Patti,
I use Photoshop Album v1 on my Win98SE system, and am pleased with it.
In the Photoshop Album forum, there were a number of people who felt as I do, and there are a number of people who were NOT happy with it… most of them in relation to the VCD capabilities, although a few could not get it to run, at all.
My reason for using PSA1 is to catalog my images, and I enjoy the tagging scheme.
Some of the changes / improvements in v2 are appealing to me (like more flexibility in tagging), but I can’t update because v2 does not support Win98.
If the cost of the package on ebay is reasonable, and your primary goal is cataloging images, then you may find it beneficial.
You could always go into the PSA forum and read what other users have posted, as well.
Good luck!
Byron
Patti,
I pretty much agree with Byron. We both have spent quite a bit of time on the PSA forum, and we are both relatively satisfied users. The problems that many users have had with PSA 1.0 are mostly concerned with peripheral functions…video editing, making VCD’s etc. There is an update for 1.0 still available on the PSA forum, and if you buy it, you should download that. It fixes a few bugs.
If your primary goal is to organize your images in a database and tag them so you can do searches, then I think you will be happy with PSA. I’m still happy with version 1.0. Eventually, I will probably upgrade to 2.0…I’m running WXP so that’s not a problem…but I’m in no hurry. It works just fine for me.
Bert
PS – if you DO decide to go over to the PSA forum, don’t be put off by the invective from a few dissatisfied users. It was really nasty over there for awhile. But as Byron says, most people who want to use the basic database functions don’t have many complaints.
I’m working with just the free version of Photoshop Album that you can download from the Adobe web site. I use it for cataloging the photographs I have archived on to CD ROM. I use other software to create my VCDs. There are a number of the video editing software packages that can be purchased that are much more suitable for creating slide shows with music added. Actually, one of the easiest and simplest programs I have found comes with the Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition, which can be downloaded for $19.95. If you want a little more control, then you might consider looking at Pinnacle Studio 8 or Ulead Video Studio 7. Either one of these programs have a more intuitive timeline editing mode that will allow you to do more precise editing if you are concerned about timing the music with your photographs. However, as with the Photoshop Album forums, you are going to find a lot of disgruntled users there. In my opinion, real video editing hasn’t made it to the consumer level yet. I have done some video projects that I quite like, but it seems that I am one of the few satisfied users. But then I don’t create DVDs yet. Anyway, Photoshop Album is really nice for cataloging photographs.
Edit: I forgot that you are using Windows 98. The Microsoft plus! Program I was talking about is only available for Windows XP. And from what I have been reading in other forums, Windows 98 is not very friendly when it comes to video editing.
Jim,
You are doing it right…use the tool that works best for whatever you are trying to do, and don’t expect Photoshop Album…or any other software package…to be a "Swiss Army Knife." As I have said repeatedly in these forums, I think Adobe should take a lot of the peripheral functions OUT of PSA! Either that, or they have to make them work really well. I think their programming staff just got a little overambitious and tried to add too many bells and whistles.
In the programming trade, that’s called "function creep." Bert
Patti, before you buy from ebay be sure you are buying the real macoy and not just a copy of the software. It has to say ‘ sealed and/or registerable’ otherwise you are probably getting a version that you wont be able to register and therefor will not be able to get on-line help
from Adobe if you ever need it. I’ve also heard of individuals that ended up purchasing copies of ‘trial versions’…be careful.
