Master Windows Vista's picture gallery

Edit and manipulate
If you are unhappy with the quality of a photo, you can use Photo Gallery to fix it. To do this, click on the picture you wish to edit and then the Fix icon found in the top menu bar. This will enlarge the picture and bring up a right-hand menu bar with buttons to rotate, crop, resize, enhance the colours of your original photo and remove the red-eye effect often caused by camera flash. Hold the mouse pointer over each button and a panel pops up explaining what each tool can be used for.

To adjust a poorly lit photograph, click the Adjust Exposure button. This will display a menu with two slider bars to adjust brightness and contrast. Once you’re happy with the changes, click the tick on the top of the box. If you make a mistake, use the Undo button at the bottom of the screen to go back to the original.

Once you have organised and edited your them you can burn photos to a disc. This is a good idea if you want to send them to friends or if you need to free up space on your PC. It’s also a good backup option in case your computer fails in future. Click on the Burn option, found in the top menu bar, which will display a separate menu box asking you to insert a CD or DVD disc. After inserting a disc follow the burning wizard, which will take you through the process in four simple steps.

Picture perfect
Burning photos to a CD is great for sending many images by post, but most of us like to see our photos as proper paper prints. Photo Gallery can help with this, too. Click on the photo you wish to print and then on the Print icon on the top menu bar. A wizard will guide you through the process of printing using your own printer, if you have one, or the software can help you order prints directly from services such as Truprint, Bonusprint and Colorama.

It may take a little time importing your photos into Photo Gallery, but once they’re added you’ll find it easy to find, print or burn them to CD. So don’t let your photos hide on your hard disk ­ – make the most of them.

What about XP?
Windows XP doesn’t include Photo Gallery, but there is something similar: Windows Live Photo Gallery, which is free to download. This program lets you tag, rate and edit your photos in the same way. To get this program go to the Windows Live website and click on the Get it Now button and then on the Download button.

Once the software has been installed you’ll find the program in the Windows Live Folder on your Start Menu.

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