Page #38 (20. Update an Image in the Catalog)


21. Play an Audio File

Before You Begin

3 Import Media from a Folder


See Also

22 View a Video

32 Add an Audio Caption

35 Find Items of the Same Media Type


Although it was primarily designed to help you organize your vast collection of digital images, the Organizer can also keep track of your other multimedia files, such as audio and video files. If you didn't import your audio or video files into the catalog when you performed the initial scan for media, see 3 Import Media from a Folder for help in adding them now. The Organizer recognizes audio files in .WAV format (produced by Windows's Sound Recorder and other applications that use your microphone) and .MP3 format (used in recording high-fidelity stereo tracks).

So, you can use the Organizer to manage audio clips of your son reading his favorite book and musical clips of your favorite band.

My catalog, for example, includes not just pictures of my daughter at various ages but also recordings of her singing or talking. If your collection is similar, there's no reason you can't organize both types of files together on the hard disk. In other words, you can keep your toddler photos in the same folder with your toddler audio tracks if you want to, and look and listen to these files within the Organizer whenever you like. You can keep your musical files in a completely different folderor several folders, organized by artist, for exampleand after importing them into the Organizer, play the music files the same way you do any other audio clip.

NOTE

Although the Organizer recognizes particular audio files and can play them, you can't use the program to create audio fileswith the exception of brief audio annotations which are then associated with particular images, as described in 32 Add an Audio Caption.


1.

Display Audio Files

TIP

To display audio files all the time, choose View, Media Types. In the Items Shown dialog box, select the Audio option and click OK.

By default, the Organizer does not display audio files in the photo well. This is probably what you want because you cannot edit audio files in the Organizer, only play them. To display your audio files temporarily so that you can play one or two, in the Organizer, select Find, By Media Type, Audio from the menu. You'll see a warning telling you that audio files are not normally displayed in the catalog. Click OK. The photo well displays only the audio files you have imported into the catalog.

2.

Double-click Audio File

The Organizer represents audio files in the catalog with a blue horn icon, which serves as the file's thumbnail. In the photo well, double-click the icon for the audio file you want to play. The Media Player appears.

3.

Click Play

Click the Play button at the bottom of the Media Player window to begin playback. The audio plays to the end; you can replay the audio by clicking Play again.

4.

Use Controls to Manage Playback

You can manage the playback of the audio file using the controls in the Media Player. The Current Position slider indicates the current location of the playback relative to the entire file. Drag the slider left or right to jump forward or backward in the audio file. For example, you might drag this bar to the right to play something at the end of the audio file.

Click Rewind to set the slider to the beginning of the file. Click Play to hear the file from the point at which the Current Position slider is set; click Pause to stop playback temporarily. Click Stop to end playback and reset the slider to the beginning of the file. Click Fast Forward to set the slider to the very end of the file.

TIP

If you've already set the Media Player volume control to maximum and you want the sound louder, adjust the volume control in Windows. If the Volume icon is displayed on the taskbar, click it to display the Windows volume control. If the icon does not appear, open the Windows Control Panel, double-click the Sounds and Audio Devices icon, click the Volume tab, and adjust the Windows volume as desired.

At the bottom of the Media Player window is a volume slider that you can use to adjust the playback volume. Setting this volume to maximum plays back the sound at the volume you've currently set for the rest of your Windows environment. In other words, the playback volume does not adjust Windows's master volume, but rather, your listening volume in relation to the Windows current maximum.

When you're through listening to your audio file, click the Close button on the Media Player window (the X in the upper-right corner). In the Find bar in the Organizer window, click Back to All Photos to redisplay images in the photo well and hide audio files once again.



Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 in a Snap
Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 in a Snap
ISBN: 067232668X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 263

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