Hello,

A very large THANK YOU for everyone who waited patiently for answers until now - here they are. I hope the askers stop by to read this!

Tomas (#53), Jeff (#73): To view RAW pictures in the Editor or Viewer, just view them. No special steps are needed. To view them with manufacturer-correct colors in the Editor or Viewer, download and install the camera manufacturer's WIC codec, and then just view them. To develop RAW pictures in Zoner's RAW module, click them and switch to the RAW module. If it shows a message saying that we don't support that camera directly, then download and install Adobe DNG Converter. We'll silently and automatically use it to support your camera. Adobe provides Adobe DNG Converter at this address:

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=5694


sgrams (#59), DavidBee (#60): See answer #44.

jboy (#64): See the answer to #41 in #52.

unruly (#65): See #44 and #56. Regarding your third question, this program can be installed to a path of your choice. Use Custom installation for that.

aswegohomestead (#68): Hello again! Yes, no interference between versions (answer 52 again) :-)

Nigel (#69): We've got white eye removal too! Click the white-eye button for that.

trig (#70): To feather a selection, use the "blur" value in the side panel when selecting. Note that this only affects future selections, not the current one.

Graham A. Kerby (#75): It seems that the "wrapper" around Zoner that is used to verify that the Giveaway is being installed on the Giveaway day triggers false alarms on some antiviruses. I'd be surprised, though not shocked, if this didn't happen for other giveaways as well. Maybe we have an outdated wrapper, or maybe the latest wrapper has these false-alarm problems.

Rick (#76): See my answer to Ken - #56.

Susie (#80): The Home vs. Pro differences are very similar for version 15 as they are for version 16, so for a quick idea, check the chart at http://www.zoner.com/en/buy .

MediaMan1 (#86), Waldron (#100): See #29.

Loki (#90): Fixed. Thank you for the heads-up! (Also responded to your email on this.)

MrsTScott(#106): I have your call on voicemail, and I'll be helping you out soon.

I've had a chance to put Zoner Photo Studio Pro through its paces. This is a wonderful photo editing program. Don't expect to do photo art or graphics with it. It edits photos. The HDR and Panorama options are excellent. No, they don't produce high quality results automatically every time but the program provides step-by-step wizard-like procedures and lots of easy-to-use controls giving the user ultimate control over the outcome -and thereby expanding the number of outcomes that are possible. I often make landscape panoramas and Zoner Photo Pro produced excellent results. This is a keeper! Much thanks!

I've been trying to purchase the Zoner 16 Pro for the great discounted price of $39, but the Web store does not recognise the discount code! Anyone have a solution for this? I called the company managing the store, but they don't have record of the discount coupon.

Hello,

For everyone still waiting for replies: you have my apologies for the delay. Unfortunately the Giveaway has created a lot of work for me on multiple fronts, and I do not know which way to turn first. (And even more unfortunately I am alone on this and I am located in Europe, so I could not be here for the evening questions last night.) I will get to every question posted here, so please stay tuned to this page!

I am glad I read the comments above. If I hadn't I don't think my installation would have activated. I had to click Help > License > then Pro, and then the app said, Thank you for activating and several features lit up. Not before.

@#72: I'm not sure what type of RAW files your shooting, mine are opened no issue. SONY ARW files.
I know when I first started with them I had to find a Windows driver specific for Minolta(at that time/SONY raw format. Possibly you need the same?

To disable the updater on start up, use a program like the free Ccleaner. After install, just go to Tools, Startup, sort by enabled and you will see Zoner. Just disable it and you're done. There are other programs that do this, such as Glary utilities, but Ccleaner is fine for this.

OK, thanks, nice software.
When I click to Help/License it requires a licence code...
Why?

This is a software I use most often to deal with images. The most obvious desired improvement is adding a field to specify the destination folder in the Resize/Advanced Resize dialog window.

Another odd thing is that the program always run in full screen mode with my 19" 4:3 (or more exact 5:4) monitor. The usual Maximize/Restore button at the top right is missing. I can only either mininize it or run it in full screen. But behaves normally (have the Maximize/Restore button) in another installation with a 24" wide screen.

I never quite understand why Windows Live Photo Gallery, available free, never comes up in these conversations. I reckon that for 99.9% of photo editing/managerial tasks, WLPG does the job excellently.
Zoner is certainly a capable package, and for a full range of capability, both programs can live together.
Give Windows Live Photo Gallery from Microsoft a go and I think you'll find it very satisfactory for everyday needs.

Hi, today I was suddenly reminded how wonderfully useful ZPS really is!:) Having been 'brought up' by Corel PSPs (my every day tool) and Photoshop, and true, having previous versions of Zoner - I am guilty of not diving into this Program more often (..guess what my New Year's Resolution is going to be:)

I forgot what 'Brighten Shadows' does, how 'Soft Contours' can sharpen an image, how 'Tone Mapping' can turn darker painting into pastels.., not to mention 'Damaged Photograph' effect, selection of 'Paper Textures', and many, many other familiar, or unique plugins/features. The List goes on and on..
If I had one wish - I would ask for more 'framing' choices in 'Envelopes'.., but let's not be greedy here, it's fine, what can be achieved by ZPS is 'plenty enough':)

Thank You GAOTD and Zoner for this fantastic Gift. Happy Near Year Everyone!

I am a currant pd customer of zoner 14.
Love it, I swore nu acdsee till it crashed all the time.
I use zoner with photoshop cs 6 mainly to file/organize.
I do nothing with it to images itself.
I will use the 16 on my laptop and keep the 14 on my desktop.

Will not work on my computer frezzes up ever time I open it

Is there a way to turn off the splash ad that pops up more than I wish?

I'm glad that Zoner Support explained why both 32bit and 64bit version were installed. That explains why the install put 2 shortcuts on my desktop-- One has 'X64' in the shortcut name and loads the 64bit version. The other just the 'ZPS' id. It loads the 32bit. Now I know but it does make the total program install is at 300+ MB.

Installed without a hitch. Even if I had never heard of Zoner Studio Pro or used it, I would give this a thumbs-up based on the interest and responsiveness of the Zoner Support to the comments here today. Very professional and shows a real commitment to their products quality and the user base. Way to go Zoner and GOTD -- THANKS !

I very happily upgraded from v. 14 to 15. It is a more than competent - and user-friendly - image editor, but I also find it is worth it just for the ease of uploading your pics to Facebook/Flickr/Picasa. Thanks so much for the great giveaway!

@ Erik Piper: Heads up everyone your licensed email is available for viewing if you register an account with Zoner.com. and associate this giveaway. I registered the license for this giveaway at my account then went to "Manage Licenses" then "Users" where there are currently 130 email addresses and dates including my quickly changed one which is now on the "User" list. I have sent an alert to Zoner prior to this posting.

Now I know why I keep trying multiple upgrades of this software..and then uninstalling it after a couple of simple photo edits..Its simply because..its quite crap. Always has been, and no matter how many upgrades and outrageous prices they charge for it, it is still just a gimmicky photo editor with delusions of grandeur.
I spent a couple of hours tinkering with it today, and ..?
Thanks anyway to the wonderful folks at Giveawayoftheday who make me look forward to the occasional, and appreciated gifts from th'internet.
Rant over.
xx

I have the earlier GOTD of Zoner Photo Studio 14 on my trusty, reliable XP3pro. Sadly, the XP has been experiencing some problems recently, possibly hard-drive related, and I fear the end is nigh.

I am now trying to get used to Windows 7. That's bad enough, but the worst part is knowing that I will lose my wee, but select collection of quality GOTD's installed in XP!

I am an artist and keep a photo record of every stage of a painting or process (work in progress). For me, Zoner is perfect for organising, viewing and editing my photos and was the most utilised program on my XP.
Been researching possible alternatives for Win7 but tbh, none of them hit the spot like Zoner did! In fact, I was actually going to buy it (omg)!
As you can imagine, I could not believe my luck when I saw today's giveaway. Result - Zoner Photo Studio 15 Pro installed on Win7 no problem!
Two thumbs up - to GOTD and Zoner. Thank you.

Now, maybe if I concentrate hard enough... Perspective Pilot, Perspective Pilot, Perspective Pilot!

Sorry... note that I DID follow the advice in #6 above (select Pro and hit OK)

Downloaded and installed "successfully", but on checking (lower left hand corner under pro --> license) the options to select free or pro are available -pro being auto-selected- and the reg no is not filled in. Is this ok or can you please send a registration to the email address I supplied for commenting? - Thank you.

As a quick update (I was #52), the machine I was trying to install it on was Windows 7 PC that I had installed an earlier version of Zoner on (version 13) and other GiveAwayOfTheDay offers without problem. I was able to install today's giveaway on my old Windows Vista laptop, and I tried copying the downloaded and unzipped file from that machine onto my desktop, but without success. I don't know if that will provide any help to the Zoner folks regarding my or #32's problem, but I thought I would give it shot. From my experience on the laptop, this seems like a wonderful improvement from version 13, and I agree that it is comparable with PhotoShop elements in most ways.

I am currently using version 14 and would love to try version 15 but unfortunately I have tried 3 times to download it and it has crashed all three times at different stages. The download speed was also at dial up speeds.

One uncommon feature I've used in this program is white-eye flash removal. Most programs just have red-eye, which doesn't work on white flashes.

IMHO-One of the best programs of this type out there at a resonable price.I have been using v15 home,and am glad to see PRO offered today.Thanks GOTD & ZONER great job guys :-)

What are the differences between Zoner 15 and 15PRO? I have Zoner 15 on my computer, will it just overwrite or add another folder to the main Zoner folder?

Is there a difference from Zoner Photo Studio 15 Home that was offered earler (06/2013) and this one, 15 Pro? I tried to find the information on their website and was unable to. I know there is a difference with the free version and pro, but what about 'home'.

Downloaded, Installed, Activated with no problem on my Win7x64 machine. Well, BitDefender didn't like something but I trust this site,no problems after that.After a very quick look see and try out, all I can say is nice. Looking forward to using this a bit. Only quibble I have is the skins. The default "dark", is fine (I use dark skins on most of my skinnables)But it and all the rest of the skins offered need a little more contrast to them. Imho of course.Its a little hard to see a grey icon on a dark background when they are as small as the icons are in ANY photo editing software.A minor thing that could grow old.

Have been using Zoner 14 pro for some time..Was waiting for this one :)

Excellent program! Thumbs, and all the other fingers up too. Thanks
Zoner and GAOTD!

I echo what Ken said (#48). I'll download the program if I get a satisfactory answer to this question soon. Thanks.

I've just installed Zoner, but when it tried loading (and when I subsequently tried loading it), I got a Runtime Error 216 (actual two messages: 1) cannot read 0x)39d5516 at 0x03f98580 2) Runtime error 216 at 039D5516)

I've researched error 216 and found it refers to a virus e.g. "On Microsoft's official website, they mention that Runtime Error 216 is a problem experienced when either Windows cannot load a program, or an error message might occur when you either try to launch a Windows based program or even Internet Explorer. They attribute this run time error to the infection of a virus called the SubSeven Trojan virus and advises all its users to get a good anti virus software and clean out the problem."

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1771501

Even with this error message, I can open Zoner. I haven't tried doing anything with it. This seems pointless since even if I can do some editing, I'll never know if all its features are functional.

I'm surprised because I'm running Norton 360 2014 for security. I wonder if Zoner has uncovered a previously unknown virus infection (so how did it get past Norton?) or if the virus came with Zoner. Or maybe the error is unrelated to a virus (but everything I've read says error 216 refers to a virus).

Has anybody else had this problem? Is Mr. Erik Piper from Zoner Software customer support still out there? I'd very much like his input on this issue (as I think other GAOTD downloaders might).

The proposed solution to error 216 is to clean the registry. Strikes me as a bit of a radical step given the registry has been tampered with by a virus. Guess I'll make a registry backup and use one of the registry cleaners I've downloaded from GAOTD.

Before I do so I was wondering if any GAOTDers have had any experience of this or any suggestions.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

P.S. my thanks to GAOTD for some great software and those who comment on it especially Giovanni and Ashraf.

#42:
You have a JPEG image compressed at 60%. Decompressing then compressing it back to 80% would not improve the quality, since details have been lost during the first compression. I'd like to know how you can get a better quality then.

Zoner Software Customer Support
I tried to disable tuneup utilities and antivirus with firewall. Now it works, problem was the firewall I think. Thank you for your response.

This is so awesome giveaway! Thank you :)

I have now downloaded Zoner and tested it briefly, and I am really quite impressed! I have concentrated on EDITOR, and there are certainly some clear improvements over my old Photoshop (ver.7); e.g. the 5 adjustment boxes/controls to the right of the picture (Histogram, Exposure, White Balance, Colour and Tone Curve). However, I have not been able to find one feature of my old Photoshop which I use a lot, i.e. "FEATHER". This is a function for making a gradual transition from a selected area of the picture to the surrounding area (e.g. for making a gradual transition between a sharp object and its background where you apply gaussian blur). Is this function missing fram Zoner, of have I overlooked something?

Red-Eye removal works good enough, but for a person who loves animals, a similar feature for pets eyes would be a great addition.

Hello Erik with Zoner,

Thanks for being here to answer questions, that's great.

I would like to install this gaotd on my Windows 7 computer which is where I have my Zoner 13 installed. I just want to make sure that if I do that Zoner 16 will not alter my Zoner 13 software in any manner. Thanks

Thanks so much, I love this program. Question: How do you turn off Autoupdate?

I have been using the Zoner software for a while and really like it. It meets all my needs. I would especially like to thank the Zoner Customer Support for being active and addressing the questions posed on this site. Well done and thanks.

Question 1: Is there a way to prevent this from running in background / startup? Question 2: I have an enormous amount of jpeg and png files due to digital scrapbooking kits...someone said this program gathers and sorts them automatically. I do not want this to happen...can I prevent this? Question 3: setting up new PC today....if I figure out how to partition the c: drive I would like to put this program in New partition so all art programs and the projects I do can be located together . Can this be done with today's program? If so how should I install it under...say my new partition is called K: (can you give drives names like ART rather than a letter?) Thank you for your help...Cindi

GAOTD team, could you please make it a mandatory that in the description every vendor includes instructions for installing when you have an older version; Either uninstall old one first or install new right over old, etc.

Including this as a regular thing would make life much easier for everyone.

Thanks for all you do!

It now seems that ZPS is trying to put its Updater into the Start menu, but the issue is the same, that I don't want any programs, or updaters, in the start menu, updating can interrupt and even lose much work for me, so I choose when or if to update.
Hope someone can help, thanks in advance.
DavidBee

Great to see a program come pre-registered. Eliminates the usual fretting about whether you've jumped through the correct 37 hoops.
Although I love this software's expansive versatility, I'd like to second (or third or 50th) the annoyance factor of nagware ploys. It's bad form and so not necessary for respected software of this caliber to stoop to such marketing stunts. The chronic announcements of new versions (on a free and non-upgradable version) is distracting. IMHO, word of mouth advertising loses its panache if you have to qualify praise with a bummer such as, "BUT, beware, you'll see ads you can't disable."

Thank you gotd and Zoner, I was looking at your free program and an alternate one trying to decide which one to install you helped me make up my decision with today's offer.

Like many others I was very happy to see Zone Photo Studio here.
The program downloaded, installed and activated perfectly and I'm really looking forward to getting to grips with it . . . except.

Except that Win Patrol has been bombarding me with pop-ups every few minutes to say that Zone Photo Studio is trying to get into my Start Up folder and asking for a 'Yes or No'
I click no - Zone Photo Studio can wait to start when it's needed - and a few moments later it asks again.
I've tried looking at ways to stop it, options, settings without luck.
I could uninstall Win Patrol but |I like the way it stops so many issues in the background. Incidentally, ZPS is disabled in Win Patrols 'Startup' list.
One has to go before I go crazy. Thing is, I hve to deal with th popups before I can continue working.
7 Pop ups during the time I typed this - help!

Thanks GOTD and Zoner Software

DavidBee

How do I disable the autostart function? While installing the program a message came up Zoner will start when the computer starts, I can't find where the option is.

I had previouysly downloaded this software before.I did have #15 but after reading I THOUGHT that this would be a little different,reading the word "PRO".It is NOT any different than the previous #15. By the way( I guess due to laziness) I have Zoner # 12,13,14 and 15 all on my computer and have not had any conflict issues.I will delete a few of them.Great Piece of software,Thanks Zoner and GAOTD.

Zoner Photo Studio is definitely one of the best photo management and editing programs available, and it's one of the top 10 regular appearances here on GOTD. I've been using it since I first bought an early version many years ago. Originally I used it along with several others such as ACDSee and Picasa, but I eventually stopped using the others because ZPS is better.

I've installed this version 15 beside version 14. I just wish there was an easier way to transfer all my settings from one version to another.