Review by Colinda

PhotoDirector is a picture editing program that works on both Mac and PC. I installed it first on my MacBook and ran into a few challenges. Since my laptop is a lightweight one that has no CD/DVD drive, I downloaded the software. I experienced some confusion on the site due to popups that would not close (on Safari browser). The download at 247 MB was very slow.

For some reason I had to register twice. Then immediately I downloaded an update in order to get the current version. This one was 242 MB, almost as large as the original download. Clicking on Install said it would take 516 MB on the computer. However, it installed quickly.

Later my husband installed the program on his PC using the DVD. It went smoothly and he was able to register it using my name, so obviously you are allowed to use two copies. (Many programs are like this now.) He was satisfied with what it will do.

I am a long-time user of Adobe Photoshop so I found this program a bit awkward to adjust to. I found tutorials on the Cyberlink site and watched one, but then decided that just playing with the program is an adequate approach. I wasn’t thrilled with how you open a file because I am used to Adobe Bridge and the way it interacts with Camera Raw and Photoshop. (If you use Photoshop and either Bridge or Lightroom, you probably know how beautifully they enhance each other.) Once I got my file selected and imported, things went smoothly.

I was impressed that PhotoDirector has a face tagging feature for identifying people who appear in multiple photos. It also has a content-aware feature (as does Photoshop) which promises to be very useful.

I think that if you have never used Photoshop, you will be happy with Photodirector. It has more features than some of the cheap photo software and is more than adequate for most purposes. We haven’t used it for very long but I’d say you get a very good program for a reasonable price.