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FOREVER Artisan® 6 Release Notes

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FOREVER Artisan® 6 Release Notes

FOREVER Artisan® 6 is the most advanced and powerful version of the Artisan® Software to date.  Some of the new features in the Artisan® 6 Full Release version include the ability to search by keyword in Content Manager, the ability to Tag elements while working in a project, and a new, crisper Dark Mode. 

 

Here is a list of the updates released on September 1, 2023:

(Version number 6.2.1.1)

  • Improvement that prevents instances of the Save in Progress issue.
  • Improved display for users with high resolution monitors who encountered the issue where the project page was not centered on the Workspace.
  • Improvement to the Wand Tool when selecting “adjacent” pixels.
  • Reinstating the “Remember” functionality with many of the Artisan tools. 
    Note:  We’d love your feedback on this while we continue to refine this tool.
  • Option to upload the Full Page or Trimmed Page whenever sharing one or more project pages to your FOREVER Account.
  • Fix a bug so that edits to the Font selections made in the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) for an empty text box are preserved.

Pricing change to Desktop Software programs that occurred in conjunction with the update to Artisan 6:

  • We are no longer making a distinction between an Upgrade Price and a Full License Price for Artisan.  Anyone who purchases this program will be able to do so at a new everyday low price.
  • Due to this change, Bonus Coupons purchased in December 2022, May 2023 and June 2023 can no longer be applied to the purchase of Artisan.

Here is a list of the updates released on July 18, 2023 (Version number 6.1.72.72):

  • Support for the update to Notebooks that will be released on July 21,2023.
  • Support for the new Planners that will be released on July 21, 2023.

 

Here is a list of the updates released on March 1, 2023 (Version number 6.1.44.44):

  • Display the Spine & Cover Change message when a user Duplicates a page and the size of the spine/cover changes.
  • Display the Spine & Cover Change message when a user Mirrors a page and the size of the spine/cover changes.
  • Allow users who create 199-page Hardbound Photobook projects to order page prints.
  • Fix a bug where some users are unable to see the contents of the Add one or more pages window.
  • Remove the Photo Cleanup tool from the Photos Panel.
  • Update Artisan to save edits to images and other elements as PNG files instead of CIF files.  
    • PNG files are smaller and will save space in the project folder.
    • This can aid Client Care when trouble-shooting issues with clients.

Note:  Pages imported from other projects that have photos on them will import the
associated .cif files with the page.  We are not able to completely remove .cif files
from user projects.

  • Replace the Photo Cleanup tool from the Home ribbon, Project section with a new tool called “Finalize Project.”  The Finalize Project tool has two components:
    • Embedded Images Cleanup:  This tool deletes unused files from the project folder to reduce the overall project size.  Note:  We recommend that clients wait until they are finished with the project before running this tool.
    • Import Photos Cleanup:  This tool deletes unused files from the project’s Photo Panel to reduce the overall project size.  Note:  Do NOT run this tool until you are finished editing your project!  You will lose photos from your project (Photos Panel) and need to re-import them if you run this before you are finished!!

Additional clarity on this last bullet point:  After running either of the cleanup processes in the Finalize Project tool, all pages are still editable.  HOWEVER, once you run these processes, you will no longer be able to undo any actions within the project. 

 

Here is a list of the updates released on November 15, 2022 (version 6.1.29.29):

  • Ability to create Standard Hardbound photo books - all sizes - up to 199 pages!
  • Update to the Add page tool > Blank page to allow users to add multiple blank pages/spreads at once.  This will also tell the user how many pages can be added.
  • Update to the Print Tray to show more details about the project that is uploading.  Look for a message with the number of megabytes (MB) uploaded and total size of the file, along with the percentage of the project that is uploading. 
  • Updated Choose Template step when creating a Notebook so that only art kits in your Content Manager with predesigned covers that fit the Notebook will display.
  • Removed the message that magnets are back in stock from the magnet creation process.
  • Updated the color of the buttons on the windows that display when adding a page or changing a template from an art kit.

Here is a list of the updates released on October 1, 2022:

  • Envelope printing option when ordering a new 5x7 Card project!
    • Order envelopes with both a Return Address and Recipient Addresses printed on the envelope.
    • Order envelopes with only a Return Address printed on the envelope.
    • Order envelopes with only a Recipient Address printed on the envelope.
    • Order envelopes that are Blank (no printing on the envelope).
  • Access to the FOREVER Address Book feature in your FOREVER Account, including:
    • The ability to Search your Contact List.
    • The ability to “jump” to a section of your Address Book by selecting a letter in the alpha list on the left of the window.
    • The ability to show contacts with and without Addresses (the default is with Addresses).
    • The ability to Edit or Delete an existing Contact.
    • The ability to Add individual contacts.
    • The ability to Add multiple contacts through a csv file.
    • The ability to download the template for creating a csv file.
    • Add/edit a Return Address to be printed on your envelopes.
    • Choose one of two font options for printing addresses on your envelopes.
  • Fixed a bug to improve sharing from Historian 6 to Artisan 6. Users can once again create a new Artisan 6 project when sharing from Historian 6 triggers Artisan 6 to open.
  • Improved the startup process:
    • Progress bar on the Splash Screen so users know where Artisan is in the process.
    • Improved shut down process to minimize the possibility of Artisan 6 and the database getting out-of-sync.

Here is a list of the updates released on August 30, 2022:

  • Activations have been updated for improved security between Artisan and FOREVER.  As a result, you will need to enter your FOREVER credentials (login and password) the first time you install this update on each machine that you use for Artisan 6.
  • The FOREVER Connector has been updated so you are able to import photos from your Library as well as Albums and Tags.  Like the Connector in Historian 6, you have all the functionality that exists in your FOREVER Library, Albums, and Tags with the new Connector in Artisan 6.
  • We have updated the Perfectly Clear presets to match the updated presets offered in Historian 6.
  • Artisan 6 will now recognize Historian 6 as a source of photos (provided you have both programs installed on your machine).
  • Fixed a bug so you can copy the text from the “Tell your story” field in Historian 6 and paste it into a text box in Artisan 6.
  • Updated the Print Tray and connected it to the software login - you will no longer need to login to FOREVER to upload projects to the FOREVER Print Shop.
  • Updated the Help Menu to provide contact information and other resources from a new Help Menu window.  This again matches the update we introduced in Historian 6.
  • Updated the logo on the back of Notebooks to the new FOREVER logo.
  • Re-introduced the ability to import (download) photos from Facebook to an Artisan project.  (Uploading from Artisan to Facebook is not possible at this time due to Facebook constraints.)

Here is a list of the updates released on January 20, 2022:

  • Install this update over any past versions of Artisan® 6.
  • Reinstate the Add to / Restrict to feature in Content Manager and in the Content panel of a project.
  • Add the default selection “All” when choosing predesigned pages to insert into your project from your Library, Categories, or Tags.
  • Improve the Import Purchased Items experience so users will no longer be prompted to import the same kits over and over.
  • Fix the “Photos on this page” filter when working in a 2-page view so that the filtered photos are displayed correctly in the Photos Panel.
  • Fix the ability to to import content to a Personal Art Kit (PAK) within Artisan® (Content Manager).
  • Updated text when hovering over a Tag name.

Here is the update released on November 17, 2021:

  • Performance Enhancements.
  • Show thumbnail (image) when exporting a page file.
  • Fix for using the ‘+’ button to create new Categories in Content Manager.
  • Fix for issue where Photo Cleanup tool deleted a photo that was used as the background of a project page.
  • Improved communication with anti-virus programs.
  • Fix for Object Reference error that some users were seeing upon opening Artisan 6.
  • Improvement to the Import Purchased Items button.
  • Fix for error that displayed when trying to create a Category or Tag that already exists.
  • Fix to update the picture in Artisan® to match the user’s updated Profile Picture in their FOREVER Account.
  • Fix for an issue that some users saw when changing the Fill of an element to a gradient fill using the QAT.

Please note:  We are still working on some legacy art kits that Artisan® tries to import multiple times.  If this happens to you, and you have Tagged the elements in your installed kits, be aware that re-importing the kit may require you to re-Tag the elements in the kit.

 

Here is the update released on November 5, 2021:

  • Fixes a problem some users experienced when uploading projects to the FOREVER Print Shop.

 

Here is the detailed list of updates in the original Full Release version of Artisan® 6 (released on November 4, 2021):

Set up and Welcome screen:

  • Set Up Wizard
    • Required before you can begin using the Full Release version of Artisan® 6.
    • If you keep your digital content on an external hard drive (EHD), make sure the EHD is connected to your computer BEFORE you install the new version of Artisan® 6.
    • The time needed for this to run will vary from a few minutes to a couple hours, depending on the size of your digital art Library and your computer’s speed.
    • Saves your FOREVER® Account (login) information. (Exception:  you still need to login to upload project to the Print Shop.  This login is only required for the first project you upload per open session of Artisan® 6.)
    • This will be required only once.
    • THIS DOES NOT TAKE THE PLACE OF BACKING UP YOUR CONTENT. PLEASE CONTINUE TO BACK UP YOUR CONTENT AND PROJECTS IN CASE YOUR COMPUTER OR HARD DRIVE NEEDS TO BE REPLACED AT SOME POINT.
  • Profile Picture – the profile picture you have in your FOREVER® Account displays in Artisan®. If you do not have a profile picture in your FOREVER® Account, you will see a silhouette instead.
  • FOREVER® Account Information – if you hover over your profile picture, you will see information associated with your FOREVER® Account to the right.

Content Manager:

  • Database
    • We have implemented a database solution that will make Artisan® more stable overall and give us a good foundation for future feature updates.
  • Search by keyword feature
    • Type a keyword in the field at the bottom of the Content Manager window and see everything in your Library that has the keyword as part of its name.
    • Select a specific folder, Category, or Tag to search by keyword within your selection for a narrower result.
  • Improved Import Purchased Items button
    • Fewer instances of Artisan® re-importing kits you have already installed.
  • Improved Sort feature
    • Fix for the issue some users experienced when sorting by Date.
  • Details window
    • Double-click a kit or element to see all the details in one window. You can also search for and add Categories or Tags right in this window. Plus, you can zoom in on the preview image as you are organizing the kit or element.
  • List View
    • Show your content in a list that displays the thumbnail, name, path (if you are looking at kits), designer, and date downloaded.

Project:

  • Tag this item
    • In the Content Panel in a project, right-click on any element and choose “Tag this item”.
    • In the pop-up window, you can scroll through your list of Tags, OR you can enter a Tag name – or partial Tag name – in the field at the top of the list to quickly “jump” to that part of the list.
    • You can also enter a new Tag name in the field at the top of the existing Tag list and click the ‘+’ or hit Enter on your keyboard to create a new Tag and assign the element to that Tag in one step.
    • Make sure you click “Save” to save any changes you make in this window.
  • Updated predesigned page import process – we have combined the import predesigned page feature into 1 window. Within this window you can…
    • Access content in your Library, Categories, or Tags.
    • Search your selected content by keyword
    • Sort your selected content by groups (number of photos per page, theme, style, project type, etc.)
  • Photo Cleanup tool
    • This tool brings back the most requested piece of the Optimization tool we used to have in Artisan® 5 – the ability to reduce the overall size of the project that is stored on your computer.
    • We strongly recommend that you do NOT use this tool until you are finished with your project and have made all edits.
    • This will DELETE unused photos from your project as a means of reducing the overall file size of your project.
    • If you use this tool before you are finished with your project, you will need to re-import any photos that you want to add to your project.
  • Hover states for Perfectly Clear® options
    • When you select 1 photo in your project and go to the Photo ribbon – Auto fix tool, you will see a list of thumbnails in the Operations panel on the right that show the various effects that can be applied to your photos.
    • Now, when you hover over one of these effects, you will see a brief description of what the effect will do or what photo types (mobile, sunset, etc.) the effect will work best with. These are only guides taken from our Artisan® 6 Early Access FAQs to help you right within the software.  You still have the freedom to choose any preset for any photo you want to edit.

Settings:

  • Hide Print Guide Overlay (text)
    • Click on the Help Menu (question mark in the blue circle at the upper right of the screen) and choose “Settings."
    • In the pop-up window, click “Projects” in the left column.
    • You will see a check box to “Hide Print Guide Overlay (text)." Check this box and click “OK."
    • This will allow you to work in the Workspace but off the page while still keeping Bleed, Trim, and Safe lines on the page as guides.
    • This will also allow you to work in 2-page view without the overlay (which contains Tips and Details) covering one of your pages.
    • This also allows you to see any sample pages or instructions that the designer of a Blueprint or predesigned page included to help you.
  • Dark Mode
    • We have enhanced dark mode for better contrast and a crisper display.

Other:

  • Export/Share pages
    • Exported pages are now a zip file with all images and copyrights included with the page file.
    • You can now save your pages and re-use them without losing any edited images or content. (NOTE – we are still working on extracting the page thumbnail so you see that image in File Explorer.)
    • When you share a page with another Artisan® 6 user, Artisan® will check that the recipient has all the associated digital art that you used on the page.
    • If the recipient does not have all the digital art that you used, they have 2 options:
      • Purchase the digital art they are missing and then open the page exactly as you shared it.
      • Open the page without purchasing the digital art they are missing. If the recipient chooses this option, the digital art elements that they do not own will be missing from the page (there will not be a placeholder for missing content).
    • When uploading a project and clicking “Go to Print Shop” button, always go to the Print Projects page.

New products coming with release (only to Full Release version):

  • 8x8 and 10x10 Seamless Layflat Photo Books
  • Notebooks (spiral bound and hard bound)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Here is the update released on August 5, 2021:

  • Fixes a problem some users experienced when connecting to their FOREVER® Account through Artisan®. This issue occurred due to a change in the way windows interacts with desktop software. 

Here is the update released on August 3, 2021:

  • Improves the user experience when the user tries to close either the project or software before a save operation is complete.

 

Here is the update released on July 15, 2021:

  • Fixes a bug that duplicated images used in an Artisan® project because the images had been given a 'Read Only' marker before being imported to the project.

 

Here is the update released on June 17, 2021:

  • Fixes a bug so users can still import renamed files with no file extension from their FOREVER® accounts.
  • Fixes a bug so users can now import renamed files with special characters in the name from their FOREVER® accounts. (NOTE: Artisan® will replace the special characters it does not recognize with an underscore in the filename.)

 

Here is the update released on June 8, 2021:

  • Fixes a bug so users can still import PNG files from their FOREVER® accounts.

 

Here is the update released on May 27, 2021:

  • Fixes a bug that required the user to rotate certain images after importing them to a project.

 

Here is the update released on May 13, 2021:

  • Fixes a bug where the Print Guide resets after the user turns it off.

 

Here is a list of the updates released on April 27, 2021:

  • A fix for the Undo button that will prevent this tool from “undoing” multiple actions with 1 click.
  • A fix for the error where a file ending in “.ptlog” is missing.

 

Here is a list of the updates released on February 15, 2021:

  • The software will display a FOREVER® Login window rather than a failure message when the user goes to Settings and checks for software updates.
  • The Get Free Art Kits and Import Purchased Items buttons will be visible at all times in Content Manager.  In addition, the software will NOT require the user to login to their FOREVER® Account until the user clicks the Import Purchased Items button.
  • A separate Print Tray has been added for Artisan 6 so users who have Artisan® 6 along with Artisan® 5, Artisan® 4, and/or Historian™ can upload projects from Artisan 6 and any one of the other three programs.
  • An additional fix for Unexpected Shutdowns is in this version.
  • A single login for connecting Artisan® to the user’s FOREVER® Account – with the exception of the new Print Tray, which has its own login.  (NOTE:  Once the user closes Artisan® 6, a new login will be required when the user opens the software and needs to connect to FOREVER®.)

 

Here is a list of the updates released on December 14, 2020:

  • Fixed Locked Pages in 2-page view.
  • Allow users to deselect elements in a Seamless Layflat Photo Book when arrow keys are used to move elements.
  • Update the Welcome screen so users do not see a “Waiting…” message in the bottom left of the screen.  (They will still need to log into FOREVER® to check for updates.)
  • Fixed the Color Wash & Hue tools allowing users to edit multiple elements at once.
  • Fixed the File > Save as > Export current page process.
  • Fixed an issue some users experienced when downloading a few art kits because the path is not supported.

 

Here is a list of the updates released on November 23, 2020:

  • Updated the text in the pop-up window for the Alpha Set tool.
  • Fixed an issue that some users experienced when they imported photos from their FOREVER® Accounts. (This issue - which displayed a 403 error message to the user - was occurring with some photos uploaded before July 2017.)

 

Here is the detailed list of updates in the original Early Access version of Artisan® 6 (released on November 10. 2020):

  • Updated the framework to .NET 4.0.
  • Increased integration between Artisan and FOREVER.com! Not only can you now enjoy seamless communication between Artisan® 6 and your FOREVER Storage® Account, you can also say goodbye to pasting in the activation codes for Artisan® 6.
    • To activate the software, just login to your FOREVER® Account when the window pops up.
    • To activate digital art kits purchased through FOREVER®, it’s just one click from the Content Manager and Artisan® 6 will download, install, and activate your newly purchased kits.
  • Enhanced Auto Fix capability! We’ve improved our Auto Fix tool in the Photo Ribbon. Auto Fix is updated to the latest version of Perfectly Clear®, the world’s leading provider of intelligent image correction. Along with updating the preset you love, we’ve added new presets that specifically target the following:
    • People
    • Landscapes & scenery
    • Sunrises & sunsets
    • Photos taken at night and indoors
    • Photos taken with a smartphone or mobile device
  • Totally customizable Seamless Layflat Photo Books! Showcase your memories in breathtaking quality with seamless, edge-to-edge printing on luxe double-thick paper.
  • The following updates to Content Manager:
    • Ability to download, import, and activate purchased art kits with the click of a button.
    • Ability to sort kits by Name, Designer, or Download Date.
    • Easier access to all the free kits in our Digital Art Store.
  • 15 new Sample Kits from various digital art designers!
  • 20 new Textures in the Surface tool on the Filter ribbon!
  • New icons for an updated look. (But don’t worry – all your favorite tools are still in the same place!)
  • The removal of Basic Mode. You’ll always have all the tools you need to customize your projects!
  • Updated functionality, which means that each project you create will be marked as a Project (with all the functionality that comes with it), never a Page. As such, you will always have a Photo Panel and the ability to add more pages to your book project. Remember - you can still print a single page or a set of Page Prints from your photo book projects.
  • Rename of the “Fancy” text button on the Insert ribbon to “Alpha Set”, so it is easier than ever to find and use the Alpha Sets in your Digital Art kits.

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