If you take a lot of pictures or are getting ready for an event (like a wedding or a holiday party) where you'll want lots of good photos to put in your family album, you'll want to learn more about cheap and easy-to-use photo editing software. Here are some programmes you might want to look into if you want to edit photos or graphics.
Virieu has a free, easy-to-use photo editing programme that works with most computers. With the programme, you can add captions to your pictures, "frame" your portraits digitally, and use the fade and shade features to turn your photos into backgrounds for your screen or to send in an email. The programmes will also show you how to darken or lighten parts of the picture so that you can get rid of some things in the photo. The editing software comes with a free 21-day trial, after which the service costs $29.00.
You can also try out a wide range of editing tools on www.reallusion.com. These tools will make any picture you take look professional and impressive. You can use the muscle-based facial enhancement feature to "fix" the faces of the people you take pictures of, making the pictures look better.
The company also makes the Effect 3D Studio, which is a programme for editing and designing graphics that lets anyone, no matter how skilled they are, make animated graphics. You can also buy a programme called CrazyTalk, which lets you make animated characters that talk for PowerPoint and DVD presentations. Most computers can download the programmes (Windows 98 or later is usually good enough), and you can try out the products before you buy them.
You'll need a digital camera to take pictures if you want to be able to download, edit, and save them on your computer. Digital cameras from Canon and Olympus are great. They are easy to use and take good pictures that you can save on your computer. You might also want to get a book or two with more basic information about photo editing software so you can figure out which programmes are the easiest to use and cheapest. You can also find new and used photo editing programmes like Instant Photo Editor on websites like www.amazon.com. These programmes come with full CD-ROM instructions on how to make sure you always edit great photos.
