Electronics and Computer Review

Shopping online for a camera is the best way to locate detailed descriptions of all the camera and lens options available. Then you will be able to make your choices based on these descriptions. Whether you are an amateur or professional photographer, there are many places on the Web to look for the camera you want.

What Camera Do You Need?

First of all, you must decide what type of camera will meet your needs. You may only need a simple point and shoot for family photos. These cameras will be less expensive and uncomplicated to operate. You can get automatic actions such as zoom and flash or automatic advancement in 35mm cameras. They are usually compact and simple to use, which makes it easy for anyone to take pictures.

However, there are limitations with those cameras in the control of exposure and focusing. For someone who is more involved in amateur photography, added manual control may be beneficial. One of the biggest advantages is the ability to change lenses to get a better zoom picture. Sporting events and vacation photos will be more pleasing to look at when taken with the right types of lenses.

The serious and professional photographers will want the best cameras with the features that suit their needs. This would include manual focus to give the clearest and sharpest pictures. Also, there are several different size lenses to get a good picture from a greater distance.

Different Camera Styles

There are basically four different kinds of cameras to choose from. The first, usually cheapest and easiest to handle, is the point and shoot. The second is the 35mm SLR that allows more variety in lenses and focus. The third is the Medium Format, which is larger and gives a larger negative to work with. It is completely manual but supplies a high-quality photograph. The fourth is the Large Format camera used by the professionals. It is larger and harder to use but provides stunning photographs from the larger size prints.

Shop Online for Cameras and Lenses

When you have decided the type of camera you need, you are ready to shop online. To get started, you simply type in your key words on a search engine. Once you know what you are looking for the task will be much simpler. There are many sites that offer cameras at wholesale or discount prices. They usually offer all the well-known brands such as Leica, Minolta, Canon, Horizon, Contax, Olympus, Mamiya, Nikon, Hasselblad, Pentax, and Noblex.

Some sites sell used products that have been gently used or refurbished. Purchasing these cameras would save you some money and will usually still come with a warranty. There are sites with online catalogs where you can look for the brand or style you want. They also provide search features so you can shop by key word or brand name.

Compare Before Buying

It is a good idea to shop around and compare prices and shipping costs before buying a camera. Remember to include the shipping costs when calculating the total price of a camera or lenses. Don’t buy a camera at a discount price just because it is a good deal. To be sure you are satisfied with your purchase, look for the key features and quality you want. Buy a camera based on your needs and you’ll enjoy taking fabulous photographs with it for years to come!

Building professional looking websites can definitely be challenging.

While anyone in the world can learn the basics of html and get an operational site up and running on the internet, making a site that looks attractive can be another story altogether!

The internet abounds with cheap-looking mom and pop sites that look like they were designed by a first year html student.

Do you want your web sites to look like that?

I hope not. Especially when it is so gosh-darn easy to make your sites look more professional using Microsoft FrontPage.

Here are 5 ways FrontPage can instantly make your websites look more professional.

1. High Quality Photos And Clipart Collection – Few people actually know how great the Microsoft Clipart collection is. This collection of images is created and maintained by one of the richest corporations in the world. It absolutely crushes any other collection I’ve seen on the internet in terms of quantity and quality of available pictures.

Best part…It’s free for FrontPage owners!

There are over a million clipart pictures and photos, all searchable by keyword.

And if you have an active internet connection, you can search this online gallery from within FrontPage while you work.

Adding some original looking, nice photographs to each page of your site can instantly take up space, add a professional look. This is better than simply having the affiliate link.

2. The Interactive Button Features – In Microsoft FrontPage 2003, there is a new feature called ‘Interactive Buttons’.

Basically, you can choose from over 200 different types of ready-made buttons to use on your website. These buttons look fantastic and can be created and edited with 1 click.

Before you would have to pay a graphic designer or spend hours creating these types of rollover buttons yourself, but FrontPage 2003 does it all for you.

Using these buttons can add a big dose of professional looks to your site in a matter of seconds.

3. Using HTML Tables – It goes without saying that the content of your webpages should usually be placed in some sort of html table. FrontPage makes it easy to create tables and add content, simply by using a button on the toolbar. You can use this to center the content on your page and create neat looking tables once you get the hang of it (it is easy). This way, your content isn’t scattered all around the page.

4. Included Content – This feature of FrontPage allows you to make changes to hundreds of webpages, simply by changing the content of one html page. For example, I mentioned above that you should use the interactive buttons feature to create a navigation system. You can also ‘include’ this navigation system on all of your webpages with a special feature in FrontPage.

This way, if you want to add another category or link to all of the pages on your site, you simply need to open up one webpage, the ‘navigation.htm’ page, and change the contents of that page.

The changes will immediately be reflected on hundreds of pages on your website.

You can see this is 10,000x more easy than going through and manually editing the links bar on each page!

5. Web Forms – Using the web forms feature of FrontPage, you can create a feedback form for your website. Not only do these forms look nice, but they also can help you to alleviate your spam problems.

Many a webmaster has paid extravagant fees to other companies for form processing, when it has been available to FrontPage users free and easy for years.

You can create any kind of feedback form in a matter of minutes, and have the results of the form submission sent to any email address that you choose.

To conclude:

I have just given you 5 very valuable tools for creating professional looking websites fast.

While it may not sound like much, consider this:

Let’s say you spend $50 and get a nice looking banner graphic for your new affiliate website.

Then you create a neat html table, past in the banner, and use the interactive buttons feature of FrontPage 2003 to create a navigation system.

You can use the same general template for each new page you create (for articles, and other information about the product you are promoting).

After that, you top each page off with a nice looking photo or two from the Microsoft Clipart collection.

Using these basic techniques, in only an hour or 2 you can easily put together a professional looking website site.

You can get more Microsoft FrontPage website building tips via the tips newsletter at http://www.fphowto.com

Whether you are shopping for accounting software to help budget your personal or business expenses, you may find that managing all of your files with a single program helps you to save time and know exactly where your money goes. If you are familiar with the accounting process, you already know how complicated ledgers, account statements, debits and credits can be. In an effort to simplify the accounting process, a number of manufacturers have created software specifically designed to help make your life a little easier.

Before deciding on any one particular accounting software program, keep the following tips in mind:

$Because many popular online software specialty stores allow for product feedback from customers, you will have the opportunity to read reviews that may help to make your decision easier based on the experiences by others who have already used the accounting software in question. Pay close attention to customer reviews when shopping for software.

$When you consider the purchase of any type of software, including that of accounting, you will want to make sure that it is compatible with your computer and that all PC requirements are met before purchasing the product. Many software programs require a specific type of processor, available memory, etc. In order for the software to function properly your computer will need to be able to handle all of the applications contained therein. By being familiar with your computer’s configuration, you will be able to make a better selection when it comes time to purchase your new accounting software.

$When shopping for accounting software, read about the program’s description and capabilities. You will need to make sure that you are either already familiar with the application or that you will be comfortable in learning how to use it. The reason is because many retailers will not accept software that is being returned if it has already been opened. So, before you buy, consider downloading a trial version or purchase an accounting software program that you are already familiar with.

$Purchase your accounting software from a company that has been in a business for awhile and one that has a good reputation. This will ensure prompt customer service, reliability, product assurance and a timely shipment. By purchasing software from a reliable and established business, you will also gain the peace of mind in knowing that the title is authentic and not an illegal copy. The most effective way of checking out a business’s reputation is through the Better Business Bureau.

$Learn about the company’s return, refund and/or exchange policy. Although most retailers will not refund the purchase if software has been opened, they may be willing to exchange it for the exact title if the program is defective or damaged.

Digital camera prices have been constantly dropping whilst the quality and complexity of the digital cameras has been rising rapidly. People who used to only dream of owning a digital camera because of the excessive digital camera prices may now be able to afford much better cameras than they realize. In fact, digital camera prices have changed so dramatically that a 5- or 6-megapixel point-and-shoot digital camera has dropped below what a 4-megapixel camera was selling for less than a year ago.

Digital camera prices of $200-$300 are now common for good point-and-shoot digital cameras that come with an image resolution of up to 5 mega pixels and a 3X optical zoom lens. It is important to recognize what the minimum features are to expect for this range of digital camera prices. Digital camera prices between $200 and $300 should include:

* 1.3 frames per second shooting capability * 10 to 20 scene modes * built-in flash * lens openings from f2.8 to f4.8 * optical viewfinder and an LCD of 1.5 to 2 inches * optical zoom lens with a range equivalent to that of a 35-115mm lens * rechargeable batteries * shutter speeds of 4 seconds to 1/2000 second * solid plastic or metal housing * video clip capture at 320 by 240 resolution with audio

Digital camera prices can vary and it is essential to know what the most useful features are. Obviously you want to take good pictures but don’t want to pay the inflated digital camera prices that the high-end cameras have. However, your priority should be to assess which features are the most important to enable you to take the best pictures. The higher the numbers of megapixels that the cameras have, the higher the digital camera prices are but this does not necessarily guarantee better pictures.

One of the most useful features to look for in the $200-$300 range of digital camera prices for point-and-shoot picture taking is scene modes. Digital camera prices are not affected very much by having scene modes but these allow an amateur photographer to take shots such as a fireworks display and sunsets without knowing how to adjust the camera settings manually. The majority of the better digital cameras within the $200-$300 range of digital camera prices have scene mode selections available. Another feature of cameras within the $200-$300 range of digital camera prices is that they are compact and will fit in a jacket pocket.

With the many types of anti-virus software, it is helpful to read a brief description of what the different types do and how they can be beneficial to you and your computer.

Norton Anti-virus

Symantec’s Norton AntiVirus software is perhaps the world’s most trusted antivirus solution. It is available for both Windows PC’s, and Macintosh (Symantec Antivirus for Macintosh – S.A.M). Norton AntiVirus is a very reliable and easy-to-use anti-virus product. It’s the best anti-virus product for catching viruses in downloaded files and E-mail. Norton AntiVirus is also more expensive than McAfee VirusScan although not by much, and the added abilities of Norton can easily make up the difference.

Norton AntiVirus includes many tools that can be run in the background, including watching for suspicious PC activity and automatically checking downloaded files for viruses. Norton AntiVirus is also automatically configured to handle E-mail virus scanning for email messages coming into your computer, as well as those you send. This process automatically scans and cleans both incoming and outgoing email, stopping viruses from infecting your computer or spreading to others. It removes viruses automatically, without interrupting your work and prevents infections during real-time online chats, and also detects viruses in instant-message attachments. Because so many viruses and internet worms are now spread using email and Instant Message Systems, this is extremely valuable and necessary protection.

Norton Installation

Installation is simple. Simply install the CD in your CD drive, and the installer will launch automatically. The installer should ask you if you want to do a pre-install scan of your system for viruses. This is a very good thing to do. Once this is finished, the installation will proceed, and you can accept all the defaults without worry. Once the installation is complete, you’ll be prompted to go online and get up-to-date virus definitions. DO NOT skip this step. Having up-to-date virus definitions is essential to the performance of any antivirus software.

Normal Use

Norton is a very hands-off program. Pretty much it is an install and forget program that looks after itself. It will automatically notify you if there is anything that you need to do. If a virus is found, the software will try to automatically repair the file, if it can’t, it will place the file in a safe ‘quarantine’ zone, and let you know. In addition to looking for known viruses, the Norton Antivirus Bloodhound feature tries to spot new viruses and worms by their behaviour that is common to such nasty programs.

Checking your system and downloading updates are two things you need to do regularly. Norton Antivirus makes them painless by setting up a full system scan once a week and checking for new updates (both to the software, and virus definitions) whenever you’re online. These simple update scans hardly slow down your PC down at all.

Overall, Norton Antivirus is an excellent way to guard against viruses. It is the system that I recommend to my clients most often, and that I use personally.

Digital cameras have exploded in popularity in recent years. The convenience that they have brought to the market with the ability to review your pictures instantly and correct any imperfections by retaking the picture and the ability to store, edit, and email them from your own personal computer has fueled this growth.

It is now no longer a matter of if you need a digital camera, but rather which one do I choose?

First decide how you are going to use the camera. If simplicity is your goal, a simple point and shoot digital camera will do. If you wan the flexibility to be able to grow with the camera as you gain experience get a point and shoot that offers manual controls, this way you will have the best of both worlds – infinite options for creativity and the ease of an automatic mode.

The next item on your agenda should be megapixels. To keep it simple, the more megapixels the better the picture will be. So, how many megapixels do you need? If all you are doing is printing or emailing photos, a 3 or 4 megapixel digital camera will work. If you are going to use it for more professional work and enlarging photos, go with one with 5 or 6 megapixels.

If you want uncompromising clarity go with a 7 megapixel or above. Just remember the higher the megapixels the higher the price!

How much zoom do you need? You have two types of zoom with digital cameras, digital and optical. Optical is the more important because it brings your object closer without losing quality. The digital zoom will bring the object in closer, but you sacrifice the quality of the picture. If all you do is take everyday pics a 1x to 4x optical zoom will do. If you take pics like sporting events, get one with a 5x optical zoom or higher. For really intense professional work choose a 10x or better optical zoom.

Digital cameras have evolved now to the point where you can get a great fully featured camera that will fit comfortably in your shirt pocket so don’t think you have to get a large one to get good quality. If you are using it for more professional use with large optical zoom and such expect to have to buy a larger one however.

Buying software online can be tricky, especially if you are new to shopping via the internet. Whether you are upgrading an existing software package or looking for a specific program to install, the process will be a lot less complicated if you know what to look for.

Software Buying Tip # 1 Read customer reviews. Many popular online stores, such as Amazon, allow users to leave their comments about a particular product. Reading other customer reviews may help to make your decision easier because it gives you an idea of others who have experienced the product firsthand.

Software Buying Tip # 2 When considering any type of software, make sure that it is compatible with your computer. Most software requires a specific processor type, such as Pentium or Celeron, and a certain amount of free hard drive space. The reason is because, in order for software to function properly at quickly, the computer must be able to handle the application. By being familiar with your computer’s configuration, you will be able to select the right software.

Software Buying Tip # 3 Become familiar with the software by reading it’s description and capabilities. Before purchasing any type of software, you should make sure that it is exactly what you want or will enjoy learning. Often times, after software is opened, there is no refund policy for buyer’s remorse.

Software Buying Tip # 4 Purchase software from a reputable company. This will ensure customer service, reliability, quality products and timely shipment. By purchasing software from a reliable source, you will also ensure that the title is authentic and not an illegal copy. The best way to check out a business’s reputation is through the Better Business Bureau.

Software Buying Tip # 5 The best part of shopping for software online is the competition. Because there are so many retailers, prices are more competitive than if only one store had the software that you want. Shop around and compare prices before making a final decision.

Software Buying Tip # 6 When making a purchase online, consider using a credit card. Most credit card companies provide a dispute resolution process, which is beneficial if the product is not delivered, is not as advertised or is damaged and the company will not stand behind the transaction.

Software Buying Tip # 7 If purchasing from another individual, such as often the case with online auctions, confirm that the software has all manuals and/or product keys to ensure proper installation.

Software Buying Tip # 8 Learn about the company’s return, refund and/or exchange policy. In many cases, especially with software, the company may refuse to accept the product back for a refund. However, there is always the possibility that a program is damaged or doesn’t function properly, in which case the store should honor the purchase with an exchange for the same title. When buying software online, it’s best to purchase from a store that is reasonable when it comes to exchanges if not refunds.

Software Buying Tip # 9 When purchasing software online, take a moment to look at the company’s shipping costs, methods and availability of a way to track the package following shipment.

Software Buying Tip # 10 Common payment methods include credit cards, checks and/or money orders. If you want to purchase software online, you will need to do so from a company that accepts a convenient payment method. If you do not have a credit card, most companies will accept a mailed payment. Most companies, however, recommend not sending cash.

Barcode scanners are light emitting devices that are used to read barcodes. Usually attached to a computer or laptop via PS2 or RS-232, the data collected is stored on a computer for processing or storage. It is now used in many different industries such as retail or production.

They have been on the market for many years now with new versions of barcode scanners available every year. The prices can vary from as low as $50.00 to as high as several thousand dollars. So how do you pick a good barcode scanner?

To answer that question, it is important you know there are 2 major classes of barcode scanners, image-based and laser-based. Image-based barcode scanners use a camera usually embedded in a barcode scanner. The camera will capture the images and then processed by complex image techniques to decode the barcodes. Laser-based barcode scanners uses mirrors and lenses to read the barcodes.

Laser barcode scanners are usually more expensive than image-based scanners. They have their own pros and cons. An image-based barcode scanner do not have internal movable parts therefore are more resistant to drops or knocks than laser barcode scanners. Also, image-based barcode scanners have a shorter scanning distance (4 to 10 inches) compared to laser barcode scanners. On the other hand, laser scanners are more prone to wear and tear due to their lenses. They not only have a longer scanning distance (up to 24 inches) but also are able to scan from a wider angle from the barcode.

Be aware that the scanning distance for both image-based and laser barcode scanners have already improved dramatically over the years and I wouldn’t be surprised if a barcode manufacturer claims an image-based scanner has a scanning distance of 24 inches.

Here are some questions you need to ask yourself before getting a barcode scanner. The size of scanner required? Type of environment the barcode scanner will be using (outdoors, shop, warehouse)? The scanning distance required? Are they to be used hands free or hand-held? Your budget?

So my suggestion is if you need a barcode scanner for long range scanning, get a laser barcode scanner. For short range scanning, use an image-based barcode scanner such as a CCD barcode scanner. The environment as I asked earlier also plays an important part. If the barcode scanner is being used outdoors or in rugged environments where it is expected to take a drop or knock or two, then it is best to get an image-based barcode scanner. If it were for example being used in a retail shop, then a laser barcode scanner would be the best choice.

There are such a wide variety of barcode scanners available that I just can’t explain completely in this article. If you are in doubt, consult the barcode manufacturers such as symbol or metrologic who have sales consultants who are able to do an analysis of the type of barcode scanners needed by your business.

Upon first digging into Adobe Photoshop CS3, a few features have really popped out at me as incredibly useful. I would like to offer a brief overview of some of these new ways of attacking your creative challenges using the latest version of Adobe’s flagship app. PsCS3 will run you about $649 to buy it outright if you do not own any previous versions. If you own Photoshop 7, CS, or CS2, you are eligible for upgrade pricing – looks like $199 for the upgrade. Check Adobe’s store on their website for more info. For more information about what comes in the different versions of CS3, and what your suite configuration options are, see my previous post.

My current favorite five new PsCS3 features in order are:

1. Nondestructive Smart Filters 2. Quick Selection Tool & Refine Edge 3. Photomerge with advanced alignment and blending 4. Automatic layer alignment and blending 5. Vanishing Point with adjustable angle

Feature Overviews:

* Nondestructive Smart Filters

Adobe has finally given us non-linear, nondestructive filters. Can I just say “HOORAY!” In the past, you applied filters and effects in a linear order: one filter would alter your image, and the second filter would alter your now altered image, and a third filter would alter the altered altered image. The problem with that workflow is that if you decide you want to slightly tweak the second filter, you’d have to either undo back to that point (losing your subsequent edits), or use the history palette to step directly “back in time” to the point before you added the second filter, add your “revised” second filter and then add your third manually. All too often, you don’t quite remember what exact parameters you had set on that third one – or worse, your real world project involved applying 20 filters instead of the 3 in my example and changing the second filter would mean redoing the 18 that follow it. What a drag. Because of this issue, people developed many work arounds (often involving saving off multiple ” partially completed” versions of files all over your hard drive with iterative file names, hoping that if you needed to go back to a certain point in time you’d be able to figure out where you needed to be), and while these workarounds were clever and well-conceived in many cases, there was a perfect, real solution, waiting to happen.

The real solution to all this is what we have been given in CS3: Nondestructive Smart Filters. In this new version, each filter and effect that you apply to a layer, remains live and continually re-editable, in real time, and the parameters that you adjust will all cascade down through whatever subsequent filters or effects you might have added to your layer. These are savable, movable, copy and pastable, and most importantly scalable.

* Quick Selection tool & Refine Edge

A design mentor of mine once told me “Photoshop is all about the selection. You select something, and then you do something with the selection. Nothing more, nothing less. Remember that, and you’ll never go wrong using this app.” Almost 10 years later, I must say she was absolutely correct. Using Photoshop is all about “the selection.” There are more tools in Photoshop for selecting than for any other single task.

As in just about every version of Photoshop that has ever been released, CS3 has made even greater strides in the area of “making your selection” than comes to memory in recent years. The new Quick Selection Tool used in combination with the Refine Edge palette is about the most helpful and clean way of selecting the edges of an object in your image that I have ever seen. This new revised Quick Selection tool is so smooth. You basically set the parameters of your Quick Selection tool – as if it were a brush – and paint the general area of your image edges (like trying to select just a kid and his soccer ball out of the photo of the big game) and Photoshop is watching what you do, and interpreting what you consider to be the general edges of what you are wanting to select and it figures out what’s kid and ball and what’s grass and goal posts and sky and crowd and selects just what you want it to. It’s VERY fast and clean. Then, you can invoke the Refine Edge palette, and you have seemingly infinite control ove r exactly how the edges of that selection behave. Check out the palette to the right to get an idea of what you could do to “refine” that edge. With radius, feathering, smoothing, and various display settings, I believe this new combo will cut down on my masking and selecting time in a quantifiable way.

* Photomerge with advanced alignment and blending

Ever tried to stitch together a series of images that you took, that you intended to “put together” into a panorama? Even with some of the stand alone tools that have been available over the years—even those for doing quicktime VR’s—are clunky and difficult to use – with mixed results at times. I have always wanted something built into Photoshop to let me do these “photo merges” – I never expected that Photoshop would actually be able to automatically do it for me. This feature floored me. The technologies involved in my number four choice “Automatic layer alignment and blending” are at work here in this feature as well, and the new auto layer alignment features in CS3 are far-reaching and crop up again and again in different areas of the application. It’s really one of the revolutionary things about this new version.

All of the things that have made making panoramas a difficult task in the past are all done automatically. The primary among these being 1. those times when you have to actually distort, rotate, skew or transform one of your elements because the perspective is screwy, 2. those times when the sun or lighting or a window made the white balance, color space or over all wash of brightness and contrast different from one image to the next (especially when doing 360′s) and of course 3. actually finding and aligning those overlapping areas of consecutive elements. Photoshop CS3 does these all for you and with surprisingly amazing results. It’s not just about the typical “panorama” either… I saw a demo of someone standing “too close” to a building, and taking pictures zoomed all the way out, of the front door, windows and window-boxes, front brick walk way, tilting upward and taking a picture of the balcony and roof line of the second floor – in other words, many elements that were WAY out of whack in terms of pers pective, lighting and color space, and these 4 or 5 images were distorted, tweaked, rotated, matched, blended, lighting and color density matched… and I was amazed in like 5 seconds, there was this “wide angle” almost “fisheye” photomerge of the front of the building, from brick walkway to roof-line, and it looked incredible.

* Automatic layer alignment and blending

Another powerful application of this new alignment and blending technology is with a series or stack of images of the same subject. Let’s say you wanted to take a picture of a statue in a park somewhere, or a huge fountain, or the front of a monument or building. There are always people walking through the frame – if you can’t close down the area and still need a picture of the statue, in the park, in it’s beautiful setting, but with no people or birds or random elements – what are you to do? In the past, it was a painstaking process of shooting a bunch of images, selecting the “closest” one to your vision of a nice, clean, tourist-less frame, and begin the hours and hours of painting, cloning, healing, brushing etc., to remove all of your “randoms.” There are artists who are very good at this process, but I’m fairly certain they would agree that if there was a way to not have to spend all that time, they’d take it. Well, it’s here. Photoshop CS3 can take your stack of images and by analyzing all of them, fig ure out which things are permanent (things that appear in all the images like that building in the distance, the big tree, the sidewalk, and which parts of the image are obscured in one of the frames but not all of them, are healed automatically by borrowing pixels from other images in the stack and building an advanced composite of all the images and doing 90% or more of the work for you. There’s even a set of “fuzziness” sliders letting you say “eleminate things that are in X% of the images in the stack or less.” This is so impressive to see in action. You have to try it on some of your own images. It’s really hard to believe that it’s this easy to do this sort of process now. This is one of those new areas that I’m sure we’ll see artists finding incredibly creative ways to utilize this feature. Again, this one floored me when I first saw it.

* Vanishing Point with adjustable angle

One of the most powerful new features of Adobe CS2 was the vanishing point feature. One limitation it had was that you only had one set of right angles to work with in the vanishing point interface. Adobe took it one exponential step further by adding multiple, adjustable angle perspective planes to this vanishing point feature. What this enables you to do is copy, paste and clone in far more complex image planes than just the “clone parts of a building in perspective” job that the first iteration of this feature offered (impressive and powerful, but not very flexible). One of the big examples Adobe is pushing with this feature is to simulate 3D packaging and work on multiple planes at various angles in the same image. Like an open box for a new product, or even for experimenting with your final package art by seeing it in its real-world context. Again I think this feature has so many far reaching implications for inventors, prototypers, 3D modelers, visual effects artists… and can give Photoshop artists th e ability to render full blown mockups of product packaging art for clients in a whole new way – getting us to sign-off, green-light and on to the next project at hand much more quickly. I like that a lot.

There are numerous new features in the application, especially when you dig down deep into the Photoshop Extended editions (sounds like a Peter Jackson DVD…) and as the week progresses here, I’d like to look into some of what PsCS3 Extended has to offer. The versions of PsCS3 that are available are the Film & Video, Medical & Science, AEC (Architecture, Engineering & Construction), and Manufacturing editions.

If it is your first time to buy a digital camera and you are as yet just starting out your foray into digital photography, it is understandable for you to be a little baffled when choosing what to buy for your first digital camera. After all, if you are not so confused and if you already know what digital camera you should buy, then you would not be looking at an article such as this one.

When starting out with digital photography, you need the best digital camera that is most suited to your level of expertise. Using a digital camera that is just right for you will guide you as you learn your way through the field of photography, as well as help you develop an appreciation for the art. The digital camera that you should use should be just right for you. Use a camera that is too advanced for you and you will only end up being frustrated, with the possibility of leading you to give up on photography. It is important that the camera you choose should just be right for you.

How do you get to choose your first digital camera, the camera that is just right for you? It all depends on your reasons for wanting to learn photography and the amount of time and money you are willing to invest on such a tool. Below is a short guide on how you should pick your first digital camera.

1. Go for SLR digital cameras. When given the choice of whether to go for a point-and-shoot camera or an SLR digital camera, go for the SLR camera. An SLR camera is actually easier to manipulate than a point-and-shoot camera. It is also the better decision to make in case you are thinking of getting a point-and-shoot camera and then upgrade to SLR later on, simply because it is more cost effective.

2. Get a camera that you love. Beautiful pictures are created if there is a good relationship between the photographer and his digital camera. So, when you go out to buy a digital camera, buy something that you know you will love using, no matter how many years pass by. It is like a marriage – you would want your camera to be something that will grow old with you.

3. Go for the latest model. If you can afford it, buy the latest digital camera available. Buying the latest model is a better investment than buying an outmoded, secondhand camera. You are not sure if there are broken parts inside the secondhand camera, and if there are broken parts, it would actually cost more to have it repaired because old parts are harder to find than new ones.

4. Buy a spare memory card to go with your digital camera. You will never know when you need extra memory for your digital camera and it is impossible for you to transfer all the pictures in your camera to your computer. Compact flash cards are the best and the safest memory cards around that are suitable for your digital camera. You can also use SD cards, MMC cards and other types of memory cards as long as they are compatible with your camera.

5. Get batteries with a decent lifespan. Digital cameras are notorious for sucking battery juice very quickly. So you would not find yourself in the middle of a shoot with a dead camera, which can be very frustrating, get batteries that have a decent lifespan. Also, remember to recharge your batteries after using them and keep a few batteries to spare just in case you forget.

6. Your lenses and your shooting style. There are many different lenses designed for different shooting conditions. There are lenses for poor lighting and for shooting at night. There are lenses for capturing pictures on fast speeds. Get a set of lenses that will suit the kind of photography that you wish to develop and will be focusing on.

7. Megapixels count. Cameras with higher megapixels shoot pictures with higher resolutions, therefore of better quality. Pictures with higher resolutions are easy to play with, and you can reduce the size of these pictures without worrying about them being blurry. Go for a digital camera that has the highest megapixel rating that you can afford to buy.

8. The design and the feel. Never buy a digital camera online unless you are sure that the camera has the features that you want and you will be using, and unless you are sure of how the camera would fit in your hands. Always go for a camera that does not feel too heavy when you lift it and has features that you would not get losing using.

Your first digital camera should be a camera that you would always love using, no matter how advanced you get with photography.