Tech Team Newsletter - Volume 4 Issue 3

Tech Team: In the Trenches

March 2006 Volume 4 Issue 3

Table of Contents

Photo Editing Software

Remember when you took picture after picture, hoping to get that one terrific shot? Then you waited for the film to be developed, only to find that out of 36 exposures, only a few were what you imagined they’d be? Then came digital cameras. Now you can see your pictures immediately. But red eye, unwanted items in the picture, and less than perfect lighting are still a challenge. Unless you have . . .

Photo Editing Software. This Cool Tool can solve a multitude of problems and give you those perfect pictures for your listings, business and family. The newer versions are user friendly and provide very attractive results.

What should you look for in a Photo Editing Software package?

Consider ease of use, checking to see if tutorials are offered on the various features and if there are “Wizards” within the program that will automatically fix common problems such as red eye, crooked images and poor lighting.
Check the Import and Export formats to see if the program supports the most common formats . . . jpg, gif, and bmp.
Does it also have updates to keep the program current? Are there photo sharing capabilities to give you the tools to optimize your photos for sharing in e-mails, web galleries, PDA’s, cell phones and print?
And most importantly, what editing features does it offer to allow you to improve your photos, organize and sort, and to create special effects and text?

Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

Never make editing changes on your original photo. Make a copy and work with it. If you make a mistake, just make another copy. And remember, you can shrink the photo easily, but enlarging a photo is a lot more difficult because it distorts the image.
Store your photos on a CD or floppy disk. Photos take a great deal of room and will slow down your system. You may want to keep a photo of a listing for your files. Fine. But keep it off your hard drive. You can still access it, if you need to.
Consider trying a free version to see if the software is something you will use. The free packages may be trial versions that expire after a short time or offer limited features, but they’ll give you a chance to see whether you like the package or what additional features you might find helpful. For information on free packages go to Picasa and GNU Image Manipulation Program.

We took a look at three popular packages so you can compare features.

Features Adobe Photoshop Elements Corel Paint Shop Microsoft Digital Image

Editing Red Eye, Cropping, Cloning Red Eye, Cropping, Cloning Red Eye, Cropping, Cloning

Special Effects More than 100 available 500 available 200 available

System Requirements Microsoft XP, 2000, ME, 98, CD-ROM drive, High color display Microsoft XP, 2000, ME, 98, CD-ROM drive, High color display Microsoft XP, 2000, ME, 98

Creative Additions Face tagging feature for tagging the people in your photos. Clip art, test & audio captions, special scrap booking tools 120 page idea book, scratch remover, background eraser and color correction tools Distortion brush, text effects animation, lines & shapes. 3000 project templates for cards, calendars, letterhead and crafts

Price * from $74 - $99 From $69 - $129 From $48 - 100

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