Think image editing and optimising, and Adobe Photoshop instantly comes to mind with its amazing tools and features that let you add really cool effects. But software like that is really high-end (it costs about $600) as it's meant for designers and graphic artists.

At the other extreme are free online browser-based image editing tools that you can use without even installing software. However, these let you perform only very basic image editing tasks. Other 'lower end' software like Paintshop Pro and Macromedia's Fireworks do just about as much.

Few are equipped with tools specially meant for digital photography and the Web: Tools that take care of common grouses like 'red eye', colour correction or that annoying little date in the corner of the photo. Most affordable photo-editing software like Jasc Software's Aftershot, Microsoft's Picture It!, Smartdraw Photo, FotoCanvas, PhotoImpact, Corel's Custom Photo and ArcSoft PhotoStudio 2000 offer a basic feature set, like tools for editing, retouching and adding effects to images. You can get prints of your digital pictures or upload photos and share them with ease.

Software developers like Adobe too have released similar software - Photoshop Elements 2.0 contains most of the familiar Photoshop features, along with specific photo editing tools packed in an easy to use interface at a fraction of the cost of Photoshop. And it's much easier to find your way around. The work area contains a 'tool options' bar with options changing according to the tool you select.

The 'Hints' palette in the upper right corner displays guidelines every time your cursor passes over a tool. You also get links to the appropriate page of the Help tutorial. Besides, there's a 'How To' palette with a menu of 'recipes' like image clean-up or colour correction. Just select the recipe you want for step-by-step instructions, right within the palette.

When you scan old photographs that are worn out or torn, touch up the scanned versions with repair tools. The Clone Stamp and Pattern Stamp tools let you duplicate surrounding areas or remove unwanted objects. The Eyedropper and Brush tools let you sample pixels from the surrounding areas and remedy minor flaws. Also blur, smudge, sharpen and lighten portions of your photograph, which you can define by choosing a particular brush size or selecting the area you want to repair. The Zoom tool helps magnify the area so you can repair images accurately.

Colour correction tools from the Enhance menu let you adjust the brightness and contrast, hue, saturation, and colour levels in an image. And the Auto Correct or Auto Levels tools will the same with minimum effort.

Other 'can't-do-without' features include 'Rotate' that lets you straighten crooked pictures, 'Resize' that lets you change image dimensions and 'Crop' lets you cut out 'unwanted elements' from your picture.

Create cool effects by applying filters and styles to your photographs. You can give your photograph the appearance of a watercolour, charcoal sketch or a fresco, distort the image or add lighting effects. Choose different styles from the Filters, Effects and Layer styles palettes that contain previews of various effects.

You can make cool postcards or e-cards out of your shots. With the Type tool, add text to images vertically or horizontally. Other features like Photomerge let you create amazing panoramas. You can also set up photo galleries easily, colourise a black and white photo and create animations with layers. Photoshop Elements also lets you grab images from videos.

System requirements A fast processor - at least 1 Gig or more Microsoft Windows 98 and onward or a Mac system with Mac OS 9 onwards 150 MB free hard disk space 128 MB RAM Colour monitor CD ROM drive - (mainly for installation)

The 'Save for Web' option lets you optimise your image so that your photos load on to a Web page quickly. You can control the image quality and adjust it to the download time. You can also directly upload your images from within the program to Shutterfly for printouts.

Overall, Photoshop Elements is easy to use and does contain some fairly complex tools that could be of use to professional photographers as well. And at $99 (approximately 5000 rupees) Adobe Photoshop Elements it's well worth it.

Tutorials: Become an Elements expert!

The Help files are the best place to start. Also check online resources to master useful tips and tricks.

• This tutorial contains an overview of Photoshop Elements, and useful tips.
  
  
• Adobe's online Photoshop Elements has some great tutorials with step-by-step instructions and screenshots to help you create Web galleries, repair images and work with layers.
  
  
• For project-based lessons on creating posters, reminder cards and a fireworks panorama, check this tutorial.
  
  
• Refer to PhotoshopRoadmap's compiled links to more tutorials.
  
  
• Kodak's Digital learning