I downloaded this and it only worked for one day - after that it reverted to an unregistered version. I contacted Soft Orbits, and they suggested that I buy the paid version. Not cool. I loved the previous versions of this program, but I won't EVER deal with Soft Orbits. Very disappointed

Installed with little trouble - though it's a bit of a hoop-jumping show what with visit this page and wait for an email. But it all worked smoothly to install. Registered without any trouble (though interestingly enough the free one I installed just a bit ago thanks to the very thoughtful post by ouialaraison was back to saying it was unregistered). I am, however, unable to get the program to do anything on either machine I own. I loaded a picture into it with no trouble but clicking Sketch produces absolutely no response at all. Either I am being unusually dense in figuring out how to use the program, or it just doesn't want to work. It's not slow - it would have to actually *do* something to be slow. Disappointed. Went and downloaded the fotosketcher for free but haven't tried it yet. Thanks for all the commenting folks. It's been helpful.

To add to my previous comment: Here is the list of programs I installed from SoftOrbits, and the error message upon trying to open them:

SoftOrbits Photo Retoucher 2015-05-15
Trial version: Activate SoftOrbits Photo Retoucher to be able to save your picture! ( -Remove trial limitations,-Buy the license once - use the program forever!) "Buy Now" or "Close" -it closes, or if you choose to "Buy Now", it directs to their website: https://secure.payproglobal.com/orderpage.aspx?products=95480&coupon=GOTD70, where you can buy it for only $15.00, instead of $49.99
Discount (GOTD70): -$34.99
Total: $15.00


SoftOrbits Photo Editor 1.0 2015-02-12
****Unregistered Version****
-Activation error.The license key has been already activated.

SoftOrbits Sketch Drawer Pro 2.0 - 2015-01-06
****Unregistered Version****
-Activation error.The license key has been already activated.

SoftOrbits Photo to Sketch Converter ( Sketch Drawer 2.0) 2014-12-04
****Unregistered Version****
-Activation error.The license key has been already activated.

Photo Stamp Remover 7.1- 2014-12-25 ****Unregistered Version****
-Activation error.The license key has been already activated.

#30 yes I got that too. Download program but program does not install yet says it is activated. What a joke ...tried four times ...no go....and lost my prior version. Not happpy with this company and will let others know to avoid them...spread the word....maybe they will change how they run their business.

version 2 was excellent!
3.2 is bad, you need to revisit version 2 and make 3.2 more like version 2

Anyone else getting this?
I don't do Face Book either


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Oh i don't mean that this is Photo Retoucher, but Photo Retoucher is one of the Products that gets Unregistered after Registering
Photo to Sketch Converter.

Mark (Australia)

Well, Well what do you know i see SoftOrbits still have NOT FIXED there own Software Registered/Unregistered Software Problems!!!
I have mentioned this Problem 3 Times in the PAST, Last one version 2.0, and usual Activation error: The Licence key has been already
activated comes up, then shows ****Unregistered Version**** , Good Software But again Please Fix Licence Problems.
Gets very annoying finding Photo Retoucher ETC going back to Unregistered Versions after registering a Newer Version of a different
Product from same company. :-(

Mark (Australia)

Baffling why anyone would even bother with this SoftOrbits product. Or why Softorbits is, either. David Thoiron is one of the nicest guys in the world of software, and his 'FotoSketcher' has long been the yardstick against which any other program of this type is measured. Spend only a few minutes on David's website and you'll learn a great deal -- far, far more than you will from many a commercial developer. Not only that: there's a level of inter-activity between David and his countless users, and amongst the users themselves, that no commercial product even attempts to emulate -- and especially not SoftOrbits. If you want to make some beautiful artwork out of your images, if you want to know how it's done and share the expertise of others, then FotoSketcher remains supreme. Thanks, GOTD, but no thanks: though SoftOrbits seems determined to cling to the massively ill-advised idea of making money out of a cheapo Chevvy, that's no reason for anyone to pass up on the offer of the always-free Rolls Royce that is FotoSketcher.

NO GLITCHES WHATSOEVER ON Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit!!!

Worked flawlessly. I had NONE of the problems posters wrote about. File Information works fine. No freezes. No crashes. The square in the middle is not a glitch---it is a small sample preview for viewing the zillion options without having to wait for the whole picture. Nothing I tried was more than a minute at most--usually much less. There are infinite possible combinations and permutations possible. You might want to start with the presets to get a feel for it.

Perhaps the problem was with people who installed over an earlier version or in addition to an earlier version. I had no apps from this company to conflict.

I find that I am unable to download this offer! Clicking on the download link on the GOTD page does nothing. No error message, no change in web page... I have yet to find a workaround

The Convert-to-sketch-draw feature is one of *many* that are available in the Picasa freebie from the Google.
I'm just sayin.

I previously installed Sketch Drawer VERSION 2. Also, I have two other SoftOrbits software titles.

BASED ON THE SOFTORBITS SOFTWARE INSTALLED ON MY PC, I can say the software is stable, bug-free, and does what it is supposed to do. HOWEVER, I did have issues with the free GOATD licenses. BUT, SoftOrbits customer service was pretty good when I complained about the dead licenses. They offered full licenses for a very deep discount of $9.99 apiece. For $10, it was well worth buying the full Pro version of Sketch Drawer v2.

I am very concerned about the bug reports posted by other commenters today. I was tempted to upgrade to version 3 offered for free here. But version 2 works just fine...and produces nice 'artistic' effects...so, I am going to play it safe and stick with v2.

SoftOrbits Developers. Come on! You can do better than this v3 of Sketch Drawer. Your company HAD a fine reputation for producing good-quality, stable, useful software. Don't change now!

For the past several days I have gotten an install error message saying setup.exe is corrupt. Today I spent a little more time troubleshooting, virus program is paused, tried a different browser and a different unzip program. No luck.

Thanks for comments. Will stay with prior GOTD version. Prior version runs ok so far. Maybe in 6 months a more promising version will be offered.

crashes regularly on a Windows 7 Home pc. Does the fact that I have only 4 mb of ram mean this won't run. I have 32 bit so can't really install more ram. Will uninstall if this continues. Can't even try it out. No other significant memory users running in Task Mgr.

Downloaded and installed fine on Windows 7 64bit.

Whole this software offers some nice pre-fixed variations (templates) and the ability to fiddle with other options such as edges and strokes, it's quite limited.

I also encountered a problem when I tried to convert an image from a full frame DSLR that had been previously converted to JPG, in that it refused to convert it after reaching only 20% on the progress bar. I'd reduced the image further to around 5000x3300 and it still would not convert the image to a pencil drawing.

Nice program but useless for the images I want to convert.

Many times this software will not start unless you are connected with the Internet.
I guess they have access to our computers without disclosing that. Uninstalled.

Yes, same here. All of my Softorbits GAOTD installs have expired. It is a shame as some of their products were excellent, but why bother download any more from this company? doing so is a waste of my time ---- TIME --- the only no replenish-able resource that we have. For me to try them again, they would have to issue a sincere apology with the next offer with some kind of solid assurance that it will not happen anymore.

disappointing, it won't even download for me. Is it a problem at my end or is the link broken?

I highly recommend Twisted Brush.

I will never buy another SoftOrbits product again. When you buy it with lifetime upgrades, if an upgrade comes out, They say it's a major upgrade and not honor it.

And if you compare this program with FotoSketcher, that say?

a freeware alternative - XnSketch:
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Graphic/Graphic-Editors/XnSketch.shtml
quick and good results IMHO
:-)

Today I had trouble to start the Setup: several times there was no contact with the server. In several Windows.

After a successful installation the registration was different from Karl's; thanks from Sketch Drawer:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10366431/_GOTD/SketchDrawer32_20150806/Registratie.png
Every time the program seeks contact with the Internet.
The program has some flaws and the translation is sometimes difficult to understand. Perhaps better to test it in English.

Some examples
original:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10366431/_GOTD/SketchDrawer32_20150806/Afbeeldingen/hangar_frontpage.jpg
sketch:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10366431/_GOTD/SketchDrawer32_20150806/Afbeeldingen/hangar_frontpageProfessionalColor.jpg

original:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10366431/_GOTD/SketchDrawer32_20150806/Afbeeldingen/image.php.jpg
sketch:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10366431/_GOTD/SketchDrawer32_20150806/Afbeeldingen/image.phpLight.jpg

original:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10366431/_GOTD/SketchDrawer32_20150806/Afbeeldingen/landschap-met-droge-hooiopper-14703721.jpg
sketch:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10366431/_GOTD/SketchDrawer32_20150806/Afbeeldingen/landschap-met-droge-hooiopper-14703721-Viltstift.png

original:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10366431/_GOTD/SketchDrawer32_20150806/Afbeeldingen/media_xl_1498261.jpg
sketch:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10366431/_GOTD/SketchDrawer32_20150806/Afbeeldingen/media_xl_1498261-LaagContrast.png

And a larger one [2,3Mb]
original:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10366431/_GOTD/SketchDrawer32_20150806/Afbeeldingen/pano_0210.jpg
failure sketch [3,5Mb ? ?]:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10366431/_GOTD/SketchDrawer32_20150806/Afbeeldingen/pano_0210_Pech.jpg

If Sketch Drawer doesn't do it for you, maybe have a look at Picasa's 'Pencil Sketch' effects option. Fiddling and faffing with the Strength and Fade sliders can generate some really elegant effects, especially if (say) a Museum Matte or other frame is added.

I dunno if it works on W10 but, if not, I don't suppose Picasa will be long in fixing that.

Two weeks ago, when Photo Stamp Remover was offered here, I complained that most of my SoftOrbits giveaways were inexplicably back to trial, and it appeared I wasn't the only one and we wondered wether that wasn't a scheme to push us to buy the licenses. But just after the end of the giveaway there was a nice post from SoftOrbits apologizing for that and giving us codes (and 3 days to activate them) for 3 of their programs. I was soo happy the following day to reactivate my 3 programs and announce the good news to those who might have missed it! At least we knew of SoftOrbits good faith and good will, if not of good coding. But I realized soon that one after the other, they were surreticiously going back to trial in my back while I was activating another one, and I spent the 3 days in the endless process of reactivating, because trying to keep all your softOrbits programs working is like solving a Rubik's Cube: while you arrange one side, you mess up the others. Now that the 3 days have ended, out of my 5 SoftOrbits giveaways, 4 are back to trial again, including my only 2 weeks old Photo Stamp Remover.

I only hope at least licensed users can reactivated at will, but I am not much tempted to test it and buy. As I am an incurable optimist, I will nevertheless bother to reinstall this one, and when it is gone, well... there will always be FotoSketcher, free, portable, and by far the best in this category:

http://www.fotosketcher.com

Bad reg system but software useful.

Installed on Windows 8.1 but only after disabling Norton during the process as it simply wouldn't allow it.

I normally use Photoshop Elements or Gimp for much of my graphic work, but this type of process I tend to do in Fotosketcher simply because it is quicker and easier - and free. I have not had time this morning to extensively compared Sketch-drawer with Fotosketcher, but I have run some processes on the same picture on both programmes. Initial impressions, accepting that I am familiar with Fotosketcher, is that Sketch-drawer is less easy to use and offers less in the way of filters, control and techniques, it also appears a little unstable. For $50 I would expect it to significantly out-perform the free programme, but that really isn't the case here.

I will continue to use both in order to be objective and arrive at a balanced view, but at the moment I will keep Fotosketcher as my main tool, certainly when deadlines are involved.

I can see from the comments most who tried this program have problems,except Karl, who will keep it. Most unusuall? Well, I am skepticall and will not keep it, not even try it. SoftOrbits software are licensekillers in my experience, so they are banned in my PC.

Program is very unstable on my computer, tested it on some 5 Mp photo's. Sometimes conversion stops after 5 minutes and the green bar is not progressing at about 90%, sometimes the program will not convert after clicking on running, sometimes the app crashes trying to convert a photo. Only one out of five is processed in a relative normal way and a saveable result is produced. That is bad...

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11463671/gotd/crash.jpg

Installed ok on Windows 8.1. But was as far as I got with most options in the program. It repeatedly crashed or just stopped working in the middle of converting a picture, even on the default settings.
Tried the same pictures in FotoSketcher and they worked fine.

Installed and registered without problems on a Win10 Pro 64 bit system. Seems, that Win10 problems are solved. A clean install. The registration thanks in the name of "Photo Editor"
http://i.imgur.com/PXRULk7.png

A Russian company from Smolensk with address and phone. We had many products from this company. I hope, that we do not run in the problems, we have had in the past. You remember the deactivation of previous Softorbits products?

The last Sketch Drawer version 2.0 we had on January 5, 2015. Here are the old reviews:
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/sketch-drawer-2-0/

A modern resizable user interface in grey colors opens. You add your photo, define the sketch parameters

http://i.imgur.com/Cb2eSEM.png

and ... looking for the file properties the program stops working

http://i.imgur.com/pFWGG7X.png

I restarted the program, selected the same image again and converted to a sketch. It takes a very long time - in my case minutes for finishing the sketch:
http://i.imgur.com/AzLk6OV.png

Selecting the "file information" again, the program stops working, can be repeated.

A nicely made sketch drawer, some errors should be removed before offering this program again to the public. May work also with "file information" on an other OS.

I'll keep it - seems to be a good revised program.
Thanks Softorbits and GOTD

I dislike this software:
1. Hardware-bound
2. looses the Liz-key someday
3. new activation kills lizences of other SoftOrbits-Application in some cases

Good software when I used it from a previous giveaway, unfortunately it unregistered itself one day.

This version seems to have an issue with a glitch in the middle of the image occasionally and freezing during processing. It's also taking significantly longer to render the image than the previous version I used.

Imgur Glitch Example