Zoner Photo Studio 6

Image and Video Formats

Question: When is work with the JPEG format lossless, i.e. when can it take place without lossy compression?

Answer: Such work is lossless whenever technically possible, i.e.: when rotating by 90°, 180°, or 270° or flipping, if this work is done in the Browser part of the program. Note however that at certain sizes, lossless compression is not possible; in its Preferences dialog, Zoner Photo Studio 6 offers for such cases the choice between cropping (to avoid lossy compression), or not cropping (at the cost of using lossy compression). Images that are fresh out of a digital camera always have dimensions that enable the use of lossless operations.

Question: The preview of an operation I performed on an image does not correspond to its true result.

Answer: For some operations in combination with some types of images, the "result" when applied to a shrunken version of the image does not correspond to the true result. In such cases, the best solution is to use the button at the top of the dialog that makes the preview/original size ratio 1:1, so the preview is as accurate as possible.

Question: MOV files that are fresh out of a Minolta Dimage X digital camera are not correctly played in the preview window. Only the sound is played; the video is not visible. Other video formats work normally.

Answer: MOV is a format of the Apple corporation and specifically of its QuickTime player. Zoner Photo Studio 6 does its video playing using Microsoft DirectX, and thus can only play that which e.g. Windows Media Player can. In practice this means that it can only play certain, non-current versions of the MOV format. We therefore recommend that you obtain and use the QuickTime player to view this format.

Question: I can't play or record sounds in Zoner Photo Studio 6.

Answer: We recommend that you re-install the DirectX drivers and sound-card drivers on your computer. You can acquire the newest version of the DirectX drivers here.

Question: When I switch to the Description and Audio Notes tab of the EXIF information dialog, I hear a "crackling" noise caused by my sound card.

Answer: This is due to a problem with your sound card drivers. We thus recommend that you download the latest drivers for your sound cards.

Question: Which formats are supported for audio comments? Is the MP3 format supported?

Answer: Zoner Photo Studio 6 supports the formats that are defined in the EXIF standard, that is, uncompressed PCM WAV and compressed ADPCM WAV. Zoner Photo Studio 6 can also open any WAV for which the codec is installed; i.e. the restriction on WAV sub-formats only applies to saving.

Question: Does Zoner Photo Studio 6 support TIFF/PSD images with 16 bits per channel?

Answer: Yes, but these images are downgraded to 8 bits/channel as they are loaded.

Question: Does Zoner Photo Studio 6 support TIFF transparency?

Answer: At present, an alpha channel is supported for RGB images only. Also, this support is for display only.

Question: What are the restrictions on support for multi-page TIFF images?

Answer: Zoner Photo Studio 6 supports the opening and saving of multi-page TIFFs. All pages are saved with the same type of compression. Operations in the Browser are applied to all pages; operations in the Editor are only applied to the active page. There is no support in this version for adding or deleting pages.

[top]

EXIF, Notes, and Keywords

Question: What are those little "i" and "k" icons in the image thumbnails in the Browser for?

Answer: These icons indicate that the given image contains EXIF data. The "i" means basic information like time, f-stop, ISO, etc. The "k" means description and keywords. The icons also function as buttons - double-click them and the tab of the EXIF dialog containing information of the given type will appear.

Question: Zoner Photo Studio 6 seems to work with my EXIF data normally, yet another program is stating that the image does not contain this data. What's causing the problem?

Answer: The EXIF specification states that the block with EXIF data must, when contained in JPEG images, be located at the very beginning of the given file. Many programs, however, write to a different block before EXIF, and for this reason, programs that count upon the specification being respected are not capable of finding the data. Zoner Photo Studio 6 contains a command for repairing such files; its location is Manage | EXIF Data | Fix EXIF Marker Position... .

Question: I filled out the EXIF data in the image "Properties" provided by Windows XP, but Zoner Media Photo Studio 6 is not able to display it.

Answer: The reason is that the Windows XP Properties dialog stores this information in its own special fields that are NOT a part of EXIF. Furthermore, the dialog does not even load in EXIF data properly, and thus damages/discards many pieces of data.

Question: How do I add an audio note to an image?

Answer: Use the Image Information... item in the Manage menu. Then in the dropdown list near the top of the Image Information dialog, choose Audio Note. Use "external audio file" to associate an audio file (which must be in the same folder as the image") with the image.

Question: How can I do batch addition of metadata (author, description, etc.)?

Answer: Using the Batch EXIF Editing command in the Manage menu (or the Ctrl-K keyboard shortcut).

[top]

Web Functions

Question: When I use the FTP function in Zoner Photo Studio 6, it starts its work, creates directories, and then stops without sending the files. What's wrong?

Answer: Zoner Photo Studio’s FTP function requires passive transfer mode; no other transfer mode is supported. Problems like the above are generally caused by a server not supporting passive transfer.

[top]

General Question

Question: I can't find bring in pictures from my Canon camera using Acquire | From Disk Device.... I can bring them in using Acquire | From TWAIN Device..., but then I lose all EXIF data!

Answer: Canon uses a non-standard solution for transfer of pictures from its cameras to a computer. Although all other commonly sold digital cameras behave like an additional disk drive, and thus receive a letter, e.g. E: -- that is, although all other cameras use standard USB storage, just like card readers, ZIP drives, etc., Canon uses a proprietary solution, its own special protocol for transferring pictures over the USB interface. TWAIN can also be used, but at the cost of losing EXIF data.

For a user needing to download photos, including EXIF, from a Canon camera, reasonable solutions include:

Download the pictures using the ZoomBrowser software included with Canon cameras. This has the advantage of automatically bringing order to the somewhat odd organization of photos on Canon cameras.
If you have Windows XP, switch your camera to PTP mode (which is only supported in Windows XP). Finish processing, editing, etc., in Zoner Photo Studio.
Bring in pictures using a card reader; Zoner Photo Studio 6 will have no problem communicating with it.

Question: I downloaded a trial version, and there aren't many print templates. How do I get more?

Answer: Click the "Get More" link in the second step of the Print and Export wizard.

Question: I use Zoner Media Explorer 5. Do I need to uninstall it before installing Zoner Photo Studio 6?

Answer: No.

Question: I was batch-renaming files and they all disappeared! (Or more precisely: they are no longer recognized by Windows as being pictures.)

Answer: Windows, and Zoner Photo Studio as well, uses file extensions (the part "after the dot" in a file name) to determine files' types. Thus if you change a picture file's extension, the picture information will not be readable until you change the extension back. The batch renaming function allows you to change file extensions; an inadvertent change to an extension while renaming leads to the problem mentioned above. To avoid the problem in the future, leave the default in this dialog, {E} (which means "don't change the original extension"). To fix files whose extensions have been damaged, determine what their extension should be (usually ".jpg"), and then use a batch renamer (Zoner recommends a Google search for "batch renamer," as it is not our policy to recommend particular third-party products). Zoner Photo Studio cannot batch-rename files that do not have extensions typical for image files.

Question: When I close the Editor, I'm not taken back to the Browser.

Answer: Use the Enter key, rather than the Esc key, when you want to return from the Editor to the Browser.

Question: When I transfer photos into a Zoner Photo Studio Album, I get Windows shortcuts instead of the photos themselves.

Answer: This is the intended behavior of the Album folders; see the online manual for more information.

Question: I've given a folder the Hidden attribute, but it's still visible in Zoner Photo Studio. What's going on?

Answer: In order to be able to display pictures attached to e-mails in Microsoft Outlook, Zoner Photo Studio must be able to see hidden folders. This is not possible without making them visible for the user as well. Hidden files, on the other hand, are kept hidden.

Question: None of the templates available with the program quite suit my needs.

Answer: You can use Zoner Draw 4 (even a 30-day trial version) to create custom templates. For details, see this page or click the "get more" link in the Choose Template step of the Print and Export wizard.

[top]