The new year has brought some exciting new features in the latest release of the free MyPhotoFun Album Editor. Upgrading to version 4.2 will bring with it enhancements in both productivity and creativity. The software developers, working tirelessly as always, have delivered some long anticipated features as well as some surprises.

New features in this release

First, the most requested Wish List item is the ability to Undo. Previous version of the MyPhotoFun Editor had a “Revert to Saved” function which provided a terrific get out of jail option when we have really messed things up, however it fell short of the mark when we did something in error and simply needed to step back one pace. Now with the familiar CTL-Z combination we can ease the frustration of having to manually correct ourselves.

And for those of us who are undecided, we can use the CTL-Y combination to Redo the change.

Another feature which has been requested on many occasions is the ability to Copy and Paste pictures. It has been a very frustrating process to date where we wanted to repeat a page design. Repeatedly dragging the same combination of images onto the pages and matching the size and cropping options to duplicate our first creation. Now in version 4.2 simply use the CTL-C, CTL-V combinations we are all used to – brilliant! CTL-X also works if you want to Cut and Paste.

Two new features which are aimed squarely at creativity are the addition of Photo Frames and Scraps. Essentially they are graphic elements added to the application which users can use to dress up their pages.

Scraps could be thought of as Clip Art. Arranged into a logical arrangement of categories the MyPhotoFun Album Editor now provides illustrations covering most occasions from Beach Balls to a Smiling Sun. Simply drag them onto a page, there’s no need for a placeholder, and you can position and resize them any way you like.

Photo frames work in much the same way as the Image Masks. Double click an image and the dialogue that opens now gives you the option to add colourful frames, again arranged into logical categories.

Another new feature which may not seem too helpful at the first glance – but I can see it being quite a useful tool – is the Reload Template function. This will be of most benefit to those of us who repeat calendars and diary products. Simply select this function and you will step through the same process as establishing a new project, set the start date, border options and shadows but the images and other page elements remain in place. Now you can rebuild the calendar from last year with this years dates – very useful.

Bug Fixes and Improvements

The new version has also delivered a large number of bug fixes which for the most part will go unnoticed. The following should be highlighted however as they address some frustrations we have suffered in the previous couple of releases.

First of all, the file transfer has been totally rebuilt – again. As this is one of the principle functions of the application and critical to the entire MyPhotoFun service, it draws a lot of attention from the programmers and, being heavily affected by the security measures rightly adopted by PC users, has a high instance of customer support inquiries. Version 4.2 will have a more friendly working relationship with Firewalls and other Malware applications which should alleviate the majority of transfer failures.

The error messaging has had a make over too with many messages being written in plain english as opposed to PC speak. We will no longer have to investigate the meaning of such phrases as “System.NullReferenceException” or the classic “Unexpected error has occurred…”

The Preview function has been strengthened and now uses a higher resolution image to more accurately approximate the final page. You should always remember though that the monitor is a back lit devise which will always affect the image presentation.

Finally the text editor now remembers what you did. So when you have decided that you want your captions to be 14pt Georgia with an underline you won’t have to set it it up again every time you add a caption. This feature itself will save heaps of time and frustration.

So finally, if you haven’t done so already, download the latest version of the MyPhotoFun Album Editor. It is a bit larger now with the added Scraps and PhotoFrames but all in all a significant upgrade.