Digital Innovations

DigiBookShelf 2005 Pro lets you copy text from one frame to another by dragging and dropping and you can create multiple bookshelves and display all of them simultaneously. To make a copy of an album, just drag an album from one bookshelf to another. Over 100 Album Layouts are available and you can decorate each bookshelf differently with skins downloadable from their website (www.digibook.com). The company's website is a model of what software company sites should look like and is full of FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions), tutorials, and just plain useful information.

TriWorks' DigiBookShelf takes both a literal and fresh look at digital albums making it fun in a playful "Pokémon" way. You can download a copy of the freeware version, which can temporarily (15 days) be upgraded to the Pro version.

Make A Note Of That
It doesn't matter whether you're a pro or amateur photographer, it's always a good idea to send Thank You notes to people who help you with projects. Recently, I've tried making themed Thank You notes on my ink jet printer with Red River Paper's pre-scored papers. The 5.5x8.5" cards are available in glossy, one- and two-sided matte, and watercolor media. On their website (www.redriverpaper.com) they sell matching envelopes, translucent inserts, and even high-quality boxes so you can create a professional-looking presentation. To help with card layout and design, the website offers tips for printing using Photoshop and Microsoft's Picture It!, but I quickly made a template in Adobe's InDesign and was happily cranking out photographic note cards in just a few minutes.

Red River Paper's pre-scored 5.5x8.5" cards are available in glossy, one- and two-sided matte, and watercolor media. Matching envelopes, translucent inserts, and high-quality boxes are also available to create a professional looking presentation.

The New Digital Negative Format
Adobe System's DNG Converter software easily converts camera-specific raw files to the more universal DNG raw files. Currently, DNG Converter is compatible with the raw formats created by the list of cameras below, and Adobe promises it will be continually updated to support new models.