PhotoEnhancer Plus 3.2. by PictureWorks is a $49.95 program that comes in both a MAC and PC version and cuts through all the mumbo-jumbo of techno-graphics terminology with easy-to-understand words like "a little," "a lot," "fine," "medium," and "coarse." No interpretations needed here...you just tell it what you want and it says: "Yes, boss, comin' right up." Let's say you're working on a photograph shot under fluorescent lighting and it turned out a bit too green to suit you. Just go to the "Enhance" menu and ask the program to correct it, which it will do by applying the proper color filter. How does it know? Trust me, it knows.

Still, not completely satisfied? Not to worry. Just click on "By Example" and any preconceptions you may have had about the complexity of digital imaging will vanish. You'll probably spend an hour or more just marveling over how, in a few seconds, this program can fill the screen with nine photo variations of each different effect such as focus (sharpness), exposure, brightness, contrast, and color correction.

After you pick the combination you like, go to "SmartPix" and the program will print out test-strip-like pictures from which you can make your final choice. However, like a basic camera, PhotoEnhancer Plus, has its limitations; its tools are limited in scope, you can't do ultra-precision work with them, and the program lacks multiple undo/redo (more about that, later).

So I'm going to recommend -for each platform- one additional program in addition to PhotoEnhancer Plus, because this is the imaging software you'll probably end up using the most. Of course you can always bring your photos back into PhotoEnhancer Plus to use features you like -like SmartPix- after you've worked on them in a different program, as all changes you make to images in one program remain with them when they're re-opened in another.