Photo Mechanic Version 5 User Manual: Comments thread

[Mick O (Camera Bits)]

(This is a modified repost of a topic in the announcements group. We're posting it here in Discussion as well so that people can reply and comment.)

Hi All,

We’re very excited to announce the launch of the Photo Mechanic Version 5 online wiki user manual. With 34 alphabetical sections of information, topics range from basic functions of the software to advanced features like code replacements, variables, and keyboard shortcuts.

You can find the manual at http://wiki.camerabits.com. 

Browse the user manual as an alphabetical index of topics in small chunks, or see it all on one large page to make searching simple.

If you find an error or would like to request additional information on a topic, we welcome your feedback or questions.  I’ll be collecting feedback from the replies to this post, so let us know what you think.

Thanks for your patience and for using Photo Mechanic!

-Mick O

[Hayo Baan]

Hi Mick,

Great to see the manual is done! I'll have a go at it when I have some time.

However, for me to be able to do so, can you make a pdf version available too please? On-line reading just doesn't do it for me (let alone if anyone would want to print it). I understand (guess) you opted for wiki as that allows more interaction, but for me good manual should (also) be available as pdf. So please will you provide one?

Thanks,
Hayo

[Mick O (Camera Bits)]

However, for me to be able to do so, can you make a pdf version available too please?

We're looking into adding a PDF export capability to the wiki pages, that way you could print just the sections you need (and in chosen paper size). Or, you could print the whole thing of course.   In the meantime, printing individual sections right from the browser is not perfect, but it does work.  I believe if you print from the browser in Mediawiki (what we're using), most of the sidebar and header/footer stuff is hidden - so it looks surprisingly OK.    If you try printing, let me know what you think.

[Sven]

Hi Mick!

Great work!
I was just reading through and found a little formatting issue at the end of the flat view in the FAQ section:

Upgrading to a New Version?
I am a bit apprehensive about upgrading my older version of Photo Mechanic the latest Version 5 because it seems so different. I've tried the demo and I can’t make it work like I'm used to. Do I have to learn a new set of commands for the new version?Answer: Photo Mechanic Version 5 has a wide variety of customizable behaviors. This means that you should be able to configure it to behave like you're used to. Hopefully this manual will help you understand the different customizations.

There is the answer in the same format as the question.

I will read through it completely and will report other things that come into my mind.

Interested in a German translation?

Sven

[Mick O (Camera Bits)]

I was just reading through and found a little formatting issue at the end of the flat view in the FAQ section:

Fixed, thanks!

Interested in a German translation?

We definitely will be at some point.  I know mechanized translations are probably untenable for technical matter.  But, we are looking at a lot of internationalization options.  German will be a top priority.

-Mick

[Sven]

We definitely will be at some point.  I know mechanized translations are probably untenable for technical matter.  But, we are looking at a lot of internationalization options.  German will be a top priority.

Native German here

[Woodie]

Will there be a menu selection, possibly in the Help menu, in a future build of PM to go directly to the wiki if computer is online as there is now to go to the forum?

[Kirk Baker]

Will there be a menu selection, possibly in the Help menu, in a future build of PM to go directly to the wiki if computer is online as there is now to go to the forum?

We'll likely add that to the next build.

-Kirk

[judophotos]

I feel the same as Hayo Baan that a readable/printable PDF version should be available if possible.

I travel quite a lot by air and to be able to read the manual on my laptop or tablet as a PDF would be ideal.

David

[Mick O (Camera Bits)]

I hear you on the special printed version, but again I do really suggest trying to print from the wiki page and see how it looks.  And, with OSX at least, it is very easy to create a PDF.  For example, to create the PDF below, I just printed the "Speeding Up Captioning" section right from my browser using the OSX print dialog and choosing the PDF option  You'll see that the page automatically formats for printing by removing the wiki menus, sidebars, header, and footer.

http://www.camerabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/PhotoMechanic-Speeding_Up_Captioning.pdf

In this way, you can print (or create PDFs of) just the sections you need.

I hope this helps.

-Mick

[mklass]

But what if you want the complete manual?


Mick
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kirk Baker]

Mick,

But what if you want the complete manual?

Then access the 'flat' version of the manual and print it out entirely.

http://wiki.camerabits.com/en/index.php?title=User_Manual_Flat_View

-Kirk

[Mick O (Camera Bits)]

But what if you want the complete manual?

The flat view of the wiki page contains the whole manual on one "page"

http://wiki.camerabits.com/en/index.php?title=User_Manual_Flat_View

You can print that or create a PDF of it - the wiki removes the sidebars and header/footer from the printed version for that page as well..  With my system's default settings, that comes out to 156 printed pages in a ~21MB PDF . Your settings may come up with something different.   

But, we are looking at other possibilities to improve the printing process. We know that it is important.  Thanks for your patience.

-Mick

[mklass]

Thanks, Kirk. That should work for me.


Mick
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[judophotos]

Unfortunately, it does not appear to be working for me. I am running Win7 64bit and using Firefox or IE.

I tried it with FF as a preview and it looked okay with 93 pages and quite a lot of text on the pages but when I went to print it to PDF 3 times it hung at 64% and I had to crash FF each time.

I then tried it with IE and it came up with the 153 pages but only at 5.8mb and it looks as though various boxes are missing. A copy is attached.

I will shut the PC down and try it again later.

[attachment deleted by admin]