Software Review of:
PhotoPrinter 
2000 Pro 

Marta’s comments
PhotoPrinter 2000 Pro by ArcSoft, Inc., is a digital imaging program with hundreds of printing possibilities. Windows System requirements are Window 95, 98, or NT; CD-ROM drive, 486-based PC  (Pentium recommended); VGA monitor, 45 MB hard disk space, 16 MB RAM (32 MB recommended); mouse and digital scanner or digital camera. I liken this program to the very expensive photo imaging machines found in most grocery and department stores. If you are anything like I am, you have good intentions of giving every mother or father, grandmother or friend, a picture that you took, that they can’t live without. My pile is getting higher and higher, but never fear, Photo Printer Pro 2000 is here to save us all. 

To get acquainted, ArcSoft has provided an online Quick Start Tutorial that leads you through a sample project, as well as visual help to provide a quick viewing guide that makes learning the program screens quick and easy. If you need help while using the software, simply click on the online Help icon at the top right hand corner of any screen.

The Main Preview Screen is the introductory point to PhotoPrinter 2000 Pro, and this becomes your “home base”. This screen contains buttons that allow you to access the five main photo-editing options that are available. When the Main Preview Screen appears the “Get Photo” button will flash. This will allow you to work with photos from TWAIN-compliant digital cameras, scanners or existing albums that you have created. Each album is made up of thumbnails, which are small representations of the actual image. Once the image is obtained, it is placed in an Album Manager Screen, which allows the user to create new photo albums, sort photos, delete thumbnail images and acquire new images. I like the Main Preview Screen because I can access all of the features of this software. The other screens are crop, edit, frame, and edit text. All are easy to use, which someone like myself needs. You see, I like to cut my pictures, with scissors, cutting implements, or whatever is in front of me at the time. This software allows me to cut, cut and oops, undo if I have cut too much. Something I can’t do with my actual pictures. I also like the fact that I can sit in my pajamas and make copies of photos for everyone (on photo paper, of course). This software is great for “output”. Let’s see if Larry can shed a different light on the subject.

Larry’s opinion
Well, for my part, this is a very basic program. It does a lot of nice things but is not very sophisticated. This is especially true when compared to some of the higher end programs you may have read about in this issue. It is, on the other hand, very easy to use. The learning curve on this software is a very mild gradient. The interface is nice and much of the time, it’s buttons and features are a no-brainer to figure out. If you have digital images either sent to you, scanned into your computer or from one of the many online photo sources, then this program would be ideal to use to make prints of those digital images. As I pointed out, it is not extremely complicated. Using the handy printing templates, you can have your inkjet color printer produce high quality prints using the photo-quality paper that is locally available in most computer retailers or office supply stores. 

Unlike my wife, I am not a particularly creative individual, when it comes to making fancy images or utilizing special effects to “pretty-up” the outcome of the original photograph or picture. The program is capable of doing some nice things with limited special effects, such as cropping, editing, blurring, sharpening, brightness, contrast, framing and some others. Adding text to your images is a snap, also, making this program more than a toy, but a real tool. Adding text to photos you are going to print will allow you to use existing templates to make business cards, flyers, or even fancy brochures. So, you will understand when I say I liked the variety (but not an overwhelming amount) of borders, shapes, edges and frames available. If you like the templates provided, then you are really in business. If you don’t, then you can make your own template exactly the way you want it to be. 

This program is designed, it seems to me, to focus more on the “output” or end results rather than on the entire editing and tweaking aspects of digital image processing. It does allow you to edit photos and make adjustments. However, if you have another photo editing program that you currently use and are comfortable with, then I would suggest using it for major editing and using Photo Printer 2000 Pro for output purposes. This is a program that I would recommend. Novices or beginners in digital image editing on the computer could benefit greatly from it’s straightforward, intuitive and relatively easy to learn and use format. Happy printing! 

ArcSoft PhotoPrinter 2000 Pro is available online at the ArcSoft website  at the price of $29.99. You may order online from the website or by telephone, toll-free, at 1-800-762-8657. There is also a trial version available for download on the website, if you want to give it a try before you buy.