What's it do?
Lightning is a photo display and distribution system; Ember is a photo
viewer, editor, and manager.
Does it do what it promises?
Reviewer 1: The tone of the Company's Website giving their suite
nothing but the highest of praise seems a bit overstated.
Reviewer 2: Yes, and more. If anything-and I find this a
rarity-this suite of imaging products may exceed what it promises.
Reviewer 3: Yes! This is a very powerful set of programs to view,
edit, manage, display and distribute photos and other graphic files. If
you are browsing the Firehand Web site, I recommend that you go the
Lightning page, and look at some of the sample "encapsulated" photo files,
albums, slideshows and screensavers.
Reviewer 4. It does do what the advertisements say it will. The
compression algorithm is very strong, but this does not take away from
viewing the images. As they are presented in a slide show, for example,
you will never know they are not being shown in their native format.
Reviewer 5. Yes. I have a collection of digital camera pictures of
family and many from my wife's school teaching events. I have been
experimenting with creating a slide show with sound that she can use as a
background light show during an assembly. I am not fluent with a program
that does this and have been able to assemble the display with only an
occasional visit to help. I do hope that it will be easy to adapt the
presentation to display on their big screen setup. We won't know until she
returns in the fall. I do know that they own a much more expensive program
to accomplish something similar, but this allows us to work with things at
home.
Reviewer 6. Basically yes, all the mentioned functionality is
present, although I found using it more complicated and hard-to-learn than
I had expected, possibly because my experience with other programs of this
genre tainted my experience; but, in general, I'd have expected that to
facilitate, not hinder, learning how to use Ember/Lightning.
Was it easy to install?
Reviewer 1: Installation was quick and simple. Installation of the
extension packs was slightly more complex since each module required its
own registration code and process; but, the directions were clear and easy
to follow.
Reviewer 2: Yes, installation was straightforward. It is a
relatively small download that installed smoothly with no problems
whatsoever, even on a dial-up connection.
Reviewer 3: Yes. I was able to set up the program files in folders
of my own choice (which I prefer to be able to do). Each of the components
has to be registered individually, but this was not difficult.
Reviewer 4. It was very easy to install and register. Just follow
the prompts and the installation wizard will configure all required
directories, etc. It even allows you to set another directory or folder
where you want the application to be installed. You do not need to use the
default.
Reviewer 5. Yes. The software downloaded easily and efficiently. I
downloaded everything fresh in one session. The add-on specialties that
are called Extension Paks are in separate zip files and each required
their own unique password. None of this was complicated, but was minimally
time-consuming. After a restart everything was up and running.
Reviewer 6. Yes, straightforward to install and activate. The only
problems encountered were that both Ember and Lightning on Check For
Update invited you to redownload and install the presently-installed
version. Apparently the version-checking mechanism, if any, failed to test
currently-installed version-numbers properly.
Good Points
Reviewer 1: Very versatile program suite. Color correction of
multiple images is as easy as selecting the files to correct, doing the
correction on one representative image, and the correction is made on all
of the images. Handles a wide variety of media formats including movies
(.MOV file). Includes a preview still of the movie in a thumbnail, making
the contents of the file easier to identify. Previews a few thumbnails of
images contained in a folder when you hold the mouse pointer over the
folder. This is a nice feature not available in other software I have
used. Viewing EXIF information in the thumbnail display in Ember is an
interesting and potentially useful feature.
Reviewer 2: Polished, easy to use, bug free, intuitive, versatile,
excellent support, and relatively inexpensive. This suite of products is
easy enough for the beginner and yet has applications that even a
professional photographer will (and did-see below) find useful. Whether,
in the case of Firehand Lightning, you want to create slide shows, create
proof sets, screensavers, or create on the Web from you digital photos,
Lightning is excellent software. Firehand Ember may be the most
outstanding image file manager that I have used. It allows you to view and
manage graphics from multiple directories at the same time with support
ranging from progressive and standard JPEGs to still and animated GIFs;
from Windows bitmaps (BMPs) to TIFF images; from Portable Network Graphics
(PNG) to Kodak Photo CD files, and nearly everything in between (Targa,
OS/2 bitmaps, RLE, PCX, and Windows Metafiles). Firehand Ember truly has
you covered when it comes to your graphics management needs.
Reviewer 3: I must confess that I am a Johnny-come-lately to the
world of graphics manipulation. We recently acquired a digital camera, and
are still experimenting with it. Fortunately for me, I have been able to
tap into the photo collections that the kids have amassed in order to be
able to experiment with Firehand. I copied a large number of photos in no
particular order into one folder. Beginning with Ember, I found that it is
easy to manage the folder, set up a filing system and organize the files.
Ember uses the usual Explorer structure, but as your mouse hovers over one
folder or another, a few thumbnails pop up, showing that there are
pictures there, and the samples remind which group of pictures is there. I
spent some time working with the various "retouch" tools. Here, I needed
to resort to the help files from time-to-time, as some of the vocabulary
is unfamiliar to me. What I found helpful was that a "reference" window,
showing the picture untouched, appeared, so that I could compare the
effects the changes I was making with the original. When I was pleased
with the new version, I saved it: that now becomes the picture as it will
henceforth be seen. This is the work part. Now comes the fun. Once upon a
time, photographic slides were popular. It was fun picking out the slides,
setting up the trays or carousels, and preparing what you would say after
you settled your guests down and set up the screen. With Lightning you can
do the same kind of thing. But instead of subjecting your guests to the
after-dinner slide show, you can set it up to run on your computer You can
add titles, in all sorts of fonts, chose the background, add commentary,
music and sound effects. Now your guests and stop by and look at it as it
plays. Or, if you prefer, you can email it to them, or send them a photo
album, or even a screen saver. In addition to these home uses, you can
easily make contact sheets, create galleries for your Web site or post a
series of pictures to USENET newsgroups. I did not complete these posting
steps, but took them to the point of actual uploading. This is
well-designed and easy to follow, even for the beginner that I am.
Reviewer 4. The images are compressed and indexed and from this
file you can make a standalone slide show, a screen saver for your system,
or use it as a photo album. You can use Lightning to design a slide show
for Web sites. Because the compression of the images is extremely tight,
the resulting file is fast. This means slide shows or re-indexing your
presentations and adding audio will be quick and relatively painless. You
can add images to your presentations by simply using the drag-and-drop
method. Firehand Technologies has done a marvelous job of integrating all
aspects of the program into one fluid product. If you need to do a final
touch up to an image, simply double click on the image in the index page
and it will open full screen.
Reviewer 5. I have fiddled with several picture editors,
organizers, and album programs. I have not ever stayed with any one of
them long enough to create a finish product. I am not strongly into photo
editing; however, just about every photo can stand at least some cropping
or red-eye work, and some just beg for a caption. If I don't find a good
archiving program soon, I will need another hard drive. I have created
this one show for my wife that works well on my own computer and works
when I email to her computer. I think we can genuinely have some fun with
this one. I assume and hope she can use it with the system at school.
Reviewer 6. Outstanding Photo Viewer & Manager that provided
everything I'd ever wished-for, and more, in this area. from peek-in
displaying the first two images of the set, to ability to adjust the size
of the images displayed, to impressively fast thumbnailing, to ability to
operate on them right there in the display window. I also found the
comprehensive display of EXIF info quite helpful and a definite
design-plus. Comprehensive functionality and well-integrated set of tools,
hard to think of manynot provided. I could think of only one: a routine to
optimize layout of multiple pictures of selected sizes onto sheet of
(8.5"x11") photopaper for printout, e.g., a photo paper-saver routine,
something regularly needed by amateur digital photographers. Heartwarming
TechSupport posture, one of the best encountered: Technical support is
offered free of charge to registered Ember users via the support request
form found at http://www.firehand.com/contact/supportform.asp. At all
times during regular business hours and more often than not after hours
and on weekends, technical, support by one of their product engineers is
available via this on-line support system, or within a few hours .
Excellent and comprehensive documentation of Ember and Lightning with a
pragmatic organization showing an extensive list of topics under the
rubric of 'Okay, so how do I…?' I would have found it quite helpful to
have also a narrative Overview of Ember and Lightning and their major
components -- something that would have given me a Big Picture perspective
and especially something that would have laid out the various steps along
the way of a camera-input to printer-output (and/or
encapsulated-collection) scenario. Also, a few good example-scenarios of
use would contribute hugely, as well. The Ember Slide Player is by far the
best of its kind that I've come across with great functionality and
usability characteristics.
Weak Points
Reviewer 1: Firehand uses a proprietary format to save image
collections. If their format does not become widely accepted, one runs the
risk of being totally dependent on their software to access files.
Firehand responded: An important clarification:
you're obviously talking about Firehand Lightning here. True, Lightning
utilizes its own proprietary file format - simply because there is no
standardized file type that has the characteristics required by Lightning.
However, it should be pointed out that your photos are not "trapped" once
put in a Lightning photo collection. On the contrary, photos can be very
easily exported from Lightning photo collections (all at once if desired)
in standard image interchange formats. You can then use and view them in
any other program you like. Because exporting images from photo
collections is so simple, many of our users actually use Lightning files
as a way to archive, annotate, and catalog their photos. It's also
important for your readers to understand that while Firehand Lightning's
native format is proprietary (because the capabilities of Lightning photo
collections require a special kind of "container" file), Firehand Ember
does not use any proprietary formats: it reads and writes standard JPEGs,
Bitmaps, PNGs, TIFFs, and so forth. So, interchange between Firehand Ember
and your other software is entirely transparent.
Color Correction Changes made from the thumbnails page gives before and
after previews; selecting the same option from the full image view does
not give previews.
Firehand responded: Actually, as Reviewer #3
noted, above, when you edit full-size images in Firehand Ember, there is a
preview window (enabled from the Pop-up Imager's View/Options dialog) so
you can see before and after versions of your image and can gauge the
effects of your modifications.
The lack of uniform standards for the same function in different modules
gives the appearance of this software suite being a "work in progress,"
although their Website states that they have been developing this suite
since 1995. In correcting color, gamma, and saturation from the thumbnails
mode with preview, there is no capability to zoom in on part of the image;
therefore, some of the adjustment is based on faith rater than a detailed
preview, since the thumbnail images cannot accurately portray the full
screen image. Somewhat offsetting this weakness is the ability to use the
arrow buttons to flip through the previews of multiple images in the
batch. Also, there is "reset to zero box/button" on the sliding scale
which quickly and easily resets that setting to its original value. It
would be nice to select one of the slider bars and type in a numerical
value, but this functionality is not available. Changes to photos are
automatically "saved", not "saved as"; thus, the original copy is
overwritten and lost forever. This is not usually a problem with
"throw-away snapshots" but would be for professional photos where the
original is usually retained in case the edited version has a problem.
Firehand responded: Both "Save" and "Save a Copy"
functions are available in Ember's Pop-up Imager. Invoke "Save a Copy" to
create a new file for an edited image; invoke the "Save" command to
overwrite the original image with a new version. When using the mass image
processing functions the specified changes are made to the selected
images. If a user wants to save the originals and apply changes to a
duplicate image set, it's a simple matter to duplicate the selected images
by dragging and dropping them within Ember's thumbnail window. The mass
image edit operation can then be applied to the newly created image
copies.
I currently use Adobe Photoshop as my main program for editing photo
images. Photoshop features I particularly miss when using the Firehand
Suite include: History of image changes with multipl,e Undo capability and
white balance adjustment via histograms. (There are histograms for
individual colors in the Firehand Suite, but not for white balance.)
Firehand responded: Bear in mind that Firehand
Ember is not a direct competitor to Adobe Photoshop. Firehand Ember is an
image organizer and viewer with a set of (we hope) very accessible
"essential image editing tools." These tools enable users of varying skill
levels to do the "usual sort" of photo editing and retouch operations
quickly and easily. Adobe Photoshop, on the other hand, is photo
processing system targeted primarily at graphics professionals. It has an
elaborate set of very powerful image manipulation capabilities permitting
advanced users to do almost anything imaginable with a digital image. But
these capabilities come at a cost: Adobe Photoshop is a complicated
program to use (even for many professionals) with a steep learning curve.
At $650.00, Adobe Photoshop also has a rather steep price. (Firehand
Ember, by itself, costs $39.95.)
Note that Firehand Ember's image editing capabilities continue to evolve
as we receive requests from users. A new "blemish blotter" tool has been
added to the product for our next release (enabling photo defects to be
removed), as well as a powerful new compositing function (so that groups
of photos can be pasted together into a single image). But Firehand Ember
will never fill the same product niche as Adobe Photoshop. If you're an
imaging professional who needs to undertake exotic image manipulations,
you should definitely consider Photoshop. If you have just bought a neat
new digital camera and want software to help you get the most from it, you
should take a look at Firehand Ember.
Reviewer 2: I am just certain that there must be some weak points
but one must look hard and get highly critical to find any, and I would
say there are none for the average user. My only caveat may be that for
the advanced or professional user only: the Ember program could use a more
expanded choice of configuration settings; and while Firehand Ember offers
several straightforward tools for editing images-which makes it so perfect
for the beginner -- advanced users may find that they may want a more
specialized image editor for any task that goes beyond making relatively
basic alterations to images.
Reviewer 3: Having already confessed to my status as a rank
amateur, I can only say that I was a bit nervous about some of the more
technical aspects of the program. I can understand, and was easily able to
use, the "Red-Eye Reducer" tool. However, some of the other tools are not
so self-evident, and use a specialized vocabulary that I do not know.
However, that is less a fault of the program than an indication of the
learning that is ahead for one such as I.
Firehand responded: Two of the areas we are
spending a lot of thought and effort on as our products evolve are user
interface design and "user education." The challenge has been that our
imaging suite is used by people of such widely varying skill levels: Ember
and Lightning are popular with home users, but also with those who deal
with digital images at work (especially photographers). Thus, it's been
difficult to find a program interface and help/documentation format that
properly addresses everyone's needs. We think we're getting a better
handle on the matter, though, and forthcoming releases will see changes in
these areas that we think will really help users - of all skill levels -
get more from our programs.
Reviewer 4. I really did not come across any weak points.
Everything worked as described.
Reviewer 5. I am not aware of any weak points at this time. I guess
we all need to become immune to the proliferation of file formats.
Firehand uses a compression format that they call ECF and claimed to
compress other picture and audio formats. I did not do any comparison or
contrast on file size for the limited experimenting I have done. Because
it uses a proprietary format, they need a workaround. Those with whom you
want to exchange photos need a reader. It can be downloaded for free from
the site. It can also be embedded in the file , a bit like a self
extracting ZIP file.
Firehand responded: Again, for clarification,
please note that Firehand Lightning uses a proprietary format for its
photo collections because no standard format has the attributes it
requires (photo collections are not documents, they're not videos, they're
not strictly stills - they are their own data type entirely.) But photos
can be exported from Lightning in standard image interchange formats, en
masse, very quickly and easily. Also, note that Firehand Ember does not
rely on a proprietary native format: it works with standard image file
formats (jpeg, tiff, bmp, etc.)
Reviewer 6. Image-Enhancement Complexity: I was very impressed by
the extensive functional scope of these programs; if there was something
that needed doing, odds were that a function toaccomplish that could be
found and applied. However, what I typically want is to have my raw
digital photos corrected comprehensively in one fell swoop, and only if
the preprogrammed process fails do I want to go back and do individual
adjustments. The program that I use that incorporates this process is DCE
AutoEnhance, if it would be helpful in understanding this point. Pricing
of various components & features of Ember and Lightning is the biggest
hodgepodge I've ever seen for a PC offering. They really ought to keep it
simple: $95 for "The Works"; $65 for Ember+Add-ons (which in my opinion
should be INCLUDED in Ember, NOT packaged or priced separately); $35 for
Lightning if priced separately (which I'd recommend NOT having as a
separate component; does anyone at Firehand really expect any customer to
purchase Lightning without also owning Ember?).
Firehand responded: Actually, most of our
Lightning users are not Ember users. Only about a third of our customers
use our entire suite. Ember and Lightning - though well integrated -
function entirely separately and are usually purchased independently of
one another. However, the larger point here is well-taken. And, in fact,
we're in the process of shuffling our product line a bit to simplify
component packaging and pricing.
I consider it a major and easily remedied design flaw that the
Image-Enhancement processor operates on and modifies the original (and
perhaps only) photo image in a file. It's just too simple to autorename
the output image rather than giving the user such chance to shoot himself
in the foot. In contrast to its outstanding Tech Support posture cited
above, Firehand's Usage Licensing posture is reactionary to the extent
that I'd be reluctant to purchase it or recommend to my customers:"...use
a single registered copy ("Registered Copy") of the Software Product on a
single workstation. This is not a "concurrent use" license. A separate
Registered Copy of the Software Product must be licensed for each
workstation on which the Software Product will be used after the
Evaluation Period, even if such use is only temporary." The present-day
computing world has progressed to the stage that almost all users have
both a deskside and a laptop machine, and a licensing practice that
prevents at least serial single user usage interchangeably on both
computers is a going-out-of-business strategy.
Firehand responded: While I would agree that the
legal verbage you've cited from our license agreement is not as clear as
it ought to be (and should probably be updated), its intent is, as it
says, to prohibit "concurrent use" of a single licensed copy on multiple
computers (which is a standard prohibition in the software industry). It
is not intended to prohibit the sort of "serial" usage to which you're
referring. So long as a desktop and laptop are never in use simultaneously
- ie, so long as one is used at work and one at home - that's not
concurrent use (the software is only being used on a single workstation),
and we don't have any problem with our customers doing that. This,
incidentally, is what we've always told users who have inquired about
this.
Other Comments
Reviewer 1: Many of the functions of this program suite are redundant
with those of programs I already own. Windows Explorer can display files
as thumbnails, although you have to dig a bit into options to find this.
Self-contained slide shows can be generated in Microsoft Powerpoint,
although not as easily as with this suite. Photo editing is much more
robust in Adobe Photoshop, although the Firehand Suite does simple batch
processing quicker and easier.
Reviewer 2: In what may easily be one of the Internet's most
competitive software categories, this software suite is easily the best I
have seen. I haven't seen any program work so seamlessly with Windows and
offer such excellent integration with other applications. Firehand
Technologies has continued to impress me with its elegant yet easy-to-use
software and its outstanding customer support. I don't think you will find
a better product out there than this. As a close friend and professional
photographer said: "Digital Camera + Lightning/Ember = All You Need!" I
highly recommend it.
Firehand responded: (We love you…. 8-)
Reviewer 3: Although Ember and Lightning are separate programs,
they are well integrated. You have access to the functions of the one from
within the other. Thus, if you are preparing a slide show, and notice that
you would like to work on one of the images, you can do so with all the
tools that Ember provides without having to open up the other module.
Another feature that is very interesting to me is the information that an
image file can give you. Many digital cameras embed "EXIF" information
with the image, which includes date of the photo, the shutter speed and
f-stop of the picture, whether a flash was used, and other stuff. This can
help you to know what your camera is doing, and perhaps how you can adjust
your picture-taking to make the most of the capabilities of that camera.
The help is well-presented. I appreciate the usual Help file. In addition,
the program provides a list of questions under the heading "Getting
Started." This is quite extensive, and covers many of the questions that
would occur to you as you work, but might not be able to find quickly in
the traditional Help structure. In Ember, there are also "Tip Images"
which provide very good visual examples of program functions. It is good
to see that the needs of Visual learners are also being considered. In
Lightning, you are brought directly to the Web page in that section I
mention above, to see examples of the kinds of presentations you can make,
along with more ideas about ways that the application can be used by
professionals in different fields.
Reviewer 4. This application can be used for marketing, travel
slide show, etc. It is left up to your imagination on how to use it. It is
easy, straightforward and has enough options to qualify for almost any
presentation one can imagine.
Reviewer 5. See Will You Continue Using It below.
Reviewer 6. After its original selection, I never could figure out
how to get rid of the arrow definition panel.
Firehand responded: Select a different tool from
the same menu from which you selected the arrow tool. When the arrow tool
is no longer selected, its options panel goes away.
In the context of a program dedicated to displaying images as attractively
as possible, I found the About Screen typefont noticeably ugly and
disparaging to the products. My initial attempts to use Lightning froze
the screen when trying to Open File, producing Err Msg:The system cannot
end this pgm because it is waiting on a response from you. In the
Color-Correction Single File panel it would have helped to show the
setting number on the slider pointer rather than requiring one to click
the slider pointer to see them. I found the vertical logo-bars("Firehand
Lightning") intrusive & annoying; I'd suggest you put in an option to not
display it. In the Ember Slide Player, it would be helpful to be able to
enter a number of seconds to display each image. I'd much rather have the
Ember Slide Player as an option on a pull-down menu within Ember. I could
never figure out, nor did the Firehand Website information clarify, who
was the target user of this program. It certainly contains some really
great functionality, but it's packaged and priced in a way that's hard to
comprehend -- which I believe will be a major obstacle to its widespread
adoption and use.
Will you continue to use it?
Reviewer 1: Yes, now that I have it on my system, I will continue
to use it for some of its simplified or unique features. If I had to
purchase it, the benefits of this software over my existing programs would
not justify the expenditure for my personal needs.
Reviewer 2: Yes! Most definitely!
Reviewer 3. Certainly. It is lots of fun to use, and produces great
results. Now, instead of just adding a single family photo to the New
Year's Newsletter, I can overwhelm them with a complete annotated and
musical package.
Reviewer 4. This is one program I will definitely continue to use.
I deal with graphic images daily and this will allow me to distribute
presentations in a compact format.
Reviewer 5. I have been just dumping photos into the "My Pictures"
directory, just like I used to do to text files before I forced myself to
establish a file system to be able to find something again. I am in search
of an archiving format that allows me to organize what I should keep into
a recoverable order and allow me to share them with others. I am working
with Firehand and liking what I see, but I have not been quite comfortable
enough to dump my megabytes
Reviewer 6. Certainly some of its components: I especially like its
Image Viewer & File Manager, as well as its Slide Viewer and will
certainly use them. Its Pop-Up Editor remains questionable , a learning
curve and detail issue, although it too will probably fall into the boat
if I am using the other Ember components. And certainly Lightning's
ability to create and distribute encapsulated albums and slideshows will
be used. However, overall I feel a strange ambivalence about these
programs. My head says I should really embrace use them, but for some
reason my heart is left with a real reluctance to do so, strange, unusual,
and inexplicable at the moment, maybe with some more time and use.
Operating Systems used in this review
Windows 98, XP Home, XP Pro
THE NEAT NET TRICKS COMPOSITE SCORE FOR
THIS SOFTWARE: 8.35
On a scale on 1 (TERRIBLE) to 10 (SUPERB) |
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