14 DAY TRIAL // I don't feel the need to manage most of my files. I only keep a catalog of my CDs and DVDs using specialized software and that's all. I have never felt the need to manage the image files so far, but it seems the situation is changing.
I only have an 80GB hard drive, but what about users with four times my storage capacity or more? They can spend a week to find the pictures they have done last summer... or get a program to help with the image management. If that program can act as an image viewer and editor too, that would be great!
StudioLine Photo Basic is one of those programs. Don't be scared about downloading over 40MB to install, but be worried about the 160 pages manual available for it! Why? Because from what I can say so far, you may need it!
I hope you are not scared yet, because this program has a really nice and well done interface, its only drawback being the large number of functions available (maybe too large?). To get rid of the 30 days limit for this version, you just have to enter a valid email address and you'll get your FREE activation code for it, as easy as that!
After the first minutes I got somehow around it and I must say that this is still more than I need, yet, with Photo Basic, the problem is not "how", but "what". Most of the functions can be done with simple drag and drop operations, there aren't many keyboard shortcuts, but I can't say that you won't get the chance to use your keys either.
The interface panels can be docked or kept floating, with a few exceptions. This is useful considering the fact that it can get really crowded there sometimes.
Let's talk about image management now. Basically, you create new folders and add your images to them, inside the root Image Gallery.
With Photo Basic you can generate Web Galleries. These can be shared with anyone over the Internet or on CD/DVD. Web Gallery creation is easy, and you have a couple of templates at your disposal to choose from. The generated Web pages can be viewed with all popular browsers and you can publish them on your server straight from this program.
If you just want to lie back on your couch and watch your holiday pictures after a hard day's work, Photo Basic has a slide show function to help you with this.
Sending images through email or printing them using an online service like EveryoneSmile.com are also tasks close at hand, just two clicks away.
When it comes to image editing, you can do a lot of things, starting with crop and rotate or red eye removal and ending with emboss or sepia. Each image editing function is highly customizable, so you can get the best of them.
Now this program looks a lot easier to work with for me, and I hope you will be able to say so too. It seems good things don't reveal always at first sight, and Photo Basic is no exception. Take your time to organize your photos, sort and backup them as needed, this program will be yours forever, and if you need something more, then get the Classic version!
The Good
Photo Basic has a built in image viewer, supports the RAW image format, can backup your images to optical discs, allows the user to rate pictures from the galleries, it has a lot of image editing functions and many more. The PDF manual that can be downloaded from the website is very detailed but before it you get useful tips as you're working.
The Bad
The interface can be confusing for beginners and takes a bit of patience to get used to.
The Truth
If you're a beginner then get it, read the tips carefully and study the manual a bit. Once you get the hang of it, you can consider yourself an intermediate computer user! For the rest of us, once we get to master it, StudioLine Photo Basic can be a great helper and time saver. In the end, let's not forget an extremely important factor: it's FREE, so get it while it stays that way!
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
