Amazon.com Product Description

Microsoft Picture It! Photo Premium has the tools to retrieve photos from nearly any digital image source, and features advanced editing and special effects tools that let you create great photo projects. Use it with photos from just about anywhere--from a digital camera, CD, scanner, hard drive, or MSN Photos. The step-by-step movies and wizards show how to edit images and create all kinds of photo projects. You can then catalog the photos and projects in the gallery, letting you find them quickly later using the search feature and visual preview.

Use tools to fix photos and turn them into works of art. Correct several photos at once in the Mini Lab with the easy-to-use editing features. Use automatic correction tools to remove red eye, erase wrinkles and blemishes, and restore treasured photos. Cut out and combine objects from separate pictures. Add text or special effects, and choose from a wide variety of frames and borders. When they are finished, print out the photos, order professional prints, publish them to the Web, or use templates to turn them into projects such as calendars, greeting cards, magazine covers, and more.

Show off photos and projects online at MSN Photos for free. Access them virtually any time from anywhere in the world. Friends and family can view them online, print them out using their own printers, and order professional reprints of their favorites. You can even order great personalized gifts such as photo cubes and framed prints. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Pass this one up!
This software prevents the downloading of your digital pictures to your desk top. I found this extremely annoying. Apprently, this program only lets you download intial photos into the program which locks you into " Picture It ". If you need to keep your photos into a seperate desktop file, you would be in a distinct disadvantage. On the positive side, it is extremely easy to format 8X10's in this program.

Nice software, but hits your system hard.
I purchased Picture It Photo Premium 2002 for my wife along with the Canon S110 for Christmas. She really enjoys each of these gifts, but is somewhat dissatisfied with the software performance. To be forthcoming, my wife's computer has an Intel PII-700 processor and runs 128MB RAM. I know that this is no graphics work station, but considering that this is consumer grade software, I might have expected better results from it.

On the plus side, this software does some excellent things, easily, like:

-Prints proof sheets
-Easily removes red eye
-Helps you to setup your printer for special paper

In all, I think that this is great software, but would probably run much better on the new Pentium 4 machines.

SOOOO Frustrating
I am so frustrated with this product!!! I have spent approximately 6 hours today to get this **** software to print a photo on a card...it is barely acceptable and it was so hard to get it to that point. Very little instruction/advice assuming that there is a better way to do this. I am looking for another product to do some simple photo publishing.

DO NOT BUY THIS SOFTWARE
This program is very slow (so slow that any serious photo applications are un-doable). If you just want to print your photo with a fancy border around it or print a calendar it is OK. But do not try to print multiple photos to a sheet - you can easly spend more than an hour to accomplish it. The program acts as if it is the boss of the world - for example it makes it very difficult to do something as simple as shutting it down when you are tired of waiting and want to quit in frustration). It is useless for anything but the simplest printing of photos.

Not Even Close To Adobe Elements
I used Microsoft Picture It for 2 years, and recently purchased Adobe Photoshop Elements. There's no comparison! I wish I had switched to Elements a long time ago. Picture It downfalls include:

- Poor quality JPG images

- A memory leak that that caused the Picture-It to slow down with each file save, with the delay becoming several minutes after about 5 file saves.

- Painfully slow when displaying thumbnail images when choosing a new file.

I purchased Adobe Elements for about ... a month ago. What a difference! The program loads files faster, performs modifications faster, has many more special effects filters, and doesn't slow down with each file save. Thank you, Adobe! Good bye, Microsoft! ... Read more

Features

• Powerful photo-editing tools; easy to use
• New color management and exposure tools
• Improved fix red-eye tool; new panoramic stitching
• Share photo creations; e-mail, order prints online, or print out
• Designer templates for cards, calendars, and more

Features

• Smart and simple digital camera software
• Download photos from camera with just two clicks
• Easy-to-use tools for organizing and touch ups
• Automatically back-up photos on CD
• Share photos in 13 fun different ways

Amazon.com Product Description

Adobe PhotoDeluxe 2.0 offers a fast and easy way to modify and personalize your photos. It performs a variety of tasks, including red-eye removal and shadow dropping. Smudging and cloning are popular digital tools that feature an easy-to-use interface. Import your photographs from disks, scanners, or digital cameras with seamless ease. PhotoDeluxe was designed with both the novice and professional photo editor in mind. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

PS
I just wanted to add that a lot of the reviews in this section are for different software! Versions of photodeluxe 2.0 are different for PC's and Mac's!! The Mac's version 2.0 is comparable to photodeluxe 4.0 for PC, which is known to have a lot of "bugs" in it. Version 2.0 for PC is a much better version than 4.0...don't fix what is not broken!! So, please if you are a PC user thinking about purchasing version 2.0, ignore the comments about the Mac version as they do not apply to you. :o)

SO user friendly
Adobe has been perfecting their software for way over a decade, so no wonder they're so high quality and easy to use.

Like their high end [...] software, this title uses a very easy and functional layering system.

I use it, not only for photos, but for illustration and graphics purposes, too. Just scan your line drawing in and, like a coloring book, fill in the white areas with color or textures. It comes with a bunch of cool effects buttons, so you can then add those as well.

It crashes sometimes, but usually only when using the "advanced" buttons and bogging your RAM down with a ton of effects and commands. Just be sure to get in the universally good habit of saving often, and there won't be much of a problem.

I actually prefer version 2 to version 4 because of a more user friendly interface, but don't try to run version 2 on WinXP.

Not compatible with OS9!
Please. If you have Mac OS9 beware! My Mac freezes every time I try to use this software and I have spent hours trying to resolve the problem. Be sure to review the user group entries on Adobe's website before buying this software! You will find many frustrated OS9 users and no solutions. GOTO ...(their website). Enter search and enter "PhotoDeluxe OS9."

PC User
Never thought I would be good at making minor changes to family photos until I tried this product. Easy to learn, easy to use. Now my whole family uses this product.

Troublesome
I have found PhotoDeluxe to be very cumbersome. Many of the features are hard to use if you're a novice. PhotoDeluxe for Dummies was helpful and explained quite a bit but why should you have to spend money on a guidebook? Also, changing the print setup leads to constant crashing (Windows 98). I have plenty of free disk space and available RAM so I don't think this is the reason. I'd say spend a bit more for a BMW and stay away from this Chevrolet. ... Read more

Features

• Capture, organize, edit, and share digital photos
• Quickly import photos from a digital camera
• Media Manager automatically organizes images
• Instantly correct common photo problems; advanced editing tools
• Produce dynamic slide shows; preserve to CD or DVD

Features

• Award-winning CorelDRAW: graphics and page layout software
• Corel Photobook and PhotoAlbum make photo retouching, organizing, and editing easy
• Lynda.com training CD helps you discover design tips, tricks, and techniques
• Quick Start Manager: quickly and easily access applications, start special projects, and organize files
• 100,000 clipart images; 250+ templates; 500+ TrueType fonts and symbols

Reviews (1)

Doesn't work for me!
This program was recommmended to me. I purchased a computer controlled engraving system. I was told to purchase
Essentials to convert art to vectors so my machine could read and engrave it. The "improved" and "updated" program cannot do this. I am very disappointed in it, as the previous version was not available. Since the vector capability was not part of the "improved" version, the whole progarm is useless for my purpose. ... Read more

Features

• Capture Control for hard-wired remote operation
• Capture Editor for image processing of NEF, JPEG, TIFF formats
• New dust-delete technology
• New image-enhancement technology
• New Fish-eye rectilinear technology

Features

• Complete image-editing suite for beginners and advanced users
• Streamlined interface for common tasks; easy to learn and use
• High-end tools for retouching, montages, painting, drawing, and Web graphics
• Includes Ulead Photo Explorer 8.5, GIF Animator 5.0, COOL 360, and more
• Plus 2,000 stock images, 4 plugin filters, and 1,000 Hemera stock photos

Features

• Transfer digital images onto CD or DVD
• Import almost any format of image, movie, or sound
• Easy storyboard mode
• 24-bit image editing with 40 effects
• Integrated media library included

Features

• Improved file management, new design possibilities, and a more intuitive way to create for the Web
• Support for 16-bit images, digital camera raw data, and non-square pixels
• Create or modify photos using painting, drawing, and retouching tools
• Customized workspace; save personalized workspace and tool settings; create customized shortcuts
• Unparalleled efficiency--automate production tasks with built-in or customized scripts

Reviews (2)

Adobe makes a great product
This is a very nice, relatively smooth upgrade, I haven't had any major issues. The new filters pallette is very nice to work with - it saves a good amount of time allowing you to apply mulitple transformations within one window.

The isues that I have had:

- it does crash in XP when using the right mouse click to "open file with"...it works much better if the program is opened first and then the file is opened ...I haven't upgraded my Mac yet, so I'm not sure if the situation with be the same on the OSX platform.

- this is very minor but the pixel aspect ratio is set for video when I open a Bitmap-TIFF ...it's a file type that the computer somehow sees as a preview for video, but it's a simple fix - just change the pixel aspect ration view back to square ...I must admit the first time it happened and my image loaded looking all squished, I got that curious dog look on my face, cocked my head to the side wondering "what the heck is this?"

- Some of my files which are 250MB working in 7.0 seem to be exploding to 400MB in CS... this is something which I haven't been able to trace or figure out just yet, but it does cause significant problems for working speed ...I only have 1.3GB of RAM which is fine for a 250MB drawing but not sufficient for a 400MB drawing. I'll have to delve deeper into the software to see if I can figure this one out.

Overall, it seems like a fine upgrade, but as with most upgrades there are some issues/surprises when you make the switch.

Great Upgrade for Digital Photographers
Adobe's newest release of Photoshop, is great news for digital photographers amongst others. This version now brings 16-bit suport to Photoshop. That means that we can now work with RAW camera files with full support of most Photoshop tools. The changes are more behind the scenes than they are cosmetic. Being able to customize your own keyboard shortcuts is a big timesafer. You can't go wrong with this upgrade! ... Read more

Features

• An integrated design environment featuring the industry's foremost design tools
• In-depth tips, expert tricks, and comprehensive design resources
• Intuitive file finding, smooth workflow, and common interface and toolset
• Single installer--control what you install and when you install it
• Cross-media publishing--create content for both print and the Web

Reviews (10)

Designers Need the Apps and the Price is Good
Everything is in here. All of the design apps are on two installer CDs. Any designer -- whether web or print -- has at least a few of the applications in this suite. You only need to decide if the price is right, and if your current upgrades would make the purchase worthwhile.

Buying this suite is the equivalent of a corporate employee owning Microsoft Office. Adobe's name now equals design software. Knowing Adobe's product line is simply required knowledge. Print houses will accept and produce your files without problems, and multiplatform file transfer can be completed with minimum processing time.

For me, I was using a dated version of Illustrator, PageMaker 6.5, Photoshop Elements. The additional programs and new versions of what I had made the purchase a no-brainer. I also primarily use Dreamweaver, but learning GoLive will help me as I meet with clients. Outside of InDesign and GoLive, every application here is the industry standard, and those two programs are strongly coming into their own.

To explain the virtues of each individual application is not necessary. You know the benefits of Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat, and GoLive. InDesign might be new to some of the veterans, but it is beyond a replacement for the inferior PageMaker, and is a force of its own.

With the quality increase of InDesign, designers are now able to choose something besides Quark for their page layout application. Including InDesign here made the purchase for me easy. I have no reason now to piecemeal together my software base.

Each application has all of the features that they have when independently purchased.

I fully recommend "Adobe Creative Suites Premium." Designers need these apps, and so your decision is only about price and value.

Anthony Trendl

Great product - with extras!
Another fine product from Adobe. In addition to the four main software programs packaged together in the Creative Suite Premium edition (Photoshop CS, Illustrator CS, In Design CS, and GoLive CS) it also includes Adobe Acrobat Professional edition 6.0 and Version Cue. Version Cue is a library management program that can keep track of versions and allows users sharing files to check them in and out - and it's FREE. Thanks, Adobe!

BEWARE OF THIS PRODUCT
I have spent 9 hours in 2 days on the phone with Dell to try to install this piece of s**t. Version Cue will not install nor will photo shop. No 800 number for support from Adobe. Paid for call and recieved many voice ads for products and was told if I need support call at 'top of the hour'. Dell says the problem is in the installer. Adobe Foroums have pointed to the same but no suggestion has worked. Guess I will work on amazon to try to return it for a full refund, it was shipped defective.

BE AFRAID! BE VERY AFRAID!
Windows XP users beware! You'll need lots of bug killer with this supposed "upgrade" - especially the GoLive module.

Speaking as a long time user of Adobe software (Photoshop since version 3.0) this is the most bloated and unstable iteration ever. The added goodies in Photoshop CS would be great, if my (quite adequate) Dell Workstation didn't freeze up every other minute.

Most annoying of all is a screen redraw problem most visible in GoLive CS; a problem that makes GoLive essentially unusable. If you plan to use GoLive - most especially if you have an NVidia graphics card - visit Adobe.com and look through the GoLive User Forum BEFORE you buy the CS version. LOTS of good reading there.

Adobe has (reluctantly) admitted the screen redraw problem to be a "bug" that they are "working" on... but jeez! Wouldn't that bug have been far better stomped on BEFORE Adobe CS was released onto loyal, trusting Adobe users??

To sum it up - BUYER BEWARE! Check out the Adobe Forums before you shell out your hard earned for Adobe CS, because that's where you'll get the real truth about real-world use. Download the trial version of CS if you can - maybe it will run for you... but if not, no money lost.

For now, I'm thinking it's back to my previous versions so I can at least get some work done. In fact, it's so bad - I'm beginning to consider getting a MAC! Aaaargh!!!!

I'm Lovin It
I have had the new Adobe Suite for a few weeks now and I am lovin it. I have been onboard since version 4.0 and I must say that the CS upgrade of Photoshop is the most signifigant ever. I use the RAW plug in with my digital Photos now, more then anything else. RAW and 16 bit editing have changed my workflow forever. The LEns Blur filter, the Photo filters, and the awesome filter gallery are extremly useful too. I do not use Illustrator much, I think that I will use it even less now that Photoshop can type on a path, but I did play with the new 3D tool, it is pretty cool and I can't wait to implement it into my designs. I have no opinion of InDesign, I haven't had the need to use it yet. What I have read about it is that the CS version is the final nail in the coffin for Quark. Go Live is great, I appreciate the Smart Objects, and Adobe has finally cleaned up the code that Go Live writes. At first Iwas peeved that they took out Dynamic editing, but I am okay with it now. I use it side by side with my old copy of Dreamweaver so I can get the best of both worlds. Go Live is more designer friendly.
Version Cue is another can't live without addition. All of the sudden, I am organized. Well I could go on forever about why I love the new suite, Adobe did a great job with this one. If you are a designer or student buy this suite, chances are you are already planning too. ... Read more

Features

• Improved file management, new design possibilities, and a more intuitive way to create for the Web
• Support for 16-bit images, digital camera raw data, and non-square pixels
• Create or modify photos using painting, drawing, and retouching tools
• Customized workspace; save personalized workspace and tool settings; create customized shortcuts
• Unparalleled efficiency--automate production tasks with built-in or customized scripts

Reviews (1)

Photographer's Point of View and Adobe Photoshop CS
It's all about control. Now you have the photo editing control power in your hands with Adobe Photoshop CS.

Raw format allows photographers greater latitude in how they want their pictures to appear. Open the camera raw image files. Next, quickly apply adjustments such as exposure compensation or tonal adjustments without compressing the image or losing any of the original image data.

Shoot photos in your digital camera's raw format when image quality is the most important factor. Raw format saves all related image data with no in-camera processing.

Photoshop CS allows photographers to:

Control their raw camera images

View live histograms as they work

Create lens blur effects

Simulate photo filter effects

Easily correct exposure problems

Quickly replace color

Automatically crop and straighten photos and Create Adobe Photoshop CS panoramas

The 'Inner Core' of Adobe Photoshop CS

Most of my Photoshop CS work is done in the Browser. I single-click the photos that I need for my Photoshop CS project. Now I have a group of highlighted photos that can be used in the Browser's Automated menu.

The inner core of the Photoshop CS Browser's Automated menu contains: Batch, PDF Presentation, Contact Sheet II and Online Services. Also, Automated menu contains Photomerge, Picture Package and Web Photo Gallery. Running these automated menu tasks from the File Browser saves me a lot of time. I can avoid opening each photo file separately in Photoshop CS.

The Photoshop CS Browser has Sort capabilities that contains the Filename, Flag, Rank, Width and Height. Also, Sort capabilities that contains File Size, Resolution, File Type and Color Profile. Finally, the Photoshop Browser's Sort contains Date Created, Date Modified, Copyright and Custom. You can sort them in ascending or descending order.

Photoshop CS Photomerge and PDF Presentations

In Photomerge, I can make a collage of photos and move them in any order. Also, I can take several sections photos of a large bridge using a tripod. I then take the section photos and join them together with Photoshop CS' Photomerge. I still have to edit the new Photomerge photo for length, size and contrast.

In PDF Presentation, I can turn my photos into Acrobat PDFs and stitch them together. The fun is turning my new creation into a slideshow with various transitions. The PDF Presentation is cross-platform that can be used on a Mac and Windows computers.

The 'Outer Core' of Adobe Photoshop CS

The epiphany moment for me was using Adobe Photoshop Toolbar's one-key letter shortcuts. During an SIG (Special Interest Group) meeting on how to use Adobe Photoshop, the SIG teacher showed the club members the basic one-key letter shortcuts.

Keyboard Commands

The one-key letter shortcuts that I use quite often is M for Marquee, V for Moving objects, T for Text,  I for Eyedropper and C for Crop. There is a multitude of Toolbox one-key letter shortcuts that you can use or change.

Toolbox uses the Shift bar to get to related tools on the same pop-out menu. For example, to cycle through the Lasso, Polygonal Lasso, and Magnetic Lasso tools, hold down Shift bar and keep pressing "L" key.

Change Keyboard Commands in Photoshop CS

This means that missing Photoshop CS Menu keyboard commands can now be added. For example, I am constantly making changes to my images by changing the photos' contrast and brightness.

Now without using the computer mouse, I use the Command, Control, and C keys in unison. Like a piano chord, I can now change the contrast and brightness in my digital photographs. I use Command, Control, and letter keys for adding keyboard commands. This works well within the menus and plugin filters that I use in Photoshop CS.

Pro Reaction

Photoshop CS offers flexibility and nondestructive editing. Photoshop's Welcome screen and improved Help ease the learning curve for new users. The Help menu is changeable. I find Photoshop CS' Help menu an excellent way to learn the various functions of Photoshop program. Photoshop CS comes with a paper, hardcopy paper manual.

Con Reaction

You have to read and work with hardcopy paper manual. Photoshop CS is not compatible with older Mac OS. Photoshop CS requires Mac OS X 10.2.4 or greater.

Final Words

Photoshop is the industry standard for professional photo editing, graphic design, and digital imaging. Adobe Photoshop is considered the industry standard. Photoshop skills are required for employment in the graphic design field. 

Digital photographers will benefit from Adobe Photoshop with its strong digital-camera raw workflow. Adobe Photoshop is made for Jaguar (Mac OS 10.2) and Panther (Mac OS 10.3). ... Read more

Amazon.com

Affordable feature-rich software is a rare thing; even when it surfaces,it's perceived as something incapable of yielding professional results.Micrografx Picture Publisher 8.0 proves this perception wrong by providing acomplete tool set for image editing at a cost that's far below that of thecompetition.

In addition to the usual assortment of filters, selection tools, and maskingtools that commonly are found in all bitmap editors, Picture Publisher 8.0features several integrated tools for the Web designer. A built-in GIF animationtool allows for easy painting or editing on each frame of a GIF, and a paletteoptimization tool helps reduce the size of a Web graphic without having to sacrificequality.

A favorite tool--worth the cost of the entire program--is an interactive patternmaker. Making seamless tiles for Web graphics, 2-D graphics, or as a decal for3-D graphics is sometimes difficult, but this tool allows you to view the tiledpattern in a larger window, while a smaller window contains the source tile thatis being edited. Updates in the larger window occur automatically as changes aremade to the small tile.

There are drawbacks to using Picture Publisher 8.0. For example, while it can domany of the things that Adobe Photoshop--the industry standard--can do, it isnot Photoshop. While this isn't a problem for someone who needs a good tool forimage editing and graphics, it might be a problem for someone who hopes to usethe tool in a large shop. Some shops don't like to spend time or money ontraining; and, if you don't use what they use, you're out of luck.

However, Picture Publisher 8.0 is an economical alternative to higher-pricedgraphics software. It is a rich, full-featured package that meets the needs ofthe vast majority of Windows graphics designers. Built-in file-formatcompatibility with Adobe Photoshop means that compatibility is a minor issue,and its ability to use Photoshop plug-ins provides a means of expansion. PicturePublisher 8.0 is indeed a worthwhile, affordable, and alternative image-editingapplication. --Mike Caputo ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Best graphic program I've ever used
I started with Picture Publisher when a condensed version came with a hand held scanner I purchased several years ago. (I believe it was version 2) Since then I have had version 4, 8, 9, and now 10. Every time I knew of an upgrade, I ordered the newer version. I have used Print Shop Pro, ulead: Picture It, Irfan View, and several other well known products, but have always came back to Picture Publisher. I am so very sorry that they have sold to another company. Now, to get the same comparable product will cost quite a bit more then PicPub did. And I'm sure they won't work a bit better. It's the best I've ever used for fixing photos, and also the best for optimizing for the internet. Best all around product you can buy. Money no object.

~~Janice Maye

Great for image editing...
This is really nice for editing pictures for websites and such, but the web page wizards refuse to work for me saying that I need to insert CD 2 and when I do it still won't work. The button maker creates buttons that are way to large for use on any webpage, but all in all I am very happy with it. I have turned out some very nice edited JPG's and I am glad I spent the money for it.

Best Graphics/Photo Software for the Price or at any price
This is THE software to have if you are an beginning or intermediate designer without the time or patience to scale the steep learning curve of Adobe or Corel. I have used this software to create custom graphics..it has amazing effects, and the more you play with it, the more you can do. It's also an excellent medium for digital retouching. I have gotten so good with PP8 that I now have my own online retouching business. I would recommend this for anyone who likes to play with color, texture, and learn on their own.

This is how software should be in a perfect world!
I have several image-editing programs including Adobe, but this one is the one I use the most! It is easy to use, fast, and does it all for unbelievably little money. Makes great web pictures and backgrounds. Does everything from 3-channel brightness and contrast control to saturation and color separation. Resizing is a breeze which makes E-mailing pictures fast and easy! Mask, cut, paste are excellent too.

Very Powerful and Very Fast. Excellent Piece of Software!
I have used many image editing programs and Micrografix Picture Publisher is easily the best. You do need to spend some time to learn how to use it but it is well worth it. You have at your fingertips a lot of power to manipulate your images by using special effects and masks. You also can create objects out of images and put several objects together to make complex multi layered images. Picture Publisher also has a great and easy to use interface for resizing and color enhancing your pictures. It has a detailed history of recent manipulations so you can easily undo your last several steps. One of the best things about the program is it is very fast. It performs very high powered enhacements faster than any other imaging editing program I have used. With this program you get almost all the power of Photoshop at a fraction of the price. It is one of my favorite pieces of software that I own. ... Read more

Features

• The ultimate software collection for digital photographers
• Includes Paint Shop: Pro 8, Photo Album 4, and Xtras
• Edit and enhance images like a pro
• Import and organize photos effortlessly
• Preserve and share memories with ease

Reviews (4)

PSP Power Suite
This is a great product! My only complaint is that the Photo Album version is not the most current. I downloaded a trial version which was V.5 but with my software got v. 4... There are some major differences between the two (with v.5 being better). I am disappointed that I now am going to have to spend another $50.00 to get the upgrade!

Problems Installing, but a great program!
The 60 day Trial version of Paint Shop Pro 8 came with my new Dell. I LOVED the program. The Paint Shope Power Suite, with the (...) rebate is a great deal! The program takes a bit to get used to since there are so many things you can do. We are having fun just checking out how creative we can get. Not to mention how well it can enhance photos with little effort on my part. I am not a real avid photographer, so I cannot comment on the real technical aspects of the program.

The suite comes with Photo Alubum 4 and that is a great program for organizing your photos. It is also very easy to use. The extras - Creative edition 1 & 2 add lots of additional frames, tubes etc to your options in being creative. It also comes with a useful book on Digital photography. I found the book interesting and informative, yet easy to read and understand. The manuals are also relatively easy to understand, although I have not used them extensively at this point.

Now for the installation...not easy at all! I continued to get error message 1311 that said that the installation program could not find d:/PSP/data1.cab. Since it was after 5 CST(I work until 5 CST!), I was unable to get a hold of Tech (which, by the way is NOT a toll free call!) so checked out the JASC website of FAQ's and did not find this error there. My last resort was to e-mail tech. I reseived a response 3 days later telling me I could try to used a different CD drive, if I had one (Which I did, but had already tried that!). If that didn't work I could copy the files to my desk top and try a desktoip install (actually, I had that figured out by the time I got the e-mail from them.) Their instructions were very complete on how to copy from the CD to the desktop and to do the install. This worked...but since it seemed that this was not an uncommon issue, It should have been on the FAQ site. Not much is worse than not even being able to install a program....it leaves you wondering what else will go wrong!

All in All a great program, but lacking in support (at least for installation) and ease of the install.

I love PSP!!!!
I own Paint shop 7 and love it. I takes a little effort to learn to use it well but once you know what you can do with this software and learn how to get about to do it, the results are incredible. I downloaded the trial version for both PSP 8 and PSP photo album 4 and absolutely love them both. One thing I like of PSP 8 over PSP 7 is that all the windows that you open to enhance the photo that show the before and after can be displayed on full screen, so you can look closely at what are you doing. PSP photo album is a great photo organizer and you can use it to burn photos directly to CD, or sent them by email. Amazon has a great price also, you also get Paint shop xtras with tons of pictures tubes, frames, masks, etc., to embellish your picures. And all programs are full versions!!! This ia a great bargain, if you buy them separately it would cost you more.
You have to give this software a try.

Great photo editor!!!
When I was told that this product was a great product for editing photos, I was a little leary. After all, I had been using Microsoft Picture-It 98 for quite a while (and was loaded on 3 different computers). I had recently bought an updated Picture-It and absolutely hated it. I had to find something else. After all, I have stacks and stacks of family photos, some dating back before 1900--and I wanted to be able to digitalize them, fix them if needed, and be able to put them on CD to save them for future generations of the family. Genealogy--who knew??!!! I took a genealogy class online, and one of the classmates had talked me into trying this product. Well, once I got the hang of it, all I can say is that it's GREAT!!! It has done wonders to the stacks of deteriorating family photos! Sometimes, I can't believe my eyes--they're so good! I say "well done, Jasc, for a product that is really unbelievably good!" ... Read more

Features

• An integrated design environment featuring the industry's foremost design tools
• In-depth tips, expert tricks, and comprehensive design resources
• Intuitive file finding, smooth workflow, and common interface and toolset
• Single installer--control what you install and when you install it
• Cross-media publishing--create content for both print and the Web

Reviews (4)

Don't forget to factor in manuals to the final price.
I grew up on Adobe products. They used to include great manuals and tutorials. Now I have paid more and received less. I am trying to learn how to use GoLive but the online manual doesn't make a whole lot of sense. How come a printed manual isn't included? Oh, I have to pay more for it? How come I seem to be paying for printing costs then? Customer support? To get real help I'll have to pay for it. I used Adobe Premiere for Mac but that product got abandoned. I will not buy another Adobe product until they either give more or charge less. If you are getting started with web design I would suggest going somewhere else. That being said... Illustrator and Photoshop are both still great products and the upgrades were easy for me to understand (probably because the last versions I had included a printed manual and tutorials). Let's face it, if it wasn't for OS X, I would have just stuck to the older versions of Photoshop, Illustrator, and PageMaker and bought Dreamweaver instead. Photoshop CS - Classroom in a Book = $45. Illustrator CS - Classroom in a Book = $31.50. GoLive CS - Classroom in a Book = $45. InDesign - Classroom in a Book = $45. Acrobat Pro - Classroom in a Book = $45. $211.50 in manuals right there. Its a good product but it keeps on costing you in time and money.

Excellent design software
No software is perfect, but Adobe comes as close to well designed, intuitive, user-friendly software as I have ever seen. Photoshop and Illustrator have always been the industry standards, and here they are both improved - particularly the digital photographer will be happy with the new photo filters in Photoshop CS, and the much improved file browser and the new filter gallery are also excellent additions. As far as publishing programs are concerned, InDesign is a greatly more intuitive program than Quark at a fraction of its cost, and because its pallets function much the same as in Photoshop and Illustrator, it is an easily acquired program if you are familiar with Adobe software.

I use these programs on a Mac OS X platform and for me they are very stable. I have had none of the crashing problems or tech support difficulties that another reviewer of the Adobe Creative Suite has had. For anyone using many design programs at once, enough RAM is always a requirement for smooth operation. But if you have enough RAM and a Mac platform, you should have no significant problems at all. PCs crash more by their nature because their operating system is not as stable as a Mac's, but still Adobe products are not only more intuitive than Microsoft's (for example), they also will crash far less on a PC than most other types of software (like Microsoft's).

Photoshop and Illustrator have always defined the state of the art for photo editing and raster graphic software respectively, and here Adobe is carrying on the tradition. InDesign looks as though it is fast replacing Quark in the publishing industry as well, so if you are a creative professional you will be more than happy in the end to own the Adobe Creative Suite. What else would you use?

i used to like adobe...
...then i needed to contact their technical support because illustrator crashes when you try to label layers. they go out of their way to make it as difficult as possible. no email support. instead you have to ring an area code 206 number and wait until some overworked undertrained person tells you to reinstall the product or the operating system... very helpful. just like their software.

i'll look elsewhere the next time i look for an illustration package or a graphics editor. and i won't even bother discussing their inept page layout program.

glad I got it
I just bought it off of AMazon a week ago (which is the lowest price for the full version I have been able to find so far) and IM glad I did. For new people to the software, you may wanna stay with your older version for a bit and just get used to it before shelling out the money, but if your serious about design and making your workflow work to the max for you, this new collection is a must. Tight integration and the help of the version Cue additional file managment software will help even the messiest designer keep thier files inline. If design is what you want to do, then theres no better package to get. Ive been using Photoshop for years and Illustrator and Indesign for a while now and this is defenitly an inovation in design.
I gave it 4 stars due to small problems I had installing the whole suite at once. I have never had the problem with anything else and it was frustrating. But after that its smooth saling. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

While most digital cameras include some basic photo editing software,users often discover that they need something a bit more robust. Jasc AfterShot: Premium Edition caters to this audience, as it offers basic uploading,editing, and sharing capabilities without requiring a time-consuming tutorial orcomplicated instruction manual.

After installing After Shot, you can decide whether to take the QuickTour orjust dive right in and start working. We choose the latter, as the QuickTourrequires the Shockwave player, which we didn't feel like downloading. Evenwithout any introduction, we were quickly able to access our images with asingle click on the camera icon. After Shot offers easy-to-use options fororganizing your images, including photo-album-creation capabilities. You canalso sort your images by name, date, and size.

When it comes to actually editing your images, After Shot offers all the basics,including cropping, rotating, and color and sharpness adjustment. There's also aQuick Fix option, which automatically adjusts the brightness and color balanceof any or all of your images. The only real issue we had with the editingportion of the product was the following: to remove red eye, you simply click onthe Red Eye icon and then run your mouse over the red eye you wish to reduce.When we tried this on a friend's very red pair of blue eyes, we kept getting themessage "Unable to detect enough red in the region you clicked on." However, wewere able to accomplish this same goal by using the Red Eye Brush, which onlyadded another step or two to our editing project.

When it comes to sharing your edited images, After Shot again gives you all thebasic tools--support for online print services, Web templates for creating HTMLfiles and uploading photos, tools for creating screen savers and wallpapers withyour photos, etc. You can also create QuickTime movies with your photo album,which simply requires installing QuickTime 5 if you don't already have it.

If time is short and quality is important, After Shot: Premium Edition is anaffordable, easy-to-use, and extremely user-friendly companion to any digitalcamera. --Gisele Toueg ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Tried it didn't like it
Love JASC products. This one I did not. I am now trying their Photo Album 4.0 on trail dowload. Much better product. can do more things with it than After Shot. Better camera support. Adding music sound track to a slide show is a couple mouse clicks. And can change soundtrack in a couple more mouse clicks. If you dowload the trial ver to use free for 30 days and wish to buy. They offer you a ... dicount on it. Boxed set on CD with manual only [money]. Photo Album is the lastest ver of After Shot. If you want to upgrade from it to Photo Album 4.0 they want [money]. Buy the photo Album 4.0 instead. More powerful and easy to use.

If I can do it, you can do it
I am computer illiterate and after a brief overview of the user friendly manual, I was creating photo albums in minutes. I have become an admirer of Jasc software. You may also want to try Paint Shop Pro 7, even us ignorant beginners can enjoy it!

Don't spend too much
This is available at the JASC website for $...boxed and delivered With free shipping($...downloaded). Pretty good software

Reviews can be confusing - this product is great
I like to read reviews before I buy a product, but they can be confusing. Some love a product and some hate it. This product might appear to simple to some, but easy panoramas and easy, yet great, web pages should be very valuable to the average user. Those with limited time can create great results.

I definitely agree with the earlier reviewer. The ability to select pictures in a folder and in two clicks have them in a fabulous webpage with novel controls, backgrounds and sized for efficient use on the web is worth the cost of the product.

The range of control over prints is the best I've seen. Better than my photo elements 2.0 picture package, by far

The red eye, crop etc. are the normal tools without complex features with long learning curves. I use Photo Elements 2 or Paint shop pro where they are the best tool for the job. I use this product where it is the best for the job.

This product delivers everything it says it will on the box and more than I expected. Well this was one of those positive reviews, I hope it is a help to some of you.

So simple its pathetic
This program works like Microsoft photo editor, so why bother buying it. I will certainly try to get a refund. I wish there was a ZERO star. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Usable by the beginner, but packed with plenty of higher-end featuresfor the expert, Ulead's PhotoImpact 6.0 delivers an impressive image editingtool with excellent support for Internet graphics. Whether you want to editphotos and put them online or create original Web graphics and animations, thiseconomically priced package offers an appealing mix of power, with an interfacethat's truly easy to use.

As a standard image editor, PhotoImpact offers an impressive range ofcapabilities. You'll get a good range of drawing tools and photo retouchingabilities. The tool excels in letting you add digital effects to scannedcontent. In testing, we were able to handle basic photo retouching easily, aswell as experiment with a wide range of graphics special effects and filters. We liked the support for creating text effects here, a must for Web pagegraphics. (The product bundles with hooks to Digimarc's digital watermarking soyou can add watermarks in your image files before distributing over theInternet.)

Get control of prepackaged artwork using the convenient style gallery feature,which makes it easy to preview and make use of the bundled photos, clipart, andtextures in your own creations. Generally, we found the interface here to beeasy to use, with many basic features conveniently placed for beginners, andplenty of advanced functionality to explore for expert users willing to go alittle further.

When it comes to the Internet, this new release of PhotoImpact really shines. First, the product lets you create custom Web graphics (like original graphicsbuttons) easily. You can optimize the size of Web graphics for faster downloads,and the support here for creating GIF animations is good. When you are satisfiedwith your artwork, the product makes it a cinch to export it to HTML. A wizardoffers the ability to create virtual photo albums and slideshows with just aclick of the mouse, a feature that will be appreciated by the more casual user. We also liked the product's ability to import existing Web pages. (The productcan read over 30 types of graphics files, making it a flexible performer.)

In all, PhotoImpact 6.0 is a well-designed graphics software package that willlet most anyone be productive with photos and original graphics on the Internet. --Rich Dragan ... Read more

Reviews (30)

The only graphics program you need
While not as powerful or complete as PhotoPaint or Photoshop, PhotoImpact does just about everything a user could want in a graphics program. It covers the basics such as scanning and downloading pictures from a digital camera (there are even separate buttons for the scanner and camera, no constant reselecting of the TWAIN drivers) and automatic and manual post-processing and retouching of the images. There are great tools for creating images from scratch and some dynamite special effects that really work. All of this is done in a simple and approachable user interface. The manual covers just about everything and includes lots of illustrations.
While I prefer PhotoPaint for certain operations, I will always go to PhotoImpact first because it is so nice to use.
Unless you are a graphics professional, this is the only program of its type you are likely to need.

The best bang for your money for part-time computer artists
If you want a complete art set-up for your computer, I'd recommend the Adobe package but Photo Impact 6.0 is the best bargain out there for those that do not need extended options. It's surprising how many features this software has considering it's low price (compared to other art programs).

If you're willing to stick with .GIF animation and would like user-friendly help on graphics, this program is the best bet for you. The special effects options are creative and save you time and effort. I haven't had any crashing problems and I've owned it for half a year. When I first downloaded the software, my Windows software was missing a file needed for Ulead, and the support team sent me the file the day after my support email which makes me think that the customer support is efficient enough for any problems you might encounter.

Quick and dependable
I started out with V4.2, so I'm pretty used to navigating through the editing process quickly. I'm much faster with it than in Photoshop, BTW. Nothing much has changed, just some improvements with the web design part of it. I use it strictly for photography. It's fast, the undo arrow is right above your work and goes back I think 6-7 steps if you don't like what you did. It's a dependable, solid program that'll still be useful in years to come. Maybe Win XP has something to do with it, but I can't complain about XP either.

A really solid product
I have been using PhotoImpact for several months and it is a lot of fun to use. With all the options that this product has, there is going to be a real learning curve, but don't let that put you off, keep the manuel handy and play with it. The selection tools are great and so are the touch up tools. I've used it to touch up and modify many pictures and most of the special effects allow you to get quite expressive. Some of the special effects, however are a little gemicky and of little practicle use, at least from my standpoint.

Things that one might want to get with this? One is a pressure sensitive pad with a stylus to take full advantage of it's retouching capabilities. You will also need a powerful CPU, I'd say at least a gig, and plenty of memory. Remember, graphics can take up a lot of space, so a large hard drive is nice too.

If you use it, you'll love it. If you love it, you'll want to update to the lates version.

Doug Lester

Biggest Bang for the Buck
I really hate to spend a lot of money for anything and I shope around. I bought this product because I thought it had the best features for the price. I wanted to make sure it had a gif animator and it did.

I will have to admit that this product is definitely not for novices and there is a learning curve. I would think this product is of professional grade. There are some great home edition products for novices like the photo editors that come bundled when you purchase a digital camera or when you buy digital prints on a CD, etc.

We had a pile of pictures taken through the years of our children and I wanted to make a collage out of them. I scanned the pictures in and created a 20 X 30 collage out of them using this product. I uploaded the collage to Ofoto (Amazon's Photo site - the best I found!!) and had a 20 X 30 print made out of it. It came out just great!!

If you're patient and willing to learn the concepts of this product than it is great and the sky is the limit of what you can do with it. You'll never use all features of this product.

I am only giving it fours stars just to draw attention to my review to say that it is a complex product. I am sure that people who gave low marks really did not want to take the time to read the manual and/or understand the concepts. ... Read more

Features

• Calibrate your monitor in easy-to-follow steps
• All-digital, 7-filter colorimeter; works with both CRT and LCD monitors
• Calibrate monitor to selected tone response and color temperature
• Create an ICC profile of the monitor in its calibrated state
• Designed for novice users; requires no startup time or user training

Reviews (2)

Questionable Color
First and foremost you need to know my background. I'm an Illustrator and I've been working with color and images a very long time. I'm also extremely adept at computers having my A+, Network+, MCSE, MCSA and CCNA certifications. I've always relied on Adobe Gammma to do the job but my Dell 5100 Laptop needed a lot of help.

Ok, so I've been trying to get my color calibrated correctly for a while now. The main problem has been my Dell 5100 Laptop showing colors a tad bit too dark. So I went out and bought this Spyder with PhotoCal software.

Installation was a breeze. The software booted up great onto Windows Xp Pro and Home and it instantly recognized the Colorimeter tool (the plastic attachment that measures the color on your screen).

The calibration is only Wizard-based (which kinda sucked). It guides you step-by-step with the following questions...
1) Is this a CRT or LCD
2) Would you like 1.8 or 2.2 Gamma?
3) Would you like 5000 or 6500 color temperature.
4) Can you adjust the color settings? Yes, No and Presets are options.

If you select No, then it starts the calibration immediately by scanning all gradations of RGB, White, Black and Grey.

If you select Yes, then it quickly scans normal RGB and then asks you to adjust the colors through your monitor until they all meet inside a thin rectangular box (I thought the calibrator was supposed to do this!). Once you calilbrate your own monitor, it starts running through all the gradations of RGB, White Grey and Black as mentioned above.

Finally...it asks you to save your ICC profile and it creates a nifty Startup program similar to Adobe Gamma that boots with Windows.

First was my 19" Dell 1901FP LCD monitor. The love of my life. Color on this monitor is quite nice but I decided to give it a go and test it out anyways. I deleted Adobe Gamma from my startup folder and away we went.

Once done, I was somewhat happy. The white, however, seemed rather blueish. All the other colors seemed ok. I was semi-content and moved on to my notebook. This was trickier since I can't adjust color settings and I had to completely rely on the Spyder to do the job. It finished and looked semi-decent. So being in a hurry I packed everything away and left to work.

At work...things got bad quick. I booted up my Dell 5100 Laptop and immediately noticed the colors were quite dark. As a matter of fact, my gamma was screwed. I was looking at a picture of some black Rollerblades I was selling on eBay and I couldn't differentiate the blacks from the midtones. It was just a congestion of really dark mids and highlight.

So I did some research and found out I was supposed to calibrate without any ambient light sources. This was buried in the PhotoCal CD and was never mentioned in the Wizard. At the time I had daylight and tungsten lights (Reveal lightbulbs) so I guessed that's what I did wrong. So tonight, in complete and total darkness I once again calibrated both the LCD and Notebook monitor and I achieved the same results. The notebook was deathly dark and although the colors were much better off, I simply couldn't adjust the gamma. The whites on the Dell 1901FP 19" display were still blue-toned.

This product did not calibrate my Notebook as promised and it left my LCD's colors questionable. In my line of work, there can't be any questions. This product is going back.

Yes, you do need this, and it works
If the image on your monitor doesn't match what comes out of the printer, this gizmo will fix the problem. It works with both CRTs and LCD's. It takes 15 minutes and when youre done the monitor will use a custom profile that sets the mix of red, green and blue correctly, along with the brightness. You have to know in advance what kind of controls your monitor has -- no color controls -- common on laptops, or user-set RGB and color temperature controls. But the insructions tell you how to find out, and the product works with either type. Hint #1: To see the monitor controls and the calibration pattern simultaneuously, open the PhotoCal software, drag it over to one side of the screen and then open the monitor controls and drag them over to the other side. #2: Re-run the calibration after you adjust the monitor to check the results -- the software doesn't cycle back by itself. ... Read more

Features

• Acquire, organize, view and manage your images faster than ever
• Use the Curves tool to correct exposure
• Examine your images in their original RAW formats -- supports RAW files from Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm, Olympus, Kodak and Minolta
• Copy photo files to CD/DVD instantly with the Create Disc Wizard
• Optimize your workflow using the Context Sensitive Toolbar