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For Apple and IBM/PC, we recommend anything with at least 2GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive.

Be sure the brand/model you choose includes an optical drive (CD) which can burn DVD disks—a very important feature for archiving your photos.

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LaCie Triple Interface

Back-up Hard Drive

A daily back-up setup is a MUST for everyone. Get one with a capacity at least twice the size of your computer’s current storage space.

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USB Flash Drive

Required for our students

Sandisk makes this affordable and portable drive for Mac/PC on which you can store many images.

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Recommended Software

Recommended Computers

Recommended Accessories

Wacom Medium Intuos Tablet

Using this tool will be like learning how to swim, ride bikes and drive. It will also spare your wrist, hands and arms from the pain associated with using a mouse. This is an excellent in-between size for hobbyists and professionals.

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Recommended Scanners

Nikon Coolscan 5000 ED

We’re big on using dedicated slide scanners for 35mm negatives and transparencies. In our opinion, no flatbed can beat a dedicated slide scanner for shadow detail and overall sharpness. Nikon went over the top with their software for these scanners. This one is our favorite. Unfortunately, it is becoming harder to find this and other good 35mm scanners (the newer Epsons above are getting better for the 35mm). If you anticipate scanning massive amounts of slides, buy the Slide Feeder. When using Digital ICE to remove dust and scratches—a very good feature—do some tests first. Zoom in and examine the picture for distortions. Digital ICE does not work well with B&W negatives and slides. In fact, it will ruin the scans.

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Adobe Photoshop Elements™

Almost 75% cheaper than its big brother with an excellent built-in help system, Elements is a less painful investment. Besides missing the “curves” color correction function and a few other tools, it is almost the same.

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Adobe Photoshop™

We use Adobe Photoshop exclusively for all of our photo retouching work. Although it’s pricey, over the years it paid off. The subsequent upgrades have been somewhat affordable and worthwhile.

Wacom

Bamboo Tablet

This is a less-expensive, smaller version of the Intuos. However, the accuracy and stability—such as uncontrolled cursor movement—made us go with the Intous model.

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Please call us toll-free at 1-888-446-2799 if you have any problem purchasing the products.

Epson Flatbed Scanner

These scanners are affordable, yet high-quality. We rely on the less expensive models for those times we need to travel and scan photos owned by customers and relatives who are afraid of sending them through the mail. The Epson Scan software is easy to use, with settings for beginners and experts. Regarding OCR, 35mm slide and negative scanning, most of the scanners can handle them with ease.

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Elements 8

PC Only

Elements 8

Mac Only

Photoshop

Full

PC Only

Photoshop

Upgrade

PC Only

Photoshop

Full

Mac Only

Photoshop

Upgrade

Mac Only

Extensis Portfolio™

This professional application has consumer friendly features that allow you to make easily modifiable catalogs for all of your digital images and documents. Customization is critical for your digital family archives. Portfolio has what you need. We use it for our extensive image database. Not for the novice computer user, however.

Portfolio 8 (Mac & PC)

Genuine Fractals

(Mac & PC)

Genuine Fractals™

A very helpful plug-in to enlarge smaller images. Not all that useful for tiny 72 ppi images which need to be used as posters. It’s better for images at high resolution which need to be enlarged 30-50%. We’ve been using it for many years with success.