A Colossal Combo - Picasa and Photo Story 3

After last weeks’ "cataloguing" hiatus we’re back to Day 5 or because your adopted novice took so long to organize their photos - week 5 of helping your adopted novice become computer literate.

Once they have completed organizing their photos in My Pictures or Pictures, I suggest it’s time for you to provide a demonstration of what I consider to be the best "free" photo cataloguing and editing program.

And of course that would be Google’s, Picasa.

Normally I only provide a program’s Web site and suggest a visit to it for a complete list of features. But because I believe anyone interested in beginning a "free" photo cataloguing, editing and production adventure should first try Picasa, by listing a few of its significant features I’m going to attempt to entice you to suggest to your adopted novice they download it.
Picasa:
* Instantly locates and organizes (catalogues) all pictures on your computer by date.

You can:
* Move and re-name pictures.
* Make an album.
* Keep one picture in multiple albums.
* Use Picasa’s basic editing features to enhance your photos.
* Write captions that stay with the picture.
* Zoom, Pan and Tilt photos.
* Fine-tune photos with Picasa's EXIF display.
* Share your photos via email.
* Automatically resize and attach pictures to email messages.
* Place pictures on your own Web site.
* Make slide shows and collages.
* Print custom sized photos at home or order prints and books from online companies.
* Export pictures to popular photo processing Web sites.
* Back up your photos to CD’s and DVD’s.
* Turn your photos into a movie.
* Make a personalized desktop picture or screen saver.
* Create a poster up to 1,000% larger than the original.

I hope this list of features will encourage your adopted novice to at least visit Picasa’s Web site.
And if they’re interested in a "free" user friendly, minimum learning curve slide show program, I recommend Microsoft’s Photo Story 3.

I guarantee after one or two tries even the most novice Good Booter can create a quality slide show.

And if they want to burn their slide show to a DVD, for only 29.95 (and I believe it’s currently on sale for 19.95) they can purchase and download "Sonic DVD for Photo Story 3 for Windows" at: http://estore.sonic.com/enu/photostory/default.asp. It installs directly into Photo Story.

The combination of Picasa and Photo Story 3 will provide a user friendly way for your adopted novice to begin a digital photo adventure.

Here’s wishing you a Good Boot.