User Guide
Overview
The SoftWorks ROES Client is a full featured yet easy to use desktop Java application which allows labs to offer their products and services to photography studios. The products and services are loaded at launch, maintaining the latest offerings and prices, as well as the latest application feature set.
Photographer image thumbnails and lab products are displayed in a straightforward and easily understood manner, making the first order entry easy, and extended capabilities are accessible but optional, without hindering basic features.
There are a number of ways that the ROES Client application can be launched: From a link on a web page, from the Java Web Start application or from a Shortcut on the desktop or elsewhere in your system.
Launching For the First Time
The first time you launch the application it will happen by clicking on a link on your Photo Processing Lab’s web site. When you click the link the ROES system will check to see if you have a proper version of Java installed on your machine. If you do not, it will first download and run a Java Installer.
Java Installer
Click on yes to install Java on your machine. When you click yes the system will then proceed to download the Java installer. This is a fairly large download and only happens the first time you run the application (unless you subsequently delete Java from your machine).
When the installer is downloaded it will run and the installer's Welcome dialog will be presented.
Click on the Next button to proceed with the installation. This will bring up the Java Licensing Agreement.
Click the Yes button to agree to the license and proceed with the installation. The installer will then prompt you as to where you would like to install Java; offering you a default path.
Select you destination and click the Next button. The installer will prompt you for which browsers the Java Plug-in should be the default Java runtime.
Select the browser that you intend to use and click the Next button. At this point the installer will install all the necessary Java components into your system.
When it is complete the ROES Client application will be launched using a component of the Java you just installed called Java Web Start.
Launching with Java Web Start
When the application is launched what actually happens is that a request is made to Java Web Start to launch the application. The first thing that Java Web Start does is verify that you have the latest version of the application that you are running and if you do not it will download it. Since this is the first time you have launched the ROES Client application it will need to download it. The ROES Client application is fairly small and should download quickly to your machine.
When the application has been downloaded, Java Web Start will alert you to the fact that the application is requesting unrestricted access to your machine and ask you if you want to allow the application to run.
In this case unrestricted access to your machine means that the application will be able to read and write files to your local machine. This is necessary for the ROES Client to read your image files and save your preferences so click on the Start button to launch the application.
Launching the Second Time
The second time that you launch the ROES Client, Java Web Start will ask if you would like to create shortcuts to the application.
Launching thereafter
From this point on, if you created a shortcut, you can simply double click on a shortcut to launch the application.
If problems are encountered during this process, please refer to the TroubleShooting section.
Troubleshooting
Launching
If the Java Installer fails to install Java on your machine and you're using Windows, try to use the Windows (Offline Installation) available at Java.Com.
This installer will allow you to save it to any location on your hard drive, so you can install Java as you would any Windows application. This method may succeed when the browser integrated installer fails due to browser security settings or if Windows can't find the integrated installer in the temporary directory.
The offline installer is always the best second attempt, since it doesn't conflict with browser security settings or browser nuances.
If you're using a Mac, you can reinstall Java via the Software Update application which is part of Mac OS X. If you encounter graphics problems such as controls not appearing, upside-down windows, or other anomalies, this typically means that the Java on your machine has been corrupted and needs to be reinstalled.
Once you've installed Java, try again to launch the application from the lab web page.
Running
If the application encounters a problem and you're asked to send the "roeslog" file, this can be found in your application preferences directory in your user home folder. In Windows, this is commonly:
C:\Documents and Settings\<account name>\.<lab name>
On Macs, the Finder by default doesn't show files or folders that begin with a period. But, the folder contents can still be reached by going to the "Go" menu in the Finder, then the "Go to Folder" menu item. Then, in the dialog that appears, type:
~/.<lab name>
Which will open a new Finder window to the preferences folder of the application.
In both of the above, <lab name> means the name of the photo processing lab.
Inside this folder is a file called "roeslog.log" that contains information about the last time the application was run, including errors. This is indispensable for the developers for tracking down errors, as verbal descriptions are infrequently precise or detailed enough to understand what caused a given problem.
ROES Application Overview
The Banner Area
At the top of the window is an area where the logo of your photo processing lab is placed. If you click on the logo the Client will launch the default browser on your system and go to the lab's web page. This page may be the lab front page, or a page of helpful notes.
The Thumbnail Area
The Thumbnail area is the large area on the right side of the window where image thumbnails and filenames are shown, and includes controls for the thumbnails. The main window space devoted to the thumbnail area and layout area can be controlled by dragging the divider between the two areas. At the extreme positions of this divider, not all buttons may be visible due to differences in font sizes on various platforms.
Thumbnails can be rearranged by dragged them to a new location in the thumbnail area. A blue insertion bar will mark the point of insertion for the images.
Several selection options are available in the thumbnail area. Typical selection rules apply, so the <shift> key will select a range of images, and <control> (<command> on Macs) selects individual images. If you select multiple images from the Thumbnail area and drop them into the image editing area, the application will create an item in the order for each image that was dropped. This is a shortcut method that can be used if you need to create the same product for a number for different images, like a proof order.
The contextual menu in the thumbnail area, accessible via the right mouse button (Mac users with a single button mouse hold <control> and click the mouse button), offers selection abilities:
Show Selected Only: Removes all image thumbnails from the thumbnail area, except for those selected.
Show All: Shows all images found in the folders, typically used after a Show Selected Only.
Rotate Thumbnail: Rotates the view of the thumbnail. The actual image thumbnail and image itself are not modified.
Remove: Removes the selected thumbnails from the thumbnail area. The original image files are not deleted.
Rename...: Shows a rename dialog with several rename capabilities.
The rename capability will alter the name of the original files, so use with caution. Example filenames are shown beneath the options, and are updated whenever the user selects a new field or presses <enter>.
Select Others: Inverts the selection by selecting all unselected thumbnails, and deselecting all currently selected ones.
Open with Image Application: Configured in Preferences, this will attempt to open the selected images with an image application.
Beneath the thumbnail area are two controls, "Zoom" and "Folder...":
"Zoom" shows a zoom slider which allows changes to the size of all thumbnails in the thumbnail area.
"Folder..." opens a file dialog which allows selection of another folder to be searched for images. The image search can be selected to search subfolders or not, selectable in Preferences. Once a folder has been selected the Client will begin searching, and as it finds images it will show a thumbnail of the image in the thumbnail area. A placeholder image can be used instead of a representative thumbnail in the Preferences dialog. While the application is looking for images the buttons title will change to Stop Searching. If the user clicks the Stop Searching button the application will stop it search for images leaving those that it had already found available in the thumbnail area.
The triangle to the right of "Folder..." contains a list of the fifteen most recently used folders for easy switching between sets of images.
Image Layout Area
The layout area is the region on the left of the main window, next to the thumbnail area. This region shows the currently selected product & allows precise cropping of images. To add an image to the currently shown product, drag it from the thumbnail area, or from the local filesystem. You can also double click one or more images in the thumbnail area to place them in a product. The current product label is shown beneath the layout area.
To change the crop on an image, simply drag the image with the mouse. To change the scale or rotation of an image, controls are offered below the layout area. "Rotate Layout" will rotate the layout counterclockwise 90º, & "Rotate Image" rotates the image 90º counterclockwise. To change the direction of rotation, hold the <alt>/<option> key and click on a Rotate button. The triangle to the right of the "Rotate Image" button displays a slider which allows rotation of the image in 1º increments to ± 180º.
"Zoom" shows a zoom slider similar to the one in the thumbnail area, as well as a check box for crop or fit mode. Fit will scale the image so that the image bounds are entirely within the product bounds; this frequently introduces white space into the product, but is useful for proof sheets. Hold <alt>/<option> to set crop or fit mode on all nodes in a product.
Below this is another row of controls for selecting Print Size and Options. This area also contains the Quantity for the current product and the Add To Order button which adds the current product and crop to the order. Select the product, or print size, you want by selecting it in the hierarchical Print Sizes menu. At the bottom of the Print Sizes menu is an option to show the products as a hierarchical set of tabs in a separate palette, called the Print Sizes Palette:
Selecting a product in the Print Sizes menu or Print Sizes palette will show it in the layout area. Cropping is constrained so that white space isn't introduced into the print. This avoids common errors with differing aspect ratios, yet provides a high degree of control.
To select various lab options for the current print size, click on the Options button. This will bring up the Options Menu which contains a number of items that you can select. To select an option click on the checkbox to the left of the one you want.
To set the quantity of the print size added to an order, simply type the number in the "Quantity" field. When using the Standard tool layout, the small triangle to the left of "Quantity" shows a menu item which allows the quantity of an item to be preserved after adding an item to the order. With this preference deselected, the quantity will return to one after "Add to Order" is pressed.
When you have your image positioned and cropped as you would like and have selected any options you would like applied click on the Add To Order button. This will add the image with your selection to your order. After you click on Add To Order the text in the button will change momentarily to “ Added! ” to let you know that the item has been added.
If a product's nodes aren't filled with images, the "Add to Order" button will be disabled. To force a product to be added to the order even with empty nodes, such as with a partially filled proof product, hold the <alt>/<option> key and "Add to Order" will enable and change to "Add with Empty".
Pro Tool Layout
Some commonly used tools can be displayed between the image controls and the product and service controls. This is typically done after a photographer has used the ROES Client for a short time and is comfortable with the application, and wants more immediate access to commonly used features. Turning this on is described in the Preferences section: 
These have the following functionality. The tooltips of each control summarize each. When the icon for the control is badged with a padlock or check box, it is enabled.
Hold Crop: holds the crop when a new product or image is selected. This is only possible when the image and product have the same aspect ratio as the ones currently in use. If the aspect ratios differ, a best approximation is used.
Hold Options: holds the options on a product after pressing "Add to Order". When this is unlocked, options on the working product will be removed after adding the item to the order.
Hold Quantity: holds the quantity on a product after pressing "Add to Order". When this is unlocked, the quantity on the working product will be revert to one after adding the item to the order.
Hold Image: holds the image in a node by ignoring drags and drops. This is useful to lock a photographer logo into a node while adding many images to an order. This tool is only enabled on multinode products.
Crop or Fit: changes the behavior of the node to crop the image or fit ir entirely, as described above.
Rotate Image: attempts to match aspect ratios on an image by applying a rotation when an image is dropped. If a node is square, the rounding error in calculating the larger axis may cause an image to be rotated or not.
Settings Area
The settings area is the region at the bottom of the application, containing several photographer, order, and application-wide settings.
"Help" contains items to help new users and troubleshoot problems. The "Help" item in the help menu overlays a series of steps on the main window to help new users through their first order:
Clear Caches displays a dialog allowing the user to remove the application files from their drive, in case these have become corrupted. This typically requires the application to be downloaded again from the lab web site.
About shows a dialog with credits and acknowledgements.
The "Location" button, if your lab has multiple configurations, allows easy switching between them. If a lab only has one configuration, this button doesn't appear. Since the product offerings could differ between labs, an order must be placed from a single location only. The user is prompted if the current order contains items and a new location is selected.
Preferences contains several items that affect the way the application behaves.
Search Enclosed: when checked, causes the thumbnail area "Folder..." control to search the selected folder and all subfolders for images.
Show Image Thumbnails: when checked, shows a representative thumbnail of the image. When unchecked, a placeholder standard image is used.
Hold crop between images: holds the crop when a new product or image is selected
Hold options between images: when checked, holds the options when "Add to Order" is pressed. Otherwise, the options are removed from the working order item.
Auto rotate: attempts to match aspect ratios on an image by applying a rotation when an image is dropped.
Auto rotate counterclockwise: changes the direction of the rotation applied when auto rotating.
Show prices (requires relaunch): when unchecked, all prices in the application will be hidden. Otherwise, lab pricing is shown.
Use pro tool layout: rearranges the commonly used tools and preferences so that they are available in the layout area for quicker access.
"My Information" displays a dialog of information that a photographer should supply to place orders. This dialog allows the user to provide some basic information needed in order to create and send an order into the photo processing lab, and varies by lab.
"Open & Save" allows orders that have already been sent to be opened again for the purpose of starting a new order based on the previous one. To open a previously saved order, select "Open an Incomplete Order..." from this menu, then use the file dialog to browse to an incomplete order file, typically ending in ".xml.enc" or ".zip.enc". ".xml.enc" files don't have the images included in them, and are saved via the "Save this Incomplete Order..." menu item. These are intended for use when a user's order entry is interrupted and she wishes to continue ordering later. ".zip.enc" order files have the images in them and are ready for processing by a lab. Although these types of orders can be reopened, doing so simply starts a new order based on the previous one. This does not modify the order sent to the lab. If a ".zip.enc" order is opened and then sent to the lab, a duplicate order will be created.
"Show Queued Orders..." item in "Open & Save" will open a dialog of orders waiting to be sent, as well as past orders.
Select the queued orders you wish to send now in the top area, and press the "Send" button. While uploading queued orders, other orders can be created and manipulated. Queuing orders is covered in the Order Completion section.
"Review Order" shows the Order Review dialog and is covered in the Order Review section.
The Order Review window shows the items currently in the order, and allows quantity and option changes on any item or the entire order.
Each item orders is displayed in a horizontal pane with the following left to right progression of information:
Photo: the image thumbnail as it appeared in the main application window.
Size & Images: the product size and all images in that ordered product.
Applied Options: the options applied to the product, as well as an "Option" button that can be used to change these options
Quantity: a field for changing the quantity of an item
Price: the base price of the item
Total: the total price of the item, with all options and quantities.
Double-clicking a photo will close the Order Review and allow the user to edit the crop on the image. Even a new product and image can be swapped into an item while editing. To remove an item, the quantity can be set to zero, or the contextual menu can be used.
Options that apply to the entire order appear below the items ordered. These may affect the order, or every item in the order, depending on how the lab has configured them.
The Reorder Option
The Reorder option is a special order level option that a lab may offer which affects the application behavior.
This is intended for use when the images are already at the lab, and don't need to be sent again. The Reorder option should have a text field associated with it, in which the user can type in the original, lab assigned order number which contains the original images. When this option is checked, no images are included with the order, and the original order number typed in must match the one at the lab containing the original images. The ROES Server will then use that number to find the original images and apply the crops in the current order.
Controls
"New Order" will create a new order, discarding the current one. If the current order contains items, this action is confirmed with the user.
"Back to Ordering" closes the Order Review Window.
"Instructions" shows a dialog which allows entry of special instructions to be sent with an order.
"Show Order" creates an HTML page of the order and attempts to open a browser window showing this page. If opening the browser fails, the HTML page is called "preview.html" and is in the user home folder under the .<lab name> folder.
"Complete Order" starts the Order Completion Wizard, and is covered in its own section.
Order Completion
The Order Completion wizard is a sequential set of steps to guide a photographer through completing an order and uploading it directly or saving it to media to be delivered physically.
Step 1
The first step is to select the manner of delivery:
Send now via the Internet will upload the order file directly to the lab's servers for processing. While uploading immediately sent orders, other orders can't be created or manipulated. If a user wishes to upload and create orders at the same time, use the next completion option.
Save for sending later via the Internet will queue the file to be uploaded later. To see and upload the queued orders, use the "Show Queued Orders..." from the main window's "Open & Save" menu. While uploading queued orders, other orders can be created and manipulated.
The top area of the Queue Window shows the orders queued for sending. Select one or more of these and hit "Send" to start doing so. To remove them from the queue, click the "Remove" button. Note that this does not delete the order, it simply moves them out of the queue to the order history area.
The order history area shows past orders. These orders are kept in the preference folder for the length of time specified in the "Days to backup orders" preference.
Save to disk for alternate delivery simply saves the order file to a location specified by the user, so it can be burned to CD or DVD for some other delivery method. Orders which are saved to an alternate location aren't kept in the order history area.
Step 2
The second step is to select the manner of payment:
These will differ based on what the lab has configured, but the common methods of payment are described below.
Credit Card shows entry fields for credit card information. This information is encrypted with the order for safe transmission over the Internet or via recorded media.
Use the "Save for future orders" to save an encrypted file in the preferences folder which contains your payment information.
PayPal instant payment will open a browser window so you may pay for the order immediately using PayPal to a lab's PayPal account. While the browser window is open, a notification window is shown. When order payment is complete, the method of delivery selected in Step 1 will be done.
Charge to lab account/Other simply marks the order as having not yet been paid for, and performs the delivery method selected.
Step 3
The next step is carried out by the application, which is performing the order delivery method selected in Step 1. The order is first compressed and encrypted for ease of handling and security.
If the selected delivery method is to send immediately, then the application communicates with the lab servers and begins transfer.
If the transfer is cancelled, the order file is moved to the queued folder for sending later.
The order is complete! Other orders can be created or changed, or the application can be safely quit.
other orders can be created and manipulated.
The top area of the Queue Window shows the orders queued for sending. Select one or more of these and hit "Send" to start doing so. To remove them from the queue, click the "Remove" button. Note that this does not delete the order, it simply moves them out of the queue to the order history area.
The order history area shows past orders. These orders are kept in the preference folder for the length of time specified in the "Days to backup orders" preference.
Save to disk for alternate delivery simply saves the order file to a location specified by the user, so it can be burned to CD or DVD for some other delivery method. Orders which are saved to an alternate location aren't kept in the order history area.
Step 2
The second step is to select the manner of payment:
These will differ based on what the lab has configured, but the common methods of payment are described below.
Credit Card shows entry fields for credit card information. This information is encrypted with the order for safe transmission over the Internet or via recorded media.
Use the "Save for future orders" to save an encrypted file in the preferences folder which contains your payment information.
PayPal instant payment will open a browser window so you may pay for the order immediately using PayPal to a lab's PayPal account. While the browser window is open, a notification window is shown. When order payment is complete, the method of delivery selected in Step 1 will be done.
Charge to lab account/Other simply marks the order as having not yet been paid for, and performs the delivery method selected.
Step 3
The next step is carried out by the application, which is performing the order delivery method selected in Step 1. The order is first compressed and encrypted for ease of handling and security.
If the selected delivery method is to send immediately, then the application communicates with the lab servers and begins transfer.
If the transfer is cancelled, the order file is moved to the queued folder for sending later.
The order is complete! Other orders can be created or changed, or the application can be safely quit.
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