Digital Photographer's Software Guide - Bertemes - Net

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The Digital Photographer's Software Guide
Comments
PhotoELF is not aimed specifically at the scrapbooking market. Far from it: the vendor
mentions possible use by insurance and real estate agents. Yet it has most of the facilities
that scrapbookers demand, apart from clipart (which is readily available elsewhere).
Reasonably priced, it offers image adjustment as well as editing, while being strongly
oriented towards output with its multiple print options. If you are tired of decorating
your work with cute rabbits, PhotoELF can conjure up a slick layout in no time at all.
Version: PhotoELF 4.0 (2008)
OS: Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, and Vista
RAM: 32MB
Supported file formats: Saves to 60 formats; views 17 formats: BMP, CLP, CUR, EMF, FPX,
ICO, IFF, JPEG, PCT, PCX, PNG, PSD, RAS, SGI, TGA, TIFF, and WMF
Price level: CD version approx. $40
Address: Landofcom Software, 17845 211th Ave., Big Lake, MN 55309, United States
www.photoelf.com
PhotoMix
Vendor: fCoder Group
Purpose: Digital scrapbook and collages software, with monthly add-ins
Description
PhotoMix lets you take either scanned photos or images direct from a digital camera
and then create scrapbooks and collages using themed “graphic kits” or templates. When
completed you can print the pages on glossy paper or surround them with virtual frames
and add them to your digital scrapbook collection.
Creation of scrapbook pages with PhotoMix is a simple drag-and-drop affair. You can
zoom into any of the images, add text and graphics, and finally email, print, or store
the result. The vendor makes great play of the program’s simplicity, saying that the learning
curve is “not a curve but rather a short straight line.”
There are both free and commercial add-ins (additional graphics kits), with seasonal
and special interest themes. They include a military add-in designed especially “for military
people and patriots.” There are also dozens of Amy Teets designs of a general nature
with titles like “Sophisticated,” “Extraordinary,” “Showdown,” and “Sublime.”
Comments
Attractive templates, easy operation, plenty of updated graphics, and useful tutorials
help to make PhotoMix an above-average, even classy, scrapbooking option. It lacks proper
photo-editing tools, but maybe editing is a task that is best done in a specialist program.