PCR’s guide to photo and video editing software

With consumers being able to shoot photos and video directly from their mobile devices, many seek to make their works of art look more professional.

PCR checks out the latest photo and video editing software on the market.

CUTOUT 3
SRP: £61.27
DISTRIBUTOR: Avanquest
THEY SAY: CutOut 3 delivers precision removal of an item from an original photo including anything from scenery, people, objects, water, shadows and more. You can then position these detached objects against completely new backgrounds to create brand new photos, or to craft impressive photo montages.

ADOBE CREATIVE SUITE 6 DESIGN STANDARD
SRP: £1,032
DISTRIBUTOR: Computers Unlimited, Computer 2000
THEY SAY: Adobe Creative Suite 6 Design Standard combines industry-standard tools for professional print design and digital publishing. Create stunning images and graphics with innovative painting and drawing tools.

CRAZYTALK 7
SRP: Standard – £29.99, Pro – £109.99
CONTACT: KL Associates
THEY SAY: CrazyTalk 7 allows users to create animated talking characters from any digital photograph. This software offers advanced auto animation and key editing functions that enable users to generate more natural, elaborate and life-like animations from their photographs.

ALL-IN-ONE PHOTO STUDIO
SRP: £20.42
DISTRIBUTOR: Focus Multimedia
THEY SAY: Includes a powerful editing suite for creating pixel- perfect photos without any previous experience. Use enhancements including red-eye removal, panorama, scratch removal, morph, and many more tools and special effects. Design your own themed photo albums, slideshows on your TV or PC, photo galleries on the internet, screensavers, wallpapers and more.

COREL DRAW X6
SRP: Graphic Suite – £478.80, Home & Student Suite – £99.98
DISTRIBUTOR: Gem Distributor
THEY SAY: With its versatile and user-friendly applications, anyone can be a designer. Offering robust content, graphic design, illustration, page layout, web graphics and photo-editing features, it’s easy to create reports, drawings, flyers, logos and more. Popular photo tricks such as retouching and enhancement, bitmap creation, digital painting, and streamlined web exporting are just a click away.

CYBERLINK PHOTODIRECTOR V4 ULTRA
SRP: £95.99
DISTRIBUTOR: Gem Distributor
THEY SAY: PhotoDirector 4 is a comprehensive, powerful, and intuitive solution to create professional looking photos. From the moment your photos are imported, you are empowered with new and unique features that bring out depth and sharpness in your masterpieces. Portraits become flawless, scenery transforms to your desire.

SELECT VIDEO STUDIO
SRP: £10.20
DISTRIBUTOR: Focus Multimedia
THEY SAY: This powerful multi- track video editing software allows you to edit, enhance and share your home movies like never before. Easily import your own video and audio clips onto your PC. Trim out points, adjust playback speed, fade audio up or down, split clips into separate scenes, repeat individual clips or switch them on or off.

PHOTO EXPLOSION DELUXE 5
SRP: £40.84
DISTRIBUTOR: Avanquest
THEY SAY: Photo Explosion Deluxe 5 delivers professional photo editing and photo organising features, spectacular special effects and professional-quality photo projects – all together in one powerful suite. Easily capture your photos from your digital camera, mobile phone, scanner, photo CDs or the internet. Even import RAW images from advanced digital cameras including Nikon and Canon.

SERIF PHOTOPLUS X5
SRP: £71.48
DISTRIBUTOR: Gem Distribution
THEY SAY: Take photos then make them great with PhotoPlus X5. Use it to edit, enhance, and organise your entire image collection. Remove red eye, restore old photos, add amazing effects and everything in between. You can even perform advanced tasks like editing RAW files, HDR image merging and more.

MAGIX PHOTOSTORY DELUXE
SRP: £69.99
DISTRIBUTOR: Gem Distribution
THEY SAY: Transform your photos and videos from digital cameras, smartphones and video cameras into fantastic movies more easily than ever before and enjoy them on TV, mobile devices or the internet. Add your own personal touch with text, music and spectacular effects in Full HD and 3D.

PHOTOZOOM PRO 5
SRP: £144.99
DISTRIBUTOR: Avanquest
THEY SAY: PhotoZoom Pro 5 is the definitive solution for professional photo enlargement with unprecedented quality. With award-winning S-Spline-MAX resize technology for extreme enlargements up to one million by one million pixels, PhotoZoom produces stunning results with absolutely no detail loss – even surpassing enlargements achieved in Adobe Photoshop. A must-have tool for all professionals and enthusiasts.

SERIF MOVIEPLUS X6
SRP: £59.99
DISTRIBUTOR: Gem Distribution
THEY SAY: Edit your videos with MoviePlus X6. Its powerful yet easy-to-use editing tools and studio-quality effects help you to create stunning movies in minutes. Burn HD videos to Blu-ray Disc or DVD, or upload your movies to the web and share them with friends, family, or the world.

CYBERLINK POWERPRODUCER 6
SRP: Ultra – £64.99, Deluxe – £39.99
DISTRIBUTOR: Gem Distribution
THEY SAY: Turn videos and photo projects into Hollywood-style movie discs with new Windows 8 certified authoring tools, supporting dynamic formats including 3D. 14 new professionally-designed animated menu templates, optimised for HD resolution, give users dynamic new ways to showcase their content on large displays.

CONTACTS
Avanquest: 01480 496666
Gem Distribution: 01279 822 822
Focus Multimedia: 01889 570 156
Computers Unlimited: 020 8358 9578
Computer 2000: 0871 880 3000
KL Associates: 01327 844880

The sixth annual PCR Awards are taking place at the Royal Garden Hotel on March 14th and there are only a few seats remaining! If you want to make sure you’re there to celebrate the best of the UK IT and tech industry, then contact Carly Bailey to book your place…