14 DAY TRIAL // [IMG=1There was a time when we used to keep our memories in picture albums. I remember that my mother would make us look at those albums once or twice a year. And when you're a kid and all you can think of is what games to play with your friends it is far too much to spend an hour or two to look at pictures of people that you do not remember or at images of you at the age of three. She still has a couple of hundred pictures saved in those photo-albums.
I guess everybody used to write on the back of the photo a couple of words about where it was taken, or the people in it. This practice has become obsolete with the emerging of digital cameras and with being able to write metadata to the image. The technology has advanced so far as to allow the users to alter the image in any way they see fit.
The new art has developed, the digital art is now by far more comfortable than taking real pictures. I for one enjoy creating visual effects, applying filters and enhancing the images with my computer. And I get a good laugh when I play with the options in Photo Pos Pro and remove parts of the environment or replace different body parts of my friends.
A more domestic software is out on the market for some time and I did not want to let it be un-noticed. I will let you decide upon the utility of this application, which - in my opinion - is really helpful.
eSoft Imaging created FotoBallon Pro, a software that allows the users to insert text balloons on the digital image. I know what you are thinking: why ruin the pictures by adding balloons to it? Here comes the nice part. The software lets the user choose if the balloons are active or not. This means that they will appear only if the user wants to. Otherwise, they can stay hidden and let you enjoy viewing the pictures as the original.
When opening the software, it will open in browsing mode. This mode will allow you to browse for the pictures in your computer. I liked that, when clicking on a folder in the tree on the left side of the application window, the software will display only the thumbnails of the images located in that folder. There are five types of views available: large icons, small icons, list view, report and thumbnails.
No matter the view you choose, you will have the possibility of a preview right under the tree view. Some other options in browsing mode include sending the image to an e-mail address, acquire the images from a digital camera or create an auto run CD. I could not accomplish the last task the first time (creating an Autorun CD) as every time I tried to use it an error message box appeared. The problem was solved as soon as I inserted a blank CD in the optic media.
To proceed to the edit mode, all you have to do is right click on one of the images displayed in the browser and choose edit. The edit mode window allows the user to make some changes to the picture, like adding borders (you get to set the number of pixels to be added to the top, bottom, right or left side), making some adjustments of the brightness, contrast, gamma and saturation, applying some filters (blur, sharpen, artistic, noise, deformations and 3D).
Although the filters have several options, do not expect professional results as most of them are presets and you cannot adjust the blur amount, for example. Ballooning - as I like to call the feature - is easy to use and should not pose any problems.
Use the New Balloon button in the tools bar to add a new message, or right click inside the image and choose this feature. The balloons can have two shapes: rectangular or elliptical. And they can also be edited in the Balloon editor window (the user can set the value for the margin and for the roundness). Editing allows the user to set the background color, add edges, select the font and its alignment. At the bottom of the Balloon editor there is a text box that is for writing the desired text in there.
The balloons support being dragged all over the image as well as being resized. Upon saving the image, you will be provided with two options regarding the displaying of the balloons: one after another, at all time and user's choice. I recommend user's choice, as when viewing the images it allows you to hide/show them by simply pressing the space bar.
By Saving the image the user can also add some more data regarding the place where the picture was taken, the date and a little personal comment.
Of course, for viewing the pictures adorned with the balloons, the fundamental rule is to open them with FotoBalloon Pro.
The Good
The application does not require special skills in order to be used and even a child can handle it. It is a good alternative to recording information about the image.
The Bad
This is not a professional software, but it addresses home users that need a method to keep their pictures and add useful information about it.
The price is a bit too much for my pocket ($39.95) and I would not be able to pay that much for an application that only lets me add balloons to the pictures and add some super simple preset filters.
The trial version will have the central area pixelized, so you cannot really use it.
The Truth
For home use it is just great, this why the rating will clearly show that. The application is professional only as opposed to the free Lite version (FotoBalloon Viewer). Anyway, this does not justify the price, but if your memory is fading away or you are ninety, then the software is worth buying.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
