Microsoft Digital Image Suite 9

With the growing popularity of digital photography there's never been a wider choice of imaging software to make more of your pictures. Digital Image Suite 9 is the latest edition of Microsoft's premium photo manipulation package. As well as offering new tools and filters, the program is easier to use than its predecessor and includes image management as well as improved editing facilities.

The installation process is about as painless as we've come to expect from Microsoft - a simple, self-explanatory procedure eventually leads to the program's friendly interface. Instead of traditional toolbars, as seen in packages like Photoshop, Digital Image Suite offers a task pane with context-sensitive menus and icon-driven commands. While this system is certainly logical, it may ultimately prove to be as irritating to experienced users as it is helpful to the novice.

Where Digital Image Suite really excels is in providing easy auto-correction at the click of a few buttons, simplifying what can be complex procedures in rival packages. Where Photoshop users may have to rely on substantial training or an extensive manual, Digital Image Suite allows even novice users to quickly retouch and rearrange images. Standard fare such as red-eye correction sits alongside more advanced tools to aid in areas such as the removal of wrinkles, spots and other skin blemishes.

Also noteworthy is the new Smart Erase function. This provides the ability to quickly remove any unwanted elements from photos. Strangers, foreground and background objects and other distractions can be erased without leaving an unsightly piece of blank canvas. Instead, Digital Image Suite automatically fills in the gaps using a surprisingly accurate method of pixel blending and selection, which, for the most part, removes all traces of the deleted object.

Alongside these tools there is also an assortment of manual photo correction features. These include the ability to adjust the levels of colour using a histogram - with separate controls for shadows, midtones and highlights. Also, a new Unsharp mask filter allows users to improve the quality of their pictures by increasing the contrast along the edge of details in a photo. These features, along with batch file operations that enable repetitive manipulation of multiple images, make common photo-editing tasks quick and easy.

One of the most interesting additions provided by Digital Image Suite 9 is the software's image archiving capability. Microsoft claims users will be able to locate any image in a collection of thousands in around 10 seconds. Although this is ambitious, we found the package performed well in this respect. The Digital Image Library boasts some of the most useful organising and archiving functions we've seen.

The package will record information to help with photo browsing, including the date a picture was taken, its file and image size, and the folder (or external media) where the image is stored. Also, custom picture information can be attached to each photo - including keywords, captions, and a five-star rating. In practice, this proved extremely useful and avid photographers will find it indispensable.

There's also a range of output options. Naturally, images can be saved in a variety of popular formats, but Microsoft has also included a means of saving images for email by specifying maximum file and picture sizes. This is particularly handy bearing in mind the space limitations imposed by many email service providers.

Elsewhere, by including Photo Story Lite, Microsoft has provided the facility to create photo presentations in wmv or Video CD format. Not only can you create dynamic photo albums consisting of pictures, voice audio and a soundtrack, but you can also highlight interesting areas within each photo as it is displayed - allowing for a far richer and varied presentation.

While Digital Image Suite doesn't purport to be as versatile and powerful as dedicated packages such as Photoshop, it does provide the kind of features normally associated with programs costing hundreds of pounds more. Additionally, the image archiving capabilities are arguably worth the price of the software alone.

Contact: Microsoft 0870 601 0100
www.microsoft.com/uk

Specifications:

• 700MHz processor
• Windows 98, ME, 2000 or XP
• 256MB of Ram (512MB or higher recommended)
• 400MB hard disk space
• 4x CD-Rom drive or higher
• SVGA monitor (800 x 600, 16bit colour or better)
• 1MB video Ram