Digital Camera Enhancer

Pros

• Good photo enhancement tools
• Very simple one-screen interface

Cons

• Sliders are slow and a little awkward
• View of the photo cannot be customized
• Window cannot be resized

Digital Camera Enhancer is a very basic utility that allows users to quickly modify photographs and increase their quality. The program is designed to serve as a single component in a larger commercial batch-processing application. This accounts for the small size, small display and limited functionality of the program.

Digital Camera Enhancer is just a single file without an installer. Users who want to implement this program must copy the executable from the archive folder to the appropriate location. The program is distributed as freeware and comes with help, tricks, and tips from the developer to allow users to achieve the best results possible.

Everything that the Digital Camera Enhancer can do is contained in a single window. One frustrating aspect of the program is that the viewer window cannot be resized in any way, which some users may find to be too small for their preferences. It also cannot be minimized to the task bar or the system tray while performing other tasks.

The Digital Camera Enhancer display itself includes two views of the photo. The original photo is on the left, while the photo after any adjustments have been performed is on the right. They are close enough to be able to compare, even after very subtle changes are performed in terms of color saturation or noise levels. The rest of the window consists of a few simple buttons and slider features.

The first step when using Digital Camera Enhancer is to load a photograph into the interface. The program can read most of the common formats, including JPG, PNG, TIFF and TGA. Unfortunately, it cannot handle RAW or GIF files. Images load quickly into the application, and the program automatically applies the current settings to an image as soon as the file has loaded. Users can then use the sliders to refine the image to get the desired results. Finished images can be saved in the same aforementioned formats. Saving as a JPG file brings up a menu that makes it possible to change the compression quality. Unfortunately, the application allows only broad choices between high, medium and low quality, rather than offering a specific percentage relating to the compression amount.

Digital Camera Enhancer focuses on just a few specific areas of a photograph. The main feature is a de-noiser. This can smooth an image and remove stray pixels and other inconsistencies. The de-noiser works well, although setting it too high can make images look like paper cut-outs. Users can control balance, color, midtones and other detail enhancements through four additional sliders. The program also has an option that allows users to choose between landscape, mid-range or close-up pictures. These settings directly impact how different enhancements are applied.

Digital Camera Enhancer does a good job of gently tweaking images to improve the quality of a photo. However, the interface could use more visual appeal, and the program can slow down when the user is adjusting the sliders. Additionally, the photo view is either compressed into a small box, or enlarged so much that navigating the image is very difficult. Digital Camera Enhancer could be a valuable tool for anyone who does not want to deal with larger and more comprehensive applications for making small enhancements to photos.

Pros

• Good photo enhancement tools
• Very simple one-screen interface

Cons

• Sliders are slow and a little awkward
• View of the photo cannot be customized
• Window cannot be resized