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Program Options |
You can display the options dialog by selecting View>Options on the main menu.
Slideshow Preview
Always start Previews from the first frame
If checked, then when clicking Preview the display will always begin with the first image in the project. If it is not checked, then the Preview display will commence from the currently selected image
Use very accurate timing during previews
Improves the accuracy of the timing of the preview so that it closely matches the timing of the final slideshow disc.
Note: This setting will also be used for PC Format slideshow disks you create
Video Display Size
The size at which the video is shown when previewing. Also any PC format slideshow disks will use the same display setting
Note: This setting will also be used for PC Format slideshow disks you create
User Interface
Show the Welcome dialog on start up
Whether PixPlay will always display the Welcome to DVD PixPlay" dialog on start up, enabling you to quickly create new projects or open recent ones. If unchecked, the last project you were working on will be opened
Show Warnings and Tips
PixPlay often displays tips, which you can choose to 'Not show again'. Uncheck the box to disable all tips
Show Text on toolbar buttons
Uncheck the option to remove the descriptive text from toolbars in the main, image and title page editing windows
Toolbar Buttons
Add extra buttons to the toolbar for image editing, copying, pasting and starting DVD chapters
User Interface Style
Change the look of the menu and toolbar
The size of the thumbnails that are displayed in the Thumbnail file display mode. Thumbnails in the Small Thumbs file display mode will always be half this size.
To display thumbnails of your slideshow frames Select View > Thumbnails
Thumbnail Display Settings
Show Filenames rather than Frame Number
Whether the filename for each image is displayed beneath the thumbnail or the Frame number
Show file extensions
Whether filename extensions are displayed (e.g. myimage.jpg should be displayed as myimage)
Disk Cache
Disk caching is used to speed up the display of thumbnails in this application, by storing thumbnails on your hard drive. Specify the maximum number of thumbnails to store. A low value will require less hard disk space, but display will be slower. A high value gives the best performance.
To clear the cache click the "Clean Up" button under the Folders tab
Specify the columns that are displayed in Full Details mode and the width of the columns.
To display full details of your slideshow frames Select View > Full Details
Temporary Folder
The folder where PixPlay saves its temporary files. You may need up to 1 GB free on this drive depending on the size of the slideshows you are creating
Temporary Video Folder
The folder where PixPlay temporarily stores your video files when you are building a multiple slideshow disk. To speed up generation, the video files are maintained until you begin a new multiple slideshow project
Other Folder Options
Save files with project
By default, DVD PixPlay projects only link to the current location of the images and videos that are used in your project. This means that if they are moved from their current location or they are on a CD that is not inserted then DVD PixPlay will not be able to find them. Specify which file types DVD PixPlay should copy project files to its work folder so that they are unlikely to be moved or deleted by other programs
Display a warning when there is less than x MB free disk space
DVD PixPlay may create a number of temporary files when preparing a slideshow for burning. This option specifies the minimum permissible level of disk space on your system drive before DVD PixPlay will display a warning
Automatically save projects (without prompting)
Specify whether to be prompted to confirm saving of changes to your projects
Clean Up Files
Reduce the disk space used by DVD PixPlay by removing a variety of temporary and work files
JPEG quality used when saving images
The quality that is used when saving images after editing them with the Image Editing tool (100% is best quality)
Automatically rotate digital camera photos
Many high-end digital cameras set a special field within the photo specifying its correct orientation. Using this field your photos can be automatically rotated for the correct display. When this option is enabled you will be prompted to confirm any automatic rotation that needs to be performed to files you add to your projects.
Other Image Editor
Specify an external photo editor to use when you select an image and click Ctrl+Shift+E.
Designer Settings
Enable easy positioning of objects (Snap to Grid)
The designer is used when creating title pages and DVD menus. When Snap to Grid is enabled objects (such as text and clip art) will be automatically positioned using an invisible grid
Show TV Safe Areas
TVs often do not display the complete area of a DVD, thus if you position text or clip art close to the edge of the page it may not display. Enabling this option displays a red border showing where it is safe to position object when creating Title Pages and DVD Menus
Advanced Slideshow Preview
Preview Quality
Specify the quality of the image display during a slideshow preview. It has NO effect on the created disk
Display frame timing information
Displays the current frame number and its start time when displaying a slideshow preview
Display preview at output ratio
When setting the properties for a frame you can optimize the output to a desired ratio, such as DVD. This setting specifies that the preview will reduce the size of the preview display to match the specified ratio
Other Advanced Options
Delete files that I remove from my projects
Specify whether DVD PixPlay will delete files that are in your project folder if you remove them from your slideshow
Delete videos created for Multiple Slideshow Disks
To speed up creating of multiple slideshow disks, DVD PixPlay maintains slideshow videos between sessions. These can be quite large, so enabling this option allows the videos to be deleted automatically when loading/creating a new multiple slideshow project
Confirm Looping
In Project Properties you can specify whether the slideshow should automatically loop when it finishes playback. If looping is enabled this options controls whether the viewer is displayed a prompt to confirm the looping.
Shorten background music list when stretching slideshow
When outputting your slideshow to disk, DVD PixPlay allows you to stretch the slideshow length to match the background music list
Checked: DVD PixPlay may remove files from your background music list to more closely match the original slideshow length
Unchecked: DVD PixPlay will stretch the slideshow to match your entire background music length, even if it is much longer than the slideshow
Frame Caption Margin
Specify how far from the edge of the image frame captions are displayed (as a percentage of the frame height or width).
Maximum zoom level for Motion Effects
When using motion effects to display your images, this option controls the maximum level of zooming that will occur (the higher the value the more movement that will occur)
PowerPoint Import Quality
Standard quality imports each frame as a JPEG image, whereas High quality uses EMF vector format. High quality is slower but improves the appearance of text and clip art
Various options to address compatibility problems with some burners and DVD players. It is not recommended that you modify these options unless you encounter problems with the default settings.
Disk Burning Communication
Specify the method that PixPlay uses to communicate with your DVD burner. ASPI is required for Windows 98 and ME, whereas for other Windows versions SPTI is recommended.
Use this option when PixPlay is unable to find your burner. For more information visit the PixPlay Support page:
Audio format for DVD compliant MPEGs
The format that is used for audio when creating DVD compliant MPEG disks. Use AC3 format unless you have playback problems
Override MPEG internal aspect ratio flag
Unlike computer display where pixels are always displayed as square, pixels on a TV are often rectangular (such as with SVCD format). This option controls the internal video flag that instructs the player how to display the video. It does NOT change the aspect ratio of the video itself.
If this item is NOT checked DVD PixPlay will choose the best aspect ratio flag based on the selected slideshow format.
Improve aspect ratio of slideshows on DVD players
Use rectangular pixels to give the truest representation of the original aspect ratio of your images when displayed on a DVD player. Note: This may adversely affect the aspect ratio when displayed on a computer
Add the following borders to slideshows when burning
Some TVs may not display the edges of a video image. Use this option to add a border (blank) area around your slideshow so that all of your image is visible
Other Compatibility Options
Player to use when testing slideshows
Specify whether Windows Media Player, DVD PixPlay's video viewer or the system default viewer is used when clicking the "Test" button in the Burn Slideshow wizard
Incompatible audio file conversion
When adding CD music tracks and WMA files to your project DVD PixPlay will convert them to a compatible format. Generally you should select MP3 which provides good quality without using a large amount of disk space.
Check multimedia driver
If you are experiencing playback problems when previewing your slideshow then there is likely to be an issue with the multimedia (MCI) drivers on your system. Use this option to check a multimedia format to ensure it is configured correctly
Allow the last operation to be undone
When enabled PixPlay will record your project status every time you make a change and allow you to undo the changes using the Undo button
Note: slower with large projects
Reduce the memory used when generating title pages
If you encounter problems when burning slideshows containing images with text added then check this option to use less memory (slightly lowers performance)
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