Photo Editing Options

The digital revolution hasn't just changed the way we take our pictures; it's turned us all into digital darkroom technicians.

Most camera makers provide free photo editing software with their cameras. With this software, you perform a few basic editing functions, like rotating and cropping images, “erasing” redeye and adjusting brightness and contrast. This software more than meets the needs of many casual snapshooters.

For some, though, the ability to edit and enhance their images opens up new creative horizons. They want more tools than what's provided with most free photo editing software. If you're one of these photographers, there are many options at reasonable prices. Corel Paintshop Pro, Ulead PhotoImpact, Nova's Photo Explosion and Microsoft Digital Image Suite 2006 are among a number of photo software products priced under $100.

Apple Macintosh owners can use iPhoto, part of Apple's iLife 6 software suite. The latest version of iPhoto has enhanced and new tools, giving it a pretty good feature set. Considering that it comes bundled with apple's iMovie (video editing), iDVD (DVD creation), iWeb (Web authoring) and Garage Band (music creation).