

Adjusting brightness/contrast, 104

Adjusting color, 102

Adjusting the position, 86

C

Changing text, 109

Changing text format, 110

Changing the color, 102

Changing the size, 82

Clipart edit, 106

Clipart with transparent features, 109

Converting to sepia/monochrome,

100

Creating a job

select type, 27

Cropping the image, 96

Curving the text frame, 111

D

Data folder, 120

Deleting, 84

Deleting text, 109

Dialog box

editing/managing items, 140

editing/managing pages, 138

editing images, 143

floating windows, 148

outputting files, 162

preferences, 153

registering/managing photos, 136

saving jobs/templates, 159

Drawing a shape, 112

E

Editing the image, 44

Editing the shape, 113

EPPLayout

operation, 57

EPSON AlbumMaker

folder configuration, 120

Installing, 13

Overview, 8

Shutdown, 26

Startup, 25

Uninstalling, 126

EPSON Photo Memory Player

about, 9

using, 131

Error Message, 117

Exporting movie file, 69

How to export movie file, 72

F

Flipping image horizontally/vertically, 96

Font type, 110

Freemount page

specify background color, 33 specify background image, 33

G

Grouping items, 92

I

Image layout, 42

Inserting multiple images, 43

Installing template data collection, 21

Items

definition, 80

Index 171

M

Making transparent item, 91

Movie File

using, 133

Moving, 81

O

Output files product, 52

printing, 75

printing from EPPLayout, 57

P

Positioning clipart, 48

Positioning image, 41

Positioning shape, 50

Positioning text, 47

Program folder, 120

R

Replacing the item, 85

Rotating, 83

Rotating only the image, 94

Rotating the entire image frame, 95

S

Select and unselect, 80

Select image, 38

Selecting a template, 35

Selection of Write to CD methods, 59

Setting job information, 28

Setting softness, 99

Sound files

EPSON Photo Memory Player, 131

movie file, 133

Specifying the position of objects, 89

System requirements, 12

T

Text color, 110

Trimming, 96

Troubleshooting, 116

U

Undoing/Redoing, 93

V

Vertical text, 110

W

Write to CD product, 59

How to write to CD, 63

preparation, 59

Index 172

EPSON OVERSEAS MARKETING LOCATIONS

Epson America, Inc.

3840 Kilroy Airport Way

Long Beach, CA 90806

Phone: (562) 981-3840

Fax: (562) 290-5220

EPSON DEUTSCHLAND GmbH

Zülpicher Straße 6,

40549 Düsseldorf Germany

Phone: (0211) 56030

Fax: (0211) 5047787

EPSON AUSTRALIA PTY. LTD.

70 GIBBES STREET,

CHATSWOOD 2067 NSW.

Phone: 2-9903-9000

Fax: 2-9903-9177

EPSON HONG KONG LTD.

20/F, Harbour Centre,

25 Harbour Road,

Wanchai, Hong Kong

Phone: 2585-4300

Fax: 2827-7083

EPSON ITALIA S.p.A.

V.le F.lli Casiraghi 427

20099 Sesto S.Giovanni

MI, Italy

Phone: +3902262331

Fax: +39022440750

SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION

(Hirooka Office)

80 Harashinden, Hirooka

Shiojiri-shi, Nagano-ken

399-0785 Japan

EPSON UK LTD.

Campus 100, Maylands Avenue,

Hemel Hempstead, Herts,

HP2 7TJ, U.K.

Phone: (+44) 01442 261144

Fax: (+44) 01442 227227

EPSON FRANCE S.A.

68 bis, rue Marjolin

92300, Levallois-Perret, France

Phone: 33.1.41.86.26.56

Telex: 610657

EPSON SINGAPORE PTE. LTD.

No. 1 Temasek Avenue #36-00

Millenia Tower, Singapore 039192

Phone: (065) 633 77 911

Fax: (065) 633 41 185

EPSON TAIWAN TECHNOLOGY &

TRADING LTD.

14F, No.7, Song Ren Road,Taipei,

Taiwan 110

Phone: (02) 8786-6688

Fax: (02) 8786-6633

EPSON IBERICA S.A.

Av. de Roma, 18-26

08290 Cerdanyola del Valles

Barcelona, Spain

Phone: 582. 15.00

Fax: 582. 15.55

EPSON PORTUGAL, S.A.

R. do Progresso, 471, 1° Perafita

4460 Matosinhos, Portugal

Phone: (02) 996 14 02

Fax: (02) 996 14 11

2003 November

No results