Apr 1, 2013

Just more info for former pccrafter customers

UPDATE  June 2020 - some of this information originally linked on this blog post may no longer be valid.  For those wanting to activate the Deluxe HugBug Browser on a Windows 10 computer that may no longer be an option using the info in this post. I was not able to install the Browser to my own newer Windows 10 system.

But thankfully I have always backed up my entire PC HugWare folder from older computers to External Drives. So I can always access each of my image collecions by going through that main folder by selecting PC HugWare > Collections > Images > and any of the subfolders of Black, Color, Painted or Tiff

The Painted folder has all the pcCrafter JPG format image collections I had installed originally after downloading from PCCrafter.  The Tiff folder has any of the collections released from June 1, 2006 to the end of Dec 2010 - that are in PNG transparent format that I downloaded and installed from PCCrafter. 


So as long as you have those folders available you can access and view the images and drag and drop into any photo/graphic software you want to use them in.
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Original post on this blog:


I have posted this same information on the Hugsister Community Forum -but just to keep handy on my blog for those who may visit here via a Google search - trying to find info on activating the payfor Deluxe HugBug Browser or if the pccrafter sites past content is available anywhere : I am copying and pasting the stuff I have on the Hugsister Forum here:
NOTE: AS OF OCTOBER 30 2012 - PCCRAFTER.COM is now CRICUT.COM - your past downloads are NO LONGER  AVAILABLE - the pccrafter site and content are gone!
So I have edited this information for those who may be reading it, after PC Crafter is now gone. 


Note: Provo Craft and/or Cricut.com does not and will NOT support products you once purchased from pccrafter.com, that portion of the business is gone, and any/all content once upon a time on the pccrafter.com servers is GONE!!
You no longer have the ability to download past purchases or obtain past purchases from any source. 


Hopefully everyone did take heed and Downloaded, Installed and BACKED UP EVERYTHING, in the past almost 2 yrs that all the content was still online!! ***Note: ALL TERMS OF USE, ARTIST COPYRIGHTS, etc. REMAIN IN EFFECT for ALL CONTENT PURCHASED or OBTAINED for FREE from PCCRAFTER.COM even though the company itself is no longer in Business. When you install anything you downloaded, you had to agree to the TERMS of USE before proceeding to the installation, and the Artists always retain their Copyright to the art. You only have rights for the limited usage stated on the installation screens***
if you backed up a copy of the EXE file of the payfor Deluxe HugBug Browser to a external drive and/or a flash/thumb drive etc. and you now need to re-install it... the following information MAY help you. Some gals have said that the CODES provided below in this message DID NOT Work for them. Please be sure there are NO SPACES in the line when you copy and paste them into the proper boxes of email and password. I usually copy the codes to a Word Document, and then copy and paste them from that document.

If after a few tries, the Browser does NOT Activate (some gals reported that they tried a few times and it finally worked) - then you are out of Luck. I understand your frustration, but there is nothing I can do or suggest to get back the functionality of the payfor Browser.


OK - now if you're ready to "try" re-Installing it on your computer
to Activate the Deluxe "payfor" Browser, you will need to follow the instructions that Heidi from Provo Craft has emailed to folks inquiring about Activation of the Browser

I am copying and pasting the info from the email I got from Heidi at Provo Craft in Oct 2011 :

After installing, Please right click on the hugbug browser deluxe icon on your desktop, and then click on run as administrator. Then copy and paste in the codes below to activate the browser - make sure there are no spaces when pasting just the codes in the email and password boxes.

email:m5s7uMMvHQur1TUaOiazR


password:f1PPhYqrwx9ICrwXS4GDK

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If you did download when it was available as I suggested previously - the FREE Hugbug Browser and saved the EXE file for it, - you can install that version, if you are NOT able to activate the Deluxe one. It does NOT require Activation. You can use it to View your collections, but it doesn't have a search capability or the option of holding down your shift key while dragging and dropping to your favorite editing program to remove the white from JPG graphics. Note: if you do install the Free one, you will still have to Scan For Collections, so that it can find all of your installed graphics from pccrafter, that you previously downloaded and installed.

Note: when ever you download and install any of the pccrafter files of clipart or club content etc. - it is always on your computer. You do NOT need the Browser to view it, or access it. Note: that MAC owners can NOT use the Browser as it is only a Windows application. But they certainly are able to view and enjoy using their clipart & club content collections.

The Default location for pccrafter files to install to on most computers is to C:/PC HugWare and its inside that main folder that your clipart install to

if you don't have the Browser installed they follow this path:

C:/PC HugWare/Collections/Images/ then the subfolders of Black, Color, Painted and Tiff

It's in those Subfolders that your image collections are in Alpha order.

The clipart "released" prior to June 1, 2006, have 3 different formats, a Black & White line art format (WMF)that installs to the Black folder, a Color format (WMF) - no shading that installs to the Color folder, a (JPG) format with all the shading, installs to the Painted folder.

Collections "released" beginning June 1, 2006, only include either the JPG format that installs to the Painted folder and the PNG format that installs to the TIFF folder. *I always downloaded "Both" the JPG and the PNG (no white around these images) formats of any/all collections I purchased that were released after June 1, 2006.

So if you can't get either the Free or the Payfor Browser installed to your new computer. You can still "view" any/all of your "Installed" graphics files that you download and install from pccrafter, by locating them through those images folders, by following the path to them. You would open and view just like any Pictures folders you might have.

You can download and install a Free Image Viewer - one of my favorites is the FASTSTONE Image Viewer

http://www.faststone.org
You would still need to locate the folders of Black, Color, Painted, and Tiff, but once you do, you can make those Folders "favorites" in the Faststone image viewer. Then when opening it, you can just go to your Favorites and access/view all the individual graphics collections within those subfolders. You can drag and drop from that viewer, into your favorite graphics/photo editing programs that you have.

The Faststone Image viewer has some neat features, but does not have a Search function.

Please Note: Only the payfor Deluxe Browser has the feature of removing the white surrounding JPG graphics, by holding down your computers SHIFT key and Dragging the Graphic from the Browser and "Dropping" it into your favorite Graphics software program. The one problem with that action, is that it removes any white within a graphic itself that matches the white around it. So it's not good for Snowmen, or other graphics that have lots of white inside it. Any backgrounds placed behind such graphics will show through the graphic. I much prefer to use tools in software progams I own, to remove the white around such graphics that have lots of white inside them.

If you own a software program with a Magic Wand selection tool, then all you have to do is open the JPG graphic in that program, and Select the "White" surrounding the image, and then simply press your keyboard Delete key, and the white will be gone.
Examples of software programs that have a Magic Wand/and or / Selection type tool:
Adobe's Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, Paintshop Pro by Corel, Microsoft's Digital Image (it is a discontinued program, but can be found on Ebay - it is my own personal favorite program to use) There are also FREE programs that you can download from online that also have a Magic Wand or Selection tool - Paint.net and The GIMP.
Programs such as Printshop or Printmaster by Broderbund Do NOT have a Magic Wand tool.

Note: If you own Microsoft Word - that program has a "Set Transparency" tool when you click on an Image that you have open in a document - you should see or can find the Image tools bar which has the Set transparency too - it looks like a pencil or something pointing off a bit to the left - just click on that tool, then click outside the graphic itself. You will not notice that the White is actually gone as the background of a Word Document is by Default transparent, but it shows AS WHITE. You won't notice the white is gone until you layer a background or something behind it or next to it. BUT - using that tool on a graphic that has "white" inside the graphic that matches the white surrounding it - it will remove ALL the White surrounding it and inside it, the same way that the action of holding down your SHIFT key as you Drag and Drop a graphic from the payfor Hugbug Deluxe Browser.

I hope I've helped you a bit with your issues regarding the Hugbug Browser.
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Note too - the SEARCH Limitations of the payfor Browser:
The payfor browser can only search the Black, Color and Painted folders of installed pccrafter collections. And that isn't a perfect science either.

If you only downloaded your collection in the PNG format - which are collections released after June 1, 2006 - the Browser is NOT able to Search the TIFF folder where they install to, - so none of those will be found via the Search function of the Browser. I and others always downloaded both the JPG and the PNG versions for all such collections that were released after June 1, 2006...so that at least we could find graphics in JPG format, and then when clicking on them, we could see if there was a PNG version of the collection.
BUT - there is another GLITCH in the Search System - ALL releases of even the JPG collections beginning in late November 2009 and ALL of 2010 - are NOT searchable - the folks that packaged the collections - forgot to assign keywords that would go into the database for those collections when they install to the PC HugWare folder PC Crafter never "fixed" this issue.

I have used my Windows search utility with hit and miss success for searching the folders in the Painted and Tiff folders of the PC HugWare main folder. Its better than nothing for searching the TIFF folder which has the PNG formatted graphics.
smile.gifOther thoughts for those who lost all their stuff, and didn't have a BACKUP of all their stuff.
From now on - anything you buy, download and put on your computer - Back it up - right then and there!!

And I have other external drives too, as any drive can fail, and if I have things that are Irreplaceable or that I would find hard to obtain again - then I backup those files to More than ONE External Drive or Flash/Thumb drive or to a Cloud Drive, such as Carbonite or Mozy.


My mantra is - if Its Important to You - BACK IT UP, by BACKING IT UP!
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For those who did not backup their content or have somehow now lost it on their only copy of a backup, or your external drive, or computer drive crashed, and you are hoping there is someway to get it back, - unfortunately there is NO WAY to do that, now that the company is out of business.
NO ONE CAN SHARE THEIR PCCrafter HUGWARE, It can NOT be SOLD, TRADED or UPLOADED to any FILE SHARING Site. That is ILLEGAL and a form of DIGITAL PIRACY And Artists are becoming very vigilant in persuing all infringement of their copyrights by Illegal File Sharing, Digital Piracy, and posting of Images on Freebie Websites, Blogs, and/or Pinterest etc. Everytime anyone engages in such practice it robs the artist, and hurts all of us, as many artists have given up completely on selling their art as downloadable clipart sets. Only a few past pccrafter artists have decided to stay in the game awhile longer 
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This information has been posted in other threads, but I am copying and pasting here on this thread as well just as an FYI

*Other* FREE IMAGE VIEWERS / BROWSERS

Free Image Viewers - for viewing any / all your graphics & photos etc. collections

one of the most popular is FASTSTONE
http://www.faststone.org
also I have downloaded and installed these others


Irfanview
http://www.irfanview.com

Related to Read:

5 Best Free Windows Photo Viewer Alternatives For Windows 10   https://www.itechtics.com/5-best-free-windows-photo-viewer-alternatives-windows-10/

and another site with opinions/reviews on Free Image Viewers
Best Free Digital Image Viewers
www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-digital-image-viewer.htm
Please NOTE:
Each of these "other" image viewers/browsers, have their own features and neat things you can do with them, but none have the same features that the payfor Hugbug Browser has. **in the computer help forum here on the hugsister forums, I have made my own comments about the limitations and good things about the payfor browser, and I have also suggested that everyone who owns and has installed pccrafter collections to at least download while it is still available - the Free Browser from the pccrafter website - SORRY, the pccrafter as of Oct 30 2012 is gone, and all of its previous content with it, if you didn't download the Free Browser, when it was available, you are out of luck 

But if you did download the free one and have it on your computer, you can now click on it and install it:
In the event that people can NOT activate an installation of the payfor Browser on a new computer - then they could still utilize the FREE Browser - it Does NOT require any ACTIVATION Process. It just installs on your computer, you would still need to Scan for Collections once you install the free browser, but it will find your installed stuff and set up a path to them and your installed pccrafter collections would all be viewable via the Free Browser.
Even if you currently have the payfor Browser installed and working on your computer, I still suggest you download the Free one and store it on your computer and also back up a copy of the EXE file of it - you don't need to install it.
But if in the future, you attempt to install the payfor Browser on a new computer and are unable to Activate it, you will at least be able to install using that EXE file of the free Browser (that you backed up to a external drive or thumb/flash drive) - and then Scan for Collections of your "Installed" pccrafter collections - and utilize the free one for viewing them. It does NOT require Activation
The free browser is no longer available online, so if you didn't get it when I suggested you do or are reading this thread for the first time, the pccrafter.com content is no longer online. Everything is GONE

REMEMBER: Backup your Entire PC HugWare folder to an External Drive and/or an online site such as Carbonite.com or Mozy.com. By backing up your Complete and entire PC HugWare folder - you will find it much easier to copy over that folder to a new computer. It is the default location on your computer that pccrafter files install to. So all of your "Installed" collections, and associated data and subfolders are in that main PC HugWare folder.

I use several external drives for backing up my computer files. I also use Thumb/Flash drives for backing up specific files or folders such as my PC HugWare folder, and collections like those I have bought from DAISIE Company, NitWit Collections etc. I also back up to thumb/flash drives My Windows FONTS folder. It makes it very easy for me to then Install fonts from that backed up folder to any new computers.
 

BTW - my favorite program to use is the discontinued software program Microsoft's Digital Image
It can still be found on Ebay. But since it is no longer supported by Microsoft, you may have to consider other programs out there. The most popular amongst digital scrapbookers is Adobe's Photoshop Elements. There are a ton of tutorials online for that program.

Note: I have installed my Microsoft Digital Image software program on my computer running Windows 7 / 64bit and it runs just fine (and also on a Windows 8 / 64bit laptop). The version I am running is Digital Image Suite 2006. The last version produced by Microsoft was produced in late 2006 and named Anniversary edition. So if you are thinking about buying this program off of Ebay, purchase either the DIS 2006, or the Anniversary edition, or Digital Image Pro 10. Any version that has the word "Suite" in it, only means that, that version comes with an additional component call the Library. But the editing portion is the same in all editions. From the earlier DIP 10 up to the Anniversary edition, there are not many upgrades or additional options that make that much of a difference in them. So it would be your own choice as to which you choose to purchase.


UPDATE 2020  - I was unable to Install my older Microsoft Digital Image Suite on my Windows 10 computer - some people have ways to do it, but none so far have worked for me.  But I still have a Windows 8 and Windows 7 laptops with the program installed.  

25 comments:

  1. You mentioned in an earlier post that you have a spreadsheet of the hugware, I was wondering if you would be willing to share that list with me? I had one but lost it since I redid my computer. My email is sandrakins at gmail dot com. Thank you for your time and thank you for all the info you have posted. I am going to try to get my deluxe browser reinstalled now. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
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  2. Hello again, that worked! Thank you!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great bunch of info for us all.
    Thanks,
    Carol

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow!! A million thank yous. It really works, I saved it with the copy of my browser for the next crash!

    ReplyDelete
  5. It still works too!! WooHoo! Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I was able to use the codes to activate my Deluxe Browser. I bought a new computer and the .exe wouldn't work when I tried to open the program and activate it but with the codes you provided I am able to see all my graphics.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have struggled trying to get this to work, with it not working. My son-in-law just did it for me and the deluxe version is now working. :-) I am so happy. Sometimes it's the small things in life that make our day. Thanks so much for your information.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you so much!!! It took me several tries to get the right combination of letters and numbers as the browser would not let me paste, but once I got them it activated beautifully!! If anyone else has issues, make sure that in the email address you are using the LETTER "O" and then in the password what looks like a lower case l is actually an upper case 'I" as in ice cream!! I believe it was the password that was throwing me off, but problem solved!! Still sad that pcCrafter is gone. I was very lucky to be able to download all of my club content, but was unable to purchase all of the other graphic sets I wanted. My next project is to use the incredible spreadsheet you have provided to create an inventory. Perhaps I'll be able find some of the artists who are reissuing their graphics in other venues! Bless you for posting this where we all could find it!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To Anonymous, I am glad that you were finally able to activate your HugBug Browser. As of Aug 2014 the following *former* pcCrafter are still selling clip art collections online to purchase and download > Laurie Furnell and Tammy DeYoung both sell at aimeeasher.com and each has their own Etsy store. They each sell older pccrafter sets (Laurie labels her pccrafter sets "Classic"s) and newer clip art collections that they have created since leaving pccrafter. Neither offers ALL of the clip art collections that were offered at pcc - but still lots to choose from. Joy Hall has opened a new Etsy store but her collections are still limited - she may add more as time goes on. Gina Jane (formerly Johnson) has her own website where she sells clip art and printables http://daisiecompany.com Other artists who once upon a time did sell their clip art at other locations, have since decided to no longer offer their clip art in downloadable sets. Although they do maintain licenses thru their agents, with real life product manufacturers who put their art on products like fabric, dishware, collectibles, flags, rubber stamps etc. Remember the Artists always retain the copyrights to their art. And any Terms of Use that applied to each/all of the pccrafter collections remains in effect, regardless of whether the website of pccrafter.com is in business or not, and/or if the artists no longer offer their clip art for sale.

      Delete
    2. THANK YOU so much for the instructions and the correct password corrections...worked right away after MANY attempts...I screamed out loud when it activated.....really love my collections and so sad they are gone.

      Delete
  9. I cannot thank you enough for this information. After trying most of the afternoon yesterday without any luck, I decided to try again this morning. I can't stress how important it is to enter all the correct numbers/letters. I re-entered the information and the Deluxe Browser opened up right away!!!! :) My daughter thought I was crazy, but I did the happy dance all around my house. THANKS AGAIN!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank you so very much!!! I've been saving my deluxe download for the last few years hoping I could someday open it. With your help....SUCCESS!! Am so happy I still have all my graphics installed!!!

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  11. I know this is an old post, but I was wondering if there was a message board like the old PC Crafter message board where people share their ideas for hugware. I've completely lost my hugbug browser, but I still have most of my collections.

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  12. Still works! Soooo glad I found your post!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I need help. I have a windows 10 computer and I am going through all my DVDs that I saved my downloaded hugware files too. I can not find my setup file for the Deluxe browser. Only the hugware 2.0 which is the free and lesser one. Can anyone help me? I tried to google and search but when a site to download the deluxe lite comes up, its no longer found. Can someone send me the deluxe browser. I need a browser to work with my hundreds of graphics and I would like to have my deluxe browser back that I could leave the white out. I was glad to find the page here for the code to put in so it works but I can't find my saved file..

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love you!! Thank you so much! I have TONS of PC Hugware and the program. I didn't want to go through searching for all of the collections myself and the Hugware does a great job. Your codes worked perfectly first time (I copied and pasted from your blog post). Here it is 2019 and this gorgeous stuff is now available to me again! Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Had to get a new computer a month ago and this is the first time I've had to activate my hugware deluxe. Your codes worked!!!!! I can't even begin to thank you enough!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I'm in trouble...I have tons of PC Hugware, years worth and have lost my deluxe browser because of a new computer and laptop. Yes I can access most of the art, some I can't...please, please can someone send me the deluxe browser. Would appreciate this so much.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I come here often to see if I can get my deluxe to work with windows 10. so heartbreaking that they took it all down and we all lost so much. I will never quite understand the logic. Hugclub was such a great concept and I guess times changed!

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  18. Does anyone know of a list of all the subscription months, I am trying to collect from ebay, amazon etc. thanks

    ReplyDelete
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