Hello,

First off, a huge THANKS to the GotD public for the huge response to yesterday's giveaway and for all the comments, even the critical ones -- without criticism, praise loses its meaning. :-)

Here are some answers to fill things in for people checking in after the giveaway, or those still awaiting answers after their questions during it.

Re #28:
For technical reasons we currently use a unified help for all the different editions. It does mention on the main page that it relates to the PRO version and that not all features are present in HOME, but I understand that can be overlooked.

Re #30:
Contact Sheets are also in version 13, including ZPS 13 Home.

Re #39:
For a feature list, see elsewhere in the comments, where other users have helpfully discussed what's in the various versions of the program. Regarding button size, the is an option to switch to big buttons! To use it, use the Settings menu's Customize... item, in the Customize window switch to the Toolbars tab, and then click on the "Large Icons" option.

Re #41:
Please contact Sales Support regarding this and we'll help you get to the bottom of it. Thanks!

Re #52:
Just one thing that's often misunderstood: we're not out there to compete with the pure image editors; we're here to provide something for start-to-finish, with the understanding that the user may want to supplement that with other task-specific programs that go into a lot more depth on specific tasks. That's one of the reasons while it's unlikely that multiple layers will be added to the Editor module anytime soon: no standardized picture format supports layers. (PSD isn't a standard and it's not even public; it's just dominant due to Adobe's own dominance.) If Zoner starts saving to, say for example, "ZPF - Zoner Photo Format" so that we can store layers in your pictures, then there goes the ability to e.g. open up your favorite noise remover to do noise removal jobs that go beyond our abilities. Let alone the time when someone who didn't read the manual (who does?) sends their grandpa a ZPF and gets angry when he can't open it.

In short: for layer work, use a dedicated editing program. We certainly won't be offended!

Re #54:
A big thank-you to you, Mike, for doing our work for us right when it was needed the most! That was great!

Re #56:
The Compare Images function in the PRO Edition can do this; the HOME Edition does not have a feature for doing this.

Re #57:
Please contact support (use the Sales Support form on our website) for help with offline installation - it's normally no problem but it will be a bit tricky with the GotD, so drop us a line.

Re #58:
Ah, the eternal balance between providing enough information on the one hand, and bogging everyone down with details needed by only a few percent on the other - it's always a hard call. Sorry to have caused extra trouble all the same.

Re #61:
On the question of the intriguing build 7, which is not normally available yet - see #20. During next week we'll be rolling build 7 out the normal way as well.

Re #62:
On question 1: Official registration is not available for the GotD version due to the absence of a code - we regret this, but no-code is the way we have to do it to honor GotD rules. They are nice to us, we try to be nice back!

On question 2: There's in-program help and there's a downloadable manual at:
http://download1.zoner.com/binary/zps13help_en.pdf

There is also a tutorials page, located at:
http://www.zoner.com/ww-en/support/tutorials

Re #67:
Installation does not normally require a reboot - some special circumstance must have been involved in this case.

Re #68:
Zoner Photo Studio does not take separate programs as plug-ins, but you can add a right-click item for easy opening up of a picture in some other program from inside Zoner Photo Studio. To do so, use the "Helper Programs" section of the program preferences (Settings | Preferences...). Once you're done your work in that window, the file types you selected will have "Applications" as the last item in their right-click menu; beneath "Applications" are all the helper programs you added for that format.

Amazing software that I am using many years. Versatile, easy to use, fast to show and edit photos. But for professional use, there are better specialized softwares for panoramas, noise reduction, 3D images - would it be possible to cooperate with them as a plugin to Zoner Photo Studio?

I don't understand why a simple photo software like todays would require a reboot?

That is quite irritating, and def something they should change. The average customer will actually react badly to that, if they had a slow computer or kept it on for most of the time then a restart for this would be annoying them.

I really don't understand when something is FREE, why complain? If you don't want, don't like, can't use, just don't download it.... you have LOST Nothing!

If you know of a BETTER Freebie, then just say "try this, it's free too...

Is that so hard to do? Please don't take offense, but just think about it.... IT'S DOGGONE FREE!!!

And it has been a lot of GOOD free stuff here to download...

Klaw

I am pleasantly impressed with this give away, I did install the earlier version of this program on one of my other laptops, this time I installed on my older desktop(XP SP3, 500G HD, 2G RAM) Works pretty well, better then one of the previous giveaway's. the panorama maker(don't recall what the name of that poc was). I was able to create several panorama's that the previous program couldn't figure out. I played with the 3D creator a few times as well, funky. Thanks GAOTD and Zoner

Excellent. Thank you, Zoner and GOTD.

Thanks #36 Zoner Tech Support for the response to my comment. I never had the problem with updating and loosing the full version gaotd with your software. It was with other developers. It is great to hear that won't happen with Photo Studio 13. Thank you for responding to my question. To have the developer take the time to join in our comments is a rare treat and says much of your integrity.

I have spent the day starting to get a couple thousand photos and videos cataloged with PS13 and I am very impressed!!! I accomplished more today cataloging with Zoner Studio 13 than I have in months using other software. The interface is fantastic, speed is remarkable and editing features a nice addition.

I make folk instruments and sell them online at my website, eBay and ArtFire so I am forever taking pictures for my listings and for customer updates on special order instruments. Until now I had pics/vids everywhere in various states of editing and really wanted to create proper archive files. Thanks to PS13 I am now well on my way to getting my images organized. I especially like being able to review video with PS13 as well as photos. Sure helps when sorting out both.

Though PS13 won't replace all my image editing software it is definitely in the top three. CodedColor PhotoStudio, Sagelight Image Editor and Zoner Photo Studio make a great combination for me. For cataloging it's Zoner PS13 hands down and has made a dreaded chore of cataloging actually enjoyable. I have only scratched the surface on all this software will do and look forward to learning more.

PS13 is without doubt one of my all time top ten gaotd downloads. I definitely have the Pro version on my software wish list. If you haven't tried PS13 really need to get this gaotd and test drive it. Their website provides loads and loads of helpful how to info and tips!

Thank you very much Zoner and GAOTD.
The Old Kazoo Maker

Just two questions from a computer newbie.
1) How do you register Zoner Photo Studio 13 Home? After downloading, looking under registration it ask for code number to register. Where do you get that?
2) To evaluate and know how to operate the program, where do do you learn how? Instruction book(online or do you have to buy it somewhere). Pray for inspiration?

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appropriated.

I had Zoner Home 13 Build 3 from the last giveaway. I used the update through the program. It downloaded the installed the updates pretty quickly. The program is still registered in my name. For some reason it only updated me to build 6. When I told it to check for updates again it informed me there were no further updates. I will just update again at a later date. Thank you GAOTD team for all of your efforts and thank you to the publisher, Zoner software, for your gift.

First class, first rate software and all at a very inviting price. Watch out Adobe, there's someone nipping at your heals. Any chance of seeing the Pro version on GOTD? Maybe I'm being too greedy but it never hurts to ask. Thanks Zoner and GOTD.

@ #46

Robert, it must be your connection. I downloaded today's giveaway at a toasty 2MB/s.

For me, a DLL error stops it from running in XP SP1. It seems SP2 and up are required, not just "XP". All can try on their own of course. I'll move to another newer-OS box I have for this one.

*runs and hides before Captain Obvious shows up.* ;o)

Will I be able to install this " off line" ? My Mom could really use this program but can not connect to internet at this time, so ! was going to download it here and take it to her computer via thumb drive. It's a lot of trouble for me to do that, so I wanted to be sure I could before I went to the trouble - Thank you !

I installed the program on XP SP3 with no problems. It looks really good. One question, is there a way to preview at least two pictures at the same time? Reason is after downloading from the camera I go through the photos to compare and elimination. At the moment use Canon Zoom Browser to make comparisons.

The "home" version of this software is probably fun for fooling around making scrapbooks etc - far too crippled to be useful for much of anything serious. Most of the standard editing tools (available in several of the free image editors BTW) are disabled or crippled
- No edit layer
- No eraser tool
- No transparency support (WTF - what good is it on .gifs and.pngs then?)

too many other things to mention but take a look at the .PDF comparison mentioned above.

I'll be skipping this one - sorry GOTD, but thanks anyway.
Brad-Lee

#37: "...I’ve bee using it since some months and all other (even commercial) photoeditors became obsolete for me. I can do everything I want using just Zoner, even for quite sophisticated operations..."

IMHO Yes & No... there are certain things you need layers for -- if you don't want/need to do any of those tasks, then yes, Zoner Photo Studio can do pretty much whatever you might need it to.

* * *

#43: "Over priced! If you watch the deals you can get Photo Shop Elements with more features for less $ than Zoner Pro"

FWIW, IMHO P/Shop Elements is a lesser product, but regardless, the cheapest I've seen it is $40, $5 over today's Pro price, $40 over today's pricing for the Home version.

* * *

#44: "Shouldn’t there be a preference to “Always edit copy” where it creates a copy and edits it instead – like Picassa? Remembering to create a copy, select it, then edit it, then respond to the “save edits?” prompt every time you leave an edited photo is making me send this one to the trash heap. Unfortunately."

I'm not trying to make light of your concern, but that's the way Photoshop, Corel, & any editor I can remember works -- you need to save-as, maybe right off the bat if you're afraid you might forget later.

@Ken,

Couple of things:

#How many pictures did you select for your slideshow?
#Check out Publish-->Advanced Slideshow and check your settings. But I have a feeling you may have selected only one image for your slideshow.

The Zoner apps are nice & today's GOTD, Photo Studio Home, is no exception, but [still] without layer support Photo Studio can't break into the big leagues. Zoner Photo Studio (Home or Pro) is great for organizing & doing minor fixes or editing, especially if you have a higher dollar camera &/or most always shoot in ideal circumstances, & I like their tools for fixing common lens distortions, but it's not for production work, & fixes, FX, & enhancements that are fairly easy elsewhere are just not possible. One example I think lots of people run into is a typical indoor photo where the flash brightens the person(s) in the center of the shot, but the rest of the room is progressively darker -- another common example is the outdoor shot with a lot of sky that causes everything else to be darker than it should be... both types of shots are really pretty easy to fix using gradients & layers, but without them it can be quite a slog. Those who work with video, DVDs & such already know they need layers to create button highlight masks, overlays etc., in my case in the form of .png files with transparency. I do apologize if that sounds a bit negative, but I wanted to lay out briefly what Photo Studio can't do because like many other graphics apps, once installed it's a bit harder to get rid of completely -- if that sort of thing doesn't matter to you, &/or if Zoner Photo Studio does what you want/need, I really do mean it when I say the Zoner apps are nice.

Using Zoner Photo Studio you have 4 views, almost like separate apps, where the window's optimized for Managing, Viewing, Editing, or RAW -- you switch between them with large buttons on the upper right. In the Manager you select the folder in a Windows Explorer type of tree, images in that folder are all displayed in the center, main portion of the window, & when you select an image, quite detailed info is presented in the right hand pane, dominated by a rather nice Histogram view. Using the Manager window you can also perform all sorts of quick edits/enhancements. Click the Viewer or Editor & the same, selected image remains the focus. The Editor Window features pretty much standard fare for image editing apps, without the [to me annoying] overload of wizards so common in this sort of software. Selection tools [the often make/break part of an image editor] are nice, but not as good IMHO as Adobe or Corel -- e.g. it's great to have the paint on mask tool, but it could IMHO use better/more feathering & anti-aliasing, while the magnetic lasso (also great that it's included) lacks fine control options available in other apps. One area where Photo Studio does stand out [as mentioned above] is with it's quick/easy lens correction tools -- if you have a high dollar camera there's a chance you might find an app/plugin just for your lens, but for the rest of us it's a matter of doing all lens corrections manually.

Installing Zoner Photo Studio is higher impact, but then so are many other image editing apps, with or without an organizer -- Adobe's Photoshop install can be a nightmare & Corel's apps can be even worse, but if those are the apps you want/need, you don't have lots of choice... Photo Studio BTW is nothing near as bad as those two. Photo Studio itself takes up a lot of space, & if as mentioned in other comments that bothers you, the PortableApps.com AppCompactor brought it down from 171585 kb to 78629 kb -- it *seems* to work OK that way, but keep a backup of the program's original folder in case you find a problem testing... you can download the free AppCompactor at portableapps.com, & you can install/run it from your hard drive as easily as from a USB stick. Uninstalling Photo Studio [today's or earlier GOTD versions] leaves several folders behind in Program Files, My Documents, User App/Application Data etc., so if you want to get them all search your hdd for Zoner & ZPS [in this case ZPS13]. During setup & on 1st run you're given the options of associating Photo Studio with a quite lengthy list of image formats, integrating Photo Studio with Windows [right-click context menus] etc... choosing no to all that, installation added a monitored 1469 new registry entries, not all of which were removed by uninstall, & not every one of those shows up searching the registry for Zoner or ZPS.exe afterward. On 1st run in a VM Zoner Photo Studio complained that the display rez was only 16 bit, but it seemed to perform & display as well as my regular Windows install.

All in all Zoner Photo Studio is nice, well thought out, well designed/written software. Different people have different requirements, different things they need to be able to do, & whether an installation effects Windows or not may matter a lot to you or not at all -- again apologies if I went too heavy on Photo Studio's limitations, but if you worry about impact on Windows, I hope that stuff made it maybe just a little easier for you to decide whether [or how] to try today's GOTD. For comparison the closest I can think of at the moment would be Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3, which has been widely & heavily discounted I think because of installer issues [I picked it up for <$20, but using Google, Amazon had the low price of $36] -- it's much more capable software [with layers], but I don't suggest it unless you backup 1st [or use something like Returnil], & then install the trial to see if it will in fact install/work. Of course there's always the 900 lb. Gorilla of the free image editors, The GIMP, which isn't bad to use IMHO if you grab it from portableapps.com along with the plugins to make it work more like Photoshop -- I've had problems running the regular version on my hard drive. The Zoner site has a version comparison, showing what you get with their pro version of Photo Studio, & upgrading has virtually no impact when I monitored that 2nd, on top of the home version install, & the special GOTD pricing is fair IMHO.

@Joanne The Erase button on on the right tool bar just under the Fill bucket.

Slideshow works fine for me. And about the saving...just choose "save as" instead of "save", don't see the problem, besides that i don't think any editing program saves a copy by default if you don't specify. If you trash a program just because you need to make one click more you either didn't look for the option or are a bit lazy maybe?

good program, thumbs up

Amazing piece of software. I have most photo-editing software, from Adobe CS5 Extended to GIMP, JASC, Faststone, XnView, IrfanView, etc., etc. This little gem has so many of the features of the best of them and so many more features than most of them that, it looks like I need only open this to do most editing-cataloging tasks. AND, at US$70 for the Pro version, it's a steal.

Obscenely feature rich, great interface, respectful installation options (ie., upfront choices to integrate or not with Windows, update methods, etc.), native x64 support, a decent 55-58MB resource footprint when idling... and, I haven't yet fully "opened it up".

Thanks GOTD for the intro. But, since I can't reinstall your version, I sprang for the Pro mainly because I regularly destroy my systems and, now, MUST have this in my toolkit.

Did I go overboard? :-)

The slideshow does not work. Small label changes for number of image being shown, but image does not change. A bug perhaps?

I can not find the eraser button. HELP PLEASE

Good program. Appalling server for download. 34.4Kbs on a 20 Mbs connection?

I hope I'm missing something because this appears to be an incredible program, but it edits your originals. Shouldn't there be a preference to "Always edit copy" where it creates a copy and edits it instead - like Picassa? Remembering to create a copy, select it, then edit it, then respond to the "save edits?" prompt every time you leave an edited photo is making me send this one to the trash heap. Unfortunately.

Over priced! If you watch the deals you can get Photo Shop Elements with more features for less $ than Zoner Pro.

AND...Who would buy off brand software without trying it first? Pro version needs a full trial download.

Sorry...it's thumbs down.

Never mind! I did the search again and NOW the editor is showing in the results. I really don't like the Win7 "search programs and files" box. It apparently gives incomplete and/or erroneous results. Probably operator error, but IMHO the defaults should go from least probability of errors to more complicated searches, rather than the other way around! I do know that if you don't have indexing services turned on, you won't get exhaustive results. :^(
I don't like indexing running all the time, but would rather have the search engine do the complete search only when I ask for it and know that I am getting complete and exhaustive results!
Sorry for the previous comment and the rant in this one.

After installing Zoner Photo Studio 13 Home build 7, on my Win7 Pro 64bit machine, I no longer see the editor as a separate program when I do a search. Should I assume that the editor has been incorporated into the main program, or did I lose the editor by installing today's build?
Confused! :^)

Hello, it seems that the module to create / HDR is not present in French. thank you

I have been using Zoner Photo Studio since version 9 and I grab every new version that comes up on GAOTD.

I have a LOT of graphics editing programs, but for the quick edits that I need to do the most often, like cropping, resizing & straightening, I use Zoner.

It is simple & easy to use, but gets the job done quickly.

Well worth installing

I think the GUI "buttons" are too small on this software, unlike Picasa or Paint.net. What can this do over Picasa or Paint.net?

Probably the best home graphic software. I've bee using it since some months and all other (even commercial) photoeditors became obsolete for me. I can do everything I want using just Zoner, even for quite sophisticated operations. 99% users (even advanced ones) should be more than happy with it.

Hi, - When clicking on "Publisher Zoner Software" - the Price of Pro12 shows £70.20 under Caption "If you purchase Zoner Photo Studio 12 Professional today, you can also get an extra 50% discount" (?), when clicking on "Featured Title" - the Price for Pro13 shows £26.68 (only till Today's Offer ends?) - On Zoner Home Page the Upgrades only show from "Pro to Pro" and from "Home to Home" Versions. This is very confusing! --- If Someone choses NOT to Upgrade TODAY to Pro13 - How much will it cost to Upgrade from Home13 (GAOTD) to Pro13 after today?

@aswegohomestead,

So sorry to hear about your software "hiccup" when updating in the past. This is something you should not encounter with this version. If for some reason it happens again, just let our tech support team know and we will resolve it ASAP.

As for your other suggestions, we will certainly take those in consideration for future updates. Thanks again for checking out our product.

great program, I download it last time and computer crashed and I lost it,

check out what you can do with it.

a before and after.
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=o242u&s=7

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=906bt3&s=7


winracer

I am a Semi-pro Photographer and i use the pro version of this software as my main editing platform. I tried all of the others and while i do like lightroom, it is alot slower and alot more expensive. This program is extremely stable, fast and has everything a photographer would need to post process effectively for a fair price. The RAW module in the pro version is well worth the upgrade if you shoot in RAW. All they need is a publish to Smugmug module and i'm a happy photag.

I love this program! Thank you so much Zoner and GOTD! I am getting the PRO version

Although Zoner Photo Studio 13 Home Edition is a nice program, in my view DVD Slideshow GUI is better than today's giveaway:

http://download.videohelp.com/tin2tin/


Other interesting FREE alternatives are the following:

* Microsoft Photostory 3
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=92755126-a008-49b3-b3f4-6f33852af9c1

* Ashampoo Slideshow Studio Elements 2.0.1.153
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Graphic/Graphic-Editors/Ashampoo-Slideshow-Studio-Elements.shtml

* XnView
http://www.xnview.com/

* Roxio Photoshow
http://www.photoshow.com/home/start



So THUMBS UP from me with some reservations though!!

I've been using Zoner Photo Studio since it was first given away way back in the first year of the giveaway project. (I think it was version 9 or possibly 8). I use it in preference to my old copy of Photoshop’s v8 because it is so simple to use, has all the basic editing tools you’ll ever need as well as more to hand if you want to be a little arty. The Quick fix is a favourite of mine. It's fixed many a poorly exposed image , but the effects too are useful, and there are enough of them to give the artist amongst you some toys to play with. I like the fact that Zoner allow you to update without losing your giveaway licence so long as it’s the same version.


This program is a must have for anyone that takes digital photographs.

Thank you to Zoner for continuing to give your product away here and to the giveaway team for securing this version. (v13 was also given away earlier this year, but it has had some updates since then).

I still have 12 and really like the contact sheet option and don't believe this one's available in 13 if I read it right the last time 13 was offered. 12's been more then adequate for my needs and don't plan on getting 13, but I just want to add that Zoner is a pretty cool program for those who don't already have it and are not sure about it. Still have to thank GAOTD for passing these cool programs on to us. :)

This program is nice. Unfortunately to use any plugin, you'll have to buy the PRO version.

A free program like Irfanview allows you to use the Photoshop plugins.

#5 (Marko) - you say the following:

#3 Inas,

You are describing the features of the Pro edition, but this GAOTD offer is the Home Edition.

Here: http://www.zoner.com/__download/zps-13-edition-comparison.pdf

______________________________________________________________________

The features (for Zoner Photo Studio Home) that I list in my earlier post #3, are taken verbatim from the Local Help File, under the "What's New" link, in the Zoner Photo Studio 13 Home program we downloaded today, and not the Pro Edition. So, if anything, the developer is the one who provides us with confusing (and maybe conflicting) information.

Thank you for pointing this out - much appreciated.

Windows has a program just as good as this and it has always been free for us windows fans. Check out windows live products.

This program on offer is good just as so many others are.

This is the easiest red eye remover I have ever used. The program finds your files, I can go from picture to picture using the mouse wheel and just click the eyes to get rid of red eye or shining eye. Super!

Am I to understand by comment #20 from Zoner that if we select check for updates we will not loose this GAOTD Home version and revert to the free version? If so this is great and gets a big thumbs up for Zoner Software. I have lost a couple full version GAOTD downloads in the past by selecting updates.

Installed and registered quickly and easily on XP SP3 os. So far this looks like a great addition to my image editing toolbox and I look forward to digging in and checking out all the features. What I have looked at so far is fantastic.

I do wish the Home Edition had a few of the Pro Edition options like eraser, healing brush and screen capture as these are some features that most home users find very useful. This is such great looking software even mentioning those seem somewhat petty on my part. I have other software to accomplish these task it would just be more convenient to have these available in Zoner Photo Studio.

Thanks Zoner Software and GAOTD for another great giveaway.

#21. TRUCKER: 1st- its not 120Mb its 87Mb and if you're not happy with the size of a program of that quality. Get a new laptop and stop complaining over nothing.
After working with this program for a little while I think this is now the best one on my computer. THANKS GOTD & ZONER!

Re: 22

Each version number does install in a separate folder. You do not absolutely need to install the old version, because the old version does not make trouble for the new version. But when you want to get rid of the old version, you must uninstall it yourself. The old version is not automatically uninstalled when you install the new version.

I am using v12 and am looking forward to v13! I like the features already and improvements on things I already like can be nothing but good. :)

I hope it isn't going to install seperately. One comment from the manufacturer said go ahead it will overwrite so no deletion of 12 needed. Then someone else said it wll install in a seperate folder (so again no uninstall of 12 needed).

That is one of my pet peeves with Adobe. I don't need all the older versions in all of these folders! I need ONE folder per program please!

Thanks for a good program - and free too :)

Teri

I have a lot of free space on my laptop, but... I don´t like when a program can´t detect if the OS is a 32-bit or 64-bit version on its own. The alternative would be a user option to decide which one to use. The program use 120MB on my HDD and that´s not okay.

Todays software is fast, good and effective. $35 would be a more fair price when I think about the freeware alternatives...

Re: #15

Auto-update doesn't make any trouble for the special GotD releases, it doesn't break anything, require you to pay anything, make you ineligible for anything, etc. (I know we have seen some questions/worries in these areas during past GotD's.)

Incidentally, as mentioned far upthread, the GotD release is indeed the first one to use build 7, even before our own website. Build 7 just cleared quality testing at the time of the GotD, and it seemed a shame to use the older build unnecessarily, so up it went.