Affordable image editors - Software Review - Evaluation

Home Office Computing, April, 2000 by Scott May, Susan Glinert

We test six packages designed to make your photos sing

IMAGE IS EVERYTHING. SO, NOT SURPRISINGLY, image editing software is one of the hottest tickets in the small-business market. After all, no business wants dated black-and-white text or images adorning its documents and Web pages.

Once the exclusive domain of artists and photographers, image editing packages are now targeting home office workers by offering professional studio features at lower prices. Falling prices for high-resolution digital cameras, color scanners, and ink-jet printers are also helping make visual creativity affordable and fun.

When shopping for image editing software, you'll want to make sure it includes media that mimic real-world pen and brush tips, line and shape tools, gradient and texture fills, and clone brushes. Must-have features for advanced business users include masking tools, object layering functions, and special-effects filters.

If you enlist the services of a professional printer, you'll also need software capable of color separation. You'll find most packages are Web-friendly, allowing you to e-mail pictures and port images to your Web page using a wide variety of file formats, including JPEG, GIF, BMP, TIF, and HTML.

We tested six Windows packages priced near or below $100. We favored business-oriented products--choosing Microsoft's PhotoDraw 2000 over its consumer-friendly Picture It 2000, and Adobe Photoshop LE over that firm's PhotoDeluxe Home Edition and its unchanged-for-two-years PhotoDeluxe Business Edition.

Five of our six contenders interface directly with popular digital cameras and scanners. We evaluated the programs using an Olympus D-340R digital camera, Mustek 1200 III EP flatbed scanner, and Lexmark Z51 ink-jet printer, relying (like most graphics dabblers) on mouse input rather than a pressure-sensitive graphics tablet.

Adobe Photoshop LE

Given Adobe's stellar reputation for image editing, we were surprised that we couldn't warm up to Photoshop LE. The package offers considerable power, including Layers, image acquisition from scanners and digital cameras, and excellent color correction and editing tools.

Missing in action, however, are decent Web graphics support; high-end color-selection and -correction functions; and recognition of color beyond RGB and grayscale. The result is that Photoshop LE isn't the best investment for PC and Mac businesses hoping to Leverage the Web or print for less time and money.

Photoshop LE does offer all the basic editing functions of its rivals, and the images we manipulated Looked professional. But users new to Photoshop or to image editing in general won't be happy with the program's complicated interface and steep [earning curve.

Advanced users will be impressed with the ability to juggle up to 99 image and text Layers and 95 effects filters, to say nothing of LE's support for plug-ins and an easy upgrade path to the full-fledged version of Photoshop. Unfortunately, Photoshop LE offers neither the ease of use nor breadth of output options that most home office users need.

(A) Lots of power; upgrade path

(B) As hard to learn as Photoshop

Corel Photo-Paint 9 Digital Camera Edition

For a program priced under the $100 mark, Corel Photo-Paint 9 Digital Camera Edition is an unexpected powerhouse. The package shares many top-of-the-line features with its more expensive sibling, Corel Photo-Paint 9, but is much easier to use.

The program's interface Layout is exceptional: We opened and positioned every available toolbar onscreen, yet were still able to use one of the Largest image editing areas we've seen. Photo-Paint's user manual is woefully thin--consisting mainly of thumbnails for the multitude of bundled fonts, photos, and cup art--but its online tutor and "Guide to Digital Photography" booklet are first-class.

We enjoyed Photo-Paint's impressive selection of painting tools and natural media brushes, including raster-based tools, photo-image sprayers, texture and bitmap fills, and some of the most versatile masking tools we encountered. Although the program doesn't support Photoshop-style third-party plug-ins, the built-in ensemble of 200-plus special effects is more than adequate for most needs.

Buyers will also get their money's worth: Bundled bonus programs include Corel Photo Slide Show, Corel Capture 9, Corel Texture 9, a digital camera interface, Canto Cumulus Desktop LE 4, and Extensis Intellihance Pro.

Corel Photo-Paint 9 Digital Camera Edition tackles any small-business need, both online and in print. Suitable for a wide range of skill Levels, it's an image editor you won't soon outgrow.

(A) Inexpensive; easy to use; Large workspace

(B) No support for third-party plug-ins; this user manual

Microsoft PhotoDraw 2000 v.2

Though suitable for virtually any type of imaging project, Microsoft PhotoDraw 2000 v.2 is designed for business users. It integrates seamlessly with other members of the Office 2000 family, and contains dozens of professionally designed project templates that can be modified to fit the needs of your business. These include logos, Web buttons and banners, flyers, online and print ads, cards, Letterheads, and presentation elements. For Web page and presentation designers, PhotoDraw is a nice partner to Microsoft's FrontPage and PowerPoint, respectively.