Microsoft Offers Photo Mastery with Digital Image Suite 9 Combined Image Editing and Organization Eric Grevstad
Mon 8/4/03 -- Digital photographers need to both touch up and keep track of all the images they capture, so both Adobe's Photoshop and Jasc Software's Paint Shop Pro brands appear on both image-editing and -organizing programs. But Microsoft has merged the two into a single digital imaging software package: the new Digital Image Suite 9 ($129) combines Microsoft Digital Image Library 9 and Microsoft Digital Image Pro 9 into a comprehensive and flexible photo solution.
The library half of the package offers an Import Pictures Wizard that detects import devices automatically and renames and deletes photos on acquisition; Virtual Views for quick finding, sorting, and subsorting of images; Photo Story Lite to combine edited images, motion, text, and even voice narration into a video that can be burned onto CD-R or sent via e-mail; and advanced organizational tools including a 5-Star Rating System, Find Similar Photos, and Keyword Painter.
The suite's image-editing tools range from Smart Erase, which helps automatically remove unwanted objects, to a Blending Brush that copies textures from one part of an image to another. Sophisticated multiple selection tools and Gaussian blurs simplify special effects, while Straighten Picture and Unsharp Mask functions fix photos that are slightly skewed or out of focus. A Rule of Thirds function applies visually pleasing proportions to yield well-balanced photos.
Digital Image Suite 9 also comes with over 5,000 images, 200 filters, and a variety of mats, frames, and templates for projects such as scrapbooks, photo albums, calendars, and postcards. A link to MSN Photos lets users order photo reprints and gifts, while both $30 version/competitive upgrade and $30 digital-camera-purchase-rebate coupons and other special offers are included.
