ACDSee Photo Editor Reviewer's Comments

ACDSee Photo Editor strikes a balance between editing, graphics and projects to showcase your photos. The built-in project lessons in the How-to palette teach you how to use the wide variety of features effortlessly. You’re engaged in creating a wine label or a set of gift tags, and when you’re finished, you know how to work with layers, create a vignette and apply special effects. Short on sharing and organizing, ACDSee is the perfect program for craft projects. 

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Ease of Use:  

ACDSee has overcome the difficulty of using more advanced editing techniques by integrating the How-tos, a series of projects using both photo editing and graphic design. Layout and menus are straightforward so navigation is easy. Select familiar graphic design tools like rulers and grids when creating a project. This is photo editing with a purpose: use photos to create appealing projects. However, you will not find templates. 

Importing:  

Import from cameras and scanner. Select Add Images to access your picture files, drag and drop to see in Photo Editor. 

Editing:  

Like most photo editing software, you can edit in two modes: automatic and full edit.  Auto adjust contrast, color balance and a general fix. Adjustments were necessary in the automatic mode to get an acceptable result. Full edit tools include Red Eye, Sharpen, Blur, Sponge, Smudge, Dodge and Burn.

Adding text is a streamlined process. You type and edit directly on the photo, no text box required.

Masking, cloning, and creating vignettes are all done with dedicated tools. Choose from many stylized effects to enhance photos. You’ll see up to eight variations of the effect you selected, make your choice, or try a new effect. You can undo multiple times.

Graphic design tools include rulers, snap-to grids, and an eye dropper tool to match the color of text to a specific element in the photo. Assign varying degrees of transparency to multiple layers as you build your project. 

Sharing:  

There are many print projects to try: scrapbook pages, vacation postcards, party invitations, and more. These are not templates; you will use the graphic design tools built in to this program and achieve more professional-looking results. Photo printing options are limited: choose your size and how many on the page. You cannot specify a combination of sizes. 

Output Capabilities:  

Photo Editor supports more than 50 file formats. Output to Web (save for web) is not automated like it is in Photoshop Adobe Elements 6. A specific tool saves your photos for exporting directly to Microsoft Office: smaller files for PowerPoint and larger files for Word. 

Organizing:  

You organize photos on your computer, typically in My Pictures. Photo Editor does not offer its own organizational system, but you can view and edit EXIF data. 

Help/Support:  

In addition to the How-tos Palette, there is integrated help arranged by file, with a link to Customer Service and Technical Support. Online find a searchable Knowledge Base, and a product specific user forum with FAQs, User Tips, How-to Articles, Technical Notes, Tutorials, User/Reference Guide and Updates. As a last resort, submit a Support Ticket. 

Summary:  

ACDSee Photo Editor is the best software for making well-designed photo projects. You’ll learn effortlessly with the How-to Palette. At the end of a project, you’ll have a useful gift, and you will have learned both photo editing and graphic design skills.  If you don’t need web applications and other sharing methods or a sophisticated organizing system, this is the right choice for creative types.