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Like traditional furniture suites of old, Microsoft’s Digital Image 2006 Suite Edition consists of three main components. These are the Editor module, Library facility and Photo Story 3.1. All three have their own entry on the Start Menu. You will also be able to move seamlessly between the three modules when starting from either the Editor or Library.

When installing the product, which is supplied on two CDs, you will be given the option of choosing either typical or complete install. The former takes up 380MB of space while the latter hungrily devours 1300MB of your hard disk. Even when selecting the former, it will be a time consuming operation that gives you plenty of time to make a cup of coffee.

An option is available for the software to scan any of your drives to locate and catalogue any images and video clips it finds. These will be organised into a hierarchical tree structure enabling you to quickly navigate between the various groups of images. The software makes a reasonable attempt at categorising the images found but you will probably need to carry out some fine tuning using standard Windows protocols such as drag & drop and copy & paste.

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Keywords and flags, accessed via the Labels option, can be added to individual and groups of images to help when searching for images of a similar nature or to indicate future possible action. The program comes with a selection of keywords and tags which can be supplemented with any suggestions of your own.

The Digital Image Library displays images as resizable thumbnails. These can have text and details regarding image size and resolution displayed alongside. Hovering the mouse over an image with reveal a larger version of the thumbnail with appropriate details while a mouse click brings up more information about the image in a preview pane at the bottom of the screen. Double clicking on an image gives you a full screen view.  As well as looking for images of a similar type, you can sort content using criteria such as date, size and filename.

RAW support has been added for Canon and Nikon cameras. You can now view and organise photos shot using the RAW format. Images can also be saved in RAW format as well as the more familiar JPEG and FIF files.

When images need to be adjusted, they can be taken into the Editor module. This has a sidebar running down the right of the screen which can be used to hold any images that might be required for the current session. On the left is a pane offering easy access to common tasks that have been categorised under headings such as Auto fixes, Touch-up, Format, Effects and Edges. These wizard-led tools have been designed to require the minimum number of mouse clicks to complete a task. As a result you do loose some flexibility but for most users this will be more than counteracted by the ease-of-use factor

There are options to create flipbook, web animations and panoramic pictures consisting on a number of images stitched together. You can also build up a slide show of images with the Photo Story 3.1. This feature allows you to include a narration, customised pans and zooms plus music to the slide show which can be saved, burned to a CD and sent to friends and family.

Digital Image 2006 Suite Edition is not the most powerful or feature-rich product around but it does not set out to be. However it more than makes up for this with its ease-of-use approach to image management and editing tasks. The product is eminently suitable for the novice or casual user. It requires a Pentium 700MHz or faster processor with 256MB of RAM, 400MB of hard disk space and Windows 98SE or later. Pricing should be around the £54 mark.

http://www.microsoft.com/products/imaging/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=003