A desktop component lets you
WHAT’S HOT
organize and edit your digital images, then syncs to
it’s Pocket PC counterpart.
Setup includes both a
SETUP
components for both the Windows desktop and the Pocket
PC. I received an error upon installation of the
desktop piece but was able to complete the process.
When starting the program I saw another (related)
error, which I was able to resolve by emailing
SplashData tech support. It turns out when installing
in a network environment, a needed folder is not
created if your "My Documents" folder is located on
the network. I was told to create a "SplashPhoto" folder to resolve the error. Once I did that, the
program ran as expected. SplashData told me this would
be resolved in a future release.
As mentioned, SplashPhoto comes with two
PRODUCT FEATURES
pieces of software, one for the desktop, another for your Pocket PC
device. I’ll take a look at the desktop portion first.
SplashPhoto Desktop
is where the power for this software resides. With it, you can add photos
to your album, then sync it with your device thereby having a duplicate
ready to go. To get your images into SplashPhoto, you can either drag-and-drop
them into the program, or use the "File, Add Images" menu
option. I found it easiest to drag photos in. The program supports JPG,
GIF & BMP image file formats.
Once you’ve added
an image, an edit dialog window pops open prompting you to make some
decisions. You can set the image name, the storage location (internal,
built-in, or SD/CF card), and category. You can also add notes to the
image, in case you want to add a description.
SplashPhoto Desktop also gives you a few image editing
options. You can rotate the photo, resize it to fit
the Pocket PC aspect ratio, and adjust the brightness
and contrast. The Zoom/Crop isn’t a crop in the
traditional sense, where you’d draw a box around the
area you want and delete the rest. This function crops
by zooming in, but you can choose the area you want to
display by using the "hand" tool to move the image
around within the window. Once you are satisfied with
your photo’s display, click "Done."
There are four viewing modes in which
to see your photos:
If you choose to view in the " " mode, you will see a few details about your photo. Notice the tiny SD
List
card icon to left of the top-most item, this indicates the storage location.
I believe the icon to the furthest right indicates that you have performed
some sort of editing on the image. I couldn’t find any documentation
to confirm this though.
" " view displays a thumbnail as well as image name, category, location
Detail
and other details about the images. You can use this mode to make changes
to category and location by clicking the black down arrow next to each
photo.
"
Thumbnail
" mode will show a larger thumbnail of each image and the name. You can
right-click any image make changes to location or category, edit the
image or send it via email.
"Gallery" view displays all
of the images in smaller thumbnails, with no information displayed.
The same right-click options that are in "Thumbnail" mode
are also available here. One nice function I didn’t see in the documentation
was that you can drag any photo out of SplashPhoto and drop it on your
desktop, essentially exporting it.
The program ships
with 16 sample photos which you can use or discard. I decided to keep
them but I wanted to keep them separate from my own photos. To do this,
I changed the "view" so all of the photos would be show in
the "list" mode. I created a new category, selected the sample
photos, then from the file menu I chose "Assign Category."
You can also do the same type of operation with "Change Location" if you wish to move your files from one storage area to another.
From the "Sync" menu you can set the options SplashPhoto Desktop performs. The default
is to have the desktop synch with the Pocket PC on launch and exit.
In other words, the sync function only takes place when the desktop
program is started or closed, it is not integrated with Microsoft’s
ActiveSync. If your device is not cradled or otherwise connected to
your PC, the program won’t sync. I find this to be a major drawback
to the program. I don’t keep my device cradled all day long, and my
only synch it once or twice a day. So if I’ve added any images to SplashPhoto
desktop during the day, they won’t be synced when I plug in my device.
Only when I remember to start the desktop program will the changes be
sent over. This is an extra step I have to take that shouldn’t be necessary.
The "Preferences" dialog window is where you can set
the default storage location for all images added to
SplashPhoto. I decided to use "SD Card" for all of
mine, so more memory would be available on my device.
You can also set the default category and orientation.
If you would prefer to not have to see the "Edit"
dialog window when you add images, you can un-check
the "Automatically open Edit Imaged dialog" option
here.
It
is worth noting that while you can sort the images by
category, they are all contained within the same
"album." There is no way to save separate albums. To
use a common photo filing metaphor, all your photos
are kept in the same shoebox.
Now let’s take a look
at the Pocket PC portion of SplashPhoto!
SplashPhoto on the
pocket PC operates almost identically to the desktop version. This is
a good thing, because you can switch between the two and if you know
how to operate one, you can operate the other with ease.
The "Preference"
window allows you to select the default sorting method. You can also
set the details you want to display in the "list" views, such
as locations, category, date, note, and dimensions.
Just like the desktop,
SplashPhoto for the Pocket PC has dropdown menus where you can select
the desired category as well as a dropdown for images in one or all
of the storage locations.
Also carried over from the
desktop version, are the four different "Views." Each functions
just like you’d expect, perfectly mirroring functionality found on the
PC iteration.
Clicking on an image
brings up a new menu, presenting you with many choices. The "Location"
and "Category" options let you set those, just as in the desktop.
You can also beam the file to another device, send it via email or set
it as your "Today" wallpaper.
Selecting "Details"
brings up a new window where you can change the image name, and set
other options. Clicking "Note" here brings up a text box where
you can enter text about the image.
SplashPhoto for Pocket PC also has a "Slideshow" option which will cycle through all of the images for
a pre-set duration. This is nice if you want to show
off family photos to a friend. Depending on how you
choose to sort your images, the slideshow will display
all images, or only those in a specific category.
Image display on the Pocket PC with SplashPhoto is
very good. The image quality is not diminished, and
looks just as good as it did on the desktop side of
things. All of the thumbnail views are excellent and
the slideshow works great.
Two key functions are lacking in the Pocket PC version
though. Image Editing and Adding Images. For me, these
functions are extremely important and keep this
program for being an outstanding product. If for
example, a photo is rotated the wrong direction on the
Pocket PC, you can’t change it. Nor can you zoom, or
adjust any of the image qualities. To do any of these
functions, you have to go back to the desktop
application.
The second issue is that there is no way to add files
to SplashPhoto. Actually that isn’t entirely true -
upon startup, the program will look for JPG images in
the "My Documents/SplashPhoto" & "DCIM" directory on
both internal and external memory. But if you want to
get images into SplashPhoto from another folder on
your device or memory card, you are out of luck. You
could, I suppose, use a 3rd party file manager, and
move images into the Pocket PC’s "My
Documents/SplashPhoto" directory. But to me, that
seems like way too much work. The program really
should include some method for adding images.
SplashPhoto ships with a very good instruction
HELP SUPPORT
manual in Adobe PDF. It gives plenty of information on the features
and functions of both pieces of the software. As mentioned earlierin
this review, I had to request email support. I received a response within
24 hours, which I consider an appropriate time to wait. Again, they
were quite helpful and friendly, and did resolve the issue. What concerned
me was that SplashData was aware of the issue I was having but had posted
no information on this to their Support web page. Had they posted it,
I would have been able to resolve the issue and began using the program.
As it was, I had to wait a day to get up an running again. SplashData
also hosts a support forum on Yahoo! Groups, which is a pain to navigate.
I found myself wishing they had installed one of the popular open-source
forums on their own server to make things easier for the end user.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
From the manufacturer’s web page:
-
Supports all handheld models running
Pocket PC 2002 and later -
200k
of free memory for the application and 25k per image -
Windows
98, ME, NT4, 2000 or XP
The SplashPhoto desktop takes up about 2MB and will check for the presence
of your device to sync when you start the program.
I encountered a few bugs here and there, but those could have been because
BUGS AND WISHES
of my use of 2 different SD cards, so I won’t fault the program for
that. However I think it is essential that the Pocket PC version have
a method to add files to the program, as well as make a few basic editing
options (zoom, rotate) available. It would also be nice to be able to
save your images into different photo albums, rather than having to
keep them all together.
SplashPhoto comes with a 30-day fully functional trial, and can be purchased
PURCHASING
for $29.95
directly from SplashData. Credit card payment is accepted,
as well as check or money order.Read
more about SplashPhoto by clicking here. Currently you receive
SplashID for free when you purchase SplashPhoto (see
our SplashID review here).
PROS
- Desktop application makes
sorting and editing images simple - Pocket PC version functions
almost identically to the desktop - Slideshow on Pocket PC version
- Simple to use, functions very
logically
CONS
- All photos stored in the same
album - No way to import images into
the album on the Pocket PC version - No image editing capabilities
on the Pocket PC version - Desktop version must be open
to synch images; no integration with ActiveSync
While I find SplashPhoto to be a solid application,
OVERALL
IMPRESSION
it just doesn’t offer enough. SplashPhoto provides a pleasant way to
sort and view images on a Pocket PC device, but stops short of providing
anything more. If just a few basic image editing tools were added in,
it would be outstanding. If it provided a way to add images and
keep them in different albums, then it would be a fantastic program.
Even then, I am not sure it would be worth $29.95 (regardless of SplashID
being thrown in for free). SplashPhoto is a great concept, but maybe
it just needs a little more time in the darkroom to develop into a really
pretty picture.
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