Free Programs Help Make The Most Of Digital Photos

These days it's getting harder and harder to find good freeware programs to do some of the most common tasks for many computer users.

One of the areas where there continues to be an abundance of good free programs, however, is in the area of digital photo processing.

One of the first things to check your computer for is to see what photo programs may have been included with the preload of your PC. In many cases, useful programs have been loaded by the manufacturer that are not trialware like so many other PC offerings.

The second place to look is at the programs that came with your digital camera. Again, in many cases, there are solid programs that are included as a part of the software included with most digital cameras.

A third source of excellent programs for digital photography that you may already own are those included with flatbed scanners, or with the very common all-in-one printer/copier/scanner combination units.

Once you've looked for those items, the Web is a great source for more free programs that can be used to process and catalog digital photographs. Here are some worth checking out:

Picasa – This freeware program from Google is one of the most useful and easy to use photo cataloging and processing tools out there. And while it's photo precessing tools are limited in number, they are some of the easiest and most useful ones most home photographers will need.

Although there are plenty of photo album programs out there, Picasa is one of the most useful of any of finding all the pictures on your computer, cataloging them by folder and date, and then presenting thumbnails of a size useful enough to be readily visible.

Once the program has done its initial cataloging, every time you open it it scans your computer again and adds new pictures as they are available. Unlike a lot of other album programs, Picasa doesn't show many computer program-related pictures that are included by the thousands on most computers.

If you think your computer has an image on it that you can no longer find, install Picasa and if it exists, Picasa will dig it out. Picasa also finds most common movie formats and presents a thumbnail of their opening frame as well.

Picasa's photo processing effects include basic exposure controls, film effects, and a very useful fill light feature.

Picasa can also create quick slideshow movie files small enough to e-mail that will play through almost any video player. You can download the program at www.picasa.com.

Another useful free photo program is Serif PhotoPlus 6.0. The program features an interface similar to older versions of the famous Adobe Photoshop program.

An upgraded version of the program can be had for an additional $10. Either can be downloaded at www.serif.com.

A third useful free program is the long-available IrfanView. This program offers a simple user interface for common photo editing features, but also contains many more powerful tools for the photographic pro. Find it at most major Web download sites or via www.irfanview.com.

Finally, for those who really want to get into heavy image editing, GIMP is a free Open Source image editing program that will do almost anything possible with a digital image. You can get the latest version of GIMP with an easy Windows installer via www.majorgeeks.com.

Tom Meek is a computer and media consultant working with businesses and individuals on high-tech needs. Another Day In Cyberville is published weekly in print and online via The Gainesville Voice, a weekly publication of The New York Times Regional Newspaper Group. You can reach Tom Meek at adayincyberville@gmail.com.