Corel Snapfire Plus [Ignite Photo Fun]

List Price: $39.99 Discount Price: $3.45

Features:

• Offers image-editing, photo-management tools, and creative photo-project templates that help you import, edit, and share your images
• Integrates with the powerful image editing and organization features of Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo XI
• Integrated Photo Doctor removes the guesswork from image correction by analyzing images and recommending changes
• Creative photo project templates are designed to inspire you to do more with your photos
• Included Corel Photo Downloader automatically downloads photos whenever you plug a camera or card reader into your computer

Accessories:

PC World

Customer Reviews:

Not quite matching up to Picasa 2 [Posted on 2006-11-11]
I have evaluated only the free version of Snapfire, which is pretty polished and seems to work ok for me (I didn't run into bugs), but runs pretty slow on my laptop. I find Picasa 2 and Adobe Photoshop Album to be more full featured. Both run better on my PC, and are easy to use. Picasa 2 is free, and I'm leaning that way. PC Magazine has a good set of reviews of these software packages, so that's a good place to look to learn more.

Good for the Basics [Posted on 2006-12-20]
If you want to get the digital photos out of your camera and out in email, this is a good place to start. Snapfire puts the basic functions where you can find them and makes them relatively easy to understand. It helps if you understand pixel dimensions, but it isn't required.

The first thing you need to do is to see how big your photo will be when displayed on the computer screen of the email recipient. Simply open the photo and click on "zoom to 100%." That's the true size. If you drag your photo into the Photo Tray (see more below on dragging restrictions), you can also see the photo dimensions and the file size by placing your cursor over the photo thumbnail.

If the photo is too big and you want to resize it, you can do so from the Edit menu ("Resize") by setting new pixel dimensions (e.g. 800x600) or by setting the new size as a percentage of the original. Then view the resulting photo size by using "zoom to 100%". When it's the right size, save it.

Crop is also easy. You can crop to any shape you want, or to standard proportions (e.g. 4x6). Again, "zoom to 100%" to see the results.

That's pretty much all it takes to get a photo ready for email. My only complaint is that when you have resized a photo and it is still in your editing window, you can't see its current properties (dimensions and file size) without saving it. (When you save it, it is placed in the Photo Tray, and you can put your cursor over it to see the details.)

Snapfire has standard photo enhancement options such as red-eye correction, "quick fix," adjustments to brightness and warmth, and also a "makeover" option which can be used to whiten teeth and remove blemishes. You can also, of course, rotate photos. And you can insert text and add picture frames.

The same options are available in other software, but I like the fact that this product is not so overloaded with options that it is difficult to use. I would find it relatively easy to guide someone through the processes even if they were inexperienced. And it still has all the features I would need.

I haven't used the Download software, but it appears to put the photos into My Pictures, the standard location. When you go to the Snapfire Home page, you first highlight the folder you want to work with using "Find Files" in the left pane. The individual photos in that folder will appear on the right in the main editing screen. From there you can select one photo to edit, or drag multiple photos into the Photo Tray at the bottom for easier access. If you put your cursor over a photo in the Photo Tray you can see its dimensions and size.

One option that I personally like is the ability to unlock the aspect ratio when resizing a photo. If you ever capture photos from a video source, you sometimes may find the photos to be distorted. For example, people may look fat. Unlocking the aspect ratio allows you to fix the photos.

A warning: I tried sending a Slide Show to a friend and they were unable to open it without obtaining Snapfire software. I felt that I was sending Snapfire advertising, so won't be using this feature.

Corel Snapfire Plus [Posted on 2007-01-09]
Picassa, part of the Google suite of programs, is both better than this program and free! What more do I need to add? The user interface of Picassa is easier to use and more responsive.

Good Product, I like this, Its very useful. [Posted on 2007-05-13]
Good Product, I like this, Its very useful.

waste of my money [Posted on 2007-11-21]
Total waste of my time & money..it just does not live up to it's hype

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