Media Maker 8 and the Lousy Photographer, by Darlene Underdahl
I’m a lousy photographer. I don’t know anyone else willing to admit that about themselves. I suppose I got it from my mother. Just as a tone-deaf person might love playing the violin (yikes!) she constantly took terrible pictures. There were cropped heads. The subjects usually tilted left and appeared to slide toward the edge. They were tiny (she wanted lots of background). She could not be convinced to give this up, and I’m sort of glad she didn’t. A big box of assorted (sordid?) pictures exists and needs organizing.
I can do it. I now have NTI’s Media Maker 8 http://www.mdofpc.com/onlinestore/media-maker-premium-full-download-p-1050154.html. In tandem with my Lexmark Imaging Studio (fancy printer), I can scan, rotate, adjust, whatever. I can add text to the pictures, which should make it a lot more fun.
My big box of pictures also contains fine professional portraits, wedding, graduation, and confirmation pictures that go back to about 1900. Younger generations won’t know who they are. I’m not only a memory keeper; I’m the last person able to identify those long-gone relatives.
Media Maker 8 gives much, much more than the ability to manipulate and coordinate old pictures. With an interface called EasySteps, you can convert videos, import images, do slideshows and organize music. You can make movies, and the software supports a wide variety of languages. For myself, though, I’ll stick to photo organization; I know my limitations.
I cannot replace Mom’s missing heads, but I can produce a very entertaining DVD or coffee table scrapbook for the times when people abandon their office chairs and head for the living room.