As a Free account member, you can upload up to 200 pictures to your account. There are no uplaod limits on Premium and Lifetime accounts.

Removing/Deleting Pictures
You can delete a picture that has been accidentally uploaded by clicking the "blue trash can" icon that appears when the picture's thumbnail is selected. A confirmation dialog will ask you to confirm that you wish to delete the picture.

Viewing or Editing Picture Details
Details about a picture can be set by clicking and sliding up the ‘title bar’ just under the picture. Title, Location, Date, Source, Revision Comments, and Album assignments for this picture can be viewed and modified here.

Clicking the ‘More Details” button will give additional details about the picture, such as the file name where it is stored (URL) and its original file name. Other details like who modified the settings last and when, are shown as well.

Downloading a Picture from a Family Photoloom Account
To grab a local copy of a picture (like downloading the picture to your local hard drive):

1. Grab a copy of the picture’s URL from the ‘More Details’ screen by pressing the ‘Copy URL’ button.
2. Paste the URL in to an internet browser’s ‘Address’ area (This is where you would normally type a new web address to visit), by clicking the right-hand mouse button in the address area and selecting the paste operation.
3. Press enter to view the full picture.
4. ‘Right hand’ mouse button click the picture that appears in the browser to get options on what you can do with this picture, including “Save Image As…” to save it to your local hard drive.

The URL you copied can also be used to link to the picture elsewhere, like in a blog.
If you choose to publish a URL of one of your pictures on a blog, that file has now been made public (which is exactly your choice when you decided to include it in a blog), however your other pictures will not have their privacy jeopardized. This is because Family Photoloom picture files have 128-bit encrypted file names making them next to impossible to guess.

Fig 1.  Screen Layout (back to top)


Records & Portraits (back to top)

Creating Records
You can add an unlimited number of records to your Records List. Records are used to identify people and things in your pictures.

To add a record:
1.Click the ‘Add’ Button above the records list.
2.Fill in the ‘Name’ field below the records list.
3.Click the ‘Save’ button.

Pressing the Enter key will also perform the ‘save’ function.

Sorting Records
You can sort your Record List by first or last name – use the radio buttons above the records list to do this.

Creating Portraits (Face-Tagging)
Once a record is created, it can be dragged onto a group picture to create a portrait. You can create an unlimited number of portraits.



After a portrait is created, its location and size can be adjusted by clicking and dragging the portrait or its edges or corners.

By creating portraits you are identifying where people and things are within your picture collection. You can identify this person/object in other pictures by dragging the record onto other pictures. Your pictures become naturally organized, simply by identifying who or what is in the pictures.

Creating Record Icons
A record icon is the little picture that accompanies a record. A record that has not been assigned a portrait will have a default grey silhouette icon. An icon picture is created when the first portrait for that record is created. That is to say, the first time you click and drag a record onto a group picture, the “portrait” you create will become that record’s icon picture.

Changing a Record Icon
If you find a portrait that you like better then the ‘record icon’ that was created with the first portrait for this record, simply drag the record onto the new portrait in the “Group Picture” and the icon picture will be updated.

Remember, anytime you drag a record onto a portrait that is already assigned to that same record, the icon picture for that record will be updated.

Merging Records
When using Family Photoloom, you may occasionally find that you have created duplicate records for an individual. (If you import data from New FamilySearch, it is even easier to wind up with duplicate records.)

Have no fear! It’s easy to merge records in Family Photoloom!

1.  Click (using the mouse) to select on the 1st record you would like to merge.
2.  Hold down the Ctrl-key (Windows users), or the Command/Apple key (Mac users). While holding this key down on the keyboard, use the mouse to select the second record to merge.
3 .  Click either one of the green “MERGE” buttons.

That’s it, your records are merged!

Performing a merge of two records will combine:

The record’s vital information (name, death, birth date/place)

All portraits created with the two records

All relationships created with the two records

Deleting Records
You can delete a record by clicking the "blue trash can" icon that appears when you click on a record. A confirmation dialog will ask to confirm this delete operation, so don’t worry if you accidentally click this icon.

Viewing Portraits
By clicking on a record in the Record List window or clicking on a portrait that appears in the Group Picture or Relationship views the right hand Portrait List window will display all the portraits that have been tagged for the individual selected.

You can click on any of the portraits in the Portrait List window to jump right to the Group Picture from which that portrait came. Now you can see the power of organizing your pictures with Family Photoloom.

Portraits can be deleted by clicking the ‘blue trash can’ icon that appears when you click on a portrait in the Group Picture window. A confirmation dialog will to confirm this operation, so don’t worry if you accidentally click this icon.


Relationships  (back to top)

Family Photoloom’s “Relationship View” provides an easy way to see and set family relationships between records. This is an exciting new approach to family photo-history, and one that deserves explanation. Each of the areas in the “Relationship Setter” is a target for a Drag-&-Drop of Records.

Fig. 2 - Relationship Setter layout
To reach the Relationship View, either click on the Relationships tab (upper right), or click on the green “relationship icon” that appears when you click on a record or a portrait on the Group Picture View.

To return to the Group Picture window, simply click the Pictures tab.

Setting and Managing Relationships
You can set and manage family and extended relationships while in the Relationship View.

To set or change the “Focus” person in the Relationship Setter, simply click and drag a record from the “records list” on left side of the screen into the area marked “Focus” (see image below) on the relationship setter.

Another way to do this is to click the green “relationship button” that appears when you click on any other person’s portrait in the relationship setter’s other sections.

Family Relationships
Family relationships can be set by dragging the appropriate records into the other sections representing “Spouse”, “Children”, “Siblings”, or “Parents."

Doing this sets up a two-way primary relationship. For example, dragging a record into the “Children” section sets up the new record to be the child of the focus person, and also sets up the focus person to be the parent of the new record. (i.e., if I am your daughter, you are my mother.)

Once a family has more than two individuals who have been assigned relationships, you will be prompted when a secondary relationship is being set up. This allows you to customize relationships to reflect even the most complex of family structures.

For example, if you drag a subsequent child into a family that already has relationships set for a spouse and children, the secondary relationships may be set up will be listed as: •Make this new child a child of the spouse as well. (Or assign the child to be the child of a different spouse, or another parent.) •Make this new child a sibling to each of the current children. (Sibling relationships may also be assigned individually.)

Family Photoloom gives you complete control over which secondary relationships get set, because you are prompted to confirm each secondary relationship.

If you make a mistake or wish to edit a relationship, simply press the "blue trash can" icon to remove the relationship. You may have to click on the portrait picture to make the icon appear. If you click the trash icon of the Focus person, it will remove all relationships that have been set for the focus person. A confirmation dialog will ask to confirm this delete operation, so don’t worry if you accidentally click this icon.

Extended Relationships
With Family Photoloom, you can include two kinds of Extended Relationships:

Traditional relationships (spouse, child, sibling, or parent) that may be special in nature or require further definition, such as a birth-parent or step-sibling; and second, relationships that fall completely outside of traditional family relationships (e.g., best friend, camping buddy, pet).

For example, to indicate an individual as the “focus” person’s step-brother, simply drag the step-brother’s record from the left column into the relationship box labeled “Sibling,” click the edit button in the editing strip at the top of the relationship window, and type “step-brother” into the editing box, then press enter.

Non-traditional relationships (e.g., girlfriend, god-parent, pet) can be set by dragging a record from the left column into the relationship box labeled “Other.” You can designate your name for this relationship by typing it into the editing strip and pressing enter.

THIS IS GROUND-BREAKING! No other family history program or service allows for this kind of freedom and flexibility. By using Family Photoloom, you can add any connections you wish, and create whole new relationships that will enhance and enrich your family history for generations.


Organizing & Sharing Pictures (back to top)
Pictures are organized using Albums and by identifying who/what is in them (see the Records & Portraits section above) Pictures are sharable by inviting guests to your account (see Guests/Invitations section below)

Albums
Creating Albums – With Family Photoloom, you can create unlimited Albums, each with its own name and description.

Do this from the “Setup Albums” button near the bottom of the screen. This is also accessible from the “My Account” dialog.