I hate to tell folks. But when they tell you to deactivate your virus scanner and firewall, it means that in the past that's been a problem. That their program has been detected as malware under some circumstances, and by some scanners. The question is, why?

Now if it doesn't do that in your case, that may be good. Or not. It could be the particular scanner you use, or some other specific reason. But its cause for concern, and they wouldn't say that unless it had been a problem for them in the past. It does raise precautionary flags for most experienced users, as it should.

So you can be sure that it does get caught in some circumstances. And deactivating your firewall isn't usually advisable either, since that allows anyone and everyone full access to your computer, including especially the program you are installing.

So these are warnings to be taken seriously, whether you have experienced it now, or in the past, or not. It is possible its a false alarm. But its certainly not something to completely disregard.

-JC

The Software Downloaded and Installed without any Problems, Activated by GOTD and am being emailed the Serial Number for the Program

Hi Folks, there is no need to de-activate your Virus Scanner when installing or Downloading, I have never done it in 20 odd Years of Computing.

Tried to install on both XP and Win7/64. Initially both stated that the supplied serial number was invalid. Tried to uninstall on Win7 PC and it crashed and I could not get it to work. I did get it to work on XP.

Interestingly, the help is for Simply Good Pictures 2. Not sure if this product is a separate product or a poor attempt at an updated version of Simply Good Pictures 2. Although this product supports lots of files as input, it is limited to basically jpg on the output. Simply Good Pictures 2 is a lot easier to use with the same results.

Thanks Matt (#28) for the great review. Kudos to Giovanni as usual.

#23 YucksueY - Thank you for the hint of the background remover, something I've been looking for.
I'm not familiar with advanced photo software yet, so this will come in handy for my porposes.

After 10 hrs of waiting for key, I decided to use my Gmail instead of Comcast email and it work. I always had problems if I didn't use my Comcast email. Well, I finally got it registered and got rid of the water mark....Now let's see if it will clean up some old scanned pictures.

I've sent 2 requests for the key and nothing has been sent to email, checked spam too. Guess I'll uninstall and go for what Giovanni suggests.

Tells me the supplied serial number is invalid

I'm sorry GOTD, much as I am a great fan of your daily free offerings today's is a bit, well, frankly, bonkers.

First of all, almost 60Mb of programme has to be installed: the 35Mb Microsoft NetFramework4 (everything else works without it) then the 22Mb of Photomizer.

OK, fine, if the programme can help me BUT it doesn't:

INPUT PROFILE: Slide Scanner, Cellphone, Negative Film Scanner, Webcam.

NO Digital Camera or scanned print / book / photograph input profile.

Optimzer is aimed strictly at users of film scanners, not the more common flat bed document scanner nor digital camera users.

Opening a photograph is far from easy, as pointed out above, dragging a picture onto the giant lens doesn't work; unfortunately, clicking the 'Open Folder' icon doesn't work too well either, I estimate it will be at least an hour before I will be able to select an image.

I'll let Optimizer load the selected Image Folder overnight and in the morning find out what it can do.

REGISTRATION: AOL would appear to have a policy of blocking emails long before they come anywhere near the mailbox and as a result the GOTD offering is null and void. There is no second chance. If for any reason the registration message does not get through, that's it, too bad. Other GOTD programmes have generally registered easily.

This is the first time ever that I have downloaded a programme and expressed disappointment.

Sadly, unless I am very impressed by the results, I anticipate using "System Restore" to get rid of both Optimizer and NETFramework4.

That whole business about disabling the anti-virus is just a normal installation warning, just like "we recommend closing all other programs during installation".

It's a "just in case you have problems" kind of thing, not an 100% "You HAVE TO DO THIS" ultimatum.

I installed the program without disabling anything and it worked just fine.

Same as #38
tried it at least 10 times ... same message
"I have tried to register the program but when pressing free license key, I get a message that “currently no service available or internet connection is broken.”
that while I easily browsed online with my Firefox ... so I know that message is full of bovine crap
what should I do now?

Downloaded OK but when I tried to install in Windows8, the program tried the activation process (presumably the *.scd file) and was trumped by a "Failed to Connect" answer immediately. So I am locked out!!

Unremarkable software.
It also resets directory listing configurations, one step too far.

No problems downloading, installing and registering the software. I even did not deactivate my antivirus software. I have Windows Seven 64 bits SP1. Thanks again for an excellent software. Thumbs up...

I've been waiting 6 hours for the key. I used my same email address that I use on all of the GAOTD stuff. I even uninstalled it, reinstalled it with firewall and AV off,entered it again, and still nothing. And of course I've checked my spam. Still no luck.

I have tried to register the program but when pressing free license key, I get a message that "currently no service available or internet connection is broken."

I need some help to register the product today

Thanks

All went well until it came to the "webreg" screen and then it only gave me a blank white screen. Unable to enter my registration info and to submit? Has anyone else received this?

I re-installed it and ended up with the same results!

Is there another way to obtain the registration key, so that I just enter into the start-up screen?

All info leading me to download/install Photomizer states that the copy is to be a full, unrestricted use of the program -- but after installation and first attempt it showed that it was only for a 2-day trial. I consider that a scam and I will no longer be part of "Giveaway?"

A really excellent program for dealing with old negatives. No doubt you could do achieve the same results with other image editing programs but this makes it incredibly easy and produces great results. A really useful tool for anyone sorting out their family history

make sure you uncheck automatic update or you may lose your program. gaotd don't do updates, and or upgrades.

I'm having trouble figuring out what this actually does..

Its a photo optimizer. (?) But what does that mean?
Seemingly nothing to do with actual scanning, per the title.
So, what do they consider a photo that is optimized?

On the 'con' side, it is pretty heavyweight at 21.5 MB
depending of course on (line #1), what it actually does.

o Removes Red-eye and other such distortions?
o Smooths (meaning lightly blurs entire picture)?
o Replaces small foreign objects in the background?
o Alters skin-tone?
o Adjusts or eliminates backgrounds?
o Changes colors and lighting?

For me, none of this is clear. But then I'm not an avid photo-bug.

However I agree with those who have said they are uncomfortable
with disabling virus scanners and firewalls. That seems unusual
for a graphics editor.

-JC

FWIW

Installed and registered with no problems on win7 64bit even WITHOUT DISABLING MY SECURITY SOFTWARE!! Haven't had a chance to evaluate thesw yet...

Chuck

I downloaded this software and ran it without having to disable my firewall nor my antivirus programs. it works like a charm, but it don't compare to paintshop pro by Corel, however it only cost 19.99. personally I would spend the extra 20.00 on Corel's paintshop pro you get more than you bargain for.

Split view for Original versus modify preview is nice. Autocorrection works OK on some photos if they a too light but on others it just makes them too dark. Noise Removal makes photo blurry. Artifacts Removal works for minor problems but dust and specks from scanned slides/photos will need to be cleaned with a different program. There is a zoom feature but it's not very useful since you can't work on a selected portion of the photo. That's all there is. Very limited program.

Disabling anti-virus programs

Any program that changes file associations may be stopped by an anti-virus program. If this interruption occurs during installation, the installation may fail. This is not unusual. Because the reaction of security programs is unpredictable, software developers often suggest temporarily disabling security programs while installing. I have seen Microsoft Office installations fail many times because security programs caused installation routines to time out. It is also a good idea to reboot the computer after installing.

If you do not trust a program enough to disable anti-virus program during installation, you should not be installing it anyway.

Keep in mind that this software is specialized to work with slides, negatives, (and oddly enough) cell phone images. It does NOT have a preset for scanned photos. And, as SCAN is in the name of the software, it is not meant for "normal" digital photos that come straight from a camera.

That's not to say it won't help with those images, just that there is no preset option for them.

Luckily for me, I have lots of slides and negatives.

I thought it worked pretty well. I don't know that it did that much better of a job than the automatic enhancements of Photoshop or iPhoto, but it's free. Though not simpler to use than iPhoto, it does have a definite speed advantage over Photoshop (unless you had some kind of batch processing thing going on.)

One advantage of this software is that during the editing phase you get an adjustable "split screen" that lets you see before/after. It's not just a side-by-side comparison--you can actually move a slider over the photo to see what the program is doing. From what I can see, a lot of it is enhancing mid-tones, colors, and shadows to make the backgrounds better. It seems more successful at working with under-saturated images than over-saturated ones. I also didn't see as much with highlight recovery as I'd like, though that's tougher to do.

I didn't think much of the HDR option, and it's off by default. It's like simulated stereo on old records--if you want HDR, you need to do that on the front end, not the back.

You can add photos easily enough by dragging the to the the little bin at the left side of the window. Oddly enough, you can't import them by dragging them onto the giant picture of a camera lens in the center.

One thing that seems to be missing (correct me if I'm wrong) that's a big deal for me is the ability to do a mirror image of the picture. You can rotate it, but not flip it. This is important because I'm always scanning the slides or negatives in on the wrong side and so everything looks like you're seeing it in a mirror. I need an easy way to fix this common mistake.

I'd also like to see a more defined line separating the before/after sections of the image. It would be more intuitive.

Customization options for this program are extremely limited.

You'll get an ad when you start the program wanting you to buy another program from them, but you can turn it off if you're not interested. I figure it's a small price to pay for free software, and I actually went to the page and considered buying it. I still am, actually.

Anyhow, those are my impressions. Maybe not better than other automatic photo correction options, but faster than many and with a cool before/after view-screen.

Hey #6

The Corel Paint Shop Pro background eraser tool removes the background.

You said IMAGE EDITOR??

Here you go....

http://hornil.com/en/products/stylepix/Features.html

Screenshots:
http://www.softpedia.com/progScreenshots/StylePix-Screenshot-133549.html


==> FREE, BETTER & PORTABLE <== Enjoy!!

Installed fine. Registered and added key no problems. Opened a photo to work on. !BAM!
Out of memory (?) crash and external module has crashed error EVERY time I try to use the program.
Well, it looked good on paper anyway. Standard *.jpeg. Nothing fancy.
Thumbs down from me anyway.
At least I tried. :(

Did you know net framwrok 4 is needed.

@ #6 - vi, Try the freeware at the bottom of this page http://clipping-path-studio.com/download/

Or maybe this site will work http://clippingmagic.com/

Hope I understood you correctly :)

The setup program comes up with the following text (in red color): "It is recommended to deactivate scanners and/or firewalls temporarily since otherwise the installation perform incorrectly or even fail".
Does this kind of program really need such an arrangement? Engelmann seems to attach that kind of advice to every one of its programs. I get the impression that there is something spooky going on.

I didn't follow the advice, and the program installed never-the-less, but another open (but frosen program) made it exit so I had to reinstall it to access the pop-up-window to request the GOTD-key.

During un-installation of the program (not yet registred) a msi-file (don't remember its name) requested permissions. I accepted. The result was that Scan 2 Setup Wizard disappeared from the Control Panel window, but the "Photomizer Scan 2" folder was still in the "Engelmann Media" folder, AND it is impossible to remove. It requsts SYSTEM credentials to be removed or even accessed!

I didn't succeded to reinstall the program in the "Photomizer Scan 2" folder, but I succeded to install it in the folder "Photomizer Scan 2x" whose name I choose to be just different!

That's my tip about how to re-install the program, if needed to.

It was easy to install on Windows 7, but after playing around with it and reading ALL of the instructions, I'm unimpressed. It doesn't really do very much and certainly not as much as other (and more user friendly) photo programs.

When I copy the key by using add from clipboard and then check serial I get invalid serial.

Downloaded, registered and tested. I found this software to be unremarkable. Doesn't do much that many free programs can do. Not really a keeper at any cost.

#4. I too wondered that at first but thanks for the heads up. I see no need for this program if it doesn't access your twain device and aquire the picture. As Mr G will point out, there are MANY free apps that do this already.

Good program for landscape but not for human face.

This is definitly a keeper! Awesome how it can automaticly chance faded and discoloured old photos seem like newtaken ones. Thanks Engellman and GOATD! Ps. First time I comment here, but now I had to, because I'm so happy with this giveaway...

To answer a question above, I have copied from the Help File and pasted below the types of file handled.

Supported format:

bmp, jpg, jpeg, tif, tiff, raw, crw, orf, 3fr, nef, raf, mrw, nrw, drg, cr2, arw, x3f, rw2

I hope this helps somebody!

I have tested this on a dozen of scanned colour photos and compared it to the scanning program, that comes with Epson scanners.

"Artifact removal" was unable to remove very obvious white artifacts/dust traces even on highest settings, while Epson's program did that very well.

"Noise removal" is very basic and surprisingly slow.

The program can open even some raw formats (an unneeded function in this case) but only saves in jpg with no additional settings.

In my opinion, an under average program, that I can not recommend.

Thanks to Engelmann Media GmbH + GOTD.

This is meant to enhance / correct scanned images that have been scanned using a scanner, e.g. a flat bed scanner.

It is no mean feat.

Anyone who has scanned colour slides will know the colour shift and contrast changes.

Hi Guys, don't know if this will be much help as I Very rarely use these file extensions, yet I think this GOTD supports;
*.bmp *.jpg *.jpeg *.tif *.tiff *.raw *.crw *.orf *.3fr *.nef *.raf *.mrw *.nrw *.dng *.cr2 *.arw *.x3f *.rw2

Although I am able to take a picture, my knowledge stops there! As this program will make my photos look better, automatically, with no/little input from me - it gets a great big thumbs up! Thank you GAOTD and Photomizer for this software. Maybe now, people will like looking at my pictures.

Some while ago we were offered here Photomizer Special Edition. So what are the differences of this software from that? Is it worth getting in addition to that? Or will it replace the previous program?

Because the same companies often offer similar products, it would be useful if it becomes established policy to list the differences of a new offer from the previous one.

Any Software who remove general /destraction background and replace/place solid background.

They offer Photomizer Pro, Photomizer 2, Photomizer Retro etc. and Photomizer Scan 2. So it's a different program than Photomizer (and its no batch variant SimplyGoodPictures) from former GOTD, which I like very much and use very often. If corrected pic looks better - in most cases - I use it for slideshows etc. But please don't delete original!

In former times I used to improve scanned text (by scanner or cam) with help of IrfanView Portable or GIMP portable for better printing in black and white, e.g. for blocking coloured background.

No problem for me: Engelmann's regular advertising emails. You could send them a canceling mail or block it as spam, I won't do neither.

Never had to disable firewall or antivirus to install and wouldn't do so even with software from a democratic country (Germany this time):
http://www.engelmann.com/eng/company.php

Rare ability of correcting photo negatives.
A must have for me! Just downloading.

More information after registration process - I dislike automatic usage of Internet Explorer!

When a software company ask's you to deactivate your antivirus to install, I think no way am I installing this, so I did'nt, would not even try,
But thanks anyway for the free offering, but get your act sorted out

System: Windows 8/64 AMD quad processor, and Windows XP/SP3 on a very tired old HP... :)

I got the impression from the description that this was a program to manage the actual scanning of images, but that is not the case. It seems to be more of an image editor, unless I've missed something here. I see no function to acquire images directly from the scanner. That said, it DOES SEEM to be a very GOOD photo editor. It worked well on both the Win8 and XP system.

Registration Note: If you paste in your serial number and just press CONTINUE, it does not really activate the code. Instead, you need to paste in your code (or click "Add from clipboard) and click the "Check License Key" button to the right of the serial number and that activates it. The serial number was in my inbox in -seconds- after requesting it.

I also noted that when you click SAVE, it will overwrite without warning. Just be aware of that. Aside from these items, it seems to be a very useful program. Since no single editor is perfect for all cases, I'm keeping this one in my editing toolbox with thanks to the authors and GOTD.

Through a few hoops to get the registration and when opened presented with dull grey interface and white lettering, depressing.
When adding a file the options were the normal plus raw, crw, orf and 3fr.
Automatic optimisation of the picture was impressive, a bit of a surprise as I've never that impressed by their previous offerings.

It's a keeper for me.