Thank you and congratulations for choosing FlipAlbum 3.0. FlipAlbum opens the door to a whole new way of organizing, enhancing, viewing and emailing digital images and multimedia files. Now you can spend more time enjoying and enhancing your pictures rather than struggling with the software. FlipAlbum combines profound sophistication with simplicity. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to use FlipAlbum, allowing you to be more productive than ever.

You can use FlipAlbum to create attractive and wonderful albums that will impress your friends, family, and colleagues. Create a picture scrapbook, family album or holiday album. You can use FlipAlbum to do handsome business presentations, product catalogs, or use it to browse through stock photography, the list goes on. Let your imagination run free with FlipAlbum and you'll create Truly Fantastic Flipping Albums!

FlipAlbum brings fun and enjoyment to your pictures.

Thank you.

FlipAlbum 3.0 is the world's first software that automatically organizes digital image files into a book-like picture album. You create picture albums simply by selecting a directory of image files. It will automatically create a virtual book with thumbnail pages, table of contents, index and photos that are neatly laid onto album pages. You can navigate this album by flipping realistic pages, and file management features that allow you to organize your pictures into various album.

FlipAlbum 3.0 incorporates a powerful and versatile image editor that allows you to correct, enhance and add special effects to your pictures. You can add text to your pictures and use your album to tell a story. The auto-flip function allows you to make page-flipping presentations accompanied by music. FlipAlbum’s intelligent email function allows you to select and preview your picture selections and will break up your email into smaller emails in order to prevent undeliverable emails.

Please read this user guide carefully before you start using the software, and familiarize yourself with the many wonderful features of FlipAlbum 3.0. If FlipAlbum is your very first Windows program, please refer to the your Operating System's Windows User's Guide to familiarize yourself with some basic Windows techniques such as choosing commands and windows resizing before proceeding with FlipAlbum.

Toolbar Descriptions:

• New: create a new folder/album
• Open: open a folder as an album
• Copy From: copy file from another folder
• Copy(left/right image): copy image to clipboard
• Paste: paste image from clipboard
• Edit(left/right image): edit image file
• Annotate(left/right page): annotate page
• Add(left/right page): add bookmark
• Remove(left/right page): remove bookmark
• Overview: flip to thumbnail overview page
• Music: play/stop background music
• Auto Flip: auto-flipping/stop flipping
• Slide Show: start/stop slide show
• Select(left/right image): select image file for batch processing
• Deselect(left/right image): deselect image file from batch processing
• E-mail: E-mail images and text

Please note that the following icons on the toolbar serve effectively two functions. The left and right sides of the icon being applicable to the left or right page respectively : Copy, Edit, Annotate, Add, Remove, Select, Deselect.

To install FlipAlbum 3.0 :

1. Insert the CD in your CD-ROM drive
2. For systems with AutoRun, go to step 3. For systems without AutoRun (the installation wizard does not start when you insert the CD into your CD-ROM) double click on the My Computer icon, and double click the CD-ROM icon.
3. Follow the directions that appear on the screen. The installation wizard will prompt you through the installation.

Your Product Identification Number (PID), requested when you first run FlipAlbum, can be found on the cover of your CD-ROM case. You will only need to enter this once, but please keep it in a safe place for technical support reference.

FlipAlbum will automatically create handsome picture albums from image files kept in directory folders in your computer. When you first open FlipAlbum, it will automatically create a sample album. The default setting is for FlipAlbum to open the last album opened.

To start FlipAlbum :

To create or to open your own picture album with existing picture files in your computer :

1. Click on the Open icon on the tool bar.
2. Select the directory where you keep your picture files. You can preview the files by clicking on the filenames.
3. Click on Open Folder.

FlipAlbum will automatically create an album of the picture files in that directory, complete with thumbnail overview, table of contents and index.

If you wish to create a new and empty album :

1. Click on the New icon on the toolbar.
2. Give a name and select a location for the new album.
3. Click on New Folder.

FlipAlbum will create an empty album.

FlipAlbum views each file directory in your computer as an "album" folder. It does not create album files to open or save. Therefore you do not need to save albums. All that is required is that you exit the program. The next time you run FlipAlbum, it will open the last album opened (default option).

1. To exit from FlipAlbum, select Exit from the File menu.

FlipAlbum supports a variety of different file image file formats (please refer to Systems Requirements section of this booklet for a complete list of acceptable file formats).

Note: FlipAlbum will automatically update the album whenever new files are added or removed from a directory. It will update the album when you open the particular album, or it will update the album as you add or remove files from the album if you have the particular album opened. That means that you can add pictures to a directory even without running FlipAlbum, and it will automatically update your album the next time you open it.

You can put pictures into an album several ways.

One very important thing to remember when you create an album from a removable storage devices (i.e. CDs, diskettes, Zip disks, removable hard disk, etc.) is that they are "removable." The contents of the album will not be available if you remove the CD or storage device. To input picture from CD or removable storage device:

1. You can directly create an album by selecting and opening a directory in the removable storage device (please refer to section 1.3.1. Creating Albums Using Existing Picture Files).

Note: If you wish to keep the contents of the album after you remove storage device, create a new album folder, and copy or move the files onto your permanent storage device (i.e. your hard-disk). You can use FlipAlbum's Move to or Copy from function or your Operating System's file manager to do this task.

The Internet is a great source of both public domain (free) and copyrighted images. Please remember to always observe copyright laws. To input pictures obtained from the internet :

1. Save the picture in a 'download' directory of your choice.
2. Create an album by selecting and opening the particular 'download' directory (please refer to Section 1.3.1. . Creating Albums Using Existing Picture Files).

You can have FlipAlbum open while you are downloading files from the Internet, FlipAlbum will update the contents of your album automatically.

FlipAlbum supports TWAIN interface, hence, you can easily download picture files from scanners, digital cameras, video capture cards or any other TWAIN compatible devices.

1. To activate the TWAIN acquisition interface in FlipAlbum, select Get Image under File menu.
2. If you have more than one TWAIN device driver connected to your computer, please select the device you wish to utilize by selecting Select Source, then repeat step 1 and 3. If you only have one TWAIN device, you can go to step 3.
3. Select Acquire your picture file. To download images from the TWAIN device, follow the appropriate steps and instruction for the respective TWAIN driver (the usage vary according to the input device and TWAIN driver available).

One important thing to remember: the right-button of your mouse is a very useful tool. It provides you with a menu, which gives you quick access to powerful features of FlipAlbum.

FlipAlbum was designed to look and feel like a real album book. To turn a page in the album, move the cursor to the page to be turned (left or right page) click the left-button of your mouse. You can change the speed of the page flipping by setting the flipping speed under the options menu.

The Overview page(s) consists of thumbnails (small renditions of the actual picture), which allows you to see all the pictures contained in the album quickly.

The Table of Contents provides a list of filenames of the picture files in the preset order you select (i.e. sort by filename, date, size, file type [default: by filename]).

Similarly, the Index, located at the end of the album, provides a list of the picture files in an alphabetical order.

The Thumbnail Overview, Table of Contents and Index are not merely a collection of thumbnails and list of filenames, they are convenient navigation tools. Clicking the left-button of your mouse on the filename while you are on the Overview page, Table of Contents and Index page will flip the album to the page where the picture is in the album. Clicking on the thumbnail picture itself, while you are on the Overview page will provide you with a full-screen view of the picture or play the selected multimedia files (i.e. sound if it is a .wav or .mid file, and movie if it is a .avi file).

The right-button of your mouse provides quick access menu to particular features, which are available depending on where you are in the album. For example, some features will not be available on the menu if your cursor is on the blank part of the overview page.

Note : Whatever operation you select to do in the Overview, Table of Contents, Index and album pages will be done to your original picture file(s). For example: If you change the filename in the Overview page, you are changing the filename of your original picture file.

The Page Edge representation indicates proportional thickness of the album. It is useful for getting to an album page quickly. Point the cursor at the edge of the page on either sides of the album. An indicator will show you the page numbers as you slowly move the cursor along these page edges. Once you see the page number you want, click on the left-button of your mouse to do the page-flip. The Page Edge is very useful when used with bookmarks.

The bookmark is an excellent feature to quickly locate pictures. You can have as many bookmarks as you need. To Bookmark a page :

1. Click the left side of the Add (Bookmark) icon found on the toolbar to bookmark the left page, or the right side of the icon to bookmark the right page.

To remove a bookmark :

1. Click on the left side of the Remove (Bookmark) icon on the toolbar to remove the bookmark on the left page, or the right side of the icon to remove the bookmark on the right page.

To go to the bookmarked page :

1. Click on the bookmark at the edge of the album.

You can easily insert comments and notes with different fonts, borders and colors to personalize your albums. There are two different ways of putting comments or notes into your album pages, Annotate and Add Text.

Annotate puts the text comments onto the album pages. It does not change your picture files and can easily be changed. However, you will not see the comments or notes if you view your pictures with other software.

Add Text is an image editor function. It incorporates the text as part of the picture, altering it permanently! It cannot be easily removed.

To annotate your album pages :

1. Click on the left side of the Annotate icon on the toolbar to annotate the left page, or the right side of the icon to annotate the right page.
2. In the annotation dialog window, type in the desired text, select the font, color, border and background.
3. Click Apply to preview the annotation.
4. Click Ok when done.

To add text to your picture :

1. Click on the left side of the Edit icon on the toolbar to edit the left picture, or the right side of the icon to edit the right picture.
2. In the image editor mode, click on the Add Text icon.
3. In the add text dialog window, type in the desired text, select the font, color, border and background.
4. Click Apply to preview the annotation.
5. Click Ok when done.
6. Save the picture by selecting Save as under File in the main menu.
7. Exit the image editor mode by selecting Exit under File in the main menu.

To print the overview pages or an image :

1. Click on Print under File in the main menu. If you are at one of the picture pages, you will be given three choices for printing: the overview, left image and right image. Select one of these options to be printed. FlipAlbum provides an easy to use WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) interface, so you can preview how your picture will be printed.
2. Adjust or select the options as required.
3. Click Ok.

FlipAlbum allows the user to easily select a collection of pictures and email them to colleagues, friends and loved ones. To send a picture email :

1. You must configure FlipAlbum’s E-mail feature to work with your E-mail account. The first time you click on the E-mail icon on the toolbar, FlipAlbum will open the E-mail's Options window. Please fill in your account information as required. Please check your Internet Service Provider for your account details.
2. Click on the E-mail icon on the toolbar. You can either batch select the pictures before or after you click on the E-mail icon. If you have already batch selected some pictures from the current opened folder, these pictures are automatically attached to the E-mail you are now working on. If you have not selected any picture files, or should you decide to add more pictures, go to step 3.
3. Click on the Attach icon, and select the pictures you wish to add. You can also deselect the picture files, by unticking them, should you decide not to send them. You can preview the pictures before you send them by clicking on the filename. The Preview arrow button toggles (on/off) the preview window.
4. Write the text part of your E-mail in the space provided. When you are happy with your E-mail.
5. Click Send.

You can rename a file from pretty much anywhere in the album, the overview, table of contents, index, and the album pages. To rename your picture files :

1. Right-click your mouse, and select Rename.
2. Enter the new name and press <enter>.

As FlipAlbum presents each file directory as an album folder, therefore it is strongly suggested that a separate directory is created for different topics or subjects. FlipAlbum also allows you to sort the picture files according to the following sort parameters: file type, file size and date. By default, FlipAlbum sorts the picture files in the order of filenames.

In addition, FlipAlbum allows you to filter a single file type from a mixture containing many other picture file types through the File Type Filter command of the View option in the main menu.

To make organizing your picture files easier, FlipAlbum allows you to open multiple albums at the same time. This allows you to view the contents of each opened album, and easily organize your pictures by using paste, copy to, copy from, move to features of FlipAlbum.

Batch Selection allows the user to do specific operations on multiple image files at the same time. The following batch functions are available in FlipAlbum:

• Rotate: Rotates the selected images.
• Size Change: Resamples and changes the size of the selected images.
• Copy To: Copies the selected images to a different directory.
• Move To: Moves the selected images to a different directory.
• Delete: Deletes the selected images.
• E-mail: E-mails the selected images.

To batch select/deselect an image from album pages :

1. Click on the left/right side of the Select or Deselect icon on the toolbar.

To batch select/deselect images from the overview, table of contents, or index :

1. Use the Ctrl and left-button mouse click to select individual files.

Use Shift and left-button mouse click to select multiple files at once. Hold down the SHIFT-key and click on a page to mark the start of the selection. Hold down the SHIFT-key and click on the page to mark the end of the selection. All the picture pages between the first click and the second click will be selected.

2. Once the files are highlighted, under the Edit menu select Batch and <the operation to be performed> (e.g. Rotate, Copy to, Move to, etc.).

FlipAlbum has a comprehensive set of editing functions to help the user to do advanced picture editing and enhancements. If you are not familiar with some image editing functions, do not be afraid to explore and experiment with the powerful features of FlipAlbum's image editor features. If you are afraid of damaging your picture files, simply make copies or back-ups of the files. You can always refer to our online help for more information.

To get into the Image Edit mode in FlipAlbum:

1. Click on the left/right Edit icon on the toolbar.
2. Edit your image as required.
3. Save the edited image by selecting the Save As option under the File menu.
4. Exit the image editor mode by selecting Exit under the File menu.

A toolbox of image edit icons is provided at the bottom of the image edit screen for quick access to editing functions. The following is a list of the icons in the image editor toolbox and their respective functions:

• New Image: Creates a new blank image file.
• Open Image File: Opens an existing image file for editing.
• Save Image: Saves the edited image file.
• Print: Prints the image on the edit screen.
• Undo: Undoes the last edit action.
• Copy to Clipboard: Stores the image to the clipboard for later recall.
• Paste from Clipboard: Recalls from clipboard the most recently stored image file.
• Select Rectangular Region: Selects a region of rectangular shape to edit.
• Select Elliptical Region: Selects a region of elliptical shape to edit.
• Deselect region: Deselects a selected region.
• Crop: Cuts-out a selected region (rectangular or elliptical).
• Normal View: Provides a view of the picture in the original size.
• Zoom In: Enlarges viewing size of the picture.
• Zoom Out: Reduces the viewing size of the picture.
• Mirror Horizontal: Produces a mirror image of the picture about the horizontal plane.
• Mirror Vertical: Produces a mirror image of the picture about the vertical plane.
• Rotate: Rotates the image. You can select the background color if the degree of rotation is not in multiples of 90 degrees.
• Shear: Slants two specified edges of the picture in parallel. You can select the background color.
• Add Text: Adds notes or comments to the picture. Warning this feature will incorporate the text into the picture, permanently. If you are not sure about permanently adding text to the picture, please make back-up copies of the picture files. (Note: Add Text is different from Annotate feature. Please refer to Section 2.1.5. Annotation and Adding Text).
• Size Change: Changes the size and dimension ratio of the picture.
• Image Processing: Applies the following image processing algorithms to enhance the picture; add noise, average, sharpen, median, posterize, mosaic.
• Filter: Applies the following image filter algorithms to add special effects to the picture; emboss, gradient, Laplacian, Sobel, Prewitt, line segment, shift and difference.
• Negative: Converts the picture to a negative or positive.
• Halftone: Converts the picture into bi-level (two levels of display intensity).
• Grey Scale: Converts the picture to a Grey scaled image (scaled black/white).
• Histogram Equalize: Balances the over all color of the picture across the color spectrum.
• Intensity Stretch: Increases the intensity range. It has the effect of making the darker part of the picture darker and the brighter parts brighter.
• Solarize: Changes the blending ratio of the negative and positive image.
• Brightness: Changes the overall amount of light in the picture.
• Contrast: Changes the degree of difference between the darkest and lightest part of the picture.
• Hue: Changes the dominant (color) wavelength of the picture.
• Gamma Correction: Changes the intensity ratio, which increases or decreases the contours or transition between one intensity level and the next. Visually, it has a similar effect of adjusting brightness and contrast.
• + / - (hotkeys) : Provides quick zoom in (+) or zoom out(-).

FlipAlbum gives you the flexibility to customize its settings to suit you. You can change the default settings by selecting Options in the main menu. Listed below are the setting options and a description of their respective function.