Help

[fraziergeo]

I purchased Photo Mechanic yesterday and downloaded it.  Is there any information about how to use it other than the help file?  The help files seem totally inadequate.  There is no search feature, no index, no tutorial and the command list secription is incomplete.  So far, I am quite dissatisfied.  Here are just a couple of questions: 1) is there any way to display captions associated with photos other than opening the staionary pad?  Can you display only photos that have a given caption the way you can tagged photos? 2) The view menu has 12 choices but only seven are described in the help file.  where can I find out what the others do?  For example what does "show unknown files as proxies" mean?  What does the "make arrangement" choice do?  These are just a couple of examples of inadequate documentation.  I must be missing something.  Do other "newbies" have this kind of trouble or am I just dense?

[Kirk Baker]

I purchased Photo Mechanic yesterday and downloaded it.  Is there any information about how to use it other than the help file?  The help files seem totally inadequate.  There is no search feature, no index, no tutorial and the command list secription is incomplete.  So far, I am quite dissatisfied.

I'm sorry to hear that.  Did you not download a trial version before your purchase?  The link to the manual was right next to the link to download the application.  We offer a 20 day trial so you can be sure you like Photo Mechanic before you purchase it.

Here is a direct link to the manual:

http://camerabits.fileburst.com/Photo_Mechanic_4.5.3_Manual.pdf

Here are just a couple of questions: 1) is there any way to display captions associated with photos other than opening the staionary pad?

Yes, definitely.  One is to add the {caption} variable to your 'Info Text'.  Choose 'Set Info Text...' from the Edit menu and add:

Caption: {caption}

Can you display only photos that have a given caption the way you can tagged photos?

Yes.  You can customize up to three labels that appear underneath the the thumbnails.  Open up the Preferences dialog, click on the Contact Sheet tab, and then add one label.  Use {caption} as the label.

2) The view menu has 12 choices but only seven are described in the help file.  where can I find out what the others do?  For example what does "show unknown files as proxies" mean?  What does the "make arrangement" choice do?  These are just a couple of examples of inadequate documentation.

They're both explained in the manual I referenced above.  Showing unknown files as proxies allows you to 'see' all of the files in a folder, even if PM does not know how to render them.  The 'Make Arrangement' command allows you to take a snapshot of how the files in a Contact Sheet are currently arranged (for instance if you made a Custom Sort and you liked the results but don't always want to use the sort.)

I think the manual will answer many of your questions and if it does not answer all of them, then please feel free to use these forums to ask questions.  I'll be happy to answer them.

-Kirk

[fraziergeo]

Kirk,
thanks for the prompt reply.  No I didn't try the trial version before purchasing because a friend of mine recommended the program.  That was a mistake.  I appreciate your sending me the manual link.  Perhaps that's all I need.  I am surprised that it took a forum entry for me to find out the manual existed.  Perhpaps I did not look in the right places.  I'll let you know how I do after reading it.  Thanks again.
George Frazier

[Kirk Baker]

George,

,
thanks for the prompt reply.  No I didn't try the trial version before purchasing because a friend of mine recommended the program.  That was a mistake.  I appreciate your sending me the manual link.  Perhaps that's all I need.  I am surprised that it took a forum entry for me to find out the manual existed.  Perhpaps I did not look in the right places.  I'll let you know how I do after reading it.  Thanks again.

I don't know how you missed it either.  Did you download Photo Mechanic from our site?  If so, the link to the manual is right next to the link for the application download.

-Kirk

[Hayo Baan]

George, I'm sure with a bit of help form your friend and the manual you will like PM as we all do!

Enjoy,
    Hayo