Frequently Asked Questions

Since Photobot was released in January 2007, there have been several performance updates. Photobot is now compatible with the Windows^® Vista^™ operating system and is available in multiple languages, including French, German, Italian, Spanish and Dutch. Another new feature is the ability to restore (undo Photobot) entire folders of pictures to their original state and reprocess (redo Photobot) entire folders of pictures. You can also reprocess individual pictures.

New feature: Reprocess
Once you have restored a picture to its original state, you may find you really did like the Photobot version better. Photobot now allows you to reprocess restored pictures. Just right click on the picture file in Windows and select Photobot > Reprocess and Photobot will process the picture again.

New feature: Restore/ Reprocess Folders
You can now restore or reprocess entire folders full of pictures.

•	Select the Restore/ Reprocess Folders tab in Photobot Preferences.
•	Choose either Restore or Reprocess.
•	Choose the folder or folders you want Photobot to restore/ reprocess by pressing the Add button and select folders from the list.
•	Press the Restore/ Reprocess button.

If you choose to reprocess the contents of a folder, Photobot will first restore any processed pictures to avoid "double processing" a picture.

Depending on the number of pictures in the selected folder(s) this process may take several minutes.

If you do not see the Restore/ Reprocess Folders tab in Preferences, you should update your Photobot.

Photobot updates are free and automatic. All you need is to be connected to the internet. An auto-update window will open to alert you to update to the newest version.

If you experience any difficulty with the auto-update or you do not receive the update notice, you can update Photobot manually.

First, uninstall Photobot from your computer:

•	Open the Control Panel from the Windows Start menu.
•	In the Control Panel, select Add/ Remove Programs.
•	Choose Photobot from your list of programs and press the Remove button. You may need to close Photobot when prompted.
•	Once Photobot is removed, you will need to restart your computer.

To download the latest update go to: ftp://photobotpc:password@81.6.6.172/photobot.exe

This will take you directly to a download window. You can Run the installer right from the internet (a high sped connection is recommended) or Save photobot.exe to your computer. Once saved, open the photobot.exe file to start the installation.

Photobot runs on PCs only. He requires Windows 2000, XP or Vista and a minimum of 64 MB of RAM and a 1.33 GHz processor. Photobot also requires an internet connection (high speed recommended) in order to receive updates and access Swiss Picture Bank.

Select Preferences from the Photobot Menu, which you access by right clicking on the Photobot icon in your system tray (the Photobot icon is the smiling face next to the clock in the bottom right hand corner of your screen).

Use Custom Scan to set up a special "drop folder" for on-command processing and then load only the pictures you want Photobot to process into that folder. Here's how:

•	Select Custom Scan during set-up or in Photobot Preferences
•	Choose "Scan only specified folders"
•	Push the Add button

When the Browse for Folder window opens, select which folder(s) you want him to process or click on the Make New Folder button to create a new folder especially for this purpose. Click here to see the step by step guide to on-command processing.

To compare a Photobot-processed picture with the original, simply right click on the picture file in Windows and select Photobot > Restore to Original from the file menu. This will give you a side by side view of the Photobot image and the original. Here you can select which picture you prefer. If you choose your original picture, Photobot will restore it immediately.

Photobot only accepts .jpg, .jpeg and .jpe files.

Photobot only processes pictures greater than 75KB in size as a precaution against processing copyright pictures taken from the internet or email attachments. If your pictures are smaller than 75KB in file size, Photobot will not process them.

Yes. When Photobot detects a picture on your computer, the first thing he does is archive it as a .bot file on your computer.

To restore an original image, simply right click on any Photobot-processed picture and select Photobot > Restore to Original.

On Windows 2000 and XP machines, Photobot keeps your original pictures in an archive folder in your Program Files (C:\Program Files\Tribeca\PhotoBot\Restore). On Windows Vista, the original pictures are kept in the User file in a hidden folder (C:\User\AppData\Roaming\Tribeca\Photobot).

In order to prevent duplication and double correction the names and file extensions have been changed.

Set up a "drop folder" for on-command processing (see 7. How can I set Photobot to process on command (rather than automatically)?) and set Photobot to process only that folder. Then, Copy your original pictures and Paste them into the drop folder. The processed jpegs will appear in the drop folder and the unprocessed original jpegs will remain in their original location.

Photobot's default behavior is to never delete your originals. If you would like to free up space on your hard drive, select the Originals tab under Preferences to instruct Photobot to keep them for a limited number of days. Always be sure to allow yourself sufficient time to review Photobot's results in case you want to restore an original image.

If you open the Photobot desktop shortcut while Photobot is already running, you will have two copies of the program running and will see two Photobots in your system tray. You don't have to open Photobot–he launches automatically every time you start your computer and runs in the background continually while your computer is on.

To correct this problem, close both Photobots by right clicking on each icon and selecting Exit. Then, click on the desktop shortcut to re-open a single Photobot. Alternatively, you can simply restart your computer and only one Photobot will launch.

You don't have to have the Photobot window open in order for him to correct your pictures. Photobot is designed to run in the background so that you can do other things while he fixes your pictures for you.

Photobot runs as the lowest priority on your computer. That means he only uses the processing power available. If you have several other programs open at the same time, he'll only use a small percentage of your processor's computing power; if you don't have any other applications open, he'll use the extra available power to process your pictures much faster.

Photobot requires one gigabyte of free space on your C drive in order to have sufficient memory to archive your original pictures. If you ever go below one gigabyte of free space, Photobot will ask you to create more room on your computer.

If you would like Photobot to free up hard drive space, select the Originals tab under Preferences to instruct Photobot to keep them for a limited number of days (his default behavior is to keep all originals permanently). Always be sure to allow yourself sufficient time to review Photobot's results in case you ever want to restore an original image. Otherwise, you can manually clear space on your hard drive.

Swiss Picture Bank is a digital media archiving service that backs up your pictures to secure data storage facilities in Switzerland. These facilities are operated by Swisscom, the leading provider of data storage services to Swiss banks.

If you register with Swiss Picture Bank, Photobot will automatically upload every picture he processes to your account, keeping your personal history safe and accessible for generations to come.

You can register during set-up when you first load him or at any time thereafter by clicking on Go to SwissPictureBank.com in the Photobot menu.

Swiss Picture Bank is currently free while the system is in development. All images uploaded to Swiss Picture Bank during the beta period will be grandfathered in to the basic storage plan when the release version of the service is released (projected to be December 2007).