http://www.availasoft.com

 

What's it do?

Photo2Album turns digital photos to photo albums, creating email-sized albums, album CD, and photo VCD that can be run directly on the recipient's computer without software.


Does it do what it promises?

Reviewer 1. This program offers a way to organize the photo files on your hard drive into Photo Albums. As you enter them, you can arrange the order in which they will be displayed; you can annotate them or add titles; and, you can store them on CD. Each album can be set up as a self-executing file, so that it may be viewed on other computers that do not have the Photo2Album program. This ,exe file can be compressed so that it can be sent as an email attachment to others. Even larger albums can be compressed to a size that will allow them to be accepted by ISP's that limit the size of email attachments.

Reviewer 2. It does exactly what it promises. I was impressed with the album files sizes and the ability to produce CD's or VCD's and distribute them to your friends without any additional software. Background music is also configurable as the photo album runs.

Reviewer 3. Yes.

Reviewer 4. Yes, it does, but I found its usability left much to be desired.


Was it easy to install?

Reviewer 1 Yes it is easy to install; however, I object that it insists on putting a program icon on the desktop. This must always be an option during the installation process, and is usually so, except for this program. As I do with my physical desk, I insist on being the only person who will decide how I want my computer desktop to be set up. To add insult to injury, each time I run the program, a new icon appears on the desktop and an additional shortcut appears in the main "upper" portion of the Start Menu. This annoying feature must be removed. That alone would have me discard this program as soon as I discovered it, no matter how good it may be otherwise.

Reviewer 2 It was easy to install,; however, on my system I saw no status bar of the progress of the installation. I thought the installation had hung up, but perseverance paid off and suddenly the application was viewable and ready to create photo albums.

Reviewer 3. Yes.

Reviewer 4. Yes, very straightforward. It failed to install successfully on my laptop, but my guess is that it was my problem, not theirs


Good points.

Reviewer 1. It is easy to set up an album, to put photos in the album and to arrange the order that they will appear there. Adding text, headings and other features are also very simple. Once you have set up your album, you can "create" an email-sized album, an autorun photo album file or CD, a photo VCD, a Zip file (for backup or storage), a screen-saver or wallpaper. Photo2Album also includes a photo-imaging program, with which you can perform many of the manipulations that people do these days with digital photos. As I have had very little experience with these functions, I cannot compare this program with the many others available on the market. However, unlike the times that I have ventured into this territory with other programs, I was able to be successful with the things I tried out using Photo2Album. The fact that I could do so, without constant reference to help files and explanations is a strong recommendation for the ease-of-use of this software. The two programs merge easily - the building of the album and the manipulation and cleaning-up of the individual photos. As well, you can change many of the features of the album itself - the cover, the pages backgrounds, the sounds as the pages turn, and so on. There is a very quick tutorial to get you started, there is a help file and you can link to the Frequently Asked Questions on their Web site. The album itself is clean, and does not have a clutter of menu and toolbar functions. The imaging part of the program is full of features, just like most programs these days. As you go from one feature to another, there are little windows that pop up with hints and useful pieces of information. As you get to know each of these tidbits of important features and functions, you can turn them off. Photo2Album really is a program designed to work easily for neophyte newbies and seasoned oldies alike.

Reviewer 2. What I like about this program is once you create an auto running CD or a photo VCD and you give it to your friends, they do not need any additional software to run it. Photo2Album can import any number of digital photographs and it creates e-mail sized albums (small file sizes). Many albums can be created and the file sizes are small enough to be e-mailed. For an example, 250 photos will create a 2MB photo album. You can add text to any photo and resize individual photos. This allows you to customize each picture with a musical soundtrack background.

Reviewer 3. It has multiple ways to generate a photo album, depending on what you are going to do with it. I like the ability to see beforehand how big a file will be generated. Another good point is the built-in photo editor. Rearranging the order was very simple using drag and drop

Reviewer 4. I found the electronic auto-page-turning photo-album a cute way to present the photos, although I suspect the novelty would fade. 2) A good repertoire of basic editing tools, most that any amateur might need or use. Very good user documentation, although entirely in the form of help files. That emailed or burned CDs were self-contained and self-playing was an excellent design decision and a big benefit. The multi-layered Undo was an especially helpful feature.


Weak points.

Reviewer 1. Although the Album part of the program has few menu features, the Help should be a main item, rather than be hidden in the section called "Options". In fact, I find the Help section overall to be the weakest part of the program design. There are the usual Contents and Index tabs, but no Find tab. The Index seems simply to be the "Contents" headings, but arranged in alphabetical order. There were a few times when I wanted to find out something as simple as "Save" the Album, but could not do so - it seems to save as you go along. However, a comment to tell me so would be reassuring. Also, some of the better-designed help files of other programs include pop ups within the Help, to explain terms or functions that you may be trying to figure out. An additional weakness is the sly insertion of little promotions for the more feature-rich (and therefore more expensive) versions of the program. For example, the index item on "Wonderful Wallpaper" says "Wonderful Wallpaper (only in Standard Edition or higher)". If I am using the Standard Edition, my Help File does not need to tell me that this function is available here. And if I am using the Standard Version, I do not need to look up, and find this comment: Password for Photo Protector (only in Professional Edition). One of the main options is "Upgrade". Usually, to me at least, this means that I can check on the Web site to find out if there has been an upgrade, with bug-fixes, and new features that have recently been included in the program. I can now update my version of the program and bring it up-to-date. However, here, this simply brings you to their "store" with the offer to purchase one of the more powerful versions of the program. To me, this is not an upgrade, but a sales pitch.

Reviewer 2. I did not receive any installation progress report during installation. It did only take about 30 seconds to install, but it would have been nice to be advised of the progress so I did not think the software had hung up. One disadvantage is that you have to view the pages individually or one at a time. I think it would be nice to have an index page option where one can select a photo, go directly to the specific photo and continue the slide show.

Reviewer 3. The interface, while cute, could use some more tool tips. My screen is 1920x1200, Pressing the Maximize button did not fill my screen. I could also only resize it so far. The built-in photo editor did not have this problem. When you edit the Album page it makes the background color/theme stick,even if you choose a different theme. Editing just the picture did not have this effect. After starting autoplay, the buttons all look as if they are active, however, some of the buttons did function while others did not.

Reviewer 4. The price of $70 is at least two to three times too high; I'd think $25-35 would be much closer to the mark. The competition program sells for $20, and it has at least as much functionality. Usability was sorely missing in most aspects of Photo2Album, from the multiple clicks required to initiate an Editing Session to the never-fathomed sequence in which one could crop and then replace the complement with the cropped result. Choice of the Desktop is unfortunately the target work area for EMail & AutorunCD Functions, something it would be easy to let the user define.


Other comments.

Reviewer 1. As we move from one technology to another, we do so most easily when there is a strong link to the systems we are familiar with. Photo2Album does this brilliantly in a field that still remains a serious mystery to many of us - the handling of images on the computer. For more than half a century, the photo album has been the primary method that we have used to organize and store our photos. Yes, there was the slide tray for slide shows, but most people used the album. However, storing images in digital format has largely been structured in the directory/sub-directory format of computers, and I would guess that this remains a mystery to a majority of the population. Photo2Album bridges the gap with this program.

Reviewer 2 Photo2Album comes with an image editor. These included utilities allow you to resize, remove red-eye and to adjust colors as well as many other options. Instead of simply viewing the photos, you can add background music or add text to the photos without any additional software. It is easy to add photos. Simply use drag and drop them from Windows Explorer or cut and paste them into the appropriate album. This works but it may be a nice idea to have an integrated file browser to make it easier to add additional digital photos as they become available.

Reviewer 3. If you really want to edit a photo I would suggest getting a dedicated editor, the built-in editor is serviceable, but does not have the same capabilities as a full-fledged program.

Reviewer 4 I had a ton of trouble trying to crop and reposition photos in the album pages. I am sure there's got to be a better way, but the best I could find was outline/cut/click0:0/paste/1:1(?)/get handle/drag. There desperately needs to be a simple sequence (button ?) to discard the Complement from a Cut-Image and ability to repaste it back so that it becomes the complete image. Cropping of an originally rotated photo leaves the residue no longer centered with darkened space on either side. Surely there should be some way to center the result of cropping and photo manipulations. It would have been nice to have the 'next' button on the editor rather than having to Exit Editor|Click Next-Photo on Album-Pg|Dbl-Click Pic-below in order to reenter the Editor. It's been ages since I came across a program that refuses the user the option of naming the directory being installed to; also the case here for Photo-Storage. Also, Samples were put on C drive without permission. Users hate programming hubris like this. Except for its missing-in-action usability, this program is designed , works well, and would be attractive to most novice digital photographers, who would enjoy using it. However, its pricing is a killer for that market and must be substantially reduced for it to survive there, its only audience, I believe.


Will you continue to use it?

Reviewer 1 Only when I can upgrade the Standard Version that I have here to the Standard version that allows me to put my icons and shortcuts where I want to put them.

Reviewer 2. Yes. As I travel around the country, I do take many digital photos and this software allows me to create separate photo albums on auto-running CDs. I am able to customize each photo with text, remove red-eye, resize the photos and add background music. Viewing digital photos have taken on a new dimension with this digital photo utility.

Reviewer 3. Yes.

Reviewer 4. Yes, but only because I did not have to pay $70 for it.

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