Pando Developer Tools

To make Pando packages look nicer to your recipients, there are a few simple tricks.

We'll start with this rather plain looking package:

Package Thumbnail

Package thumbnail images are quite visible throughout Pando, so it's important to make thumbnails look good.

Pando automatically generates the thumbnail for a package by using the first image or video file in the package. Pando does not generate thumbnails for other types of files, such audio files or written documents - we use the standard document icons for those files. The details of thumbnail generation are different on Windows and Mac OS X.

The thumbnails are 100x75 pixel resolution.

Windows Automatic Thumbnails

Pando on Windows uses the same Thumbnail as it used by Windows Explorer, so you can look there to see what the Thumbnail will be for each file. For still images in supported formats (JPEG, PNG, GIF) Windows uses the image. For video images (AVI, WMV) Windows uses the first frame of the video. For other types of files, such as PowerPoint presentations and QuickTime video, Windows displays the document icon for that application, and Pando does not encode an image thumbnail.

Mac OS X Automatic Thumbnails

Pando on Mac OS X uses the same Thumbnail generated by QuickTime. For still images in recognized formats (JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF) Pando resizes the image to fit in a thumbnail. For Quicktime video (MOV) Pando uses the Poster Frame of the video. The Poster Frame is often the first frame, which tends to be black (because the Poster Frame is usually the first frame, and many video's start with black and fade in). To set a different frame of a QuickTime video to be the key frame, open the video in QuickTime Player, go to the desired frame in the video, pause the video, select "Set Poster Frame" from the View menu, then save the video file. When you send the video using Pando, it will use the new Poster Frame as the thumbnail.

The result of the above is that you will get different thumbnails sending the same file from either a Mac or a Windows PC. For example, Windows will generate a thumbnail of an AVI file and not a QuickTime file, while Mac OS X will generate a thumbnail of a QuickTime file, but not an AVI file.

Custom Thumbnails

There are situations where you may want to manually set the thumbnail of a Pando package. For example:

• You may want to precisely control the thumbnail image, such as when sending a video that starts with a black frame from a PC, or
• You may be sending a collection of photographs and have one in particular that you'd like as the thumbnail for the package, or
• You may want to provide a thumbnail image for files that wouldn't have a thumbnail otherwise, such as for an album or book cover art for a collection of audio files.

The trick is to make create (or select) an image file (such as a JPEG or PNG) and put it into the Pando Package first, so that it is used to generate the thumbnail. Pando thumbnails are displayed as 100 pixels wide by 75 pixels tall, so your image should be at least that large. If you use a larger image, the image will be scaled down to that size for display inside Pando. For best appearance, you may want to produce the image at exactly that size so that it is displayed exactly as you desire.

Package Name

We recommend giving packages names that have 'friendly' names that are easy to read.

• Words with spaces between them are easier to read than typical file names.
• Indicate the kind of file(s) being delivered (e.g. "Photographs" or "QuickTime") so that the recipient can use the files once they're downloaded.
• Indicate whether the package contains a single file or a collection of files.

For example, "Walk the Line HD Quicktime" is more clear than "walk_the_line-believe_clip-720p.mov".

Sender Name and email

The "Full Name" that you entered when you first sent using Pando Preferences is displayed to recipients. For emails to friend, your name is appropriate. If you're posting Pando's to your web site, or sending files to customers, you may want to set your "Full Name" to your company name.

Your email address is sent in emails (as the reply-to address) when you use Pando to send emails. It is not displayed to people who download Pando packages from a web site.

To view or change your Full Name or email address, select Preferences from the Pando menu.

Package Description

Pando Package descriptions aren't required, but if one is provided it is displayed when people view Package Info, and on web pages if you use Pando to "Publish to Web". This is a good place to explain in more detail what the package contains, and why the recipient may be interested in downloading it.

For example, the description "Gorgeous preview of the incredible surfing documentary - in HD! (wmv)" tells you what you're about to download, why you might want it, and even the file format so that you know whether you can use the file after you download it.

The result!

Here's the same package as I first showed you, but with a thumbnail, title, description, and so on.

What do you think? Have more tips to share? Join the discussion.