Overview

  1. Features
  2. The basics
  3. The more advanced user
  4. What's new

1. Features

Some Features

  • - Support for responsive designed grids
  • - Numerous adjustable html properties also on the lightbox functionality
  • - Resize, crop, frame photos
  • - Make use of pattern images as background
    Some of the pattern images are included in maWatermarker or get some optimized pattern images from our webstore
    within maGalleryCreator you can play with the opacity which can result in subtle effects!
  • - Add a comment to each individual picture
  • - Store your own settings in presets (Fig. below)
  • - Store your project
Click Here For The Tutorial
You can store your photo gallery or slide show as a kind of project, what makes it easy to rework at a later stage. For example you are creating a photo gallery where you edit a lot of "Exif User comment", "highlight" photos, play with the order etc., and you want to continue your project at a later stage.

How can you save your project?

  • - Save project

This will create a '.mgrprj' project file and a 'photos' folder with all your assets in it.
  • - Open project

Select your project folder, select your project file and maGalleryCreator will load all you need to build further on your photo gallery or slide show.
Click Here For The Tutorial

2. maGalleryCreator, the basics:

The GUI:

  1. The workflow

    2. The Workflow
    • Step 1: Choose a template = 'Model'
    • Step 2: Choose the destination, where you like to store the photo gallery files
    • Step 3: Choose your photos
    • Step 4: Build! Try and justify, until you are satisfied about the result

  2. The template preview

    3. Template preview
    The template preview is a static visualisation of the template properties. If you like to see your modifications, you need to apply the "Build!" button and a the resulting page will be shown in your default browser. A good practice is select just a couple of pictures to simulate your modifications. This can be done easily: unselect the "Publish" checkbox in your photos list.

     The template preview is a static visualisation of the template properties. If you like to see your modifications, you need to apply the "Build!" button and a the resulting page will be shown in your default browser.
    A good practice is select just a couple of pictures to simulate your modifications. This can be done easily: unselect the "Publish" checkbox in your photos list.

  3. The template properties


    4.  Template properties
    The best way to start: selecting a 'Model' and 'Build!' now you can play with the properties of that template and see what's happening. Enjoy!

  4. The photo selection

    5. Photo selection
    Choose your photos, they will be loaded in the photo list at the right sight of the application. What you'll see is a preview of the photo, the photo name (where you can sort on: A-z; Z-A) and the 'Exif User Comment' if available in the picture. The 'Exif User Comment' is very interesting one! This field can be edited but will not be stored into the photo itself. You can add individual comment to the picture: type your text and 'tab' outside the field so your comment will be available if you like in the photo gallery/Lightbox.

    Under the 'Exif User Comment' text field you will find 2 checkboxes: 'Highlight' and 'Publish'.

Highlight:

is only applicable on a 'Responsive Grid' template! You can use it to show the photo bigger in the photo gallery.

Publish:

when checked, it will be shown in the photo gallery, when you uncheck the photo will not be loaded in the photo gallery.

Integration with maWatermarker and piQtility:

This integration makes it easy to share watermarks and patterns between maWatermarker and maGalleryCreator. If you have multiple workstations, the best way is to go for a cloud storage solution, for example: iCloud®. As long as it is accessible from Apple's Finder®, it will be accessible for maWatermarker, maGalleryCreator, maFileRenamer,...

How to share?

  • - Go to the application 'Preferences' and 'Choose Library location', if you already configured this in maWatermarker 2, you select the same location.
  • - Back to the main application window, under each 'Photos' tab you'll find the properties to 'Set background pattern image'.
  • - Next to the 'Choose' button you'll find a drop down menu with the choices:
    • 'default': the default Finder location (last directory you selected)
    • 'watermarks': the shared watermarks folder
    • 'patterns': the shared patterns folder
  • - Select one of the above options and click the 'Choose' button, you'll thumble directly into the right location and you can load the image you want


Upload new patterns

If you want to upload new patterns or watermarks to that shared location, you can do this easily via the main applicaton menu: 'Window' and the submenu: 'Import'.

The result

The resulting photo gallery or slideshow will be stored in a very structured way. You can pick up the entire folder and upload it to your own website, as long as you do not change the relative location of the html files, the gallery or slideshow should work without any problem. Of course if you relocate the html files you have to change all the file paths that refere to images, css or lightbox script paths within the html file as well. But this is normal behaviour of html.

Tip

If you have to make a photo gallery of hundreds of photos, just load 10 - 20 photos and play with the settings and rebuild. Once you are satisfied about the result, load all the photos you need and build.

3. For the more advanced users:

You can fine tune the creation of the gallery or slideshow by adjusting some properties, such as:
font size, font type, image size, colors, shown meta data etc... Of course advanced users can modify the created html and css files at their needs and can use maGalleryCreator as a first step in creating web galleries or slide shows.

maGalleryCreator photo galleries can also be integrated in a "Blocs"® project for example: Tutorial.

Photo Gallery Template 6: How to achieve this result?

    Open your photos and set a destination folder for your gallery.
  • Step 1: Choose a template = 'Model 6'
  • Step 2: Choose a tab = 'Photos'
  • Step 3: 'Thumbnail properties'
  • Step 4: Check 'Fit into' property Fig below
  • Step 5: Check 'Free space opacity: 100%' Fig below
  • Step 6: Check file type: 'png' Fig below
  • Step 7: Build!
  • Step 8: Apply 'Rounded corners' to the produced thumbnails with piQtility. Attention: keep file type: PNG!
  • (Step 9: Optional: add a watermark to the lightbox images with maWatermarker)

Tutorial: on our Youtube Channel

4. Upgrade options

If you have purchased maGalleryCreator in our webshop, you can enter your current license key as a coupon code. Depending which version you are running with, you will receive a loyal discount.

5. What's new?

version 4.6.1

Maintenance update:

  • GUI fixes: on store and retrieve presets
  • Minor GUI optimizations.

version 4.6.0

Maintenance update:

  • First Subscription version.

version 4.5.2 - Latest stand alone version.

FREE MAINTENANCE UPDATE for all current 4.X.X users

  • Bug fixes:
  • - On user interface
  • - Save and open project function
  • - Store and retrieve presets
  • Code optimizations.

version 4.5.1

FREE MAINTENANCE UPDATE for all current 4.X.X users

  • - Fixes an issue on responsive grid, where pattern image was shown in front of the photo gallery.

version 4.5.0

FREE MAINTENANCE UPDATE for all current 4.X.X users

    Photo Gallery/Responsive Design enhancements:
  • - Improvements on existing templates
  • - NEW templates
  • - Improvement on "Fit in" function
  • - NEW: free space opacity property
  • - NEW: shadow effect on PNG images/images with transparency
    See template 6
    • GUI & code improvements:
  • - '.JPG' adjustment for a better exchange between piQtility, maWatermarker and maPhotoResizer
  • - Removed file type TIFF, for better web performance
  • - Improved 'Dark Mode' support
    • Fixes:
  • - Highlight property available on ALL 'Responsive Grid' templates

version 4.1.2

FREE MAINTENANCE UPDATE for all current 4.X.X users

  • - GUI improvements.
  • - Fixes on store and retrieve presets (Responsive grid).

version 4.1.1

FREE MAINTENANCE UPDATE for all current 4.X.X users

  • - Fix on application registration.

version 4.1.0

FREE MAINTENANCE UPDATE for all current 4.X.X users

  • - New slideshow model 5
  • - GUI bug fixes

version 4.0.0

MAJOR UPGRADE

  • - Multiple enhancements on existing templates.
  • - New slideshow templates.
  • - New Responsive grid templates.
  • - Multiple code enhancements on application core, prepared for the future.

version 3.7.0

FREE MAINTENANCE UPDATE for all current 3.X.X users

  • - Thumbnail Orientation Fix: We've resolved an issue that affected the orientation of thumbnail images for some portrait photos.
  • - Enhanced portrait photo compatibility in slideshow function.

version 3.6.7

FREE MAINTENANCE UPDATE for all current 3.X.X users

  • - Code enhancements
  • - JavaScript support on title and description field

version 3.6.6

FREE MAINTENANCE UPDATE for all current 3.X.X users

  • - Memory usage optimization
  • - Fix on progress bar

version 3.6.5

FREE MAINTENANCE UPDATE for all current 3.X.X users

  • - Bug fixing

version 3.6.4

FREE MAINTENANCE UPDATE for all current 3.X.X users

  • - Bug fix on responsive grid:
    Fixes an issue when deactivating the photo hoover effect.

version 3.6.2

FREE MAINTENANCE UPDATE for all current 3.X.X users

  • - Bug fix on responsive grid:
    Photo browsing in lightbox, when some photos were marked as highlighted, is working great again.

version 3.6.1

FREE UPDATE for all current 3.X.X users

Slideshow enhancements:
  • Template 1 & 2: smoother fade in / fade out
  • Template 1 & 2: better photo resizing on non responsive slideshow version
  • Template 3: better photo scaling
  • Template 3: bug fix: shows all selected photos now (last photo included)

version 3.6.0

FREE UPDATE for all current 3.X.X users

On general demand:
You are be able now to save your photo gallery or slide show as a project, where you can work on at a later stage.

version 3.5.1

FREE UPDATE for all current 3.X.X users

  • - HTML and CSS code enhancements
  • - Bug fixes

version 3.5.1

FREE UPDATE for all current 3.X.X users

  • - HTML and CSS code enhancements
  • - Bug fixes

version 3.5.0

FREE UPDATE for all current 3.X.X users

  • - New photo gallery templates
  • - New slideshow template.
  • - Set your selected photos manually (drag 'n drop) in the desired order
  • - Enhancements:
    • On photo manipulations
    • On pattern opacity
    • Lightbox appearance
    • User interface
  • - Code optimisation

version 3.4.0

  • - Performance boost on photo selection
  • - Progress bar for better user experience
  • - Photo counter

version 3.3.0

The color of the background layer of the lightbox is fully customizable

version 3.2.0

Improvements to the "Photo Gallery" tab, in terms of thumbnail preview

version 3.1.3

Maintenance update:

  • - FIX: When using "Photo Gallery" templates in a way that "Show file name" and "Show meta data" is also reflected in the Lightbox

version 3.1.2

Maintenance update:

  • - GUI Improvements

version 3.1.0

New Maintenance updates:

  • - Extra options on Slide show creation
  • - Magnify effect when hoovering over photos in a photo gallery
  • - Code optimization

Fixes:

  • - On preset storage of pattern image properties
  • - On responsive grid photo library and 'light box' in combination with 'Highlight' property