Image Editing Software

The software you use to process and edit pictures in the digital darkroom can set your creative spirit free. Photo programs let you fix badly snapped pictures from your digital camera - adjust color balance, brightness, contrast, image turning etc. - or optimize them for use on the Internet. And you can use photo editors to crop and resize images.

But the real fun begins when you start to play with your pictures. Some packages let you apply special-effects filters - mini-programs that automatically change an image or a selected part of the image. Filters can make your picture look like a painting, a poster, a mosaic; they can make it blurry; they can make everything look as if it was being blown away. Applying groups of filters can create really far-out effects.

Photo editing programs let you put pictures or parts of pictures together to create collages or you can create greeting cards or calendars. And you can create Forrest Gump-style special effects by merging parts of two images - switching backgrounds, putting a human face on an animal body, or putting your face on a body in a famous picture.

Have you always wanted to visit the pyramids? No sweat. Photo editing software won't turn you into an artist, but it does make it easy to perform tricks and create effects that were at one time the domain of professionals only. Ah, but which photo editor to buy? While the substantive differences sometimes aren't that big, they all have a different look and feel. The best bet is to go around to computer stores and try a few out. Prices start at about $80, but if you're serious about digital photography and have lots of spare cash, you could splurge on PhotoShop ($900) from Adobe Systems

PhotoShop is the standard tool for professionals. It has everything you'll ever need - comprehensive controls for adjusting color and tone, precise tools for selecting parts of images and a fabulous array of special effects. There are also hundreds of innovative third-party plug-ins and effects available that can be used with PhotoShop. But PhotoShop is overkill for most amateurs. It includes features you'll never use and costs more than products designed especially for the average consumer.

PhotoImpact ($170) from Ulead Systems is an excellent middle-of-the-road option and my own photo editor of choice. It's modeled on PhotoShop and has almost as many features and functions. The latest version (4.0) comes with a complete range of tools that allows the user to process images for the Internet and applies special effects, including additional natural painting effects, artist textures and type effects. PhotoImpact would be a good choice for a fairly serious hobbyist or a graduate from another consumer product.

The consumer products, designed for casual users, include PhotoDeluxe ($100) from Adobe, Microsoft's PictureIt ($95), PhotoSuite ($85) from MGI Software and Kai's Photo Soap ($95), a slick new product from MetaTools Inc. (www.metatools.com), makers of Kai's PowerGoo ($95).