Spectare Products Support Blog

More Photo2File Q&A from our eBay listings

Support Manager — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 19:53:35 +0000

Questions from other members : Photo2File All-In-One Digital Photo Converter / Scanner

Question & Answer

Answered On

Q:	It’s me again…re: scanner/operating systems. That’s ok, but free shipping sure makes it a good deal; my concern now is whether it is compatible with Windows 7 and they are already advertising for the new Windows 2010. Geez, you hardly get one before another new op is out there. I like this set up because I want to scan in some old photos as well as heaps of slides from when I was taking photography underwater and my mother’s artwork. Hard to believe there just aren’t many scanners or all in one scanners. It has led to me think that although a cheaper machine, maybe not the same resolution the Wolverine is the best because it is a stand alone, it’s relatively cheap and you don’t have to depend on a driver/operating system. I read where your’s is compativle wish XP and Vista. I’m already at 7… I’m trying to see if I can use one of my older laptops as a scan device. I love you machine tho. Too bad it is slow on operating systems.	Apr-29-10
A:	Hello, Thanks again for your interest. Regarding Windows 7- we have many customers that are using Windows 7 and have had no problems with the unit. Actually the product will work better on a faster computer and more memory– so the newer computers should have better results than the older one. The drivers that ship with the product are tested and work well with Win 7- We also have a settings update posted online that will give you better captures from older slides and photos: http://spectareproducts.com/support/PhotoSaver/Supdate_Mar 10_09.html Regarding Win 2010- I am not sure since we have not had experience with this but we hope it will perform well. Regarding the “Stand-Alone” converters that do not require a computer. We have tested these and the performance is comparable to ours and in some cases the quality of the stand alone is worse than ours. There seems to be no quality advantage on stand alone units. The only real advantage is that you do not need to install drivers, HOWEVER, in our experience once the unit is connected to the computer you will find it to be much faster and easier to capture images and then transfer them directly to your computer- this will be faster than first saving them to a memory card and then copying the images on the card over to your computer. ALSO, the LCD preview on the stand-alone converters is generally very small and not as good as your computer monitor. Since we have used both side by side “we think” it is better to have a unit that connects to the computer. IN addition the price of the stand-alone unit is more expensive since you are also paying the price for an LCD Panel and memory card reader. Just some things for you to think about. Let me know if you have more questions. Thanks!
Q:	Sir. I forgot to ask in my previous email, how much are extra 35mm slide holders? Thanks. Robert – US Army – Retired	Mar-25-10
A:	We are selling a pair of 35mm slide holders for $9.99. When you purchase the unit it will come with one slide holder, one negative holder, one 3×5″ holder, one 4×6″ holder and one 5×7″ holder. You can purchase additional holders through our online store at http://spectarestore.com Thanks again for your interest in our product.
Q:	Sir. I have several half frame 35mm slides. Is that a problem for this machine? Thanks. Robert – US Army – Retired	Mar-25-10
A:	I assume your half frame slides are mounted in standard 2″x2″ slide mounts. If this is the case then they will fit into the slide holders just fine. However, when the image is captured it will capture the area of a full frame 35mm, so this means you will get black areas on both sides of your slide capture– However, it is easy to crop the image down to the half frame size using the BlazePhoto software that is included. Thanks very much for your interest in our products and hope you will give it a try.
Q:	Does this have a document feeder to handle more than 1 4×6 photo at a time? Thanks	Mar-24-10
A:	Currently it is only one at a time- however you can purchase more 4×6 holders and have several loaded at once– this will speed up the capture process considerably especially if you have 2 people (one loading holders and one capturing). We sell additional holders through our website at http://spectarestore.com
Q:	Is there a tray (even if I have to buy it separate) to do 110 negatives?	Mar-22-10
A:	Unfortunately we do not yet offer a holder for 110 size negatives, however, you can modify a negative holder to do this job– You can read about this on our Blog: http://spectareproducts.com/blog/site/?p=30 It is possible we may develop a holder for this in the future but the demand has not been enough for us to create this yet. Thanks very much for your interest.
Q:	Can you let me know if I can purchase this unit; two additional slide trays; and two additional photo trays in one transaction using paypal through this auction? If so, what would the total be? Thanks	Mar-22-10
A:	We are not selling the additional slide holders and photo holders through our ebay listing. However, you can order these items through http://www.spectarestore.com We are offering free shipping on all orders through the Spectarestore. Therefore, you may purchase the Photo2file unit through eBay and then purchase the additional holders separately through the SpectareStore.com and you would not be charged any shipping. OR you can order everything in one order through the SpectareStore.com – the price is the same on the Photo2File whether you get this through our eBay listing or our online store. Thanks very much for your interest in our products. Please let me know if you have further questions.
Q:	Would this product work with a 2008 iMac computer? Thanks!	Mar-21-10
A:	Thanks very much for your interest in our product. Unfortunately the answer to this is, no. this is something that we are working toward but as of today we still do not offer Mac drivers for our product. In the future we hope to offer this capability.
Q:	Is there a 64bit for window vista driver included? Thank you	Feb-22-10
A:	Yes, The 64 bit driver is included in the installer on the CD. When you launch the installer it will ask you if you want to install the 32 bit or 64 bit version of the driver. We have many customer that are using this on 64 bit systems. Thanks very much for your interest in our products and hope you will give it a try.
Q:	I read the other questions that you have been asked. I have found on line two seperate units – one converts the photo itself and one converts the 35mm negatives. I want to make sure I understand that this does both. The other question is: when you mouse over my pictures that I have downloaded onto my computer, it says “Dimensions: 2592 X 1944″. I saw a device on line that said it could convert up to 2560 X 1920. Does your product sound like something that will work for me? Thanks, Linda	Feb-10-10
A:	Hello and thanks for your question. To confirm our product DOES do 3 different types of Media: PRINTS up to 5×7, 35mm Negatives and 35mm slides. SO this is a multi-function Digital converter that can do all of these things on a single device. Regarding the resolution- The Photo2File can capture in 2 resolutions: 2592 x 1680 or 5184 x 3360– Therefore at the highest resolution it is 4 times more than the resolution you have stated above. we have some information posted on our blog about this: http://spectareproducts.com/blog/site/?p=298 Thanks again for your question and I hope you will give our product a try.
Q:	Will this product work on a 64bit operating system?	Feb-09-10
A:	Sure, this is no problem. When you install the driver it will ask you which version you would like to install– 32 bit or 64bit. We have many customers that are using this on 64 bit systems without any issues. Thanks for your interest in our products!
Q:	Do you know if this will work with Windows 7? I bought a VuPoint digital photo converter and the support desk tells me it will not work with Windows 7 so I have to sell it. Thanks, Liz	Feb-07-10
A:	Yes, our product works well with Windows 7. We have many customers that are using our Photo2File on Windows 7 without any trouble. Our package and user manual was printed prior to the release of Windows 7, however, the CD that comes with the product that you would purchase here on eBay or through the spectarestore.com has the latest software that is compatible with Win7, Vista and XP– when you install the driver you can choose 32bit or 64 bit depending on your operating system type. Thanks for considering our product and hope you will give it a try.
Q:	does it have a screen to view the scanned item or do you just see it on your computer screen	Feb-03-10
A:	Hello and Thanks for your question: This unit DOES NOT have an LCD screen built into the unit itself. We are very familiar with both styles and here is some things to think about: When you connect the Photo2File to the computer you can preview the image on your computer monitor and make adjustments in real time using the computer software. After the images are captured they are automatically transferred directly to a specified place on your hard drive. I do know that there are some other competitor units that are “stand alone” and do not require a computer, However these units will have a smaller LCD preview screen, the exposure controls are generally not as advanced and to transfer the images to the computer takes another step since you need to transfer the images from a memory card onto your computer. We have tested and tried both types and we feel ours is the better and faster system- but of course the decision is yours which one to get. Hope you will give our product a try. Thanks for your consideration.
Q:	Hi … Can you tell me if this scanner would be able to do the older type negatives from the 1920’s or so … They are the negatives that are basically the same size that the picture would be … roughly 4 by 2 1/2″ and maybe some larger. Is the quality of the negative scan of good quality? Appreciate your help … Thanks so much! Peg	Feb-01-10
A:	Hello and thanks for your question. The answer to this is unfortunately NO- for Slides and Negatives our Photo2File unit will only capture an image the size 35mm frame. So if you have slides or negatives that are larger than this the resulting image will be cropped to the size of a 35mm frame. We have considered developing a model to handle this size but so far we have not justified the development costs of creating this product. There are more professional drum scanners that will handle these larger sizes, however the cost will be more expensive. I might suggest you do some google searches on “drum scanner” and you may find something that would work for you. Thanks for your interest in our products and hope you will consider us again.
Q:	is this device supported by windows 7?	Jan-29-10
A:	Hello and thanks for your question. YES the product is compatible with Windows 7– the drivers and sofware that is included with the product that you purchase from us over eBay or though our website at spectarestore.com will come with drivers that have been tested on Windows 7. The packaging for the product was done before the release of Windows 7 so you will not see this mentioned in the user manual or box– however, we have many customers that are currently using this product on Windows 7. Thanks again for your question and hope you will give our product a try.
Q:	I want to put my pictures on memory SD cards, will this do that?	Jan-24-10
A:	Our Converter does not have a memory card slot like some of the other converter products. You connect the product directly to your computer. In the software preferences you can choose any location on your hard drive, network or connected device to transfer your images onto. If you have a memory card reader on your computer you can choose this location to save your files directly to a memory card, OR you can save them to a location on your hard drive first then copy them to a memory card after you have saved the files. In most cases you will probably want to have a library of all of your original files on your computer and then save the ones you want for use on memory cards to put into Digital Photo Frames or other remote devices. Our method is the fastest way of getting images directly onto your computer or onto any location or device that is connected to your computer. You should find that it is faster than having the unit copy the images to a memory card – then putting the memory card into your computer and transferring them to your computer. Thanks for your question and hope you consider giving our product a try.
Q:	Hi, Can multiple 35mm slides be loaded and/or copied at one time?	Jan-19-10
A:	Hello and Thank you for your question. You can load 3 slides into each Photo2File slide holder. This will allow you to quickly change the image and capture the next slide. The unit comes with one slide holder that holds 3 slides. We also sell additional slide holders on the spectarestore.com so that you can load up several slide holders beforehand, this will allow you to capture many slides quickly. I hope this answers your question, let me know if you need clarification. Thanks again and hope you will give our product a try.
Q:	I’am in norway can you ship this to my family in us if i order it.	Jan-16-10
A:	Yes
Q:	hello Does this have a feed tray? and if yes how many photos it can hold. Thanks!!	Jan-15-10
A:	Hello and Thanks for your question. The unit does not have a feed tray so you must load one photo into each holder. You can however order additional print holders so that you can load up several at a time. The holders can be exchanged very quickly into the top of the unit so once you get into a routine you should find that the process for capturing multiple photos should be very fast. Thanks again and I hope you will give our product a try.

AC Adapter Spectare 7″ TimeFrame

Support Manager — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:53:09 +0000

AC Adapter for the Spectare TimeFrame

Support on this page are intended for these products:

Spectare 7″ TimeFrame| Model SC88934

IF YOUR SCREEN HAS GONE COMPLETELY BLACK THEN PLEASE READ THIS:

If your large digital frame is completely black but the clock on the left hand side works fine then chances are your AC Adapter has gone bad. In most cases if the AC adapter is replaced the Frame should work fine as long as the issue is with the adapter and not the frame itself.

There are many places that you can find replacement AC adapters including your local electronics store such as Radio Shack, Fry’s or other computer/electronic related retailers.

In addition, there are many sources on the internet that provide replacement power adapters at a reasonable cost.

When searching for a replacement AC adapter please make sure the specifications match or be compatible with the Power specs listed below:

Input: AC100-240V 0.15 Amp Max

Output: 5V / 1.5 Amp

Here are a list of recommendations that are available on the internet:

E-Tech Silicon Valley: here is a compatible AC Adapter that will work on the TimeFrame:http://e-techsiliconvalley.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7_2817_2570&products_id=4264&zenid=b1291d34c2479e2678eb64de3ae6a66f
- E-Tech eStore Part Model:AW08-05U
Voltage Converts and Transformers: This on-line retailer sells universal power adapters that can be adapted to fit the Spectare TimeFrame as well as other electronic products you have go to: http://www.voltage-converter-transformers.com/switching-ac-dc-supply.html
- Order this product : VM 1898 – DIGITAL CAMERA AC/DC ADAPTER – 100V/240V
Fast Computer Parts.com : This on-line retailer sells universal power adapters that can be adapted to fit the Spectare TimeFrame as well as other electronic products http://www.cnaweb.com/universal-2500ma-ac-dc-power-adapter-w-detachable-plugs.aspx

Please check with the retailer before purchase to ensure compatibility. Spectare products does not guarantee products provided by 3rd party sources.

CONTACT SUPPORT

If you are unable to solve your problem click here to contact support.

SETTINGS UPDATE: Capturing better images from Older Slides & Prints

Support Manager — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:30:48 +0000

Settings update : March 11 2010

Improved settings file for captures from older slides and PRINTS-

Support on this page are intended for these products:

Photo2File for Prints + 35mm Film | Model SC88934

PhotoSaver: 3in1 for prints Slides + Film | model SP 02934

PhotoSaver: for35mm Slides + Film Negatives | Model SP 0291

Customers that have slides may notice that for some slides the resulting captured image is too light and the detail is lost. This issue is most noticeable in the following cases:

For older slides and prints taken more than 10 years ago: Over time slides will age and the white areas will become lighter and the dark areas will become lighter- this creates problems for calculating the proper exposure
Slides and prints that have a very light subject and a very dark background are the most problematic. These are generally images that have been taken with a Flash.
Photos of White subjects such as Wedding Cakes, Wedding dresses etc..
Older prints will begin to fade and loose detail. This makes it more difficult to get a good captured image.

To solve this issue we have added a feature to the scanning window that will allow you to manually adjust the image darker or lighter and this should improve the exposure and quality of the resulting scan.

In addition we have optimized our Slide Settings for olders slides and older prints. These setting files decrease the contrast of the image sensor so that you maintain more detail and less contrast on your image.

See the example below from a slide that was taken more than 30 years ago. Our new settings reduce the overall contrast of the image so that more details in your original image are maintained.

Standard Blaze 2.0 Settings

with Optimized Settings for Older Slides

Follow the instructions below carefully to properly update your application and settings:

1. Check your software

Launch BlazePhoto on your computer. (If you do not have BlazePhoto Installed then download the new drivers and application)
From the Blaze Menu bar select HELP>>> ABOUT to bring up the About BlazePhoto information.
If this screen says BlazePhoto V 1.0 then please follow BOTH STEPS BELOW.
If your screen says BlazePhoto V 2.0 like the image below then your software is up to date and you do not need to update your software

If you do not have the most recent software: click here to download the new drivers

2. Replace .ini Settings Files

To replace your settings file please follow these instructions carefully:
- Before installing the updated setting please QUIT BlazePhoto if it is running
- RIGHT CLICK ON THE CORRECT LINK FOR YOUR MODEL NUMBER BELOW AND SELECT "SAVE LINK AS"
  
  Click to download: FilmRGB.ini (Settings File optimized for Old Slides)
  
  Click to download FilmLevel.ini (DarkLevel ini Settings optimized for Old Slides)
  
  Click to download PhotoRGBMulticolor.ini (Settings File for old Prints)
- Save the file to files listed above to your computer in the directory where your BlazePhoto application is installed.
- DO NOT CHANGE THE NAME OF THE FILE
- REPLACE THE EXISTING FILE IN THE BLAZE DIRECTORY
- This location should be:
  
  C:|Program Files\Blaze-Video\BlazePhoto 2.0.

Relaunch the BlazePhoto application
The new settings will take effect.

2. OPEN Blaze Photo

Click on the START menu of your Windows PC and go to ALL PROGRAMS then launch BlazePhoto from the programs menu, wait for the application to launch.
Choose “GET PHOTO” from the menu
Choose “Acquire from Film Scanner” for capturing slides or negatives or “Acquire from Photo Scanner” for capturing prints.

3. Make your settings

Select “OTV SCANNER”.
Select SLIDE
Select YES on "Open Brightness Manual Control Box"
Click the OK button.

4. Use the Manual Controls:

You will see an additional control panel. From this panel select “MANUAL” and then set the “Dark Level” to further darken the images. If the “AUTO” button is selected then Dark Level setting will be ignored.

4. IF YOU want TO GO BACK TO THE ORIGINAL SETTINGS

To replace your settings file please follow these instructions carefully:

Before installing the updated setting please QUIT BlazePhoto if it is running
RIGHT CLICK ON THE CORRECT LINK FOR YOUR MODEL NUMBER BELOW AND SELECT "SAVE LINK AS"

Click to download: FilmRGB.ini (Original Settings File)

Click to download FilmLevel.ini (Original Settings File)

Click to download PhotoRGBMulticolor.ini (Original Settings File)
Save the file FilmLevel.ini to your computer in the directory where your BlazePhoto application is installed. This location should be:

C:|Program Files\Blaze-Video\BlazePhoto 2.0.
Replace the existing file
Relaunch the BlazePhoto application
The new settings will take effect.

These new setting should be dark enough to account for even the most problematic slides images.

You may also read these articles:

Capturing 35MM Negatives and Slides using BlazePhoto

Capturing Prints using BlazePhoto

CONTACT SUPPORT

If you are unable to solve your problem click here to contact support.

Install issues- Clear out old drivers and Re-install

Support Manager — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:24:38 +0000

SupportDescription: I have BlazePhoto 2.0 installed on my ASUSTeK computer hardware running Windows Home Premium 7.0.

Rating: 4.3 Windows Experience Index
Processor: Pentium Dual-Core cpu E5300 @2.60 GHZ
Installed memory(RAM): 6.00 GB
System Type: 64 Bit operating system

After I save the digital images, for the first time, and want to select another folder to save the following images that I want to capture, I close this capture window to get back to the “Get Photo” button, select it which opens up a pull down menu to select “Acquire From Film Scanner” again which brings up the “Select Scanner & Video Device” window where I can again select a destination for the following slides that I want to digitally capture. When I do the above I either select the word EXIT or the “X” in the upper right corner of the capture window to close this window and return to the “Get Photo” button. Selecting either of these two items immediately locks up the application and no matter how or what I try to do to get out of (close) the application I can only restart the Windows system to get out of Blaze photo.

ANSWER: Please go to your hardware device manager to see if there is an issue with your device driver. You can see this page for more details:

http://spectareproducts.com/support/PhotoSaver/device-manager.html

Leave the Hardware device manager window open and then connect the PhotoSaver or Photo2File unit. Can you tell me when you what icon comes up on the Hardware device manager when you connect the unit?

1) Nothing comes up
2) “unkown driver” comes up
3) “USB camera” driver
4) OVT Scanner

If the answer is 1,2 or 3 then you have a problem. If the answer is #4 then you should be OK.

If your answer is #2 or #3 then double click on this icon in the Hardware device manager and go to the Driver Tab. There is a button to “UPDATE DRIVER” — try this and see what happens.

If your answer is #1 then you may have a bad connection on your PhotoSaver unit or a bad USB port.

CUSTOMER RESPONSE: I did as you advised and I went to the hardware device manager on my system opened it up and left it open while I plugged in the scanner unit. The screen blinked and there was a “bong” sound (which I consider normal) and “Nothing cames up”. This is one of the 4 possibilities that you mentioned. No indication that a OVT Scanner was hooked up. I then connected the scanner to a different 2.0 port and the same results were noticed.

I opened up the Device and Printers panel on the Control Panel and lo and behold it shows up as a USB Camera. I Right clicked th eUSB Camera icon which brought up a window from which I selected “Properties”. A window opened called USB Camera Properties and under the General tab it read: Manufacture: Unavailable
Model: USB Camera
Model number: Unavailable
Categories: Camera
Description: Unavailable

I then selected the Hardware tab which brought up the next window with the following:
Name Type
OVT Scanner Imaging devi…

Device Function Summary
Manufacture: OVT
Location: Port_#0001.Hub_#0004
Device status: The device is working properly.

Since I got the same results from 2 USB ports does that mean that there is a problem with the scanner unit or its cable? I checked if I had a spare USB cable but I do not have one that will plug into the scanner.
If the USB cable that came with the scanner is a generic, standard cable should I go and buy one to switch the cables to see if the cable is the problem?

Do you think there is possibility that I have corrupted software that I downloaded from your website?

If all else fails should we start from scratch downloading fresh software and driver?

Do we have a legitimate problem with the scanner hardware?

ANSWER: Thanks very much for this information. I can see most likely what the problem is. Based on what you said:

This is wrong– your computer system thinks this is a USB web cam and the wrong driver is being loaded.

This is also odd too:

After launching Blaze and trying to bring in a digital image from any hard drive folder and file, Blaze locks up as usual and I have to restart to get out of the program. The capture window was NOT opened when it crashed. I was able to close the error message window and then that was it. It crashed.

This means BlazePhoto is having some problem that is independent of the OVT scanner driver since the application crashes independent of the scanner window.

Since you are getting “Something” to come up when you plug in the Unit via USB then I think this means you have a good USB cable. This means the unit is being recognized when it is connected but it is being recognized incorrectly.

SO, I think something must have gone wrong during the initial installation.

HERE IS WHAT I THINK YOU SHOULD DO:

Let’s start over– Clean out your system of the old stuff– restart your computer and try again.
FIRST: Temporarily Disable any Security programs that are running on your computer such as Norton or Macafee. Also unplug any other USB devices during this process.

• Click on START and go to CONTROL PANEL
• then go to “Add and Remove Programs” (under Windows 7 this is under “Programs and Features”)
• look down the list and uninstall EVERYTHING that starts with ‘OVT’ AND ‘BLAZE’. It is possible that you might see more than one OVT program listed here.
• Once you have removed all of the old drivers and Blaze application then RESTART YOUR COMPUTER and UNPLUG THE PHOTOSAVER (if it is still plugged in).
NEXT re-install the latest driver and BlazePhoto 2.0 from our website:
http://spectareproducts.com/support/PhotoSaver/PhotoSaver-drivers-BLAZE-FILM.html

Make sure you are installing the correct version of the driver: 32 bit or 64 bit according to your system type: http://spectareproducts.com/blog/site/?p=260

• DO NOT have the PhotoSaver plugged into your computer during the installation process.
• Install both the driver and the BlazePhoto 2.0 application.
• After you re-install RESTART YOUR COMPUTER AGAIN.
• NOW you can plug in the PhotoSaver and wait for the hardware wizard to come up.
• Make sure you DO NOT have the old CD ROM in your drive otherwise it might find the old drivers and try to install them.
• If you are successful then it should install the OVT Scanner driver and you should be good to go.
• You can double check after you have connected the PhotoSaver by going to your hardware device manager: http://spectareproducts.com/support/PhotoSaver/device-manager.html Check to see that OVT Scanner is listed under “Imaging Devices” and there are no errors. If it still shows up as a USB Camera then you can double click on the icon in the Device Manager then select the Driver Tab and click the button to “UPDATE DRIVER”

Hopefully a clean re-install should do the trick. If not then you may have something else going such a software conflict or some program that is preventing our drivers from being installed properly. It this does not work let me know and we can try something else.

Norton Security Suite may prevent proper installation.

Support Manager — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:56:40 +0000

COMMENT:
Although the additional RAM does make my scanner run faster it was not the cause of the scanner not being recognized. When I first got the unit back I installed the 32 bit driver, tested it and found it worked fine. Then I installed my Norton Security Suite. Everything still OK. Because I have 64 bit processor (which also works 32 bit) I thought I would install that driver instead. I uninstalled the 32 bit and then reinstalled the 64 bit driver and started getting the same old message I was getting when I first contacted you (something like can’t find OVT driver). I thought 64 bit was the problem so I tried to reinstall the 32 bit driver. Same error message repeatedly.
Long story, but after a lot of trial and error I discovered the problem is with Norton Securities Suite. The scanner will not install correctly when Norton is loaded on my computer. When I uninstall Norton and go into my program files and remove every reference to Norton I can install the scanner and it works.
Keeping Norton installed and turning off every protection feature in Norton will still not allow the scanner to install correctly. It must be totally removed. Every thing works fine if I install the scanner first and then Norton afterwards.
I never experienced this before because when I first got the scanner I had McAffee security and later got Norton after the scanner had been installed. A couple of weeks ago, when I did my system recovery I reinstalled Norton before I reinstalled the scanner, and every test I did was after Norton was installed and the scanner was never recognized.
When you sent the scanner back to me, for some reason I had not installed Norton yet and everything worked fine even after installing Norton until I tried to reinstall the driver.
This might just be a quirk in my system but I thought I would pass it on to you. I am sure you hear a lot of weird stuff and perhaps this would be helpful to some other person.

ANSWER:

Thanks very much for this information. According to what you have witnessed I believe this is more of an issue for Norton than for us- however we will also look into this further to prevent this from happening with similar customers. The Norton software is made so that it prevents things from being installed into your system that it fees are security threats. HOWEVER, Norton should allow you to install new hardware onto your computer when you give it permission to do so.

If anyone else has the same issue with Norton please let us know by filling out a Comment below.

Thanks very much!

..alex

Altering the holders for uncut negatives or microfilm

Support Manager — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:16:01 +0000

QUESTION: I have several rolls of 35mm Microfilm that I would like to scan, but I can not cut it apart to put it in the 35mm holders. Do you make or have you any suggestions on how to adapt the scanner, so that I will be able scan the 35mm microfilm.

ANSWER: We have gotten similar requests like this one before, so we did a test on a negative holder and found the results to be very good. Below are the steps you can take to alter the Negative holder for the PhotoSaver or Photo2File product so that you can put uncut rolls of film or feed Microfilm reels into the holder. Please note that the film width needs to be 35mm wide in order for this to work properly. If you have smaller sized film this can still work however the product will capture the entire 35mm frame and then later you will need to use BlazePhoto to crop out the extra area of the frame.

WARNING: please follow these steps at your own risk and take safety precautions not to injure yourself or the product.

STEP ONE:

Cut off the ends of the Negative holder using a Miter saw and miter box. Make sure to make your cuts past the hinges of the Holder.

STEP TWO:

The cut holder should look like the photo below. You may discard the end pieces:

STEP THREE:

Open the holder and cut off the sprocket hole catches on the inside. Please take caution to cut AWAY from yourself to avoid personal injury.

STEP FOUR:

Using some medium sand paper gently sand off any excess plastic around the sproket holes so that the guides for the negative are smooth.

STEP FIVE:

Close the holder and insert it into the PhotoSaver or Photo2File product. Make sure that it locks into place. Then feed one end of the film roll or microfilm roll into the PhotoSaver. Open BlazePhoto and select “GET PHOTO> Acquire from Film Scanner” to bring up the preview window. You can now manually feed the entire roll of film through the holder and manually line up each frame to capture it.

If you would like for Spectare Products to alter some holders for you please contact our support Department and make a special request

You may also purchase additional holder through our Spectarestore.com

Good Luck!

I only have a USB 1.0 Connection

Support Manager — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:51:44 +0000

QUESTION: My computer freezes when BlazePhoto is opened. I uninstalled 1.0 Blaze and reinstalled 2.0 Blaze. After that I could not get the drivers for the Scanner to install. Then I look at the website and it says I need a 2.0 USB port (which I don’t have). Ironically before Blaze 1.0 began freezing, I actually was able to scan and save a few photos. Do I need to reinstall the scanner with the disk I received even though the Blaze software was not the latest?

ANSWER: Sorry you are having troubles with this. If you DO NOT have a USB 2.0 port on your computer then I will have to say that you will continue to have troubles with this. Our product really does require a 2.0 connection in order to function properly. A USB 1.0 or 1.1 connection does not have enough speed or bandwidth to handle the larger files of the captured images.

I do also understand that it may be possible that you did get this to work on your computer with your USB 1 connection, however, the results will be intermittent. Therefore, to really solve this problem you need to either upgrade your computer or use this product on a different computer.

To upgrade your computer you should check with your local computer retailer. There are many different products you can purchase that can give you a USB 2.0 connection. However, you should make sure that you are not just purchasing a USB hub that connects to your existing USB port. IF you have a desktop computer you may be able to purchase a PCI card that plugs directly into the motherboard of your computer and gives a faster connection. If you have a laptop then it may be possible to purchase a PCMCIA card that would plug into this port on your computer (if you have one).

Otherwise, if you have another computer with a USB 2.0 connection you should find that the product will work much better.

IF you need more details on how to do this then contact support and we will be happy to lead you in the right direction. Hope you can get this to work better.

Install Issues: problem with the drivers

Support Manager — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:42:22 +0000

QUESTION: Install of driver that came with scanner does not work. Downloaded new driver and windows says it cannot start the device due to a problem with driver. I have removed it, rebooted, redownloaded several times. computer operating system: Vista

ANSWER: Sorry you are having trouble with the drivers.

A QUICK FIX could be to disconnect the PhotoSaver from the USB port and try another port that is directly on the computer and not through a Hub. You should also disconnect other USB devices from your computer. Sometimes a different port may work fine.

Otherwise, if this is still an issue then I have a couple questions for you:

Do you have a 32 Bit or 64 Bit Vista operating system. Check this page to make sure you did install the correct version:

http://spectareproducts.com/blog/site/?p=260

IF you installed BOTH versions and later tried to uninstall then there is a chance that you have more than one version of the driver loaded- this will cause problems. There can also be an issue if you have installed and uninstalled several times, so I would advise you to clean the old drivers and start again.

To resolve an initial installation issue follow these steps:

Click on START and go to CONTROL PANEL– then go to “Add and Remove Programs” — look down the list and uninstall EVERYTHING that starts with “OVT” such as “OVT Scanner”. It is possible that you might see more than one program listed here. Once you have removed all of the old drivers then RESTART YOUR COMPUTER.

NEXT, go to our website to download the latest software for your product:
http://spectareproducts.com/support/PhotoSaver/PhotoSaver-drivers.html

Do not plug in the PhotoSaver YET.

After you re-install RESTART YOUR COMPUTER AGAIN.

NOW you can plug in the PhotoSaver and wait for the hardware wizard to come up.

Make certain that you DO NOT have the old CD ROM in drive since it may load the old drivers from the CD ROM

When the hardware wizard comes up make the selection to search automatically for the drivers.

If you are successful then it should install the OVT Scanner driver and you should be good to go.

IF this does not solve your problem then you should check your hardware device manager and try to update the driver through the Device Manager tool. See this page for more details:

http://spectareproducts.com/support/PhotoSaver/device-manager.html

If this does not solve your problem then contact support and we will try to dig deeper to try and solve your problem.

Resolution of the captured images: Photo2File/PhotoSaver

Support Manager — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:54:30 +0000

QUESTION: How big are the file sizes? Can you reprint these once they are saved on the PC or bring them to photo retailers for reprints? What format are these saved in-jpgs, pdfs, etc?

ANSWER: Thanks for your question and interest in our product.

In our software for the Photo2File and PhotoSaver products can choose several options. Depending on what you choose will affect the file size and the quality.

Here is how it works:

From the BlazePhoto application you Select “GET PHOTO” and “Acquire from Film Scanner” (for scanning slides or negatives) or “Acquire from Photo Scanner” (for scanning prints). Then you will see the following screen where you can make settings for the resolution of the captured images:

You can independently choose the following option for your captured images:

24 bit: This will give a color range in “Thousands of Colors”. The resulting file size will be smaller but the color may look less natural.
32 Bit: This will give your image the greatest color range in “Millions of Colors”, Your photographs will look more natural. We recommend this setting for archiving all of your important photographs.

1800 DPI: This setting will capture in a pixel resolution of 2592 x 1680
3600 DPI: This setting will capture in a pixel resolution of 5184 x 3360. The file size will be larger on this setting but will be better for larger printouts. IF you going to be printing the files out at a size larger than 4×6″ we recommend this setting

JPEG: This is a compressed format that has good quality and a smaller file size. These files are good for viewing files on your computer quickly, posting on the web and distributing to others. We recommend using JPEG if you are capturing a large amount of images.
BMP: This is an uncompressed format that puts puts the image into a raw format. The file size is very large. If you want to maintain the greatest amount of quality in the image you can use this setting. HOWEVER, we will caution you that since the file sizes are signficantly larger you will need a lot more storage space on your computer. Also, the capture and transfer time will be longer, Therefore, if you select BMP the process of scanning a large amount of images will be longer.

Here are some sample file sizes using the resolution settings

JPEG 32 bit 1800 DPI 2592 x 1680 = approx 300K per image
JPEG 32 bit 3600 DPI 5184 x 3360 = approx 750K per image
BMP 32 bit 1800 DPI 2592 x 1680 = 17 MB per image
BMP 32 bit 3600 DPI 5184 x 3360 = 68 MB per image

Once the images are saved to JPEG or BMP files you may Cut the files you want onto a CD ROM, DVD or copy to a memory card and take them to a Photo Retailer for printout. If you have a PhotoPrinter at home you may also print them out in any size you like.

We include the software BlazePhoto that allows you to easily edit your captured images and then distribute them anyway you like including posting to a website, cutting a CD or DVD or saving them to other devices like Digital Frames, Mobile Phones or MP4 Players.

Hope this answers your questions– Thanks for your interest in our products.

Reinstalling the new drivers on the older PhotoSaver model SP02911

Support Manager — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:51:50 +0000

QUESTION: I’ve download the Blaze Photo program and the OVT scanner software (I think) and I’m still unable to do anything. When I plug in the USB, it asks me to browse for th software. I have it on my “computer” and it says software not found.
When I go to the Blaze photo program and go to Get Photo from scanner it says:

Cannot find camera.
Connect VR Photo scanner

ANSWER:

I believe since you are getting the message “Connect VR Photo Scanner” it means that the old driver is still loaded in your system. We have had some customers first installed the old driver installed and then for some reason the old driver did not get un-installed completely so the new one could not be loaded successfully.

FIRST– please confirm that you do have the PhotoSaver model number 02911 and confirm that you first installed the software that came on the original CD ROM with the application ArcSoft PhotoImpression?

If answer to these questions is YES then I would recommend cleaning out ALL of the OVT drivers that are on your system and start again.

Click on START and go to CONTROL PANEL
then go to “Add and Remove Programs”
look down the list and uninstall EVERYTHING that starts with ‘OVT’. It is possible that you might see more than one program listed here.
Once you have removed all of the old drivers then RESTART YOUR COMPUTER and UNPLUG THE PHOTOSAVER.

NEXT re-install the latest driver from this page on our website:
http://spectareproducts.com/support/PhotoSaver/PhotoSaver-drivers-BLAZE-FILM.html

Do not plug in the PhotoSaver until after you have the new driver installed again.
After you re-install RESTART YOUR COMPUTER AGAIN.
NOW you can plug in the PhotoSaver and wait for the hardware wizard to come up.
Make sure you DO NOT have the old CD ROM in your drive otherwise it might find the old drivers and try to install them.
If you are successful then it should install the OVT Scanner driver and you should be good to go.

If this does not work then you should check your hardware device manager to verify that the correct driver is installed.

Go to this page on our Website on how to get to your hardware device manager:

http://spectareproducts.com/support/PhotoSaver/device-manager.html

When you plug in your PhotoSaver you should see the device “OVT scanner” under the heading “Imaging devices”– if you PhotoSaver comes up as something else such as “USB Camera” or “unknown Device” then the driver is not correct. You can try Reinstalling the driver from the hardware device manger and if you are sucessful then you should see OVT scanner on this listing.

If these steps do not solve your problem let us know