Last time we ended with a “laundry list” of features to look for in digital photo management software. A quick review: import from your camera; organize and present photos in small “thumbnail” previews as well as full-size; perform basic image enhancement to correct brightness, color intensity, sharpness, and “red eye”; size and attach for email; size and format for printing; create a slideshow; burn to CD or DVD; create desktop pictures (wallpaper); format and upload to a web page; order prints through an on-line service; and, create “coffee table” picture albums to order online.

There’s a bazillion (technical term for “oodles of”) different applications out there that handle some, most, or all of the features outlined above. What’s right for you is a function of your budget, your level of computer literacy, and your needs (“photophile” versus “email a photo to Grandpa”). Generally, “pro” level applications deliver precise control at the expense of simplicity and convenience, while “consumer” applications favor ease-of-use and shallow learning curves.

The “industry standard” for manipulating digital images is Adobe’s Photoshop 7. You name it – Photoshop does it – for a price (around $600 retail). If you’re a “serious photographer”, Photoshop is for you.

For “the rest of us”, thankfully, there are less pricey alternatives. Mac users have it good, as iPhoto is bundled free with every Mac. iPhoto delivers my laundry list of features with style and aplomb, and automatically integrates with Apple’s other bundled iLife applications.

On the Windows side, there are obviously more options to choose from. Within the “My Pictures” window at the system level in Windows XP you can browse your photos, print, email, make a slideshow or web page, and order prints online.

Again, there are a multitude of “third party” image management applications out there. If I were a full-time Windows user, Adobe’s Photoshop Album (www.adobe.com, $49.95) would be my choice. Why? It’s basically iPhoto for Windows, with some really nice added features. In addition to doing everything on my laundry list well, Photoshop Album also creates calendars from any group of twelve photos. Its organization tools are superb. At the top of the main window is a timeline bar, from which you can select photos taken over a range of dates. You can assign tags and comments to each photo, and search the tags to view, for example, every photo of a particular person or subject. The most interesting (and maybe least useful, overall) feature is the Adobe Atmosphere 3D Gallery, which can display up to sixteen photos in a virtual 3D walk-through art gallery, with accompanying mood music. Great eye candy.

So, armed with your software and a growing portfolio of digital images, you set out to share your work with family, friends, and, via the internet, potentially the whole world. Remember two of my admonitions from early in this series: one, always take your digital photos at the highest resolution your camera will support; and, two, you can retain resolution making a large photo smaller, but not vice versa. Even though software automates the process, the same rules apply. In other words, if you took the picture at 640 x 480 pixels, there’s no software you can buy that will make a sharp, vivid, photo-quality 8”x10”, or even 5”x7” print of that photo.

On to email and the web. Remember your “audience” when choosing the photo size to send via email or post on a web site. If both you and the destination have dial-up, sending (and viewing) a high-resolution image will tie up both connections for an hour.

Next time: printing great-looking digital photos.

© 2003 Peter F. Zimowski