If a picture is worth a thousand words, is a montage worth a million?
Written: Aug 13 '01 (Updated Aug 13 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Does a fine job of making montages.
Cons: Doesn't come with a printer capable of making full-sized posters.
The Bottom Line: If it came free with something else, enjoy it. Otherwise, spend you money elsewhere.
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| DrDad's Full Review: ArcSoft PhotoMontage |
Arcsoft's PhotoMontage does one thing, and it does it fairly well. It takes any electronic image and makes a montage version of it. A montage is made up of hundreds or thousands of "micro" images. These micro-images are placed together in such a way that, when viewed from a distance, they create an impression of one large, blurry, picture. The most likely place for you to have seen an example of a photo montage is at a poster shop. Posters of famous people done in a montage format are interesting to look at because from a distance you can clearly see Martin Luther King or Marilyn Monroe, but up close you see tiny square photos of landscapes, animals, people, buildings and other objects.
While I would prefer to discuss the Gestalt principle of perception which explains how we are able to see the larger picture from the collection of smaller ones, the point of this review is to discuss Arcsoft's PhotoMontage software so that you can know whether you want to buy it. The Arcsoft PhotoMontage software came with my Epson printer, so I got it for free. From the Arcsoft web site (www.arcsoft.com) you can buy PhotoMontage for just under $40 (plus shipping). However, if you want your montage creations to look their best, you will want to get the CD Collection which contains additional micro-images for $15.
Arcsoft PhotoMontage Features
PhotoMontage is a good example of NBR software (No Brain Required). The main screen is organized into three sections (Create, Output, and View) and each section contain three large buttons. To create a montage, the user is prompted to select a photo from the hard drive or acquire one from a TWAIN source. Once a photo is selected, the user has the option of editing the photo. However, edit functions are limited to cropping the photo and adjusting the brightness and/or contrast. When the photo is ready, the user selects "Build" to start the montage creation process.
Arcsoft provides a few options prior to the process of building a montage. Once the following options are set, the software then processes the image into a negative, then inserts the micro-images to create the montage. The whole process is visible to the user and, when finished, the user can zoom the view of the montage in (in order to see the individual micro-images) or out (in order to see the main picture). The user selects from these options before creating a montage:
Micro-Image Count
The number of micro-images used in the montage can range from 600 to 2000. The more micro-images used, the more accurate the large picture looks. However, more micro-images also means a larger file size. A typical 8 X 10 photo image will range in size from 7 MB (600 micro-images used) to 26 MB (2000 micro-images used). A box on the options page shows the estimated file size.
Micro-Image Pattern
The micro-images can be set to stack one on top of the other (aligned), or to be stacked like bricks (offset). Aligned looks better when creating montages.
Micro-Image Repetition
The number of times micro-images are allowed to be re-used in the same montage can be set to "Never", "Limited Repeat", or "Unlimited Repeat". When the software is allowed to re-use images, the final montage will be more accurate in its representation of the original photo, but too much repetition lessens the interest value of the montage itself.
Grid, Border, and Caption
Various types of grids and borders can be selected for the montage, and the user is allowed to write a caption for the montage. I find the grid function to detract from the effect of the montage, but the caption function is nice in that the caption can be written in any font and placed inside or outside of the photo, at the top or bottom.
Hidden Treasure
A final option when building a montage is to select or deselect the Hidden Treasure box. If selected, the montage will place a micro-image of a treasure chest among the hundreds of micro-images. The idea is that it might be fun to search through all the micro-images to try to find the treasure chest. In reality, the treasure chest is randomly placed among the micro-images, and so does not always fit well in the larger picture. Thus, it is as easy to spot as a missing brick in a building mural.
Hey, I made a montage!....Now what?
Well, that's the problem. Montages the size of posters are neat to look at, but when viewed on a computer screen or printed as an 8 X 10 photo they just don't have quite the same effect. The montage effect still works, but the fun part of looking at a montage is getting up close and examining the individual micro-images. On a poster, the micro-images are large enough to be enjoyed. Viewing them as an 8 X 10 just causes headaches. Thus, the biggest drawback to Arcsoft's PhotoMontage is there is nothing to do with the montage once Arcsoft builds it. The file sizes are too large to be able to put montages on web sites (without outside optimization), and unless the user has special printing hardware for poster-size output, prints of the montage are not that enjoyable.
Overall Recommendation
Arcsoft's PhotoMontage does a fine job at taking your electronic images and creating montage versions of them. The montages will be even more impressive if you splurge for the additional micro-image CD Collection. However, I think your money is better spent at a retail photo shop that has the technology to take a photo and make a poster-size montage of it. Basically, a picture may be worth a thousand words, but Arcsoft's montages are barely worth the disk space they're stored on.
I hope this review has helped you with your purchase decision.
Bret
Recommended:
No
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