Software/Add-Ins

NXPowerLite – version 3.5 now available!

I have been a long time user of NXPowerlite, a great presentation optimization application. Just recieved notice that they have released version 3.5!

What is great about this version is that it is compatible with Microsofts new Open XML formats (ie. Office 2007’s .pptx, .docx, etc.). It has better Outlook integration, is a free upgrade for v3 users and is even available in Chinese! Read about all the features and download a full function trial from their website here.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T13:39:32-08:00January 21st, 2008|Software/Add-Ins|

Office 2007 SP1 Released

Service Pack 1 for Office 2007 has been released ahead of schedule!

It should remedy some issues, especially if running Vista and Office 2007, and has a number of performance and stability updates. Microsoft’s info and download page is here (although it is officially released you may have to wait a bit longer as the download page on Microsoft’s website seems to be down for the moment….).

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T14:49:25-08:00December 11th, 2007|Software/Add-Ins|

ClickArt online royalty free art

Many years ago for images in our projects we relied on $300-500 per disk photo CDs and for vector art things like the 20 CD ClickArt 1 Million collection. Well, ClickArt is back – and now online.

Although it features lots of photo images, they are relatively small at 800px wide and 72 dpi. The offering is wide, with many having those same 80/90’s fashions I remember from use years ago. But many are ultra new and even the same images I have pulled from sources like Photos.com (of course much smaller file size here).

And if you need vector art (aka: clip art or line art), having a searchable database and unlimited downloads for a year is worth the price!

As for price, they are currently offering a 1 year, unlimited download for only $40.00!!

Click here to check out all the details.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T16:33:02-08:00October 24th, 2007|Software/Add-Ins|

Make All Files Have SameTime Stamp

When working on multiple computers it is critical to be able to tell which files are new, or old, based on their time stamp. The solution is to run an application that updates the computer clock to an atomic clock through the internet.

I run SYNCIT With Atom on all of my computers, but there are tons of applications available. I have mine set to update/verifty clock accuracy every 45 seconds. And guarantee I know which file is the latest-and-greatest based on the time stamp – no matter what computer I was working on.

Click here to go to info/download page.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T16:32:45-08:00October 22nd, 2007|Software/Add-Ins|

Make Text MORE Legible

Another free application from Microsoft that ranges from good-to-great depending on your monitor is the CLEARTYPE TUNER. It basically tweaks the way Windows displays text on an LCD monitor.

It does not hinder, or noticably improve, displaying through a projector – and depending on your monitor it may or may not make a noticeable difference (on my 1900×1200 WXGA monitor it made a very noticeable effect, on a 1440×900 monitor it gave no noticeable difference).

Click here to go to download page

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T16:32:14-08:00October 19th, 2007|Software/Add-Ins|

Be Visual with Active Apps

Being a graphic designer I admit that I understand things better when I can see them. One of the great features of the new Vista OS (and on Macs for awhile) is the ability to rollover the taskbar tab and see a thumbnail of the current application content. If you are running XP you can add this type feature to the Alt-Tab method of choosing your application.

With the Free Microsoft ALT-TAB tweak installed instead of seeing just the application/file name as you alt-tab through the active items, you see a thumbnail of the current content.

Click here to go to the download page at Microsoft.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T16:31:55-08:00October 17th, 2007|Software/Add-Ins|

Reorganize the Task Bar

If you have multiple presentations, several applications and numerous windows explorers open – the task bar becomes crowded and confusing. For just situations, I use the free application ‘Task Arrange.’

This lets me group all of my presentations together, slide outlook to the far left, etc. Or another practical use (this week in particular) is designing a multi-screen show and being able to move the presentation tabs to the visual order (ie. left screen appears on the left, center in the center and right screen presentation is the right tab).

Click here to go to Task Arrange’s download page.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T16:30:36-08:00October 10th, 2007|Software/Add-Ins|

Download or View PDF?

This is a browser add-in that I recently was told about and I like it. The frustration is when you click on a link to a PDF it is up to your browser settings whether it opens the PDF or downloads it (and Adobe’s default setting is to open it).

If I know I want to download the PDF there are three choices:
1. Right-click the link and choose ‘save file as’
2. Click the link, have it open, then click the save icon
3. Install the “PDF Download” add-in

With ‘PDF Download’ installed, every time a PDF link is clicked a dialog asks if it should be opened or saved – brilliant!

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T16:30:04-08:00October 8th, 2007|Software/Add-Ins|

Image Resizer

This free application from Microsoft has some great uses. Basically it does exactly what the name implies, it adds the ability to resize images. But this one is accessible from a right-click on any image.

It is a limited use application, in that it offers only four preset image sizes. If you click the ‘Advanced’ button it also offers the ability to set a custom size. Another nice feature is you can select multiple image files and convert all to a new size as a batch process.

You can get more info and download from here.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T16:28:35-08:00October 3rd, 2007|Software/Add-Ins|
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