Windows Live Photo Gallery
By Erin Bell
Like most digital camera junkies, I have thousands of photos stored on my computer hard drive. Windows Live Photo Gallery is a free download that helps me import, organize, edit and share my photo collection with family and friends.
Import easily
To import photos from a camera or scanner, all I have to do is connect the device to my computer and click File > Import.
Once the photos are on my computer, I can sort them in various ways, such as tagging them. I add the tags (such as Wildlife, Music and Weddings) myself. I can also rate my favourite photos, add descriptive captions and even sort photos by the dates they were taken.
Create pretty panoramas
Another feature I love to play with is panoramic stitching. If you have a series of photos of a long beach or a cityscape, for example, simply select them all and Live Photo Gallery can “stitch” the photos together into one uninterrupted panorama.
Perfect your pics
If your photos aren’t looking their best, the Fix menu is a helpful feature that lets you touch up with a few mouse clicks. You can adjust the following:
- brightness,
- colour,
- contrast and
- sharpness.
You can also get rid of red-eye and crop photos to the desired size.
Make a movie
Use the Windows Movie Maker tool to create home movies by dragging video clips and photos onto a timeline and by adding music and audio clips. You can record your own narrative by connecting a microphone. It’s also easy to pan and zoom, make fancy transitions and add text captions and credits.
Share and share alike
When your photos and movies are ready to be shared, Live Photo Gallery gives you several options. You can:
- print photos directly,
- order prints online and have them delivered,
- burn photos and videos on a CD or DVD, and
- use the Publish button to publish content directly on a Windows Live Spaces blog, MSN Soapbox or Flickr.
