Hemera's Photo-Objects 50,000 Volume III is another excellent collection of digital images. Volume III provides you with a different set of 50,000 royalty-free photo-objects in over 80 categories from Aeronautics to Youth. These pre-masked Photo-Objects images can be used in your designs quickly and easily without having to mask the image yourself. A Photo-Objects image is a photographic image of a person, animal, plant or object that has been removed from its surrounding background, so it can quickly and easily be placed in a new background or design. The Photo-Objects image format (HPI) is similar to other formats commonly referred to as images with transparency or images having an associated Mask or Alpha Channel.

Since the images are totally background independent, they can be placed on top of any other background or each other. The images are scalable so you can resize or crop them before export, and you have a choice of setting the resolution at 96, 150, 200, or 300 DPI.

Hemera's Photo-Objects 50,000 Vol III is available for Windows and Macintosh. Pricing: Vol III is $99.00. Hemera has a variety of other products. See their web site for more information: http://www.hemera.com

Advanced Beginners, intermediate, and advanced computer users. I would recommend this software for just about anyone. It's great for novice users who have no experience in masking. techniques. Yet intermediate and advanced users can also find uses for this program. See the image to the left for a before and after view. I used an image from the software, loaded the selection and delete the background. Then I applied a gradient to the background and a solid color to the squares. it was easy and fun to create and indicates what novice users could do with the program.

Volume III includes the following:

• 50,000 royalty-free Photo-Objects in over 80 categories.
• Each pre-masked photo has its own alpha channel.
• Each 32-bit true-color image has a base resolution of 600 x 600 pixels (for use up to 300 DPI).
• An interface that automatically combines all of your installed Hemera image collections so you can access every Hemera image through one easy-to-use work environment.
• A user-friendly search engine that allows you to search for a Hemera Photo-Object in an easy and intuitive fashion.
• An Export Wizard, allowing you to quickly and easily export a Photo-Object to your favorite application.

There is a small User Guide that discusses the basics. There is also an expanded more detailed version of the User Guide on the Hemera web site. It's in pdf format and consists of 21 pages. The interface is intuitive and very easy to use.

Photo-Objects 50,000 Vol III has a great search engine. It's intuitive and user-friendly. Plus it works with common sense words, and it lets you instantly see any images corresponding to the descriptive keywords you type into the keyword search window. Images are organized by keyword, by image type, by category, and by their location (subscriptions and/or collections). You can use one or all of these fields, depending on how broad or specific you need your search to be. See the image to the left for a view of the interface. And its interface automatically combines all of your installed Hemera image collections so you can access every Hemera image through one easy-to-use work environment.

The program is flexible and gives you four different ways you can place Photo-Objects in your documents.

1. Export Assistant--The first and easiest method is by using the Export Assistant. You start the Export Assistant by double-clicking the thumbnail image of any Photo-Object.
2. Drag and Drop--The second method is dragging and dropping Photo-Objects directly into your document from the Hemera Photo-Objects window. When you use this method, the image will take on the file format defined in the Drag and Drop default settings under Preferences in the Edit menu.
3. Copy and Paste--The third method is exporting Photo-Objects using the copy/paste method. You simply copy the image onto the clipboard by selecting the thumbnail image you want, select the Edit menu, and choose Copy to Clipboard. Then from the application you wish to use the copied image, select the Edit menu and choose Paste. When you use this method, the image will be copied in the file format defined in the Clipboard settings found under Preferences.
4. Save to Hard Drive --The fourth method is saving the selected Photo-Object directly to your hard drive by choosing Save As from the File menu, and then importing the Photo-Object from within the application in which you wish to use the image.

The Export Assistant or Wizard walks you step-by-step through the process of exporting an image. The first step is choosing one of six types (see below). All six options allow you to resize or crop an image, select a resolution (96, 150, 200, and 300 DPI), flip an image, choose a background color, maintain an image's original width to height proportions, and select whether you want the image's physical dimensions to change when the resolution is changed.

In addition, each type has other options specific to that choice. For instance, if you choose Web Authoring, you select whether you want a color, a tile, or an HTML file for the background color; whether you want the image saved as a GIF, JPEG, or PNG; various optimizing choices; and whether you want the image displayed interlaced or progressively. The program even analyzes your choices and suggests whether the image should be saved as a GIF, JPEG or PNG, which is great for novices. In the optimizing step, you can select the image quality and see the corresponding file size and download times for different modem speeds.

1. Word processor, Spreadsheets--Use for word processing programs or spreadsheets such as Word, WordPerfect, Excel, or Quattro Pro.
2. Presentation Software--Use for presentation packages such as PowerPoint, Presentations, Harvard Graphics, or Freelance.
3. Web Authoring--Use for Web pages.
4. Graphics Applications (That Support Transparency)--Use for graphics programs that support transparency such as Adobe Photoshop.
5. Export as Popular Image Format --Use if you wish to save the image as a file rather than inserting it directly into an application.
6. Email--Use if you want to email the image.

Hemera's Photo-Objects Vol III contains excellent images. See image to the left for an example of a Photo-Object graphic that I put on a colored background. And they are suitable for most projects, whether for the Web, on-screen presentations, or print. Again, as in the previous two volumes, the quality of the masking and detail are fine considering the affordable price of the packages. You can't go wrong with adding this volume of Photo-Objects to your graphics library. And they would make great gifts for any holiday season!

PC:

• Pentium Processor 233 MHZ minimum (400 MHz recommended)
• 64 MB RAM minimum (128 MB RAM recommended)
• Windows 95/98/ME or Windows NT 4.0/2000/XP
• 40 MB hard disk space minimum (390 MB recommended)
• CD-ROM drive
• 256 color display (high color, 16 bit display adapter recommended)

Mac:

• Power PC
• 64 MB RAM minimum (128 MB RAM recommended)
• Mac OS 8.9 (Mac OS X 10.1.5 recommended)
• 115 MB hard disk space
• CD-ROM drive
• 256 color display (16 bit display adapter recommended)