Welcome to the September issue of the Digital Photos 101 Newsletter.

Well it finally happened. The hard drive on my husband's one-year-old IBM desktop crashed. He was working on the computer and all was fine. He shut it down, came back an hour later, turned it on, and got a black screen that said "Data Error." Yikes!

Needless to say, this has not been a fun week. The good news was that all my Digital Photos 101 web site files were safely on my laptop, and we had backed up most of the files on the desktop, including photos, to CD. But there were some new files we needed to recover. Thanks to the help of a tech guy we found, we were able, after considerable time, to recover most of the missing files. However, some were gibberish. It could have been worse; if the majority of the files had not been backed up, we may have had to use a data recovery company, which could have cost thousands, I was told.

So the lesson here is to make sure you back up EVERYTHING. And OFTEN. After this incident, we decided to play it smart and look into dedicated backup software. We don't want to go through this again. PC Magazine has several top recommendations. One of them is Norton Ghost 9.0, which is imaging software that backs up the entire hard drive and you can do incremental backups. You can automate scheduling and do daily or nightly backups. It excels at full system restores, as well as single file and folder restores. It costs about $69. The other product they recommended is Retrospect 7.0 for Windows Professional (approx. $90), which does full system restores, single file restores and point-in-time restores. It works best in conjunction with an external USB 2.0 hard drive. You can get more details at the links I've given you. I am leaning toward Norton Ghost.

ACDSee 8.0 Photo Manager Review
Top Rated Digital Cameras
Digital Photo Service News, Sales

ACDSEE 8.0 Photo Manager - Review

ACDSee produces some terrific photo management software, and I really like ACDSee 7.0 Photo Manager. They just came out with a new version, ACDSee 8.0 Photo Manager, and they have made it even better. Plus, the price is right at $49.99. Among the new features are:

• New Quick Search Bar to find your photos faster. Just type in a word and ACDSee returns matches in image captions, author information and notes, as well as filenames, keywords, categories and folders.
  
  
• New Create Video or VCD (video compact disc) features. Create slide shows with music and watch them on your TV or PC.
  
  
• Improved CD and DVD burn features. There is a new Burn Basket that allows you to drag and drop files or or folders. You can create new folders within the Burn Basket. It estimates the amount of space you have left on the disk so you can see if you have enough room to add your current project. No third party burning tool is required.
  
  
• Additional photo editing tools: A new photo repair tool with clone and healing options fixes blemishes, flares, scratches, etc. You can now fix redeye with a single click, automatically crop your selections after custom angle rotations, access editing tools from the Viewer via a new toolbar shortcut, and choose from 27 new filters and effects.
  
  
• Add text to photos - You can add styles and special effects to the text and choose from talk and thought bubbles or straight text.
  
  
• The batch processing capability was already good. You could rename, resize, rotate and flip, and adjust exposure on a group of photos at once. Now it is even better. The Batch Set Information feature allows you to update image description caption, date/time, author, notes etc. info, and view previews of new values for any number of images all at once.
  
  
• Improved HTML albums with page layout controls make posting and sharing your photos on the Web easier.
  
  
• ACDSee has a Sync feature that allows you to synchronize folders on your PC with network folders or an external hard drive in case of local hard drive failure (a nice feature!).

You can try ACDSee 8.0 Photo Manager for free for 30 days. Click Here to download a free trial of ACDSee 8

Digital Photo Services News, Sales and Discounts

Software

Here are the current sales/promos on digital photo editing and organizing software. Note: prices are as of 9/16, they can change at any time.

Microsoft Digital Image Suite 2006 is on sale at Amazon for $87.99 with free shipping. PLUS get a $30 rebate, bringing your final cost down to $57.99. This is a great deal.

Ulead PhotoImpact 10 - photo editing software - free 30-day trial available, or purchase the software for $89.99. PhotoImpact 10 is a very good image-editing suite for photo enthusiasts who want an easy-to-use editing program with great results.

Photoshop Elements 3 is $89.99 at Amazon, plus get free shipping. Adobe Photoshop Album 2.0 is available for $44.99 with free shipping.

Corel Paint Shop Pro 9 is on sale at Amazon for $87.99, less a $30 rebate (final cost $57.99) plus free shipping. This is quite a good deal on an excellent piece of software. Paint Shop Photo Album 5 for organizing and managing your photos is cheap at only $24.99 after sale, rebate and free shipping. Note: new versions are coming out soon but these are both great programs.

Roxio PhotoSuite 7 Platinum Special offer, $29.95 versus regular price of $49.99, is still available. This is easy-to-use photo editing software to Instantly correct common photo problems. Create fun projects like calendars or holiday cards with simple point-and-click process.

Cameras & Accessories

AMAZON: You have another 10 days (thru Sep 26) to take advantage of special sale prices on digital cameras and accessories. Go to Amazon

CIRCUIT CITY: Save up to 37% on Memory Cards through Sep 18

RITZ CAMERA: Nikon D50 Digital SLR w/18-55MM Lens, Save $100

         Nikon CoolPix 8400, Now $499.99

Looking for a camera? Below are the top digital cameras as rated by PC Magazine:

• Nikon D50 6.1 Megapixel D-SLR
  Excellent picture quality and performance and good price (approx. $749-$799) for entry-level D-SLR camera.
• Canon Powershot S70 7.2 megapixel
  Excellent photos, compact and reasonably priced (approx. $470)
• Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT 8 mega pixels
  User friendly, loaded with features and a great value. Approx. $999
• Canon PowerShot SD500 Digital Elph 7.1 mega pixels
  Sleek, ultra compact, excellent image quality and a great price. Approx. $449

Digital Photo Printing Services

KODAK EASYSHARE GALLERY: Kodak EasyShare Gallery. is featuring a 20% discount on purchases through Sept 30. Use Coupon Code: GALLERYAD20.

SNAPFISH: I know I've said this before, but Snapfish remains one of the best values in digital photo printing. Prints are only 12 cents each. Quality is good, too. Get 20 free prints when you sign up (it's free). For details go to Snapfish.

SHUTTERFLY: 15% savings on orders of $10 or more, including Photo Books. And if you haven't tried out their FREE Collections feature, you ought to. It's pretty cool. You can create your own personalized web site with personalized address--and it's FREE. Go to Shutterfly for more info.

PHOTOWORKS: In a CNet.com survey, Photoworks beat 28 other online photo services in quality, scoring 7.9 out of 8.0. I have used them myself and I am very pleased with their quality. Special: Free "8x10" Enlargement with prints purchase. Coupon Code: C407-38-5113-31. Offer Ends :9/21/05. Go to PhotoWorks.com

That's it for now.

Valerie Goettsch
www.digitalphotos101.com
How to get the best from your digital camera

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