Software Review of:
Adobe PhotoDeluxe 
3.0 Home Edition 

For $49.00, this software gives another meaning to "every which way but loose" to manipulating photographs. There is some similarity to software you get with scanners, printers and such. You can resize, crop and correct your photographs and images. You can share your largess with friends and relatives by inundating them with pictures of your family and activities to rival National Geographic. 

System Requirements: you'll need a computer with an Intel Pentium processor or 100% compatible processor (MMX technology recommended). In addition: 

• Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows 98 or Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 3 or later
• 32 MB of RAM
• 140 MB of available hard disk space
• 256 color display adapter and compatible monitor and a desktop area of 800 by 600 pixels (24 bit color display adapter, True Color display, recommended). I'm not sure what all that means, but when I installed the CD, it worked, so I must have it.
• CD-ROM or DVD ROM Drive.
• Sound card for the tour movie and PhotoParade files
• 32 bit TWAIN data source software or Adobe Photoshop compatible plug in when using  Home Edition with a scanner or digital camera.

Home Edition software includes application files, the Storm EasyPhoto organizer, hundreds of templates and sample photos. Adobe Type Manager and Adobe fonts let you view PostScript fonts  on-screen and print them on non-PostScript printers. Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 and Adobe Connectables enable you to retrieve new and updated Home Edition tips, techniques and resources over the World Wide Web. Adobe Connectables require Internet Explorer 4.0 to be installed on your computer. 

Digital camera direct-access software provides an easy way to view and download images from certain popular digital cameras. 

Adobe Acrobat Reader software lets you view online documents that have been saved as Portable Document Format files with the original graphics, type and layout intact. 
 

In order to navigate Home Edition you are reminded to keep your server connected and your CD in your computer. Begin by clicking Start, go to Programs, find Adobe, find Adobe PhotoDeluxe Home Edition 3.0, click and it will be revealed to you. You have a choice or a tour, the Home Edition, online registration, Easy Photo, Read me, Register software and Uninstall Software. 

If you're anxious to find out what is out there, click on Home Edition. Every time you do, you'll be presented with wallpaper of the season plastered all over the screen and a season's activity reminder. At the time of writing of this review, the topic was graduation. As I'm comfortable with my haunted house wallpaper, I ignored the "install" wallpaper link. As Adobe left no other option but to install, I circumvented this ploy by discovering that tapping ESC would make it go away. 

Your command area are the three tabs at the top of the screen: Get & Fix Photo, Cards & More and Connectables. 

Click on Get & Fix Photo will present you with these choices: Get Photo, Rotate & Size, Adjust Quality, Repair Photo, Special Effects, Save & Send and Print. 

A Click on Cards & More will get you: Cards, Calendars, Pages & Certificates, Labels, Frames and More, PhotoParade, Save & Send and Print. 

Click Connectables and you are presented with: Get More Connectables, Adobe Activities, Extensis Activities, Avery Activities, Family PC Activities and Beginning of School. Connectables is a cornucopia of enough things to do that would keep you busy till Y3k. With Changeables you can Morph special clip art to the style, color, shape and size that would fit the theme of your project. Add clip art to your collection. Get involved with wallpaper design. Included are Guided activities and Seasonas activities, User showcase and Connectables library. Activities are continuously being revised for downloading. 

With Adobe PhotoDeluxe 3.0 Home Edition, you can: 

• Easily import photos from scanners and digital cameras
• Follow guided activities to touch up or repair photos.
• Drop photos into templates for holicay greetings, calendars.
• Customize clip art with adobe Changeables..
• Share your photos in print, on the Web, or by e-mail.
• Use Adobe Connectables to add new monthly and seasonal activities and images throughout the year.
• Create a multimedia presentation with PhotoParade.

I am most anxious to print an image on T-shirt transfer paper. The directions are under Print Photo "Special Effects". Now to decide on what image would be on the edge, but not offend anyone. When I retired from USAA, some friends presented me with a T-shirt that read, "I'm Retired, this is as dressed up as I'll get!" 

When you click on Advanced Menu at the bottom left of the screen top task bar that says File, Edit and Help changes to File, Edit, Select, Tools, Orientation, Size, Quality, Effects, View, Window and Help. 

At bottom right of the monitor screen are two icons, the top one shows a 35mm film strip and the bottom one an Adobe flower design. Click on the top one if you'd be interested in spending some money on photographic film and who you can deal with. . .a commercial. The bottom icon is exclusive for advertising Adobe and it's wares. 

Incorporated in this is a Technical Support page which may be of interest to most of you. The toll free number for Adobe is 800-888-6293. Home web page is accessed at www.adobe.com.  If you're hot to trot to buy this software, while at Adobe.com, click on "How to Buy" and choose from "Order online in US and Canada" or "Search for authorized dealers in US and Canada". An online software purveyor sells it for $33.95 plus shipping. 

I recommend determining if there are enough features you'd like to utilize to justify buying Home Edition. It is a full featured piece of software I found easy for my simple, neophyte mind to comprehend. The 36 page manual can only touch on topics incorporated in the software. This review can only hint on what's there. Good luck!