Friday, November 23, 2007

Review: Preset Viewer by TumaSoft, LLC

I am happy to review a great new program called Preset Viewer created by designer Betsy Tuma's husband John Tuma.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
What is the Preset Viewer all about and why is this one of the hottest products on the market?

Preset Viewer allows you to view all of your Photoshop shape, brush, swatch, and pattern files within the program, create png or abr brush files (if you choose), and to automatically with the click of a button open the selected file inside of Photoshop.

Why do you need Preset Viewer? If you are like me and have collected tons of brushes, shapes and patterns, sorting through your collection can be quite a chore and cuts down on your productivity when you are trying to create a kit,or even scrapping a layout. Preset Viewer cuts that hunting and sorting down dramatically - all you need to do is open the program and select which preset category you want to view. The program automatically scans your hard drive for all instances of that category, or you can point the program to specific folders, drives, etc., and the first file opens in the viewer on the right hand side of the screen. Instead of spending hours looking through your presets for just the right file, you will spend a short time thus regaining precious time for scrapping and/or designing.

Here's a further breakdown of the features:

- the presets can be viewed in thumbnail format, filmstrip mode, and tiled mode. This is helpful for getting a larger view or determining whether a pattern is seamless or not, without opening Photoshop.

- you can use the swatch files on your system to change the foreground and background colors of the shapes andbrushes. This is helpful if you have specific colors in mind for your kit and want to see how the shapes/brushes will work with those presets, without opening Photoshop.

- you have the ability to exporting any brush, shape or pattern file as either a png file or compile them into a new abr brush file. This is a handy feature that allows you to translate patterns and shapes to brushes and/or create a new brush set of the brushes you use most often.

- you have the ability to assign keywords your files, which are held independently of the files, enabling you to maintain your groups regardless of where your files are stored on your pc (hd, ehd, etc.).

Anyone who has collected tons of presets for Photoshop will appreciate this program, which pays for itself upon the first use! I have been using
Preset Viewer since it was released and LOVE LOVE LOVE it! You will
too! :)

A final word: customer service at PDW is awesome - Betsy will get back to you very quickly and John expeditiously addresses any problems you may have with the program, including registration and updates. If you are like me, this is an area that can make or break a product for you and a determining factor on whether or not you'd recommend the product to your friends.

You can find TumaSoft's Preset Viewer at Plain Digital Wapper. An online quick start guide is also available here. Also, John has created a forum for update news and requests for furture releases.

Many kudos to Betsy and John for this great program!

6 comments:

Anonymous January 14, 2008  

Sounds like a great program. However, you failed to mention that it is Windows only. Any idea about a similar program for Mac Scrappers?

Anonymous March 05, 2008  

Hi there,
really I wouldn't waste your money on purchasing the full product. I downloaded the trial and though most functions are locked you can still view all of your brushes and I should
have stayed with that :( but silly me I wanted the full version so I went along to Plain
Digital Wrapper Ltd and paid by paypal and was sent a download link. But when I installed
the software and tried to register as instructed it was a different story, the
registration process is faulty and informs you that you have already registered and a
serial has been mailed to you - not true, I even checked my spam folder and re-checked I had given the correct email when I purchased the software. So then i thought it's a firewall issue, uninstalled and re-installed the software and turned off my windows
firewall, nothing. So then I went to Tumasoft and tried to register on the forum for help
and found registration does not work because they have a perl error on the website. So
then I mail Tumasoft support but get no reply. Then I mail Plain Digital Wrapper Ltd, the
vendors of the program at thier sales email - no reply even though they state they reply 24/7.

Am I happy ? - no I'm not. Ironic really that checkout and collection of payment seems to
function really fast and well though. Be warned don't bother, till Tumasoft sorts it's act out.
Lavica

Kim March 05, 2008  

Lavica,
I'm sorry your experience wasn't the norm that most other buyers had...the only advice I can give you is to contact TumaSoft again until you hear back from them. I am sure they will fix whatever problems you're having.

Kim

Anonymous August 01, 2008  

Nobody answers any emails for tumasoft.I purchased the program last week.If nobody answers soon I will file a complaint against them,so if anybody knows them,tell answer their email....

gregory phillips
awolcreations@yahoo.com

Kim August 01, 2008  

Gregory, I am sorry you're having problems with the Preset Viewer, but I don't work for them, I just reviewed the program that I bought and liked.

You need to contact Tumasoft directly, by using the information provided within the program documentation and you can also try here:
http://www.plaindigitalwrapper.com/shoppe/help.php?section=contactus&mode=update

and here:

Customer Service
By Phone: 1-719-510-6669
9 AM - 3 PM Pacific Time Monday - Saturday

and here:

support@plaindigitalwrapper.com

Those are in addition to the contact information provided you within the Preset Viewer program documentation that you received.

Kim

Anonymous August 01, 2008  

Mr. Phillips,
I have replied by email to your issues. The email was sent from betsy [at] plaindigitalwrapper [dot] com.
If you do not receive it, please contact me directly at the phone number listed above.
With warmest regards,
Betsy Tuma
Owner/Designer
PlainDigitalWrapper.com
Co-Owner TumaSoft, LLC

Visitors

counters