How to Choose a Photo-Editing Program

With a photo-editing program, you can "fix" or change images acquired from a scanner, digital camera, or the Internet and print them, import them into another document, post them on a Web page and use them for desktop backgrounds.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Photo-editing Programs

1. Check reviews in computer magazines and on the Internet to narrow your choices.

2. Buy Adobe Photoshop if you need a professional program.

3. Look for a program that can directly import images from a scanner or digital camera.

4. See what a program's automatic image-correction feature will do.

5. Make sure the program can crop, resize, flip and rotate images.

6. Compare color adjustment capabilities of programs. You should be able to adjust contrast, brightness, sharpness, hues and color-saturation levels; change a color; and convert color to black-and-white or grayscale.

7. Compare artistic tools for painting, drawing and erasing, if you will use them.

8. See whether the program allows you to insert additional text and graphics.

9. Compare the quantity and quality of included templates, projects, and special effects "filters" if you will use them.

10. Look for basic desktop-publishing capabilities, such as the capability of printing multiple pictures on the same page, if you will use these capabilities.

11. See whether the program lets you preview changes and whether the preview is in a small box or done on the original image.

12. Compare export and output options. You should be able to save a photo in several graphics formats.

13. Compare the ease of using the various programs available.

Tips & Warnings

• Basic programs are often bundled with scanners and digital cameras.

• Complex, professional programs, such as Adobe Photoshop, are immensely powerful but are also difficult to use and expensive. If you're just going to be scanning photographs of your children and cleaning them up for a Web site, you're better off with a cheaper, simpler program.

• Make sure your computer meets the system requirements of any program you download or buy.