Uses PhotoImpact to bring old photos to life & create Web pages easily

PhotoImpact was the first photo editor I ever used. A few years ago I got a free copy of Ulead PI v.4 on a CD with a computer magazine; (I think the magazine was called "PC Format").  I soon became very comfortable using it, learning basic functions very fast - such as re-sizing, cloning and adding the cool special effects that the program has built-in. So every time I spotted a newer version being offered for free on a CD, I bought that magazine! At this point I still had not bought the software. I was just using the free 'older copies' that were released to promote the newer ones.

Then I got a job working in a photo studio using Adobe Photoshop on an Apple Mac to restore photos. There were some similarities but I was more comfortable using PI. But most importantly, this job convinced me that I wanted to work in photo restoration. 

So recently I decided to set up my own photo restoration service via the Web: digitalfix.co.uk. I decided to finally purchase an up-to-date copy of PhotoImpact and register with Ulead, so I bought PI version 11, and predictably I was pleased with the new features. Not only would I be able to use the software I was comfortable with, (PI), to restore the photographs, but also to create the Website! That's right - just as I was wondering how to go about making my Website, I spotted the 'Web' menu and decided to explore.

The great thing was that I was already familiar with PI, so learning the Website functions wasn't difficult. It is quite straightforward to open a new Web page template within PI and then fill it with what you want your Web page to look like - no HTML knowledge required. The most exciting thing was creating rollover buttons. I had always loved those sites with rollovers, where you move your mouse cursor over the image and a new one just appears. Well now I discovered how easy they are to make with PhotoImpact. Not only did I use rollovers to display my restored photos, I also used them as menu and navigation buttons. I could simply use my own text and images in these or use some of PI's many built-in ones available. The best thing about this was that I had full control over how my site looked, that I didn't have to settle for templates and buttons from re-sellers. Creating text was very easy with the HTML Text button. I use these features so often that I customized PI to have them right on my toolbar for easy access. When I finally had my website finished I saved each .ufo file as an HTML page and uploaded them to my server using a freeware FTP program.

So that's basically the story of how I used PI to create a Web site!

You can view Joanna's web site at http://www.digitalfix.co.uk/