andPOP » Software Reviews

Account Edge, CANADA, for Mac: Welcomed by CBC’s

Rick Levine — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 02:08:54 +0000

Until now, current Mac Users who wanted to run a pro level accounting software package on the Mac platform in Canada, CBC’s (Canadian Bean Counters), had precious little to choose from. CBC’s could install the US version of AE, however, the effort was, by and large, futile. Not being able to obtain current tax table updates or easily account for and track dual Canadian taxes such as the GST/PST really left MacCanadians, right out in the cold. As of September 2009, Acclivity Software has picked up the ledger, where MYOB/ Account Edge left off in 2001, with the release of a Canadian Edition of Account Edge for Mac. AE for MacCanada, is a number crunching powerhouse with a pretty face, and straightforward enough to grasp. AE verson 13.4.1 is Snow Leopard compatible.

Financial Information at Your Fingertips

If you are installing AE for Mac Canada for the first time, you will find AE to offer a friendly, easy-to-navigate interface. The AE software is ‘Mac like’ and intuitive, affording anyone, with even a little Book Keeping experience and a bit of purserverence, to be ‘in business’ almost immediately. The individual with absolutely no Book Keeping experience will probably have to count on AE’s excellent, knowledgeable support team and the Acclivity’s 30 Days Free Technical Support Service to get up and running. Although it is no simple ‘walk in the park’ for the non Book Keeping types to configure the entire accounting package, once Account Edge for Mac Canada and its selected modules are set up/configured, entering the day to day data is pretty simple and the incredible variety of Reporting features will make the practice worthwhile. Complete up-to-date accounting information, including receivables, quarterly tax remittance amounts (just a fraction of AE’s abilities) will literally be at your fingertips. The practical minded will appreciate AE’s modular approach.

To get started with AE, you would use the AE ‘New Company File Assistant’ to help create an AE data file. To generate this new company data file, you would enter some basic information about your company, such as your Fiscal Year End, Tax Numbers (PST & GST numbers) and Account Lists. Once this Company Data File is created, you can modify the ‘Chart of ACCOUNTS’ that will allow you to keep track of your Assets and Liabilities. For those who aced their way through high school book keeping, it will be a breeze and you will be crunching your company’s financial records in no time at all. If the words ‘Debit and Credit’ used in the same sentence cause you to glaze over, zone out or hyper ventilate, then you will most certainly need to hire the services of a Book Keeper or Accountant (with some computer skills) to get you past any initial barricades. AE provides a link to the a PDF called: Accounting 101 Guide

Massive Power in a Minature Package

The AE online ‘context sensitive’ help system is the next best thing to having a book keeper with Mac computer skills right at your side. Although the Canadian version of AE Mac is packaged in a slender box with a slim ‘Getting Started’ Guide, the Context Sensitive Help system is super impressive. While performing a task, the user can click on the circular, purple ‘Question Mark ICON’ located on the lower left hand corner of the AE home screen to generate Context Sensitive Links leading to answers that were surprisingly well written and more helpful than expected. Flanked by the excellent AE context sensitive help system, the online AE help menu and Acclivity’s telephone/email support, most issues can be resolved effectively. The AE Partner’s Program pledges to provide a list of Certified Book Keeping consultants around the country whose professional level services may be contracted should one be in search this type of assistance. AE provides a number of on-line resources including and ‘Easy Setup Guide’ for users.

There is no Accounting for the Unpredictable – It’s been EIGHT years!

Catching that first glimpse of all of my MYOB/AE data in this newest release of AE was a truly impressive moment – honest! With a little help, I had all my custom designed INVOICE forms printing out as slick as ever from AE v13.4.1. If you are migrating from an earlier version of Account Edge (which is compatible), with the push of a couple of buttons, the upgrade prosess can work seamlessly, but each person’s upgrade experience may vary.

AE is certainly robust enough to be a reliable, full-fledged computer accounting package for small to medium businesses. The program has Eight integrated modules covering Accounts, Banking, Sales, Time Billing, Purchases, Payroll, Inventory and Cards. The BANKING module is where you keep track of your Bank Deposits and Withdrawls. In this MODULE you can accomplish all your banking needs and set the program up, to Print Cheques as well as Reconcile Bank Accounts. The TIME BILLING, PAYROLL, INVENTORY and PURCHASES modules are all pretty much self explanatory and certainly versatile enough to fulfill the requirements of most businesses. You will need to dedicate yourself learning the technical ins and outs of AE and to subscribe to AE’s company updates should you wish to utilize these modules. If you choose to utilize just the SALES module of AE for the purposes of generating INVOICES and keeping track of GST and PST remittances, you will find the REPORTING capabilities of AE to be very helpful. Once properly set up, these handy reporting features are simple to use and quite convenient. Of course you could just stick to using good old EXCEL in order to generate simple numbered invoices, tally the sale totals and tax figures, but AE has style, elegance and provides room to grow in the event you want to take the time to learn integrate and utilize the next module.

The CARD FILE module is certainly the easiest module to understand and to maintain. Most of the other modules rely on the CARD FILE module to function, therefore you would need to make use of and maintain the CARD FILE module even if you only using the SALES MODULE for example. The CARD MODULE is ultimately a real time saver because once you enter the contact information of your Customers and Vendors, repetitious tasks such as creating Invoices and printing cheques can be much less tedious. AE Card File always worked well in the old version and this newest release of AE has been modernized to include email and website information fields so that emailing an invoice is now only a click away. In addition to being able to import customer records from other database programs, the CARD FILE module can also integrate with Apple’s Address Book.

This new release of AE has what is labeled the TASK DRAWER whose usefulness can only be truly appreciated by those who had used a previous version of AE that did not have the TASK DRAWER feature. The TASK DRAWER is a handy sliding module that glides out of the right side of the AE window and is a place to store previous tasks such as a GST Tax report. This is the type of report that has to be generated several times a year and the TASK DRAWER is the place to be able to re generate the report with out having to reconstruct all the technical details. After adding a task to the TASK DRAWER and eventually creating a list of common TASKS, just click on the TASK that you want to generate in the TASK DRAWER, put in the current date parameters and voilà, the report appears. The TASK DRAWER is brilliant and a real time saver.

Crossed Platforms – Will Gates do the Job?

In a perfect world, everyone would be using the same OS (operating system) – preferably Macintosh of course, but it is understandable and certainly of no surprise that WINDOWS is the platform of choice for the Book Keeping/Accounting profession. This compatibility issue is probably not a huge deal in the long run, but the Mac/Windows situation could raise a number of immediate questions: For one, to what extent should this compatibility issue be of concern? Presently, your up-to-day Macintosh AE data file will not be accessible by WUBA’s (Windows Using Book Keepers/Accountants) until a PC version for Canada is released and adopted by the Bean Counting Community.

In the meantime, to bridge the gap, AE has excellent Importing/Exporting features which include the ability to Export/Import directly to EXCEL Spread Sheets. The work around would thus be, to Export any necessary Modular Data Files to EXCEL which is reliably cross platform. You could eMail your exported EXCEL worksheets to your WUBA for inspection and professional analysis, providing your accounting professional with all the numerical information needed to complete your business’ financial records and formal tax submissions.

Attention all CBC’s (Canadian Bean Counters)

For the Canadian Macintosh Business Person in need of a solid, feature rich, modern account program on the Mac, AE and AE Network Edition is a must see program. Time is money, so sharpen your pencil and visit the link below to find out for yourself just how much fun it can be to do your own book keeping, by obtaining the 30 day free trial version of the Account Edge Canada.

Canadian Pride – Aclivity held to account

Why in the world the CANADIAN version of Account Edge Canada is listed on the Account Edge WEBSITE in US funds ($399.00 USD) is something I cannot account for, but it is worth reporting that AE is willing to offer $100 rebate, also in US Funds, to Canadian Mac Users upgrading from any previous version of MYOB or AE.
For further information contact: customer.service@acclivitysoftware.com

Review: Astound Stereo Expander for Macintosh

Rick Levine — Sat, 23 May 2009 22:20:01 +0000

Astound Stereo enhancer for Macintosh is a software program that can change the way the music sounds from your mac. It really does make a difference to any audio file, in a way that I would compare to putting on 3D glasses while watching a 3D enhanced movie. Some listeners will love it, purists won’t. That being said, the great thing about this particular audio software enhancement package is that you can completely control the amount of audio enhancement you want to hear – from OFF to HIGH. It is also worth noting that this audio software enhancement program does not modify or alter the actual audio files, since it works as a system preference that can be enabled, disabled or completely removed altogether with the uninstaller.

How all this musical magic is actually accomplished is not the focus of this review, but suffice it to say, whatever it is, E.Qing, reverb, delay, or whatever, it does change the sound- and once again, the amount of change to the audio file is completely user controllable and completely reversible – very cool!

Here’s what the advertising hype has to say:
‘Hear the Future…AstoundStereo, sounds appear to emanate from all around you…widens the stereo image for a truly immersive listening experience. AstoundStereo Expander produces a richer and more expansive stereo image’

It is a fact that Astound Stereo enhancer for Macintosh can completely change the audio listening experience, and that can be a good thing in some cases. In my view, a great benefit of this audio enhancement program will be, in the case where you are listening to your old vintage music collection. There would be a experience of having heard that great classic tune a thousand times and then hearing it with the enhancements. I enhanced a few favourites from my good old Beatle collection and must admit that it gave a new polish as well as a refreshing listening experience to those great old tunes, ultimately enhancing the re-listening experience. For that alone it is worth the modest $32.00 purchase price.

The package includes an audio demo file that designed to make the audio qualities affected by the Astound Stereo enhancement software very evident. Trying to describe an audio listening enhancement experience is a lot like trying to describe the taste of spamoni ice cream to someone who never tasted spamoni or ice cream. Therefore, ultimately, the best way to find out if this program is for you or not is to download the demo and try it out. No harm in trying – Don’t be surprised it you end up loving Astound Stereo enhancer for macintosh! Visit http://www.astoundstereo.com for more information.

Filemaker Pro 10 Raises ‘The Bar’ on Organizing Your Info

Rick Levine — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 01:16:20 +0000

Talking about Databases can be a real lackluster experience. Talking about Filemaker Pro 10 changes all that. First and foremost, Filemaker’s main strength has always been the ability to provide businesses, organizations and individuals with a powerful customizable database tool that is relatively easy to use. Secondly, Filemaker Pro has always included a handful of professional looking sample templates which I have always found to be helpful and motivating towards taking the first step into the world of personal database creation. Thirdly, Filemaker is cross platform with internet savvy, providing the ability to communicate, access and share database information and templates on Apple Macintosh computers, Windows computers as well as on the World Wide Web. In Filemaker, while there are a few road blocks to perfection, no other database product that I know of will get you up and running as elegantly, as easily and as personally as Filemaker Pro. Here is my report on the most recent release: Filemaker Pro 10

The definition of a database is a collection of ‘like’ information with underlying attributes. We use databases everyday, in the form of address books, spreadsheets, even google, perhaps without even realizing it. A database stores, indentifies and sorts data in ‘Fields’ for easy retrieval at some future time often in the form of what is called ‘Records’. Filemaker has been around for well over a decade and was one of the first database programs to offer an intuitive interface that is simple to use, easily customizable along with powerful reporting capabilities.

Originally exclusively designed for the Macintosh, Filemaker Pro 10 is today available cross platform for Apple Macintosh or Windows computers. Mac and Windows Filemaker Pro users on the same network can open and use the same database files simultaneously. Being able to create a database on one platform, then able to open and use the same database on the other platform is of tremendous convenience particularly in the business world or within organizations that have several departments using both Mac and PCs.

Filemaker Pro is, what is called a ‘relational database’, which basically means that related values can be stored and linked to other files. Additional Filemaker features includes the ability to ad content from the web into your Filemaker layout, such as websites and on-line maps. Information can be worked with and organized in many different ways. Images, video and music can also be incorporated into the body of the layout created in Filemaker Pro. Filemaker’s greatest single attraction is its ability to be able to provide the tools with which to create a fully functional and powerful database application without having to know very much about computer programming. With a little computer experience and relatively little database knowledge, people can design useful Filemaker Pro Databases, and share them with others.

The Filemaker QUICKSTART SCREEN is the first thing you will see upon opening up the program. From this screen you can create and name a new empty database. New to Filemaker Pro 10 is the ability to create a database from an existing file including Excel, Text and Bento. Dragging these other file formats onto the Filemaker Pro 10 application file will also automatically convert the source file to a Filemaker Pro 10 database file. The Quickstart screen also allows you to create a database using what is called a ‘Starter Solution’ or from an existing database. There are several resources available from the Quick Start Screen including videos, hands on tours, tutorials as well as an online Filemaker resource centre to assist with the understanding and learning Filemaker Pro 10.

New FileMaker Pro 10 Status Toolbar

One of the big improvements in Filemaker Pro 10 is the Toolbar. Experienced Filemaker Pro users will immediately notice and appreciate the newly styled ‘Status Toolbar’ along the top instead of on the left side as in the prior versions. The new positioning of the Status Toolbar which includes ‘Show all Records’, ‘Delete Records’, ‘Find’ and ‘Sort’ is much better placed along the top than on the side as it was in those earlier versions. The convenience of accessing commonly used actions on the top edge this Status Bar previously only available from MENUS selections is a very welcome enhancement. This newly styled Status Toolbar itself is customized by going to the ‘View Menu’ and selecting this new option called ‘Customize Status Toolbar’ which will open up a dialogue box that accommodates the ability to drag and drop icons to add or delete many of these most commonly used features in the Browse mode and the Find mode. And of course the Status Tool Bar can be hidden from view when it is not needed. Filemaker Pro 10 looks a little more ‘new age Mac’ than before and even includes the animated ‘poof effect’ Mac users are familiar with as when dragging items off the Apple ‘Dock’.

A key concept towards understanding how to use filemaker, is to realize that there are Four main MODES: Browse Mode, Find Mode, Layout Mode, Preview Mode and that in each one of these modes the Status Toolbar takes on a different look and feel. The buttons on the status bar will change according to the particular mode you are in. In prior versions of Filemaker Pro in which the status area was on the left side, there was only an area of 30 pixels wide for the names of layouts. These layout names would usually be truncated, allowing you only to see the first part of the layout name in the drop down menu. The newly positioned Layout and Formatting Bar Filemaker Pro 10 positioned along the top allows more room to work thus providing the ability to fit a lot more information in a larger space.

My Filemaker Alert report: The use of a template which you may have created prior to using the Leopard OS and in an older version of FileMaker Pro, can cause an error stating that “The Date And Time Formats Associated With FileMaker Applications Are Different Than The Current System Settings”. To eliminate this annoying Alert Dialogue Box from appearing each time you launch that older updated file, here is what you need to do: Once the FILE in question has been launched, go to FILE > MENU > OPTIONS then choose the TEXT Tab and Select – Always Use Systems Settings

As far as roadblocks to perfection, a question I have always had about Filemaker’s ‘Find’ capabilities is how to make the ‘search’ function perform a ‘Phonebook type’ of search such as what is found so commonly in most P.I.M.s (Personal Information Managers). Recalling the old Palm units or imagine for a moment where you are viewing your contacts listed in alphabetical order on the screen and you looking at last names starting with ‘A’s. To view a name starting with ‘S’ for example all you do is type the letter ‘S’ into the search field and the list instantly scrolls down for you to all the last names starting with the letter ‘S’. I have never been able to figure out how to create a template that could perform this simple commonly used sort method. Over the years, my contacts at Filemaker, have consistently told me this ‘Phonebook Style’ sort method is in fact possible to accomplish. But I truly wonder… If that is the case then it is difficult to understand why FileMaker not does include this ‘Phonebook Style’ type of template along with the sample templates provided. In the meantime, if anyone comes across a template that can perform a ‘Phonebook type’ of search I would really like to hear about it. ‘Phonebook Style’ scrolling is one limitation of this database program that you will just have to live without.

Filemaker Pro 10 is the standard level version of a user friendly database system that allows you to easily create and modify your own databases. Filemaker Pro 10 Advanced costs a little bit more as it additional functionality over Filemaker Pro 10, such as additional tools for developers. There is Filemaker Server 10 which is an application which is installed on a server and is used to share all the files you create with many different users all at the same time and offers the ability to publish your databases to the web. Filemaker Server 10 Advanced supports instant web publishing or hosting.

Scripting, defining formulas, setting relationships, and some template design intricacies can sometimes be daunting and there certainly are some limits as to what the regular person can accomplish on their own when designing custom styled databases. The best way to get up and running on Filemaker Pro 10 is to take advantage of available Video Tutorials both on the Filemaker site and from other reliable tutorial makers. For anyone curious yet undecided, feel free to download Free trial versions of the product from the FileMaker Pro 10 website. The ease of making your first working database and seeing it come to life will probably provide enough of a thrill to actually help you go ahead and make that Filemaker Pro 10 purchase decision.

Filemaker is available in numerous retail configurations:

Filemaker Pro 10 $419.95 CAD

Filemaker Pro 10 upgrade $249.95 CAD

Visit Apple.ca for further details

You can also find Filemaker at Apple.com US Store:

Filemaker Pro 10 $299.00 USD

Filemaker Pro 10 Upgrade $179.00 USD

Review: Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac

Rick Levine — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 21:32:02 +0000

‘The world Standard in Business Productivity’

Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac, primarily made up of four Core Applications, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage is available in several versions:

Home and Student Edition ($199.00), Special Media Edition ($649.00) Standard Edition ($549.00) and of course, upgrade editions for current owners of previous versions at reduced prices. Office 2008 can be installed on up to three Macs and arrives with three separate Product Keys. In addition to file compatibility with the rest of the outside world, the 2008 release of MS Office has provided users of Macintosh computers with a universal version of Office that runs natively on the Intel Macs. Anyone familiar with previous versions of MS Office will find the look and feel of MS Office 2008 quite similar and therefore will be quite comfortable migrating to this most recent version.

After opening the retail box, inserting the CD and following the simple installation procedures for MS Office 2008, it is advisable to download and install the most current update available from MS website. As stated on the MS website ” This update contains several improvements to enhance stability, compatibility, and performance.” From my research, it should be noted that some Office 2008 users have reported the need to re-install Office from scratch, in order for the updates to work. Therefore performing all the current updates at the time of original installation will provide the best chances of success in updating Office 2008 without having to deal with frustrating upgrade/installation issues. For the Office update visit Mactopia-MS Office 2008 update

MS Word, the industry standard word processor will probably be the application most used from the Office 2008 suite. You can configure Word through the PREFERENCES MENU for your particular needs. The first thing I would do, is to go to Preferences, AUTO CORRECT MENU and make sure to UNCHECK ‘Show Auto complete tip for Auto Text, Contacts and Dates.’ Leaving this feature ‘checked’, Word will automatically complete your thoughts for you as you type, by inserting information it retrieves from your contacts and dates database. ‘Auto Complete’ will drive any normal person completely crazy, but thankfully it can be disabled and your sanity can be retained. Under the PREFERENCE DIALOGUE BOX, go to the EDIT menu and CHECK ‘Drag and Drop Editing’. Drag and Drop is one of my favourite features and it would be a shame if Drag and Drop was overlooked simply because it wasn’t activated by the user. Something that I need to do almost every time I create a new WORD document is to re-locate the MARGINS, left and right and top and bottom. The ability to ‘Drag and Pull’ Left and Right Margins as well as Bottom and Top Margins is a welcome convenience to MS Word 2008.

If you are searching for the ‘TEXT TO SPEECH’ function in MS Word, you will not find it, but do not despair. Text to Speech is no longer found as a Menu selectable item of MS Word as it is now built into Mac OS Leopard 10.5.6. Therefore, if you wish to have Word read your document to you, first you need to create an initial configuration in the SYSTEM PREFERENCE/ SPEECH panel and then SELECT the text in MS Word and use the ‘KEY COMBINATION’ to have the Apple OS read the selected text. It is easier to actually do, than it is to explain – for instructions visit this ‘Apple Tips’ page.

But MS Word still maintains a zillion other powerful features that are very useful which is why MS Office 2008 Mac can be such a valuable tool – The least of which is to provide compatibility with ‘Windows’ file versions including the new file standard (.docx). Ultimately the product can achieve almost every necessary word processing task, with a little research in the MS Word HELP MENU and on MACTOPIA, any document creation dream can probably come true.

MS Excel, notably the world’s standard in spreadsheet programs, would likely be the next product most business users rely on. Once again, the 2008 version of EXCEL would be quite familiar to anyone who has used previous versions of Excel. DRAG and DROP editing, Automatic Calculations and easy Formatting make it possible for those of us who are not accountants, to configure mathematical formulas and make numeric presentations attractive to look at and easier to understand.

Entourage - MS Office 2008 attractive new splash screens for each Office module

If you have been using ENTOURAGE for eMailing purposes, you won’t lose your way using the 2008 version. With the exception of the addition of ‘My Day’ much of the look and feel of Entourage has remained consistent with earlier releases. ‘My Day’ is a stand alone, related program that will pop up as an independent reminder of appointments that you have listed in your Calendar. It can be somewhat useful but, should the constant pop up reminders become annoying, it can be disabled. Support for Palm has gone the way of the dinosaur, but loading your calendar appointments onto your Apple iPod Touch for example can be accommodated using Apples ‘iSync’. The information you enter in the Entourage Calendar will not only sync to your iPod, it will also be copied to iCal, Mail and Adress Book should you ever need to make the transfer.

PowerPoint presentations are invaluable business and academic presentation tools. Even if you never find yourself in the position to have to create an actual presentation, chances are you will want to view POWERPOINT presentations sent to you by others. Apples’ Keynote will open most PowerPoint presentations, but best compatibility will be provided by using PowerPoint to open these PowerPoint presentations regardless of whether the original was created on Windows or Mac.

When purchasing the Office 2008 Mac with EXPRESSION MEDIA, you are getting a program that offers to manage your digital assets, CDs and media cards. As a Mac user, I am comfortable sticking with the programs provided with the Mac OS such as iTunes and iPhoto as I already know how to use them and they are more than adequate for my needs. I suspect that WINDOWS users would be comfortable with the look and feel of Expression Media which would provide a suitably familiar ‘Windows’ style environment for those users with such needs.

MS Office 2008 is an extremely powerful, very configurable, feature rich collection of business programs, with excellent cross platform compatibility. For someone who is used to working with Word, Excel, Entourage and PowerPoint, there is comfort knowing that these classic business tools are available and still supported for the Macintosh on the Leopard OS and Intel Macs. If the software provided by Apples iWork does not meet your needs, at least you know that you can still get hold of the Microsoft family of business productivity software that once set ‘THE standard’ and are used the world round.

Trivia - In 1985, Excel was released by Microsoft for the MacIntosh, almost two years before releasing Excel for Windows (in Nov. 1987).

Review: Suitcase Fusion 2

Rick Levine — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:49:53 +0000

The newest release of Suitcase is really exciting and practical, taking advantage of the latest Apple OS technology. Typography is a beautiful thing. With Suitcase Fusion 2, typography becomes a pleasure to work with and responsible font management can resolve many of the common ailments facing Mac users such as poor system performance. A splendid upgrade, the newest version of Suitcase takes advantage of Apple’s newest animation technology as well as Leopard’s modern interface to provide the user with new visual functionality. What iTunes does for cataloging your music selection, SF2 does for activating, previewing and cataloguing your font collection.

SF2 Sports a modern and entirely new user interface. A Font Libraries and Sets Pane is located on the upper left hand side. This is the character based area where you organize your fonts to suit your needs. Located on the lower left is the Attributes Pane where fonts are classified. The Preview Pane is where you will spend most of your time and takes up the central part of the interface. There are numerous ways to preview fonts in SF2 which utilizes some of Apple’s newest and most impressive animation technology. With the Waterfall View all Fonts can be sized with a slider allowing you to zoom in and out of fonts sizes seamlessly. Of course you can type your own text for previews with the Quicktype selection as well in any of the preset views from the drop down menu at the bottom of the Preview Pane.

In terms of new functionality, SF2 has a feature called Floating Previews that is way cool. Floating Previews is a convenience feature that allows you to manipulate your fonts directly from SF2 while working with outside documents. Type any text in the preview pane, grab that preview as a floating panel or ‘tear off’ palette and put it in any outside document you are working on in order to see exactly how it looks on that particular document. The ‘Drag-and-drop your previews into a live document’ feature is just too wild to explain, so take the time to view this on the On Line Demo (third video demo) called ‘Comparing and selecting fonts’.

If you need to use Wingdings, Symbols, Dingbats or fonts that are not of the usual roman characters, you will find The Glyph viewer very useful. The Glyph view allows us to view all if the different characters in a particular font. By hovering over that particular character, additional useful information will become available including how to create that particular character. The ‘Codepoint’ indicates the Key Commands used to create that symbol or dingbat. Adobe Pro Fonts are accommodated in the Glyph view as well by allowing you to view particular portions of the font family, which can be a real time saver in these pro fonts families that have so many variations available. Here is a link to the Apple Key Command Symbols that provide a visual table of the keyboard commands. This ‘key command’ table should be listed in every user manual but never is.

A plug-in based auto activation feature automatically activates fonts needed for a particular document. Font Sense creates a ‘finger print’ of your fonts by applying a unique I.D. to each font in order to activate the exact font you want for a document. For example, there are many versions of Helvetica, and it may be the Adobe version of Helvetica that you actually want to activate instead of the version from Linotype. In addition to Font Sense, the Auto Activation preference panel allows the user to have control over Font substitution, embedded fonts, and entire font families. Duplicate fonts can cause a lot of headaches on the Mac OS. ‘Name duplicates’ are allowed but SF2 will not allow the loading of exact duplicates.

Fonts from Suitcase Fusion can be imported to SF2 so you will not have to re- construct all your existing font sets if you are upgrading. This did not work too well when I was upgrading. During the process an alert box appeared telling me that a particular font on a particular external drive could not be located. In the end I had to re-construct my sets for the upgrade, but ultimately it was time to do some housekeeping anyway.

Suitcase Fusion 2 is a well constructed, solid must have program for every Leopard user. It is hands down, the best version of suitcase ever, with incredibly useful new font management features. Used properly, SF2 will help you manage your fonts effectively and greatly improve the performance of your Macintosh. Download the 30 day free demo online and see for yourself and wonder how you ever lived without SF2.

Minimum requirements: Leopard 10.5 (will not work in 10.4)
www.extensis.com
$99.95 for Suitcase Fusion 2
$49.95 to Upgrade from Suitcase Fusion
Available on line or as a retail package.

Review: Alien Skin Image Doctor

andPOP Staff — Thu, 15 May 2008 06:24:44 +0000

There’s nothing worse than uploading photos from your shiny new digital camera, and realizing your snaps didn’t turn out as great you’d imagined. Thankfully, the digital age has given photographers the power to repair and retouch their ugly ducklings.

Readily available programs like Apple’s iPhoto and Google’s Picasa come bundled with retouching tools designed for beginners. While handy, these tools merely scratch the surface of what is capable with the grand-daddy of editing suites, Adobe’s Photoshop.

Photoshop has been the gold standard in image manipulation for more than a decade, but its seemingly limitless capabilities can be overwhelming for the everyday snapper. Enter Alien Skin’s Image Doctor 2, a powerful all-in-one Photoshop retouching plug-in designed for both beginners and professionals. It takes some of the most complex and time-consuming Photoshop processes and bundles them into a bite-sized, easy to use plug-in.

Image Doctor 2’s first photographic antidote is the Conceal Blemish filter. This is perhaps the most powerful portion of Alien Skin’s software. Amateur photographers often try to remove facial blemishes manually with Photoshop’s clone and blur tools. The end result usually resembles a horribly distorted Japanese anime character.

Image Doctor makes facial retouching remarkably straightforward. Users can select special settings for removing moles, pimples, stains, and wrinkles, all which work with astonishing effectiveness. Rather than just focus on the blemished skin, the software evaluates the surrounding skin tones and shadows of the entire face. Apple’s iPhoto employs a similar technique, but executes the removal with an unsightly blur. Image Doctor repairs problem areas with a superbly uniform aesthetic and minimal blur. The resulting images look flawless and, more importantly, natural. This is sure to blow the minds of amateurs and save professionals countless hours in the edit suite.

The Skin Softener filter takes skin retouching to the next level. Modern digital cameras have a nasty habit of accentuating oily patches and wrinkles with harsh flashes. This Skin Softener is like a virtual application of makeup. It evens out wrinkles and ousts oil with ease. A manual application of this technique with Photoshop’s brushes can take hours. For pros, the skin softener is an invaluable filter.

The Smart Fill option is another brilliant time saver. Sometimes, great photos are ruined by obtrusive objects. With nothing more than a simple selection, Image Doctor removes these unwanted objects and blends the selection to look as natural as possible. Before Smart Fill, a similar task would take hours with Photoshop’s clone stamp tool.

The great thing about Image Doctor is that it features a relatively flat learning curve without compromising on beefy options for the professionals. Photographers with limited Photoshop experience can jump right in and retouch their photos with excellent built-in presets while the pros can create their own batch of expert settings to meet their retouching needs.

The Image Doctor plug-in can be had for $200 US. That’s chump change for an established photographer, but might scare away amateur snappers with smaller pockets.