Photo Impression 6.5 Gold

Usability

With a 'one-step-at-time' approach, the software from Photo Impression could not be more easy to use. The programmers at ArcSoft provide a clear slate on which to work, with logical tabs providing the path to all the features needed to complete even the most complex editing project.

Importing Images

Photo Impression software provides a multitude of ways to import photos for editing. Like most programs, it allows for a smooth transfer of images from camera to computer. One great added feature that other programs seem to miss is the ability to also import from a thumb drive or flash card.

Photo Editing

Photo Impression editing software provides you with the tools to fix the most common types of problems in photographs. Use the Easy-Fix Wizard to add brightness and contrast, adjust the color, fix red-eye, sharpen, crop or straighten your photos. Some of the tools included with PhotoImpression are duplicates in both the auto mode and photo editing tool mode. With the more advanced mode, retouch and clone parts of photos as layers are manipulated as built-in objects or text easily moved around with the click of a button. Add text and edit it in a text box, while changing the size, font and color. Apply a color gradient or texture to text or insert a drop shadow to give it depth. This program does not allow you to have different text styles in the middle of a sentence, so you must create a separate object for each style. Transparency is also not supported in PhotoImpression.

Photo Sharing

Sharing is not available with Photo Impression 6.5 Gold by ArcSoft. Although this software is easy to use with somewhat adequate editing tools, a slide show function and email; the clip art is outdated. Photo Impression is ranked lower on the list of than other photo editing software due to its coarse editing results. It has a simple interface and an automatic digital media organizer but the tech support and user manual are not very helpful.

Output Capabilities

Because it is designed for use with ArcSoft's quite of multi-media products, Photo Impression does not quite have the output options that many other popular photo editing programs provide. While the software does support several file types, you will likely want to supplement Photo Impression with another program like PhotoPrinter.

Organization

With this software you are able to search your photos based on keywords, tags, and image type. You can sort your files based on date, or you view them in groups using the Folder Browser and Stack features.

Support

The help feature built into the software isn't a collection of solutions like you might expect; instead, it's merely a list of definitions. If you have a problem that isn't covered in the manual, you may find help in the Knowledge Base or user forum sections at the ArcSoft website.