This Week's Sneak Peek

We've hit a snag here at Bergetoons.

Ever since the latest Microsoft Windows update, I've been getting this error message in ULead Photo Express, the program I use to scan my cartoons. The scanner dutifully scans the cartoon, but then ULead tells me it's "unable to insert the file into the album." This is one of those times when I wish I were offered some option other than "OK," because when I hit "OK," the scan closes without allowing me to save the image.

ULead Photo Express is a relic of my old computer, and has never worked entirely properly on the new one. Its standard modus operandi is to save scans into various "albums," but for some reason on the new computer, ULead is the only app able to see anything in the "ULead Photo Express 3.0/Photo/" folder where those albums are. While there is a work-around for that, it's simpler to save my black-and-white .tif into another folder where my Photoshop program can find it.

(I use both graphic programs because there are some things ULead does better, and other things Photoshop does better; and ULead doesn't have CMYK capability.)

I used to be able to scan from Adobe Bridge CS5, but some Windows update over a year ago rendered it incapable of locating peripherals. Since then, Adobe Bridge doesn't seem to be of much use.

Happily, I have found a work-around for scanning my cartoons. It seems that if I start by having ULead open an already existing file, it then doesn't insist upon having a destination album selected for a new scan.

So there will be a new cartoon here in a couple of days. Stay tooned.

This Week's Sneak Peek

Progress report: I'm gradually learning my way around Adobe Photoshop CS5.1. This morning, I found where the command to format into CMYK color is.

Meanwhile, I can't find where Ulead's default location for saving the initial scan of my cartoons is. I've made a note of the path when I've saved these TIFF files, but when I go to open them in Photoshop, the folder is empty.

This Week's Sneak Peek

I had to replace my computer last week, so I'm learning my way around a new operating system and graphics program. It's a good thing I'm taking a day off from the office job.

This all came about because of planned obsolescence from the folks at Silicon Valley. Our internet service provider switched the anti-virus program it packages as part of its service. We uninstalled the previous AVP, but were repeatedly thwarted in attempts to download and install the new one. The on-line help at the new AVP diagnosed the problem as being that Microsoft Service Pack 3 was not installed on our Windows XP computer.

Service Pack 3 refused to install no matter how many times the techies at Microsoft Bangalore had me go over the same instructions again and again, so the choice was to go without anti-virus protection or get a new computer. After digging up as many installation disks as I could find and  backing up every file conceivably worth having, we had a new Windows 7 computer built. (Yes, I know that a Mac would be a better computer.  If it were strictly up to me, I might have taken this as an opportunity to switch over.)

Installing the AVP on the new computer was a piece of cake, but the Adobe Photoshop installation was interrupted by a warning of "known incompatibility issues" with Windows 7 -- not surprisingly, since Elements 3.0 was designed before Windows 7 was a gleam in Bill Gates' eye.

Curiously, however, my old version of Ulead Photo Express, designed for Windows 98, installed without complaint. I've continued to use this old program because there are a few things it does better than Adobe Elements, such as putting that e-mail notice precisely where I want it; Adobe, for some reason, always stubbornly wants it a few pixels to the left, right, higher, and/or lower than I do.

Unfortunately, there are other areas where Ulead Photo Express falls short, so I sampled the trial version of Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 this morning. It took some digging to find some of the editing features I frequently use, but they proved to be in locations that made sense. I'll probably buy this program.

And I'll be going through much the same process at the office. The Windows XP OS computer on my desk tries and tries, but it has never been able to install Windows Service Pack 3, either.