FA Vista FAQs

Please get one of the following ready before proceeding to download:
1. EShop Sales Order Number and EShop Password
2. Registered E-Mail Address and Product ID/Product Activation Key

Alternatively, you may re-download your purchased program from http://www.flipalbum.com/fulldl/. This applies to registered box products as well. Please get your registered E-Mail Address and Product ID ready.

If you are unable to complete the download process for your purchased program, you may wish to download one of the download managers called the Download Accelerator Plus 7.4. This program can increase download speeds and resume broken downloads from the server at any time you are disconnected during the downloading process.

To further ensure that you do not have potential issues with the download, please temporarily disable any anti-virus software or firewall before downloading.

Where to obtain/retrieve my Product ID (PID)?

If you had purchased the product from FlipAlbum.com, you may retrieve your Product ID from http://www.flipalbum.com/lostpid.htm by entering your registered e-mail address. Alternatively, you may retrieve it from the Help -> About menu of the FlipAlbum® program.

If you had purchased the box product from a retail store, the Product ID can be retrieved from the Help -> About menu of the FlipAlbum® program.

The Product ID should look like XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXXXX. Please take note that the "0"s are the number zero and not the letter "o". Each box contains its own proprietary Product ID and we do not keep a record of this number until you register the box product with us. To register your box product, please click here: http://www.flipalbum.com/products/register.php. If you had previously registered your box product with us, you may retrieve it from http://www.flipalbum.com/lostpid.htm.

As a registered user, you will be able to receive technical support, enjoy free minor product updates, special discounts for major product upgrades, as well as retrieve your Product ID, Product Activation Key, and download the product in case of loss.

Note: The Product Activation Key is required the first time you install the software while the Product ID is needed for communication purposes.

If you had purchased the product from FlipAlbum.com, the Product Activation Key is found in the Order Confirmation e-mail that was sent from support@flipalbum.biz to your registered e-mail address the same day the purchase was made. Alternatively, you may retrieve it from http://www.flipalbum.com/support/lostpak/.

If you had purchased the box product from a retail store, the Product Activation Key is found on the CD jewel case. And if you had registered the box product, you may also retrieve it from http://www.flipalbum.com/support/lostpak/. You will be prompted for your registered e-mail address, and the Product Activation Key will be sent to your registered e-mail address. Please note that this applies to registered products only. To register your FlipAlbum® Vista box product, please click here: http://www.flipalbum.com/product/register.php.

When I try to download my purchased program, I was prompted with a message that says "You have exceeded the maximum number of downloads".

You will get this message only when you have tried downloading the product on more than 5 occasions.

To proceed with the download, please send us an e-mail at support@ebooksys.com with your registered Product ID, E-Mail Address and Sales Order Number for our verification. We will reset your download counter as soon we have received your request.

Am I allowed to install the FlipAlbum® program on other drives on my machine?

To install FlipAlbum® on a hard drive other than the default C: drive,

1.	Run the installation or setup file.
2.	When you reach the 'Choose Setup Type' section, choose 'Custom' option and click on the 'Next' button.
3.	Click on the 'Change' button on the next screen.
4.	On the 'Folder Name:' dialogue box, either use the drop-down arrow or key in the drive/location you wish to install FlipAlbum® to and click 'OK'.
5.	Click on the 'Next' button to proceed with the installation.

The license agreement allows one to install the FlipAlbum® software on one machine only.

Click here to download the full collection of themes and borders that are available in the box product for free. For more information on the themes available for download, please click here.

If you have a copy of FlipAlbum® 5 or 6 product, you may purchase more themes and borders from our FlipAlbum® 5 Design Libraries (FADL) collection. Please do note that whilst the entire FADL collection is compatible with FlipAlbum® 5 series, only FADL Professional Edition Vol 4 and 5 are compatible with the FlipAlbum® 6 series of products. You will have to install the FADL over a compatible FlipAlbum® product, then copy the installed themes and borders from your FlipAlbum® template folder to FlipAlbum® Vista template folder.

E.g., from:
C:\Program Files\E-Book Systems\FlipAlbum 5 <edition>\Template folder
to
C:\Program Files\E-Book Systems\FlipAlbum Vista <edition>\Template folder

Click here for more information on our FADL collection. Please do register your FlipAlbum® 5 or 6 product before proceeding to purchase any of the FADLs.

Do I have to remove FlipAlbum® 6 or prior releases before installing FlipAlbum® Vista?

You do not have to uninstall FlipAlbum® 6 or earlier releases of our products in order to install the FlipAlbum® Vista series of products. The major releases of our FlipAlbum® products are independent programs and can co-exist on the same computer. Nevertheless, we recommend that you do so to avoid any confusion.

I have just purchased the FlipAlbum® Vista software. Why am I still running the evaluation copy?

It appears that you have not installed the full version of our software. To avoid confusion, please uninstall the evaluation copy from the Start -> Control Panel menu, Add or Remove Programs option. You will need to restart your computer to take the changes.

After uninstalling the evaluation copy, please proceed to install the full version.

If you have purchased the FlipAlbum® download product, please click here to download the full version. You would be prompted for your registered email address and FlipAlbum® Vista Product ID/Product Activation Key.

And if you are installing FlipAlbum® Vista for the first time on your computer, you would be prompted for a Product Activation Key which can be retrieved here.

To obtain the latest build of your software, you may perform an 'Online Update' by clicking on File -> Online Update menu. When the Online Update window appears, click on the 'Update' button to proceed.

After the download has completed, exit the program and restart your computer. Your program should then be updated.

To verify that your build number has indeed been updated, please click the Help -> About menu within your FlipAlbum® program.

If for any reasons you are not able to perform the online update, please remove the online update folder within your local hard drive. Your online upgrade folder is located in your FlipAlbum® program default directory, e.g. C:\Program Files\E-Book Systems\FlipAlbum Vista Suite\onlineupgrade.

How do I upgrade my CD Shopping Cart™ software to work with FlipAlbum® Vista Pro?

Customers of FlipAlbum® Vista Pro cum CD Shopping Cart™ plug-in can get an upgrade of CD Shopping Cart™ version 2.0 here.

I was prompted with an 'Invalid Product ID' message when attempting to upgrade to the latest version.

There may be a few reasons for getting the 'Invalid Product ID' error message while attempting the upgrade:

i.	It is possible that the Product ID has not yet been registered. If you had purchased the box version either online or from the retail stores, you will need to register your Product ID with us in order to be eligible for the upgrade. You may register your purchase now at http://support.flipalbum.com/register/.

ii.	It is possible that an invalid Product ID has been entered. Your Product ID can be found on the Help -> About box of the FlipAlbum® program. Please do verify that it is correct.

iii	It is possible that the upgrade path selected is incorrect or that the network was congested at that time. Please click here to try again.

I was prompted with an 'Invalid Login...' message when attempting to upgrade to the latest version.

We did a major revamp of our online shopping cart system in June 2004. Hence, only customers who purchased from our new shopping cart system after June 2004 would have a shopping cart account with us. If you have not purchased from our new shopping cart system before, please proceed to create a new shopping cart account instead. If you have previously created an account, you may click on the Forgotten Your Password link to retrieve your password.

To proceed with the upgrade, please click here: http://www.flipalbum.com/upgrade/index.php.

Compared to FlipAlbum® 6 series, the new features of FlipAlbum® Vista series include:

1. Support for Microsoft Windows Vista
FlipAlbum® Vista is certified to run on Microsoft Windows Vista. Users can now run FlipAlbum® Vista Suite and Pro on Microsoft Windows Vista, in addition to Windows XP and Windows 2000 operating environments.

2. Support for WMV video file format
Users can now playback WMV video on the FlipAlbum® pages.

3. Support for MJPEG AVI video file format
Users can now playback MJPEG AVI video on the FlipAlbum® pages.

4. Support for WMA audio file format
Users can now include WMA audio files as book background music, page music or playback upon request on the FlipAlbum® pages.

For more information on FlipAlbum®, please click here. Trial copies are also available for download there.

If you own a FlipAlbum® product, you may upgrade to FlipAlbum® Vista products at special upgrade prices. Please do ensure the FlipAlbum® box product is registered proceeding with the upgrade. Download products are automatically registered.

The Standard edition is no longer available for sale since the release of FlipAlbum® Vista series.
You may want to consider FlipAlbum® Vista Suite or Pro for the additional ability to create CDs for PC and Mac playback, as well as DVDs for DVD playback or TV viewing. Click here for a comparison between FlipAlbum® Vista Suite and Pro.

Technical Assistance

Albums can be exported onto a CD using the FlipAlbum® Vista Suite or Pro. The recipients of the FlipAlbum® CD can simply pop it into the CD-ROM drive and view it instantly without downloading or installing any software.

i.	Before proceeding, please save your album as Book, complete (*.opf file + contents) via File -> Save As... menu.
ii.	Click on CD Maker -> Create Album CD. The CD Maker function in FlipAlbum® creates the following files/folders:
	a.	One folder named FlipAlbumCD
	b.	One file named autorun.inf
	c.	One file named startCD.exe
iii.	Select all the files/folders mentioned above, NOT the folder containing them, and burn them to a CD. Please make sure that you ONLY see the above-mentioned files/folders on the root directory of your CD.

Here are some tips on the use of some of the CD burning software you may want to take note of:
a.	Burn the CD as a DATA CD.
b.	Make sure you have selected ISO 9660 Level 2 (Max of 31 chars), Joliet, and Relax ISO restrictions for pathdepth and characters in path.
c.	Never permit the CD software to rename any files - if it is trying to do so you don't have the CD burning software set correctly (and, if it ever does try to rename files, don't ever turn off the warning in the future or you will not know it is renaming files!).
d.	Select No Multisession, and Finalize the CD.

FlipAlbum® Vista Suite or Pro software enables you to create VCDs, SVCDs and DVDs of your favorite albums for DVD playback. Viewers can let the photo album flip automatically, at pre-programmed intervals, as it plays on a DVD player or control the playback using the DVD player's Pause, Play, Forward and Backward buttons. Please do note that you would require a third-party CD or DVD burning tool in order to complete the process.

In order to achieve optimum quality for the VCD, SVCD or DVD albums that you create, you may want to design your albums with the following points in mind:

i.	Do not have too many text annotations. Text does not look good in video format.
ii.	If you do have text annotations, try to avoid fonts with straight edges.
iii.	Large font sizes are encouraged, like point size 28 and above for normal sized fonts.
iv.	Try to choose a darker page and book background. This will minimize the flickering effect that may occur on some TVs.
v.	Size of your pictures DOES matter. Whenever possible, use the centerfold mode for your pictures so that they will occupy as much of the screen as possible.

If you export your album to MPEG1 format, the quality of the images will not be as good as the album viewed on the PC, as MPEG1 adheres to the basic Video CD resolution of 352x240 which is much lower than the normal resolution of your computer screen.

With FlipAlbum® Vista Suite and Pro, you now have an option to export your album to MPEG2 format. Please click here to learn how.

And if you are still not happy with the image quality of your MPEG2 file, you may want to try exporting your album to a raw AVI format and use any third-party video encoding tools or DVD burning tools to create a DVD. Note that unlike exporting to an MPEG1 and MPEG2 files, your album background music will not be exported to the AVI file. You may use third-party video encoding tools to incorporate the background music, or include it during the DVD burning process. For more information on how to create DVDs of your AVI files, please click here.

The current version of FlipAlbum® Vista Suite and Pro software will only include background music in the exported MPEG1 and MPEG2 files that are meant for DVD playback. On the other hand, the raw AVI file does not include any audio. You may instead add the background music during the DVD creation process.

The album page audio and the individual supported multimedia audio will only be exported to album CDs for PC playback.

How do I convert the AVI files that FlipAlbum® Vista Suite or Pro creates to DVD format?

To create a DVD using FlipAlbum Vista Suite or Pro, you must first export your album to a MPEG2 file. Once the MPEG2 file is created, all you need is a third-party DVD burning software to burn the MPEG2 file to a DVD.

1. Select the CD Maker -> Export Album for TV Viewing menu. Choose the "Mpeg Format", then select "OK" to proceed.

2. Click on "Browse" to select a location to save your video file to. Please note the location where you saved your file.

3. Set your page flipping interval by clicking on either the right or left scroll button, or simply drag the scroll bar.

4. By default, "SVCD" will be selected, but select "DVD" for better video quality. Please note that your burning software must be capable of creating DVDs.

5. After all the parameters are set, click on the "Convert" button to begin the mpeg creation process. As this process is a CPU intensive activity, it is recommended that you use a PIII or P4 machine for this purpose, and not run other programs in the background.

6. Once the process is completed, you may launch your DVD burning software to create your DVD. For more information on how to use your DVD burning software, please refer to the User Guide for the DVD burning tool.

Can I view my uploaded album(s) on Netscape browser?

You may view your uploaded album(s) on Netscape browser (version 4.79, 6.0 or 7.01). However, you will have to manually install the FlipViewer® program, before clicking on the album URL, as the auto-installation feature does not work on Netscape browser.

Can I create my own FlipAlbum® themes?

You may add your customized themes in FlipAlbum® using the new 'Create Theme' function.

FlipAlbum® Themes contain the following elements and are saved in '.jpg' format:

1 Front Cover (485x618 pixels @ 72 dpi)
1 Back Cover (485x618 pixels @ 72 dpi)
1 Left Page Background (434x552 pixels @ 72 dpi)
1 Right Page Background (434x552 pixels @ 72 dpi)
1 Centerfold Page Background (961x612 pixels @ 72 dpi)
1 Book Background (1024x645 pixels @ 72 dpi)
Separators (434x552 pixels @ 72 dpi)

Once you have created the desired images using an image editing program, you may then proceed to add them to FlipAlbum® theme collection by following the instructions below:

To apply the newly created theme to your FlipBook, click on Options -> Set Theme from the Main Menu. You should find your newly created theme in the list of themes available in the Themes dialog box for selection.

An album is represented by a xx.opf file (red book icon) and a xx_opf_files folder where xx refers to the album name. Hence, to delete an album, you must first locate the opf file and the opf_files folder of the album you wish to delete, then delete them from Windows Explorer. There is no function to delete an album within FlipAlbum® program itself.

You will notice that the album filenames are still present on your previously opened album files listing in FlipAlbum®. To delete these entries, please select the Options -> Delete History menu. This will delete all entries in the listing and from that point the program will create a new listing of previously opened albums.

I have encountered "1335 Data Cab file is corrupt" error message.

The 1335 data cab error is usually due to a corrupt download. Please try to re-download the installation file from our secure download site at: http://www.flipeshop.com/shop/custserv.

If you are using Netscape or a download manager, try using Internet Explorer instead. If you happen to have any firewall or anti-virus programs running in the background, please temporarily disable them.

I have encountered the error 1316 when installing FlipAlbum®.

Occasionally, users may encounter errors during the installation that prevents them from completing the installation process.

This behavior can occur if there is a conflict with the Microsoft Windows Installer utility. Microsoft has created the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility that enables you to safely remove Windows Installer settings from your computer in the event of a problem. You could find out more about this utility as well as download it at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301

I have encountered "XML Codes" error when sharing albums on the Internet.

In order to view online albums, one will need to have either full-licensed version of FlipAlbum® or the free FlipViewer® software, installed on the machine. A copy of the free FlipViewer® software can be downloaded from http://www.flipviewer.com/fv/downloads.php.

In order to prevent this from recurring, it is recommended that you replace your online album URL with an auto-install URL, e.g., replace

http://www.flipviewer.com/home.opf
with
http://www.flipviewer.com/fven/?opf=http://www.flipviewer.com/home.opf&fvl=1

When the readers click on the auto-install URL, the FlipViewer® program will automatically install on the machines that do not have FlipAlbum® or FlipViewer® previously installed, and that are running Internet Explorer 5.01 or above. Note that the FlipAlbum® and FlipViewer® software require certain components from Internet Explorer 5.01 or higher to function. For users who do not already have Internet Explorer 5.01 or higher installed, they may download the latest version from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/critical/ie6sp1/default.asp.

I have encountered "Your FlipBook has been corrupted. FlipBook CD cannot be run." error when viewing Album CDs created from FlipAlbum® Vista.

This error is usually caused by unaccepted filenames (whether your album filename or your image/audio/video filenames). The following should be avoided:

1. File names using special characters (like &%!, apostrophe, etc)
2. File names that are two long.
3. File names that include foreign language characters (not English)
4. File names containing spaces.

The above also applies for titles on the 'Contents' page inside the flipbook. It is recommended that only letters, numbers and underscores be used for titles in the 'Contents' page and filenames.

Always do a preview before burning to CD to ensure the error message does not appear. (This option can be selected when you use the 'Create Album CD' function).

The error message "Invalid Image" or "File Not Found" appears on the album page where my picture is supposed to be.

These errors are usually results of FlipAlbum not being able to find the files that make up your album. They are most common when you move, delete or rename an image from its original location via Microsoft Windows instead of in the FlipAlbum programme itself. They may also occur when you make changes to a FlipAlbum and do not save the changes.

To remove the error message, do a right mouse click on the error message and select "Multi-Media Object...". Browse to the location where your image is stored and perform a drag and drop to the "Invalid Image" object. Click "Yes" when prompted to replace the object. You may resize the image accordingly. Do a "File -> Save As", with file type 'Book, complete (*.opf file + contents)' for all your created albums.

Note: To avoid these types of problems, you can take these precautionary steps:

1) When inserting images, always choose to 'Insert As Copy'.
2) Always save your album when you are done working with it.
3) Perform a regular File -> Save As... with Save as type: Book, complete (*.opf file + contents) operation to help keep all of your FlipAlbum items in a single location.
4) Avoid deleting, moving or renaming files outside of the FlipAlbum programme in future. Any deletion, moving or renaming should be done within FlipAlbum itself.

Software Downloads & Installation

Technical Assistance