Microsoft Picture It Publishing Platinum 2002

CNET editors' rating: 4.5 stars Outstanding
Detailed editors' rating
Overall score: 9.0 (4.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 58 reviews
• See all user reviews

Product summary

CNET Editors' ChoiceOct 01

CNET editors' review

• Reviewed by: Barbara Krasnoff
• Reviewed on: 10/10/2001
• Updated on:01/16/2003

You have to hand it to Microsoft. For all the company's faults, it certainly turned out a good product in Picture It. This easy-to-use photo editor packs a variety of editing tools, such as brightness, tint, and red-eye adjustment, and tops it all off with a sterling help system that includes animation and a manual. Our only major complaint: Microsoft sticks in occasional and irritating self-promotional ads. Intrusion aside, however, Picture It is our top choice for both novices and more ambitious experimenters.You have to hand it to Microsoft. For all the company's faults, it certainly turned out a good product in Picture It. This easy-to-use photo editor packs a variety of editing tools, such as brightness, tint, and red-eye adjustment, and tops it all off with a sterling help system that includes animation and a manual. Our only major complaint: Microsoft sticks in occasional and irritating self-promotional ads. Intrusion aside, however, Picture It is our top choice for both novices and more ambitious experimenters.

Quick start
After a smooth if somewhat lengthy installation, the program starts with a snazzy welcome screen. To begin a project, select from a variety of templates, such as calendars, business cards, stickers, brochures, albums, or envelopes. Or just open and edit a digital image by accessing files from your hard drive or acquiring new images from scanners, a camera, or your MSN Photos online photo album. If you're not sure how to get started, visit the help menu and launch one of several well-designed animated sequences that illustrate how to use various features. In fact, all the program's context-sensitive help features are superb and usually available when you need them.

Once you have chosen the image you plan to work on, Picture It brings you to the main work space. Thumbnails on the right side of the screen let you access different layers of your project. Below the main window, you'll find thumbnails of the images you've worked on recently, along with a slide bar to let you adjust the image size of your current project. On the left sits the tool panel, which offers either a clickable list of options (for tweaking, say, size, color, or depth) or step-by-step instructions on how to use each instrument. Unfortunately, Picture It sometimes uses that same side panel to exhibit a number of promotional special offers, which simply clutter the work space and are, frankly, quite annoying.

Oodles of tools
Picture It boasts a remarkable number of editing tools. Like Photo Express and PhotoImpression, Picture It makes it easy to adjust brightness, tint, and size and to correct red-eye--all you do is choose the appropriate tool and click the image. If you wish, you can add several artistic special effects, which Microsoft calls Illusions. These effects can re-create your photo as a charcoal or pencil sketch. Other special effects let you distort the image by pulling it out of shape, paint over or fill in areas with a variety of colors and brush strokes, or add a 3D look. Picture It also lets you add virtual picture frames, mattes, and backgrounds, or you can choose from a large number of categorized clip art and templates that include animals, clothing, and cartoons. When you're finished, organize your images in Picture It's gallery--categorize them, name them, and add keywords.

Unlike Photo Express and PhotoImpression, Picture It includes tools to remove scratches and dust and restore the focus and contrast of old photographs. We worked on a damaged black-and-white photo and were able to sharpen it significantly. However, oddly enough, the cloning tool, which lets you make exact copies of any portion of your image, did a better job fixing scratches than did Picture It's dedicated Remove Scratch tool.

Share it in on the Web
Once you've completed your project, Picture It lets you export it in several different formats. You can save an image in a traditional format, such as JPEG or BMP. Or, like the other two packages we reviewed, Picture It offers a free online service, MSN Photos, that lets you save up to 30MB worth of images into your own Web album. You can also order Fuji prints of your photos starting at 49 cents per 4x6-inch print from the site, a service that is not available from either Ulead or ArcSoft. Continue reading

User reviews

• Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 58 reviews
• My rating: 0 stars Write review

• Showing 3 of 58 user reviewsSee all 58 user reviews

• 0.5 stars

  1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

  "When is this programme going to work with VISTA????"

  by bigisle on January 7, 2008

  read more

• 4.5 stars

  "Superb! The best that I've found on the market!"

  by lindasped on June 5, 2005

  read more

• 2.0 stars

  "Major Known Functional Issues"

  on November 19, 2003

  read more

• See all 58 user reviews Write review

Similar products

• Microsoft Picture It Digital Image Pro 7.0
  • Editors' rating: 4.0 out of 5
  • Users' rating: 2.5 out of 5
• Microsoft Digital Image Pro 10.0
  • Editors' rating: 3.0 out of 5
  • Users' rating: 4.5 out of 5
• Microsoft Digital Image Suite 10.0
  • Editors' rating: 3.0 out of 5
  • Users' rating: 3.0 out of 5
• Microsoft Digital Image Suite 2006 ( Windows)
  • Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5
  • Users' rating: 3.5 out of 5
• Adobe Photoshop Elements 4
  • Editors' rating: 4.0 out of 5
  • Users' rating: 2.5 out of 5

Where to buy Microsoft Picture It Publishing Platinum 2002

This product is currently not in stock at any of our online merchants.

Find from our auction partner, eBay

Email me when this product is available