Corel Photo Album 7 Deluxe Reviews

• Missing some features from earlier versions

  
  By A292SKF2LVEU8L on 2008-09-11
  I have to admit I've used this product for five minutes, but it doesn't appear to have the same features as Photo Album 4 or 6. This looks to be perfectly adequate software if you're starting from scratch with your photo collection, but if you expect it to be an "upgrade" from an earlier version of Photo Album you may be disappointed.
  
  The earlier versions created an Access database of the photos, that you could export and have as a record of the photo file names, captions, keywords, etc. Very useful when transferring large quantities of photos (not in slideshows) to someone else who didn't have Photo Album. While that wasn't an advertised function of the package it was nice, and appears to be missing from this software.
  
  The use of keywords for photos has been changed to using tags. Instead of being able to assign photos to keywords by clicking on the applicable keywords in a list, you now have to either retype the tags for each group of photos, or drag each group of photos to each tag.
  
  I've written to Corel support to see if I just can't find these features, so if I do find they exist I'll edit this review.
  
  
  
  

• Photo Album has replaced Picasa for me!

  
  By ARSQ2F9U315WG on 2008-10-22
  Let me preface the rest of this review with a small note about me: I am fairly computer savvy, though not in a tech sort of way. Oh, and I hate reading manuals unless I have no choice. When I purchase a piece of software, I want it to be fairly intuitive - I don't mind playing for a little bit to figure something out, but if it takes me longer than 15-20 minutes, then I get frustrated. 3 or 4 of those kinds of things, and I'll stop using it and look for something easier.
  
  So, having said that - I do like Corel Photo Album 7. I do not have any previous knowledge of Photo Album, so I cannot compare to what it used to have or do. Before installing the software, I made a list of the main questions I had as a newbie and tried to answer those questions for this review.
  
  1. Installation - I have Vista, and installation was a piece of cake. There were no issues, and it proceeded fairly quickly. It picked up all of my photos and kept them in the same folders/files I already had them in, which was nice. I like to be able to find things, and already having some type of organization in place, I didn't want to have to re-do it.
  
  2. Navigation - The interface is fairly clean, almost like a safari-type. The left side has the majority of the navigation tools, with a few small buttons at the top. The majority of the screen is taken up with the photo screen. There are four categories: Home, Share, Enhance, and Create. These are similar to folders, and when you click on them, they open to reveal further options.
  
  3. Ease of use - It is pretty intuitive. This entire review will come from having not opened the manual, for those of you who tend to be like me. It took me a bit to figure out that I couldn't just burn a CD of photos...I have to create a "show" with the program first. But that is pretty easy to do, and it doesn't have to be complicated - it's just an extra step.
  I will be examining the manual to see if it's possible to "fix" more than one photo at a time...for example, when my photos imported, there were several that were sideways (I had just loaded them). The program did not automatically fix that, and it would be nice to be able to highlight and correct several at the same time, rather than one-by-one. I also wish that there was a small pop-up dialogue box that would give a brief description of what the option does when the pointer rests on it.
  
  4. Comparison to Picasa - I have been using Picasa to store/edit my photos for the last couple of years. I like *free* and it worked for my needs. It's a very easy program, so I was curious how they would compare. I assumed I would prefer Picasa, but surprisingly, I prefer the Corel. There are a few more features that I really enjoy with the Corel.
  
  5. Features - As I said at the beginning of the review, I have no prior knowledge of any incarnation of Photo Album. I love, love the Quick Fix...it's much more accurate than Picasa's and requires less extra editing. I also really enjoyed playing with the "picture tubes" - little pictures (almost like stamps) that could be inserted into photos. The projects in the Create folder will take quite some time to explore, but give a good representation of what most hobby-type photographers would want. You can create Smilebox shows, scrapbook pages, calendars, and more. I'm looking forward to working on Christmas gifts with a couple of them!
  
  So, there you have it. My review. Again, I'm not a tech person, so this is purely amateur-based, but I plan on keeping the Photo Album installed and using it as my primary photo organization program.
  
  

• Great Easy To Use Software

  
  By A16YU3GRGCD95S on 2008-10-22
  I received this product today and loaded it with amazing ease. After playing around with it and making different projects I find this to be a great beginners photo editing program for those that are just starting out with a digital camera. It really makes some great scrapbook pages and you can add all kinds of frames, graphics and such to your project. I love the Magazine photo page. It is so cute putting the kids pictures up there and jazzing them up.
  I do also own Adobe Photo Elements and a Kodak program and have to say that this Corel's program is so much better. I like the Kodak one but it doesn't come with all the little do dad's that this one does and Adobe's program is just too far advanced for the average user. If you are considering one program to buy for editing photos I would pick this one hands down. Reasonable price, ease of use and so many different projects will delight everyone in the household.
  
  

• For the price a good solid program, some minor annoyances

  
  By A3K93OWHKHGI9V on 2008-10-23
  Photo Album 7 is a nice little program for those who lack the time and/or desire to edit photos idividually. It is great if you do not want to spend hundreds of dollars on either the CorelDraw suite or one of the many versions of Adobe CS3.I am a former user of the CorelDraw suite who has coverted (reluctantly) to the Adobe suite of products. So you might want to take my criticisms with a grain of salt.
  
  Photo Album is one of those pieces of software that I call 80% software. What I mean by that is Corel has scaled down the complexity of their PhotoPaint software to fit the needs of about 80% of the general users. Like many software publishers Corel realized the majority of users did not want a full photo editing suite. The basic user wants to be able to have one step fixes to exposure, be able to crop, and then do some cutesy tricks with their photos. For that Photo Album is great.
  
  The first time I opened Photo Album the software immediate started to index all my photos. Since I have over 25000 images in my My Documents folder this took quite some time. I was not to thrilled with the way Photo Album organizes the photos. One of the things it does is to place thumbnails of all the images in a strip at the bottom of the program. When dealing with a large number of photos it becomes difficult to search through them.
  
  After the indexing was finished, I selected a few photos I had from a recent trip to the beach. I selected these photos specifically because I had already edited them in PhotoShop and printed them. I took original unedited versions of these photos and ran them through Photo Album. I first used the "Quick Fix" feature to see how they would be altered. Whilr the Quick Fix feature did deepen some of the washed out colors, I did find that it did not seem to do as good of a job as Adobe CS3. Overall though it was fine and Photo Album allows you to make some adjustments to saturation and darkness as well as some other basic levels (but nowhere near the control as the expensive suite give you).
  
  I did find the randomize button a little goofy within the Quick Fix. Basically the randomize button is suppose to shuffle the sliders for the colors, hue, saturation, etc. and show you what the photo would look like. I guess this is a fun way to see how the different levels affect your photos.
  
  The makeover tools are preset tools that will help portraits look better. The Blemish tool will place a skin tone dab of color over an area (presumably a skin defect like pimples or wrinkles) with a blemish. The toothbrush can be used to whiten areas and is not restricted to just teeth. The suntan will darken an area to give it a deeper tone. From a cursory test run these tools did function decently.
  
  Photo Album also comes with some fun things that Corel hopes will entice you to buy this program. Picture tubes is a way to place a repeating GIF image on top of your photo. You can add from a host of GIFs already in Photo Album such as flames, flower, butterflies. This can be a liitle goofy, but can also serve the purpose of hiding unwanted areas of the photo.
  
  You also have the ability to create greeting cards scrapbooks and calendars (plus more) from preset templates. If this is something you would want to do, then this feature alone may make this program worth while. I don't do any photo printing from home, I use one of the online companies for printing (it tends to be cheaper and better quality). I have the ability to create bound picture books and calendar that look like they were done professionally, so for me this would not be a feature I would use.
  
  Overall, for this price I don't think any beginning photo bug could go wrong buying this. There are enough basic feature to keep you entertained and it is by no means overwhekming to learn. In fact, most people will probably not even need to open the manual.
  
  

• An Intuitive Photo Editing Software Suite For The Novice.

  
  By A2838GZWXSF8KH on 2008-10-22
  I had little photo editing experience when I used "Corel Photo Album 7 Deluxe". I found this software suite to be an excellent digital photo editing tool for basic users. It allows novice users to perform complex or seemingly impossible editing tasks with little more than intuition and this tool. It is not a resource designed for the advanced user or photographer who needs more sensitive and professional tools.
  
  It allows the user to easily organize, sort, edit, share, retouch, and, in general, explore creatively with your digital photo file. It guides the user in linking music with slide shows and video presentations, including song selection and music synchronization.
  
  This suite is simple and intuitve for any user in my estimation. It loads easily and its features can be addressed through drag and drop icons in a fairly user friendly manner. I found the retouching tools to be the most useful as well as the most fun element for me in my explorations. All the standard retouching tools are available including erasing blemishes, whitening teeth, eliminating red eye, and even a painting on a suntan tool.
  
  The intuitive interface allows easy organiztion of your photos from sort, find, search by various identifiers (name, text, date, etc.)to editing and sending. There are a large number of project templates (calendars, scrapbooks, collages, etc.) that I did not explore. Lastly, the working with videos section seems equally simple and self-explanatory but I have not done any video editing yet.
  
  All in all, many of the features of "Corel Photo Album 7 Deluxe" can be found in freeware or among resident tools on some computers. But this software suite has combined a large number of useful digital photo and video editing tools into one simple user friendly package. Believe me when I say I enjoyed several hours exploring many of its features and I am definitely a novice at photo editing. I recommend this product for what it does and how it does it.
  
  
• It is what it is
  By A3CG6YLYZJXQG4 on 2008-10-23
  It didn't take long to recognize that Photo Album 7 is a nice program for people who want to keep the family photos on their computer, maybe use them for some minor publishing of things like calendars or holiday cards. Its functionality with photos doesn't go a whole lot past fixing red eye, adding cute frames or keeping track of what photos are where on your hard drive. (Don't discount this last; most people are not good about organizing their drives and spend way too much time searching for things.)
  
  My needs as an artist and artisan are a little more complex. I have a dedicated hard drive for my images, and I'm an almost daily user of Photoshop. By comparison Photo Album looks like a toy. It does have a pretty interface, but doesn't tell you much, and lets you do even less. I found the controls cumbersome and unreliable, and the program a little slow over-all. Touch-ups are limited and applied with a heavy hand.
  
  However, in all fairness it must be said that most users will only ever need this much functionality, and won't have an image collection that takes forever to catalog. They'll enjoy the effects even if its sometimes difficult to apply them with precision, and if they stick to it, I'm thinking they'll produce images they can be happy with. This program would probably prove invaluable to scrapbookers.
  
  If you're looking for something more functional, look at Corel's higher end products such as Graphics Suite or Paint Shop Pro.
  
  
• Good, but Why
  By A1KY5G5FP31F2F on 2008-10-28
  The Corel Photo Album 7 Deluxe program was a snap to load in my VISTA computer. It is one of very few software programs that have a good hardcopy instruction book in the box. I was pleased to find it unnecessary to download a copy of the manual from the install disk or a Corel Web site.
  
  I worked with thiw software long enough to determine two things: It does a great job of organizing my photos and performing some elemental editing--red eye removal, cropping, adjusting color and etc. It will even whiten teeth and put a suntan on pale people. The next thing I discovered was how limited the program was. It has little (nothing) more than a basic capability to edit digital photos. The basic photo editing programs that come bundled with the Microsoft VISTA operating system do almost as much.
  
  In other words, I thought the Photo Album 7 Deluxe program was good at doing rudimentary editing things that could be done in other ways for a lot less money. Now, having said that:
  
  I started searching Amazon.com to find a photo editing program that would do more. I found and purchased Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate, a complete photo editing program that contains everything the Corel Photo Album 7 Deluxe program does, but a whole lot more and it is only about eight bucks more expensive.
  
  My review is saying two things: (1) The Photo Album 7 Deluxe program is a good one, but (2) it fills a need that hardly exists.
  
  
  
  
• Increased video capabilities; not so much for the photos though
  By A15IH0ZQ87H51P on 2008-10-20
  I have to agree with the previous reviewer, Photo Album 7 doesn't seem to have the same features as Photo Album 4 or 6. If you are a novice or are simply using this to start a photo album, make scrapbooks, touch-up photos, etc., then this software should be fine for you.
  
  I also previously enjoyed the use of keywords over tags and the previous Access database, as opposed to the new database that Corel has begun to use.
  
  If you are one who wants to combine videos and photos into a slideshow file or create a video file then this is actually easier than previous versions. The new file formats that are supported are also a plus (such as raw and video formats), depending on your level of knowledge and experience with digital images.
  
  
  
• A Review From An Average Joe
  By A2WVRIYYC7ZR25 on 2008-10-21
  I'm not a software expert or a professional photographer, just a normal person who takes pictures every so often with a digital camera and then downloads them to my computer and maybe sometimes emails some of them to friends or family. I got offered a free copy of this software, accepted the offer and it arrived today. I loaded it up and away I went.
  
  The download process itself was easy and the program didn't ask me if it could send me junk mail although it did ask if I wanted regular updates. I declined (those automatic update programs drastically slow your computer when you boot up and hog memory). When it finished loading a fairly intuitive, icon style, start menu came up. I clicked on browse to find my pictures on my computer. I immediately got a "runtime error" and my system stopped operating. To be fair to Corel, this may or may not indicate anything wrong since I am one of the many people suffering from being forced to use Windows Vista. Vista freaks out all the time and causes crashes so it might have just been Bill messing with me once again. I rebooted, everything seemed normal and I opened Corel Photo Album 7. The program this time went and found all my pictures for me and I was able to scroll through them relatively easily. There were a few times when the pictures took a second to load as I was scrolling. I am fortunate to have a very powerful system (an HP Blackbird, although it came preloaded with Vista) so I did wonder if an a slower computer might have longer wait times as the rows of thumbnails loaded.
  
  I selected a photo of my wife, her sis, and her mom, double clicked it, and a large image of it came to the foreground with an editing menu. I had some fun painting a suntan on my mother-in-law, erasing blemishes, and making everyone's teeth whiter. I also fixed the red-eyes that were in the photo. I have to say that these editing features worked really well, I was surprised with the ease and quality of these features. I also zoomed in, cropped the photo, played with making it black and white and then sepia, etc. Everything worked well, was intuitive to use, and did what it was supposed to. I closed out of the picture, was asked if I wanted to save my changes, clicked "no" because they are all very attractive women that don't need help from me or Photoshop (just in case they read this) and the picture was back to normal. I then pulled up a video I made on Windows Movie Maker and was able to intuitively edit it as well. Overall I'd say the product works as advertised and does a good job.
  
  All that being said, I had seen a version of this program years ago and I didn't really notice any difference in the photo-editing capabilities of this one versus the older version. I am not someone who wants to invest time in editing the minute details of photo's though so I deleted that earlier version long ago. I'd say if you have an earlier version of this software I don't see any compelling reason to upgrade and the instruction booklet which came with the software (which was admittedly well-written, logical, and clear) didn't really tell me what made version 7 so much snazzier than previos versions. My thought when I accepted this software was that it may have some features that make picture presentation on the computer better-looking than what is bundled into Microsoft Vista, but truthfully I kind of like looking at the pictures using Microsoft's built in viewer and slideshow more than this Photoshop software, but that may only be because I am simply more used to Vista. I didn't, at any rate, smack my foregead and declare, "how have I lived without this until now?" The Apple computers have very cool picture display software and I was hoping that Corel would look equally impressive, but it didn't, and I'll stick to viewing pics in Vista.
  
  One thing that did bother me though was that the program pimped upgrading to Paint Shop Pro in several places. There was an ad in the lower left hand corner for it and on the editing menu there was a tab for "Advanced Editing with Paint Shop Pro". When I clicked the tab I got a screen showing me how I could upgrade for only 79 pounds Sterling. Since I am in America being offered an upgrade in exchange for British currency took me aback a little bit. While I did not have to pay for this software, if I did pay $30 for it, I think I would have been irritated by finding out while using it that I had purchased a dumbed down version and that for a considerable sum I could get the better version. What I definitely did find irritating was the program prompting me to sign up for something called Smilebox when I closed and reopened the program. I closed and reopened a few more times and was prompted to Smilebox every time. Very irritating and enough for me to never use this software again. I went and checked out Smilebox for you to see what it would cost...but it wanted me to download more software that was freeware. I declined so I don't know if it is truly freeware and something once you get into you have to pay for usage in some fashion.
  
  My overview is that if you are a professional I am sure you already have much better software, if you are just a normal photo-taking preson like me but you feel the need to edit out red-eye and otherwise touch up pictures then the program works well (if you can stand the built-in and annoying advertisements), but if you just take pictures, load onto your computer, but don't feel compelled to touch them up, then stick with whatever viewer you have now.
  
  
• Offers So Much
  By A1T61QP7QHYBRQ on 2008-10-23
  Corel Photo Album 7 Deluxe has many photo editing options.
  
  Like Microsoft Picture it, it has frames for photos,brightening or darkening of photos,cropping,rotating ,black and white or sepia conversion and text titling.
  
  It also allows you to add music to your video clips and photos. I do have some options with my camera software, but not all these extras.
  
  It will add more fun to making slide shows and collections of photos.
  
  I recommend this to anyone who takes a lot of photos and likes different ways of sending them and downloading them in unique and fun ways.
  
  
  
  
• Good program for a typical family
  By A3A90CELVLOUP6 on 2008-10-23
  I am not a computer, nor photo editing expert. I do have some limited experience with Photoshop Elements. I do our high school yearbook and have used Elements on photos to edit out people from group shots, do cut out backgrounds, lighten dark photos, get rid of pimples, etc. This program is different from just photo editing. It is more a program to do fun things with your photos and offers some simple editing. I do like that it also includes easy organization so I don't have to pull photos from one place and work on them on a different program (like I do with Elements.)
  
  It is much easier for a novice user like me to navigate around this than it was for Photoshop Elements. I did many internet searches on how to use "magic erasers" "toolboxes" and such, while this is much easier to figure out on your own. I may be comparing apples to oranges here, but many casual users want simple editing tools and buy photo software to do it. I will probably use this one more often than the other simply because it is more simple. If I want to get more involved in actual image/photo editing, I will still probably poke around with Elements, but this Corel will be my go-to photo program. I would recommend this for a typical home user who wants to do fun things with their photos in a simple way, do easy editing, and also have a nice organizational system.
  
  
• Good solid photo editor, but nothing exceptional and redundant if you own others.
  By A12DQZKRKTNF5E on 2008-10-27
  I've been a Picasa (free) user for some time now, and like its interface and speed. Will this Corel Photo Album Deluxe 7 replace it for me? I don't know...they are really very similar, but you pay around $40 for one.
  
  I've used Microsoft PictureIt for years and enjoyed all its bells and whistles, but found it to be a bit slow and a resource hog. PhotoShop is a bit complicated for my likes. Corel is certainly a solid third option.
  
  Pros: quick editing, features work as promised, simple interface that is user friendly for novices.
  
  Cons: works best with all other programs closed, nothing really 'deluxe' about it over and above other similar programs...some of which are free.
  
  "Easy to use"...yes.
  "Powerful editing..."...sort of.
  "Amazing themes..."...nothing the others don't offer.
  "Back up your photos online..."...and pay to do it after 30 days.
  
  If you are a brand loyalist or just need a simple photo editor with solid specs, this would be for you. If you already have Photoshop, PictureIt or Picasa...don't waste your money on redundant software.
  
  
• Easy as pie
  By A1NFCHJ8ZR4362 on 2008-10-28
  I got this product for my mother-in-law. She is between a beginner and intermediate computer user. She previously used an older version of Photoshop Elements 2. I watched to assist her, but my help was unneeded.
  
  -Install: she was able to easily install the product.
  -Find pictures: the program placed all pictures on her computer in a sidebar window that she was then easily able to navigate. It did not rename the folders or files, but left them as they are on her computer.
  -Slideshow: she was able to play a slideshow, after figuring out that she had to put pictures into a tray, located beneath the pictures she wanted to see on the slideshow. It worked well.
  -Rotate: She was able to rotate a photo and save the rotated version to the hard drive. We were pleasantly surprised to find that Corel Photo Album 7 Deluxe added (2) to the file name thereby leaving the original photo intact and saving the new filename to [filename](2).jpeg. This is important to protect beginners who are not familiar with lossy.
  - Other features: She said the other features looked easy to use and would try them when she got home. If she finds any of them difficult to use or ineffective, I will edit this review to include her additional thoughts.
  
  She says this program is familiar to her as the features/menus are like her old version of Photoshop Elements 2. She found them easy to find, understand, and use.
  
  The requirements to use the software:
  
  Windows Vista, XP, 1 GHz or faster, 500 MB hard drive space, 1024 x 768 24 bit color, Microsoft DirectX 9, QuickTime 7, CD ROM drive, mouse, Outlook Express.
  
  I would recommend this software to anyone that is a beginner, intermediate computer user, or anyone that wants easy to use software.
  
  
  
• My First Corel Product, it's AWESOME!
  By A2LF16F0KX9L7P on 2008-10-28
  I have never had a Corel product before. Frankly, the only time I ever thought of Corel was when watching a Senators game (they used to have the naming rights in Ottawa). I used to use Lotus, then switched to Office, never passing WordPerfect. I have always used Adobe Photoshop, never considering another product. Nevertheless, while you can to anything with Photoshop, it is always more difficult and cumbersome. Since I usually don't have time, I have pretty much given up on photo editing lately. Until this product, that is.
  
  Step one, it installs easily even in Vista. That's not something you can say about most programs. In fact, it only crashed once, which in a Vista environment is a record!
  
  Step two, the controls and options are intuitive. Basic steps like removing red eye are automated. Album 7, however, adds some other interesting touch ups. One is a teeth whitener. Another is a sun tan. Yes, you can add a sun tan to any person in a photo, and it looks great! Unfortunately, outside of a gag photo, I can't see an actual use for this, but it is cool. Another easy thing to do is to remove blemishes. Finally, I really like the one step photo realigner (for when you tip the camera too much). For my main camera this isn't an issue, but for pictures from my Treo, I can really use this. There are also many cool projects you can do with this program like fake magazine covers.
  
  
  Finally, file management and backup. This program allows for easy and intuitive file management and backup to online source. The online basic is free, but they downrez your pics to 2mp after 30 days if you don't pay. Nice feature, but my regular camera saves to mini DVD anyway, and my Treo only takes 1.3 MP pics, so I don't need to pay for this feature (and it is really expensive).
  
  Overall, I can see using this program for all but my most intensive photo editing. So much so that I have changed my file associations from Photoshop to Photo Album!
  
  
• Very Good for What it is
  By A33HIQR1X1G4GI on 2008-11-13
  I'm a Photoshop user, have been since version 4 and have faithfully upgraded every year all the way through CS3 and very soon I'll be upgrading again. Yes, Photoshop is a complicated program with a steep learning curve, but I've you've lived with it as long as I have you don't think about it. So, basically I wasn't all that interested in Corel Photo Album 7, as I didn't see what it could possibly have to offer me.
  
  Yes you can whiten teeth with few clicks, but for me, I do what I have to do in Photoshop with such speed, what's a click or two here or there. And I have my photos organized just the way I want, thank you very much.
  
  But I did install the software. That went without a hitch, took about six or seven minutes. And then I played around with it and I must admit I like the quick way you can align you're photos if they're not straight, it beats Photoshops rotating tool all to heck, but I don't think I'd be doing much photo retouching or editing with this program.
  
  But my better half the writer, who takes bazillions of photos with his iPhone and his Cool Pix, just loves this program. He does not have Photoshop on his computer, hates it, says it bloat ware. He's been doing photo editing with Vista's built in software and he likes Photo Album 7 oh so much better. He says it's intuitive, easy to use and that he does everything he wants. And that caused me to reassess this program. I wasn't going to give it a very high grade, but after listening to him I see that Corel didn't make the program for people like me, they made it for him and all the people out there who doesn't want to shell out hundreds and hundreds of dollars for Photoshop and believe me, I've dug very deeply into my pockets over the years to stay current with Photoshop. So, from that point of view, this really is a five star program.
  
  
• Finally a substitute for iPhoto on a PC!
  By A1KKE6VX8VPWZK on 2008-10-22
  I am a mac user and have been for some time. I have for school reasons have had to switch back to a PC (yeah I know). So I bought a Asus G50V-A1 15.4-Inch Laptop (2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 Processor, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB Hard Drive, Nvidia 9700M GT Graphics, Vista Premium). One thing I immediatly missed was my iLife suite. Being I have two kids I am expected to upload pics to the web weekly for the relatives.
  
  I am a long time user of Corel Draw for illustration. With this long term use has come a confidence with the software quality. I was not let down here with Corel Photo Album 7.
  
  It allows you to quickly and intuitively create slide shows with music. Really easy to do tasks like red eye remover, a staple in iLife is done here quite adeptly.
  
  It comes with some nice online tools, such as Sharpcast, unlimited software uploads!
  I really had fun fixing my pasty appearance with the suntan tool!
  The only thing I did not see that is included with iLife is the ability to make a book within the program. But there are several services that can do this for you.
  
  All in all a great software suite for photo collections of all sizes!
  
  
• Nice Application For Casual Users and Photographers
  By A2WB7LZ595CR50 on 2008-10-22
  The program installed fairly easily. My software disk is apparently off balance and made quite a racket in the drive. I don't know if this is an issue with my disk only, or if it is more widespread. Nevertheless, it didn't adversely affect installation. I was prompted during the install to select whether I wanted the program to automatically update. I selected yes, however, regardless of your selection, it can later be toggled on or off in the system preferences. When the program starts, you are greeted by two screens, the browser screen and the launch screen. The launch screen can take you quickly to any area, (such as "Browse", "Enhance", "Create" or their respective sub-groups) of the application. You can toggle the launch screen on and off as well. Browse works similar to the competitors, such as iPhoto and Picasa. You can scan your PC, organize, and group photos by date, event, tag, etc. You can also automatically download new photos from cameras, removable drives, and media through the program. Once your photos are organized, the program offers basic retouching tools such as quick fix, red eye tool, crop tool, rotation, and alignment. You can also further adjust warmth, brightness, saturation, contrast, and focus. Unfortunately, that's about it. There are plenty of enhancement options such as converting to black and white, sepia tone, adding clip art pictures, frames, text, and several other fun features. There is an option on the disk to install hundreds of additional clip art images any time you wish as a separate install from the main application. This is good if you are concerned about disk space and don't want to immediately commit either way. They also have a link within the program to smilebox. You can create plenty of neat online greeting cards, collages, and scrap books there. If you register the program, they also give you a link to download even more creative content such as additional frames, edges, etc. If you already have a Corel ID, all you need to do is sign in and you'll get the link. New users will have to complete the full registration process (if desired).
  
  Overall, the program is very easy to use and offers retouching and creative features which should satisfy most home users. The features are presented in a nice clear logical manner and you don't have to drill through tons of sub-menus to find the feature you need. Even computer novices will find this program easy to use. Obviously, if you need more fine-control over image manipulation, you should look for a more advanced product. This is perfect for the market for which it is intended, those who are looking for something to help them easily organize, edit, and share, and get creative with their digital photos. Although similar programs like Picasa, are freely available on the web, this program does offer considerably more creative features. Therefore, I suggest this program if you want to get creative or have fun with your photos. However, if all you need is a simple organizer and editor, it's hard to suggest this over the free offerings. One little thing before I conclude; I didn't like all of the shameless plugs in the program to upgrade to Corel Paint Shop Pro. There is "News" window in which the only "news" is an ad for Paint Shop Pro. There is even an "Advanced Editing" button in the menu that, instead of bringing up a series of advanced tools, takes you to a web page to order...surprise..surprise... Paint Shop Pro. Yes, a button in the tools menu that takes you to a page to upgrade to something better (and more expensive). I have never been a fan of advertising in purchased programs, especially when it's thrust right in your face. It irritated me enough to take a star off the rating based on that alone. Other than that, the application is recommended if you're in search of a nice inexpensive editor.
  
  
• This is great Photo software!
  By A19ZE9E4C1L3IY on 2008-10-22
  This is the first photo album or photoshop type product that I have ever used. I instantly inserted the disc, and after it downloaded it pulls up your pics that you already have stored on your pc. I am very fair complected and i loved being able to give myself a suntan and you can also whiten teeth! I used it on my sons Kindergarten graduation pics I took to remove the redeye and he had a runny nose in 1 pic, so I used the "blemish eraser" and it removed the snot! lol. I know its gross but its good to know! You can also create magazine covers out of photos, they have different borders or frames as they call it to put around your pics, it also has scrap-booking options, and in my opinion even though I do not scrapbook, this would be an awesome gift or purchase for someone who does. It lets you crop photos, you can choose black & white, sepia, or color. It is VERY user friendly and I have been playing with my pics and this tool since I rec'd it. I highly recommend this item!
  
  
• Grandma Says Yes--Grandpa Not So Sure
  By A1BMG34CO5CMZ5 on 2008-10-23
  I am the Grandpa who got this product. Grandma is helping me test it out. Grandma loves it. Grandpa is iffy. Hence the mediocre star rating.
  
  Grandma is all into scrapbooks, scanning old pictures, etc. There are plenty of bells and whistles built in to let a scrapbooker scrap to his or her hearts content. Thats on the positive side.
  
  Grandpa has doubts about moving away from a simple preservation of the photos into Corel format. He asks himself, where will this product--and the pictures it has swallowed--be in five or ten years. Looking down the road, I am unsure whether this product--or any for that matter--will help preserve our valuable and irreplaceable family pictures for future generations.
  
  
• So Far I like it.
  By AUQW6UEZFC7B2 on 2008-10-23
  I recently purchased a new computer with Vista. So when this became available on Vine, I decided to try it.
  It installed pretty easy and while I have only had it on my computer for a short time, I'm pleased with the features I've used.
  
  I know there is so much I haven't used yet and I'm looking forward to using it alot.
  
  
• RATING BASED ON TYRO-LEVEL USER!
  By A2U83VDVJMAB2U on 2008-10-24
  If you're seriously into photography, this is NOT the program for you. It is absolutely a basic entry-level processing software.
  
  For what it does, and based on its price, I'd consider it a good value. It will give you the ability to do some basic processing like cropping, some picture quality adjustments (tone, tint, brightness, etc.), straightening, very simple things like that.
  
  It installed without a hitch; the menus are fairly intuitive. Again, obviously geared toward the beginner/novice.
  
  It does have a nice feature for editing videos, which could prove very handy for the home movie shooter. Also, coying DVDs.
  
  But if you're looking for something that allows more sophisticated creativity, be warned: this program doesn't have the most basic capabilities of even Photoshop Elements.
  
  We're talking REAL basic, here. But for what it is, and the exceptionally low price, I consider it a good value.
  
  
  
• A good product with lots of tools and xtras
  By A2OW356OMJNAVH on 2008-10-24
  Corel Photo Album 7 Deluxe has lots of editing features, tons of templates and lots of ideas for creative picture/photo products.
  
  I found the product easy to install and to get started with. I have to say that I probably would never need many of the features that are available with the program given my relatively simple use of editing programs for making newsletters, copies of photos and other such projects. However, the vast number of features available in this generally easily to use software is impressive and makes this seem like a good value for the list price.
  
  Truth be told, I'd probably stick with making slideshows using powerpoint - the program that I use most often and am most familiar with, but the features available in Corel Photo Album for making slide shows are many. However, the photo editing capabilities are very nice and offer many options only available in professional image editing programs that are much less easier to use, so for that alone this product won positive points from me.
  
  I like the option of video editing as well, which is likely to be a useful and desired tool for many.
  
  
• Expect a learning curve
  By A1ZZR25X0CNOJX on 2008-10-26
  I work with LOTS of photos and home movies in my free time, having made a few DVD's already to share with family at Christmas and other special events. When I first started experimtenting with photo editing back in the mid 1990's, I preferred Corel to Paint shop and other programs available (not that there were many.)
  
  Then I wasn't able to get upgrades to Corel, but Paint Shop Pro was available, so I was forced to use that. After a while, I got used to Paint Shop Pro, and have happily used it for a several years now.
  
  When I had the opportunity to try out the latest Corel software, I was excited. I was looking forward to having more editing power and features I'd been accustomed to in earlier versions of Corel, and I hoped it would be easy to make DVD's.
  
  When I first put in the software disk, it made a loud buzzing noise, as though it were slightly warped and vibrating/scraping something in the disk holder. It functioned ok despite this, but it's an annoying buzzing/vibrating sound that can be heard as far as the room at the other end of the hallway.
  
  Next, I tried editing a photo or two. I took out some "red eye" on a photo, and the software seemed to do a better job than others I had tried.
  
  I tried the "teeth whitening" and found that it did a better job than I would have suspected, though the edges stand out a little bit too much and make it seem obviously "computer enhanced" sometimes. Thank goodness a photo editor finally added this feature though.
  
  The "suntan" feature added a blothy reddish hue to skin tones I tried it on, so that needs some work yet. It had some of the other usual photo tools and features (like auto picture fix) that I'd used on other programs, and it did average with that.
  
  The disappointment came when I tried to copy a digital video from my video camera to the Corel program to make a DVD. It couldn't find my digital movies. My computer had no problem finding the files, and importing them, but Corel just sat dead when I selected the folder to open.
  
  I tried working with it for another half hour or so, and never had any luck. The software is not as user friendly as other programs. In this day and age, software is usually pretty "idiot proof" and shouldn't require much reading or thought on the part of the user. So this aspect of the Corel software was VERY disappointing. Having used Roxio, and knowing that this Corel Photo software was in partnership with Roxio, I couldn't understand why I was having so much trouble getting video in to the program.
  
  
• Mediocre photo management software
  By A9GPCR9WJQCCJ on 2008-10-28
  This software package helps you transfer digital photos to your PC, perform rudimentary editing and package them into photo "trays". It includes some clip art that be used to build a snapshot show.
  It runs with it's own GUI interface that takes some getting used to. I tried to improve a photo image using this product, but it connected me to a web page with an attempt to sell me more software.
  For what I want to do, I have found nothing the software does that I can't do with Windows XP and MS PowerPoint. Because I already had these software tools, and knew how to use them, I feel the Photo Album 7 package just gets in the way.
  
  
• Photo Album 7
  By A2P27NPMKDL2Z6 on 2008-10-30
  Well, this program is so big that I have only scratched the surface. But from what I can see so far is a program that is as good as any of the rest of them. Huge amount of projects and templates. You just pick a project, ad what you want (pictures art, whatever) and and edit to your hearts content or just let the program do what it thinks you want. Simple, easy and fast.
  
  
• Features worth buying
  By A276Z3OL222ECU on 2008-10-31
  Photo Album 7 seems to be geared toward people that want quick, easy, general fixes for their photos, and in this regard does not disappoint. Brightness, contrast, cropping, etc. can be found in many free editing programs, but Photo Album 7 goes beyond these basics. You can create slide shows and even videos from your images.
  
  I found two features the most intriguing: The easy conversion of photos to sepia tones for an old-fashioned look, and a very cool feature of quickly rotating an image to vertical based on a drawn line. For instance, if you have a landscape photo where the horizon is not lined up, simply draw a line along the horizon and the program will rotate your image into line.
  
  I own Corel Draw and have owned prior versions of Photo Album 7. What I like about Corel products is the vast supply of included Clip Art. What I don't like about some Corel products and this one in particular is how far they stray off of normal expectations in menu layout and usage. This product is probably aimed toward people who don't use Photoshop, and indeed want to stay away from the intimidation of its advanced features and usage, but if you are already familiar with how Adobe lays things out - what I consider normal - you'll know what I mean. "Easy" isn't as easy as it should be if you have to use workflows and menu placements that aren't what you are expecting.
  
  Bottom Line: If you aren't so used to imaging programs that your mouse starts automatically moving to the upper left to open a file, and if you aren't really planning to use this program as a commercial workhorse, you'll probably be very pleased with this purchase.
  
  
• Not impressed, lacks many features (Go Free or Buy Better)
  By A1GQRGB8FGSLIZ on 2008-10-31
  Maybe Corel believes they are doing consumers a favor by putting advertising in their product to purchase their own Paintshop Pro Photo. If you are paying for software you should not get advertising within the software. If one signs up for a newsletter that is a different story.
  
  My review is based on being a user of Photoshop Elements and Google Picasa. I would group photo album with Picasa. (Google Picasa is Free) The program is not on the same level as photoshop elements. Sure Photoshop Elements is more expensive; however, it is worth the extra price tag. I put Photo Album on the same level as Picasa.
  
  Pro
  - Easy to discover your photos
  - Easy to make a Corel Photoshow
  - Numerous Photo frames
  
  Cons
  - The enhancements tools are minimal
  - You cannot publish your photo show to your website (Photoshop Elements is great for this)
  - Price to feature ratios
  
  I cannot recommend this program at this price, the most I would pay for this program is $15
  
  If you are looking for basic photo touch up go download Google Picasa for free.
  
  If you plan to create photo albums for your website and have many photo enhancements, buy yourself Photoshop Elements
  
  
  
• Easy, Fast & Fun Photo Software!
  By A3FS3FJPD3RJTD on 2008-11-03
  After resolving Error Code 1500...which I will explain at the end of this review...Photo Album 7 installed very quickly, and has so far performed with no freeze-ups or delays, and works very well with my Kodak printer. I thought this Corel product might be comparable to Microsoft Digital Image, which I have on another computer, but it's actually not as complex and does not have as many creative projects.
  
  What creative projects it does have are very easy to use,though, so it's an excellent software for beginner digital photographers, or for those who want a bit more than what their camera software can do. It makes excellent photo greeting cards in just a few minutes. There's one box where you drag and drop the photo, and another box below it where you print your text, using a text cell block. The text area is already centered, so all you do is choose your print type, size and color. It has a wonderful selection of colors! Both half cards and quarter cards can be made. But it does not print borderless photos. This is definitely the type of card software you want to get if you want to use your own photos on your cards. If you want Hallmark type cards, try Hallmark or American Greetings card software.
  
  There were more calendar selections than I thought there would be. But you cannot add text to the days of the month, such as family birthdays, nor do they have holiday selections to add to your calendars. Broderbund Calendar Creator would be a better choice if you want to do those things.Corel strongly suggests using a photo printer and photo paper for the calendars; Canon Matte Photo paper is a good choice, because it has no writing on the back of the paper; thus, you can put a full size photo on the photo side (the BRIGHT WHITE side), and a calendar month on the back. It's also great for greeting cards. Only, do note I've only so far used that type of Canon paper with a Canon photo printer. Hence, I'm not sure how it will print with another brand of printer. You also need to be very familiar with the direction your photo printer prints things, so the inside card greeting or the flip side calendar page, prints the right way. Use plain paper as samples to find this out if you don't already know, so you won't waste more expensive photo paper.
  
  All the photo organizing, e-mailing, printing, burning and such that Photo Album 7 can do can be done with Windows Photo Gallery, if you have Vista. So, if that's all you're interested in, there's no need to buy this software, although it does have a few more photo fixers than Photo Gallery. However, if you also want to do creative things, do try this product. It would be a lot less expensive than buying all the specialized creative softwares; and you can see if you want to get more advanced softwares to do creative projects, or if Photo Album 7 is all you need.
  
  Concerning the Error 1500 I had during installation...I believe this was a problem with my laptop--a Dell Inspiron 1525 with Vista Premium, Service Pack 1--and not a problem with the Corel software. But I'm still going to describe the fix for the problem I got from Dell support, in case anyone else encounters this problem. It's the same as Error 1618 that one may get with Corel VideoStudio Pro x2. Basically, it claims another program is being installed at the same time on the computer, and one must wait until that installation is finished. There was no other installation going on as far as I could tell; but I do have dial-up, and installations are sometimes cut off from the internet before they are finished downloading and installing, so maybe that was the problem. Here's the fix:
  
  1) Click on Start & Search.
  
  2) Type "System Configuration", without quotes, in the search box and
  press Enter.
  
  3) Click on Start Up tab and click Disable All.
  
  4) Click on Services tab, check the option "Hide All Microsoft Services",
  and click Disable All.
  
  5) Click on Apply, click on OK, and restart the computer.
  
  6) Install the Corel software.
  
  7) Go back to System Configuration and Enable All at Start Up and
  Services...or write down which boxes were checked before you disable
  them, and just recheck the same boxes. If you don't do this, certain
  things like your printer may not work right.
  
  8) Restart your computer.
  
  
  
• Adds the little extras to you pictures !
  By A10AFVU66A79Y1 on 2008-11-03
  Overall this is a simple, and satisfying program for the majority of digital camera users. This will add the ' Little Extra" to your pictures to make them look good and should make you real Happy.
  
  I liked that the first thing this program did was organize my photo's. I had no desire to go through them all and do that. The program made easy work of a time consuming task. THANK YOU
  
  I really like that after doing a few edits to the picture I found that in just a one click process, I can email immediately. No additional steps needed.
  There are a number of cute photo enhancements that I thought are fun and easy to use for the novice photo editor. The 'Tubes' are fun. Add a few cute flowers or kitties to a child's picture and they think it is beautiful.( so do I ))
  Placing pictures in an EASY scrapbook sheet is wonderful, just drag and drop. You can also add cute embellishments to the pages to really personalize the pages. I love to make a few scrapbooks for the holidays for family and this will make it a breeze.
  The program has video editing which I confess is not my thing, but for those that want an easy process it does it nicely and with music attachments.
  
  The photo retouching is in my opinion ..only OK.. The red-eye works well. but the quick fix isn't that great. I found I needed to go into personalized area more times that I thought would be needed. I tried many different pictures from outdoor shots both cloudy and sunny. This would probably satisfy most people if this was your first time in photo editing But if you have even more than a passing knowledge of photo retouching, this may be a little frustrating.
  The makeover tools are GREAT.. I love that you can whiten teeth, cover over blemishes and add some color to skin to make it look sun kissed. These are very easy to use and would make most of use HAPPY to have just that function.
  There are other things in the program to allow calendars, cards creation. One of my nephews was thrilled when I placed his picture on the " cover' of a magazine. I think I will make him a scrapbook with his picture on the 'Magazine cover' and fill the book with his school and sports pictures.
  Overall this is a simple, and satisfying program for the majority of digital camera users. This will add the ' Little Extra" to your pictures, make them look good and you will get ton's of compliments on the pictures This should make you real Happy.
  
  
  
• Close to Perfect for the Novice or More
  By A3963R7EPE3A7E on 2008-11-04
  This has been a joy from the beginning. I am somewhat new to this technology and decided I would start out from the beginning as if I knew nothing about Photo Albums. That's easy for me to do. Regardless, I found that if exceeds my basic and intermediate needs. It did everything I asked it to do and exceed my standards of excellence. There are some minor downturns due to a memory shortage but I did not downgrade the software for it. With an old XP box et al this program did what you would want a photo program to do. The best part for me is that if you are new to this technology you can do it without a great deal of smarts. And if you have the smarts it just makes it that much better to use and try all the little make betters and there are a bunch of them. I took my camera out and took all kinds of new pics so that I could "enhance" them. Boy, it sure makes me look smarter that I am. Bottom line: Would I buy this again: absolutely yes.
  
  

• Corel Painter X Win/Mac
• Paint Shop Pro Photo X2
• Corel VideoStudio X2
• Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate & VideoStudio Pro X2 Bundle
• Corel Painter Essentials 4 (Win/Mac)

• Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate
• Paint Shop Pro Photo X2
• Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007
• Microsoft Streets & Trips 2009
• Belkin F3U133-10 Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Cable (10 Feet)