By Bob LaFave, Tampa PC Users Group
boblala@ij.net

PhotoMix Collage from fCoder Group is a program that I like very much. You may visit the WebPages at http://www.photomix.com/ to see all the features that this program contains. The reason I liked it so much is the ease at which I was able to create the figures below. The figure on the left shows the default window that PhotoMix opens in and the toolbars that divided the work area. The larger center area is the work area that you can either work with a blank or choose from the included frames or layouts. If you look to the right of the work area you can see some of the layouts that are included. The frames and layouts can both be easily scrolled, and to pick your choice you just need to double click your choice. To use a frame you need to have a picture selected in the work area; you double click your choice and the picture is changed. The layout is chosen before you choose any pictures; you select a layout by double clicking the picture showing the template and the work area would then change to the layout template chosen. You then would fill in the template with the pictures of your choice. The bottom area is a viewer that allows you to choose pictures that you add to your image list; you must show the images you are working with in this area. You have a directory tree so you can easily go to your pictures to choose which ones you wish to use. If you have multiple pictures in a directory each is shown as a thumbnail, which makes selection easy and quick. The other figure just shows that you can increase the work area size by pushing little blue arrow buttons that retract or expand the other two areas as needed.

Figure 1

When you go to choose the pictures that you want to work with you get a choice of over thirty format types. The common types such as TIFF, BMP, JPEG and many more can be used along with Cursors; Animated Cursors and Icons can also be selected. When you look at the file-type drop down menu the first two choices are “ All supported raster files” and “All supported vector files”. The individual types are then in a long list if you wish to use a specific type. To create the figures above I started with a directory with JPEG’s of my son. I selected a starting file, and while holding down the “Shift” key I was able to select multiple files quickly to then appear in the bottom viewing area. You also can add images from “ Clipboard” to your image list. To place the picture into the work area is just “drop and drag”. Further placement inside the work area or changing of the picture size is both quick and easy for anyone who has edited pictures in other programs. The picture has a halo showing that it is selected with spots that can be grabbed by the mouse for sizing, with the cursor changing to a “Resize”, and the cursor will change to the “ Move” crosshair that Windows uses. As you place pictures and need to move the pictures to exactly fit them to each other, you can use the normal Windows method of using the keyboard arrow keys for precise movement. You also have a “Action” menu to choose from that has picture alignment and rotation choices. For those using picture quality printing paper, this feature allows you to place multiple pictures exactly on a sheet for printing with a specific border for cutting each. The same would be used for printing the same picture multiple times on one sheet. You will save money by not wasting printing paper. For those who wish, there is also a “Layer” function in the tool area on the right where you have already chosen the “Frame” or “Layout”. You can easily add pictures to overlap and keep, say, just faces as the predominate feature of the collage.

Figure 2

You may save the project in the same multiple formats that you can open. Combine multiple pictures into a more easily stored compression format such as JPEG’s. You may also save in the program specific format to create collages, save your layout, and save your framing format that you have created. For those who wish, you may also save your creation to the desktop to be used as wallpaper. This feature is found from the “File” menu as “Set as Wallpaper”. How easy can it get? There is also a feature to email your finished project with the click of a button. You are then given the choice of format and if you would like to have the file zipped for sending.

The program has large specific “ Hint” descriptions as your mouse hovers above a button that I found pleasant. So many programs today see how small and cryptic they can be rather than how helpful. The “Help” files also seemed easy to follow. Each of the three areas--the project work area, the image list and the right hand layout, frame, layer area--has a convenient blue “?” button that takes you to the help files for that specific task.

The program installed easily without problems and leaves a little program group with Help, Start Program, Home Webpage, and Uninstall Information. There is an “Update” feature available from inside the program. Under the “Help” menu is a choice for “Update PhotoMix”. To use the update feature you must have a registered copy; this is checked against the database that they have. The program can be downloaded as a trial with a file size of 12.2 MB, but to have a paid version the cost is $29.00, or you can have a CD sent to you for $44.00.

PhotoMix is well thought out to what features are included and very easy to use. I would think anyone who does photo processing could find many creative uses for PhotoMix. I am glad that fCoder offered this program for review to the Tampa PC Users Group and I got to experiment with my scanned photos. u