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Now that we have seen how easy it is to manipulate the pictures and the pages, let's take a look at some more advanced features of Photokeeper. Page properties can be accessed through the Page menu or if one is in Page View by either right clicking in the page, which brings up the page properties menu or by clicking on the button in the View menu entitled Properties. (Figure 6)

Figure 6 - Page properties

This is the menu for altering page attributes: the background – either by color or by texture; by arrangement in rows and columns; or the slide show attributes including transition effects. If it is desirable to include the picture in the slide show, just check the box. Additionally the user can also add music to the slide show using this menu. (Figure 7)

Figure 7 - Adding music

Additionally, adding or changing the effects between viewing slides is accessible through the page properties menu.

Photokeeper offers a template feature, but in this reviewer's opinion it is the least intuitive part of using the program. Once the user has decided that the background, whether a color or texture, should be used for many pictures then he right clicks on the photo or annotation and selects Create Template. (Figure 8)

Figure 8 - Create Template

The template name shows up under the Template menu on the left of the screen.

Figure 9 - Show System Templates

Now to add text attributes for the text the user must right click on the named template to get another menu (Figure 10) and then left click on Properties to come to the attributes menu (Figure 11). Furthermore once a template has been created, to save it in the Templates Menu list the user must click on Share with the System (Figure 10).

Figure 10 - Template properties & Create System Template

Figure 11 - Template properties

Using the Create Collection Wizard it is possible to share albums with friends and family by copying the album to a CD. Most albums will be too big to send by email as Aephid includes a copy of Photokeeper 2001 in order to play the slide show. There is no extra charge for creating a CD. As was mentioned before, the online tutorial for creating a collection is skimpy and the user will have to deal with both Photokeeper and their CD burner software at the same time. This reviewer was able to burn a CD after some trial and error, learning that it really should be done through Photokeeper in order to ensure that all the necessary files are copied.

The online tutorial found on the Aephid Web site is long but thorough and many users will not be willing to keep going online to get help. Photokeeper could benefit from a help file integrated within the program.

Minimum program requirements are Windows 98/Me/2000, Pentium II, 64 megabytes RAM, 16-bit color display and a 2-button mouse. A 30-day trial can be downloaded from the Aephid Web site. The Standard program costs $50.00, while the Professional version costs $120.00.

--By Tanya Metaksa