PhotoSuite 5.0 Platinum Edition

• Platform:   Windows XP / 95 / 2000 / Me / 98
• Media: CD-ROM
• Item Quantity: 1

Rather than expecting you to know what to do with your digital photos, PhotoSuite 5 groups its tools into the main steps of capturing images, editing them, outputting photos and organising them into albums. In each of these sections you get the tools you'd expect, presented simply but with some powerful options. The red eye remover and scratch fixer are simple to use but they fix the problems without distorting the colours in the rest of the image. If you're working with several photos that you took at the same time, they tend to have similar problems: multiple photo enhance lets you apply the same changes and effects to several photos at once.

You can add effects too, such as text or fancy edges, or create calendars, cards and poster. Layers show up as a gallery of objects down the side of the screen so it's obvious what you're working with. And while the photo stitching tool doesn't let you adjust as many features as some packages, it makes the task simple and produces good results. All the tools are grouped into buttons on screen, with the choice of seeing all the options or just the most common; you hardly ever need the menus so you can easily find all the features.

As well as printing images in a variety of arrangements you can upload them to Roxio's free online photo centre; create a slideshow to save or e-mail; or save them onto Video CDs that you can view in a standard DVD player. (You get a copy of the Label Creator software from Easy CD Creator to make labels and it automatically detects the names of your files and albums.) If you're keeping a lot of photos on your PC, you can organise them into albums and when you archive an album off to CD to make more space on your disk, you can still see the thumbnails and search for photos that are safely stored on CD.

This isn't the most sophisticated image editing software you can get, but it's certainly easy to use. PhotoSuite has the features you need to make the most of your photos and share them easily without getting overwhelmed by technical options. --Mary Branscombe

Manufacturer's Description
Ensure you make the most of your move to digital with PhotoSuite 5 Platinum Edition; comprehensive photo editing without the learning curve. Effortlessly transfer photos from your digital camera, organize them in electronic albums, and share them through E-mail, print, online services or on CD. Fix all your photos using Advanced PhotoDoctor, the one-click sure cure for ailing snaps, or apply any one of a host of professional level editing tools. Get creative with PhotoSuite's project templates, and design personalized greeting cards, calendars, invitations, and one-of-a-kind collages. Use built-in burning capabilities to protect your precious memories on CD or to create VideoCDs that you can enjoy in your living room.PhotoSuite 5 Platinum makes photo editing simple and fun with automated tasks, professional-level editing tools, creative projects and Easy CD Creator burning technology all integrated into one program. Step-by-step instructions allow you to immediately begin importing, organizing, archiving, editing and sharing photos with family and friends on CD or VideoCD.

• Software > Digital Imaging > Photo Editing
• Software > Hobbies & Pastimes > Photo Editing