Customer Reviews

Picture It! Digital Image Pro 7 [Old Version]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This program is not meant to compete with professional-level programs like Adobe Photoshop. Instead, it is more on the level with PhotoImpact, PaintShop Pro, and Photoshop Elements.

In my mind, the strength of this product is it's ease of use. It has several "fix picture" functions which work wonders. These functions (which adjust Contrast, Light levels (for tweaking shadows and highlights), and Tint (a.k.a. White Balance)) are great for digital camara users. You can correct a whole batch of photos at once, and the results generally come out pretty good.

The feature of this product not present in the cheaper versions is the ability to "add" flash and reduce backlighting. No, the program cannot save you if the exposure was so far off that the information is simply not there, but it can correct the majority of bad lighting situations.

One of the drawbacks of using a digital camara vs. a point-and-shoot film camara is that with the film camara, the photo lab will take care of adjusting the white balance and tweaking the exposure on your prints without any input from you. This program gives you that capability for your digital prints.

Of course, it has the obligatory red-eye fixer, pointless effects, clip art, project templates, etc. Ignore all that.

One nice bonus is it includes a real paper manual, not some short installation brocure.

The user interface of this package is very friendly (much better than Photoshop Elements, PaintShop Pro, or PhotoSuite). Most of the functions are self-explanatory, and don't involve you having to have any idea what is going on behind the scenes.

I've used Microsoft Picture It! for 4+ years. It's a great program for simple image editing, making greeting cards, collages, adding text to photos, etc. Microsoft's biggest mistake with Digital Image Pro is the name because "Pro" implies this is a program for serious image editing. Not so. It should have been named Picture It! Version7.

I returned it to Microsoft for a refund. Then I evaluated trial versions of Photoshop Elements2, PhotoImpact8 and Paint Shop Pro. I bought Elements2 as the most user-friendly and feature-rich program for serious image editing.

My criteria for image editing software include: 1) Ability to handle large TIFF files, 2) Powerful selection tools, 3) Ability to adjust perspective, 4) Tools to adjust lighting, 5) Monitor and printer color management, 6) Versatility in printing photographs, and 7) Ease of use.

ABILITY TO HANDLE LARGE TIFF FILES?
Most of my digital images are scanned from 35 mm film or pictures. My film scanner runs at 2720 dpi producing images over 3800 pixels wide with a file size of 30 MB. These extremely high-resolution image files print full-page size with razor sharpness. The images can be severely cropped and still produce very sharp prints.

Digital Image Pro cannot handle these high-resolution, large image files. The software generates system errors when you send the file to the printer. Microsoft tech support said their software is not intended for use with large image files. By comparison, Photoshop Elements2, PhotoImpact8, and Paint Shop Pro handle the large files flawlessly.

POWERFUL SELECTION TOOLS?
At some point, you want to edit only a portion of the image, e.g. to change the lighting, color, focus, etc. or to add to or cut something out of the picture. The ideal image-editing program has a variety of tools for different methods of selection of part of an image e.g. by shape, color, contrast, etc. Selection tools should be intuitive, flexible, easy to use and easy to fine-tune for precision selection.

Digital Image Pro has a few primitive selection tools that work like a wizard to do the selection for you. The user cannot fine-tune the selection process. Conversely, Photoshop Elements2 has the best, most comprehensive and easiest to use selection tools in the industry. Elements2 offers a seemingly endless number of combinations and permutations of selection tool adjustments to do almost anything and all of the selection tools work together!!!

ABILITY TO ADJUST PERSPECTIVE?
Photographs with strong vertical lines such as buildings show perspective distortion when the camera lens is set to wide angle e.g. 28 mm or smaller. The image editing method to correct this problem is called "perspective transformation" to make the vertical lines parallel. Digital Image Pro does not support this kind of adjustment. Photoshop Elements2, and all the other "high end" image editing software, support perspective transformation.

TOOLS TO ADJUST LIGHTING?

Photography is all about lighting. Both Digital Image Pro and Photoshop Elements2 allow adjustments for light levels, fill flash and background lighting. But Photoshop Elements2 has an additional feature of studio lighting (Filter-Render-Lighting effects) that can add lighting to selective areas of the photo as if it had been shot in a professional studio!!!

MONITOR AND PRINTER COLOR MANAGEMENT?
Documentation with Digital Image Pro explains that software exists to calibrate the monitor and manage color so the printed picture looks like the screen. But Microsoft does not provide this software. Photoshop Elements2 includes software to calibrate the monitor (Adobe Gamma) and it manages the printer allowing the user to fine tune printer color to match the screen. You need to call or e-mail Hewlett Packard to get instructions on how to set up your printer's color profile so that Photoshop Elements2 can do the best possible job of managing color. Color management is a big deal. Microsoft only talks about it. Adobe gives us tools to fix the problem!!!

VERSATILITY IN PRINTING PHOTOGRAPHS?
Historically, Microsoft Picture It! had an advantage over "higher end" image software in terms of ease of printing individual or multiple pictures. Digital Image Pro added some new features to layout pictures for printing. With Photoshop Elements2, Adobe has caught up with Microsoft and bettered them with a new feature. Elements2 allows the user to create custom print layouts. This allows you to print multiple, different size photos on a page for consistent appearance in your photo album. See page 88 of the Elements2 manual.

EASE OF USE?
Entry-level software like Picture It! has been easy to use. "Higher end" programs like Adobe Photoshop have been very difficult to use. Digital Image Pro is a bit more difficult than Picture It! and it doesn't add much in the way of more power. However, Adobe has finally gotten it right!!! Photoshop Elements2 is remarkably easy to use with "Quick Fix" and "Recipes" and it is more intuitive than Digital Image Pro. Based on my criteria for serious image editing software, Photoshop Elements2 offers the best combination of power and ease of use.

BOTTOM LINE?
Digital Image Pro is entry-level image editing software with a misleading name. It should have been called Picture It Version7. It's OK for simple editing tasks. If your image editing requires power to handle large files, precise selection of part of the image, perspective distortion correction, serious lighting editing, color management of the monitor and printer, printing multiple pictures, you need a "higher end" image-editing program. From what I seen, Photoshop Elements2 is the best available for this need.

I just got this title and think it's great! I really like the new UI - much more like an Office-type application than in years past. It's much quicker to find the features I'm looking for and to make edits to my photos than with other graphics software. The UI also gives me more space to work with my photo rather than cluttering up my screen with navigation. The new file browser along with the mini lab (batch editing) make working with pictures from my digital camera much faster. It also comes with some free plug-in filters from Alien Skin in addition to all of the Picture It filters. Picture It Digital Image Pro includes some new options for adusting lighting manually and automatically. You can even adjust shadows, midtones, & highlights by hand and use the "dodge and burn brush" to make adjustments. The included design templates for cards, calendars, etc are very useful.

I went ahead and purchased it after seeing one review saying it has most of the technical capabilities of Adobe Photoshop at a much cheaper price. But I am an owner of the old PictureIt 2000 and I have always hated that product and still do. So, it was a pleasant surprise when the PictureIt Digital Image Pro7 turned out to be easy to use & learn with intuitive menus. The features like rinkle or cracked photo removal/fill are easy to learn. You do not need to do pixel by pixel manual photo edits. It also prints flawlessly to duplexed printers unlike my American Greetings Card, Platinum7.

This program is so easy to use. If I were to only have one program to use, this would be it. The red eye reduction and the flash work great. There is also so many filters like watercolor and chalk. You also have alot of project templates to choose from...cards, calendars, etc. Emailing your pictures is simple and you can print in any size. Awesome program. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a program to work with their digital camera.

I just bought this program, because I never have liked adobe and Picture it programs are so easy to use. It makes everything so simple. This software is great for Beginers.

I picked this up a few weeks ago. It looked like a solid photo product. I quickly realized it was a nice package for anyone that has a digital camera or scanner and basic knowledge of pull down menu programs. It has nice basic tools but for [amount] I found it lacking when compared to many free and lower priced tools. It is also missing key tools which would have made it up to four or five stars. I recommend this to adult beginners who want to add some spice to photos. If you are looking for a tool to do advanced photo work, this is not the one for you.

Its intuitive and very easy to use, without the steep learning curve of a Photoshop. It has a TON of pre-built templates to give your pictures even more bang. Its an amazing piece of software.

The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars, was that the ability to draw/create on your own was a little tricky and was missing some features. Although it was not built for things like this, it would have been relatively nice (since many competitors offer similar features).

Nonetheless I'm being picky. This is a GREAT program and I recommend it highly (better than Photoshop Elements).

I have been using picture it since version 2.0. It is very easy to use and has an excellent interface. The interface has improved. I hated the 2001 updated interface so much I did not upgrade to 2002. This interface is so much better than the 2001 interface. I have had some issues trying to print my older .mix files. Had to save them as .jpg. Otherwise my system would just lockup. I recommend this product, it is well worth the money.

I have loved all the Picture It products and have gotten each upgrade. I thought this one, I guess based on price, would be even more fantastic. I still haven't found anything special, other than more graphics and layouts, to justify "upgrading" to this version vs. the Picture It Publishing Platinum. I'm disappointed. (I would give Picture It in general a 5. It's great for making photos into watercolors, etc.)