 One
of the biggest assets of Digital
Image Suite 2006
is its simple interface, which makes it easy for beginners,
yet it is still powerful enough for more advanced users. For
instance, you have fewer steps to go through to straighten
and crop an image than you do in Photoshop Elements 3.0 (and
I still think highly of Photoshop Elements, but it does have
a steeper learning curve).
Here is what is new and improved in Digital
Image Suite 2006
versus the last version, Digital
Image Suite 10:
- The Library has added support for hierarchical
labels and keywords. Earlier versions let you group images
by date or event, label them (i.e. Christmas), and a five-star
rating system. Now you can add sub labels, such as "Hawaii
Summer 2005" and "Disneyland Spring 2005"
under "Vacations" and organize the keywords themselves.
You can also flag images for things like "need editing,"
"need to print," etc.
- In thumbnail view, there is a new mouse-over
view that offers a larger preview of an image along with
image info such as date and keywords, all without opening
the image in a new window.
- New Sharing Disc feature lets you burn
a photo slide show disc. There is a wizard to walk you through
it. You select the images and choose a recordable DVD/CD
drive.
- Microsoft's Photo Story 3.1 is included.
This excellent video slide-show utility has motion and music
effects that gives you over 50 photo transitions, or types,
that you can preview for any specific photos. The inclusion
of Photo Story is a real plus and it is a step up from the
video utility that comes with Photoshop Elements.
- Support for RAW image formats. Unfortunately
it's only for Nikon and Canon cameras.
- Ability to download images to a mobile
device such as a Pocket PC or portable media center.
Not much has changed with the editing side,
although Microsoft has improved the panorama stitching and
the new intuitive cropping feature automatically suggests
a cropping rectangle. You have the option to move it or edit
it or to use the regular cropping tool.
Bottom line: Digital
Image Suite 2006
shines in its organizing and sharing features. Photoshop Elements
still leads in the image editing department. However, Digital
Image Suite 2006 is a very good overall software package that
combines excellent organizational features with good editing
tools. It is well designed with an easy interface that beginners,
especially, will be happy with. Rating: .
WHERE TO FIND IT:
You can buy Digital Image
Suite 2006 at Amazon
or
NothingButSoftware.com
Note: You can read our earlier review of
Digital Image Suite 10 here.
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