Hi--We're very excited to let our forum subscribers be among the first to know about DigitalPro 5. A small group of us have been testing it for several months and it's now ready for broader testing so we're opening the beta test up to forum subscribers.

DigitalPro5 has many new features, most of which have been high on our users' request lists. Some of the most exciting include much tighter integration with Photoshop as an (optional) batch processing engine for image processing. Some of the other highlights include:

* Can Run Photoshop Web Gallery & Contact Sheet Scripts directly from DP
* Switch to SQLite open source database, with user-friendly schema
[NOTE: There is currently no conversion tool for your existing catalog, although DP5 will correctly import IPTC & other information which is already embedded in your image files]
* Can Run PS Action from Submissions within DP
* Do Image Conversion using PS as an option
* Support for Vista "Aero" Look & Feel & full Vista install
* Version Support (DocumentID & Find by DocumentID)
* New Skins (Val, Xmas, Mac, Summer)
* XMP Support for Photoshop PSD files
* New, faster database, easier for user programming
* New Installer
* "Moose Working Directory" for fast disk editing / Archive support
* Nested Keywords saved with File for re-import
* Wildcard searches in Image Find
** Report Designer for Custom Reports (unsupported)
** (Advanced) Background Metadata Writing (unsupported)
* Support for Google Maps for MapIt button
* File Cabinet background changes with Light Table Background
* Stores path to keywords so that when they are re-imported they appear in the correct place in the hierarchy (unless they already exist)
* Added "Sort by Camera" which sorts by Model & Serial Number
* Reduce Resources needed for Captioning TIFFs
* Added Find only files with GPS Info
* Allow Find by Multiple (ORed) Keywords & Categories in addition to ANDed ones
* (Experimental) (PRO Edition) Find offline files & display thumbnails
* Sort by Priority sorts by Name as a secondary Sort
* Fixes to sub-second Capture Date recording & Camera sorting
* Collections & Keywords tree now initialize to collapsed for consistency

If you're interested in working with the beta (which can run alongside your existing installation of DigitalPro 4) you can download it from the Pro Shooters site at:

http://www.proshooters.com/digitalpro/dp5/downloads/

To report bugs on the beta please feel free to use the regular support/trouble ticket system on the Pro Shooters site--that way we can track them reliably. The forums here are great for general questions & feedback but aren't a formal support tracking system.

Regards, Have fun & let us know what you think!--David & Moose


To Use:
DP5 will install in parallel with DP4, so you can run both. It creates a new catalog automatically (no conversion tools yet). As you catalog your images with it it will automatically create Categories & Keywords for any of your existing ones which are recorded in your images as IPTC data. DP5 will try to use your existing previews if it can.

Exciting news, David! Thanks for the open invite. Will give it a run.

I'm sure it's a minor thing, but trying to launch the Beta I get the attached dialog box. Tried to uninstall, which worked ok but then DP4 wouldn't run. Reinstalled the Beta and now DP4 is back up but still getting the error message on launch.

Maybe because I'm running 64 bit version of Vista Ultimate?

Will try again tomorrow, and it's probably a local problem. Any ideas on a cure?

John--Glad at least DP4 is back running for you. I'm not sure what's keeping the library from loading (the error message you see). If you can send along the dpevent.log file that'd be helpful. It'll have more trace information in addition to the error message. Either here or on the support site would be great. Thanks!--David

Son of a gun, I'm still having the same problem. Tried rebooting after uninstalling and once again DP4 won't run unless I reinstall DP5.

I'd send you the DPevent.log, but it didn't create one. Sorry, but it's not in C:\program files (x86)\DigitalPro5. There is an event log in C:\program files (x86)\DigitalPro, but that's for DP4.

The only clue I can offer is that the installation dialog box seems to hang for about 30 or 40 seconds once the gas gauge gets to "0 seconds remaining". Then it activates and a bunch of files apparently load too quickly to follow.

I thought that .net 2 was a part of Vista, so I'm assuming that is not the problem. Willing to give anything a try if you have any suggestions.

Thanks.

John--The log is probably under your Documents folder in a DigitalPro sub-folder (in line with Microsoft's new security standards we are working to have all the DP user-specific files go under the User\Documents folders instead of the program folders).

The "pause" at the end of installation is the generation of native machine code binaries for some of the .NET-based libraries. Hopefully harmless but it does seem like someplace we're either picking up the wrong version of that library or something is cross-wired.

PS Yes, Vista has .NET2. If you didn't have it you wouldn't have even gotten as far as the message you're seeing.--David

David,

I found it. Just when I think I've got this stuff figured out, Microsoft moves things around . . . again. Hey, a guy's got to be flexible.

Anyway, event log is attached. Looks like I may just need to copy an .xml file into a new location. Am I reading that right?

Am I correct in my understanding that changes in database, information,cataloging, etc made while running Digital Pro 5 have no effect on similar items made while running DP4, so that at the end of the trial period if I decide to not buy the upgrade I will not lose any information concerning my images?

ehw--"Not exactly":-) Let me try and explain what's up:

* Any IPTC information is written to the image (if you have the option selected for saving Keyword/Category/Urgency to the image file). ALL versions of DP will see that data in the image file when the file is cataloged (or re-cataloged) and add it to the catalog -- So you can use either DP4 or DP5 or both to add IPTC information and it can be shared between them.

So if you add Captions, Keywords or IPTC Categories using the beta of DP5 and decide not to buy, as long as you've set the "save IPTC info to file" option, then you can recatalog the images in DP4 and it will see all the data.

* Certainly any of your DP4 catalog data is not changed or lost by running DP5, so it won't "hurt" anything.

* For "beta2" of DP5 we'll also be providing a tool to help users convert their existing catalog data from DP4 to DP5.

-> In any case, you certainly won't lose any data by running the DP5 beta.

I hope that helps. Please holler with any other questions!--David

David,

Have you had a chance to look at the event log I forwarded along? Just curious if there were any ideas on what I might try next. Thanks.