How do I Choose the Best Photo Organizer Software?

You will need to decide what your photo needs are before choosing the best photo organizer software. Some people will be well off with a simple, free program that will simply organize the photos, while others may need software that will allow him or her to edit the photos as well. Some photo organizing software will even allow you to quickly and easily make slideshows that you can burn to a disc and share with your friends. Consider your needs before paying for any software, as many consumers will be better off using free software instead.

Professionals and semi-professionals will want to buy photo organizer software that will allow him or her to download photos, organize them in folders on the computer, and edit those photos right within the program. Such programs can be somewhat expensive, but for someone who will be taking a significant amount of pictures and organizing them on a computer, this is a worthwhile investment. Such programs will also often feature an automatic backup system that will back up your photo files in the event that the hard drive is damaged or rendered unusable for any reason.

Any photo organizer software you choose should feature basic functions such as crop and rotate. The crop feature allows you to cut the photos down to size to eliminate distracting elements on the edges of the photo or to shift the focus of the photo to a different area. The rotate feature allows you to flip the photos upside down or side to side, and to rotate the photo if it appears sideways on your screen. These are very basic functions, and just about all photo organizer software packages will have these features, but it is important to check anyway.

Other adjustment features you may want to consider are light level adjustments and color adjustments. Light level adjustments allow you to brighten or darken a photo that was taken in less than ideal conditions or that was taken with the exposure level on the camera set incorrectly. Color adjustments allow you to boost the color levels within the photo, or even make them duller or black and white. These are simple controls that can have a significant impact on the appearance of the photo, so if you plan on stylizing your photos or enhancing them for print, choose a program that has these editing features.