dacs.doc electric

Picture It Lets You
Park Your Pics at MSN

by Marlène Gaberel

 

The well-attended May 7th, 2002 general meeting packed a conference room at the Radisson Hotel. It featured Microsoft's Sonal Shah, who was substituting for John Stroiney. John was in Toronto.

The topic that Sonal presented was digital photography. She demonstrated the ease of using Microsoft Windows XP, which lets users organize their digital pictures right from their operating system. Sonal had already mentioned the possibility of using Windows XP for basic photo editing when she demonstrated Windows XP 6 month ago. From Windiows XP, users can display, organize, print and send for professional photo development right from the desktop. Check out http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/digitalphotography/

Staying on the theme of digital photography, Sonal then demonstrated Microsoft Picture-It. A couple of versions are available depending on how elaborate a program it is. See Microsoft Picture It! CD Products a for details on the two programs. The Platinum version was the one Sonal showed the audience. Picture-It has many editing possibilities and a user can generate many different types of cards, such as greeting, business, brochures, menus etc. Picture-It has a very large number of templates and numerous clip-arts to be used in conjunction with photos or by themselves. Several photo-editing functions available can remove red-eye, darken or lighten a photo as needed, change background or remove objects (and people). Photos can also be shown as a slide show. When the pictures are edited, hard copies can be ordered from online vendors or printed right from the printer. Photos can also be used on a web page.

Picture-It can be used to create simple web pages which enable you to post on the web a photo album from your latest vacation on the space that comes with your online account. Of course photos can be e-mailed to friends and family right from Picture-It. Photos can be shrunk as necessary when e-mailed, to reduce uploading and downloading time. Sonal took great care in showing all the possibilities of Picture-It. She even shared a picture of a trip to the Bahamas taken after her engagement. Congratulations Sonal!!

Sonal then moved on to show MSN Photo where photos can be stored and shown in an online album. Before accessing MSN Photo, a user needs to sign up for .NET passport. From the MSN Photo site you can purchase special gifts such as T-shirts, cups, mouse pads, etc. etc. onto which your favorite photos can be applied. Sonal pointed out that the site has special offers updated on a regular basis as well as tips and tricks for photographers. From the MSN photo site, pictures can be edited, such as changing the contrast or removing red-eye.

Sonal closed her presentation by briefly talking about Microsoft's TV PhotoViewer, which is perfect for people who do not have access to a computer or if you prefer to show your photos on a larger screen than a computer. Two web sites that Sonal gave the audience for further details are:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/evaluation/experiences/photo.asp
and
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/evaluation/overviews/digitalphotos.asp

It is always a pleasure to have Microsoft at DACS general meetings. The presentations are short, on time and to the point. DACS members have the opportunity to see what's new on the Microsoft front and the door prizes are always welcomed by the winners.


Marlène Gaberel is a DACS board member and VP for Public Relations, who learns as much about computers from her sons, Joshua and Zachary as she does from DACS. You can e-mail her at: marlene_gaberel@yahoo.com.

BackHomeNext