Portable & Home Console: Best Photo Album Programs

There was a time when photo albums were stagnant, stiff, and vulnerable. The slightest spill or the loss of a single photo could mark the end of a memory. Imagine never being able to quite remember your deceased grandmother's face - or no longer having the luxury of seeing the last time you and your relatives were all united. While the digital era has its faults, the rise of photo album software and programs has been a godsend for those unwilling to rely solely on paper and plastic to protect their precious memories. Don't toss out the negatives yet - not until you've gotten one of these great photo album programs.

Nintendo DSi Digital Camera & Photo Album

It's hard to find fault with Nintendo's DSi Photo software. The editing system is fantastic - numerous filters, additions, and alterations exist in the program. With a simple motion from the stylus you can stretch, contort, or play with any photo you take with either of the Nintendo DSi's two built-in cameras. Want to see what your baby sister would look like as a cat? What about yourself with Toon Link eyes? Want to morph two faces into one? All at your fingertips!

The Nintendo DSi even lets you edit expressions and add backgrounds - not mention other expansive editing tools all supplemented by stylus control. It also offers direct upload to Facebook support, SD card support, and internal memory. The Nintendo DSi organizes your nicely rendered pictures neatly and records what date they were taken on- as well as offering a 'favorites' system with three classifications. This robust, extremely user-friendly portable photo program is a highly recommended.

Sony PSP 3000 Photo System

It's a shame the Sony PSP 3000 has to follow an act like that. Compared to the laundry list of features you get with the Nintendo DSi, the PSP's capabilities are slim. The Sony PSP's built-in photo album software is easy to navigate and meets the bare minimum requirements, but brings some slightly annoying issues with it.

Rather than support the memory medium of choice for digital cameras, SD cards, the Sony PSP only supports Sony Duo Memory Sticks. These are considerably more expensive and less useful as their SD card counterparts and much less user-friendly. In order to utilize their memory, you'll need to use a USB-to-PSP cable and then manually navigate and install photos. While a PSP camera can be connected to make the process easier, it is sold separately. Beyond that, the editing tools are a little scarce. On the positive side the photos look great and can be utilized as the background image for the PSP menu. Despite these drawbacks, the Sony PSP 3000 makes a more than suitable portable system for those interested. Moderately recommended.

Nintendo Wii Photo Channel

It might not be portable, but Nintendo's Wii Photo Channel is a fantastic part of the Wii Menu. The Wii's Photo Channel supports numerous image formats and displays beautifully. The interface is complimented by the Wii Remote's IR pointer and the ease of control offered by it. Two of the most innovative features for the Wii's Photo Channel are its 'jigsaw puzzle' and 'slideshow' options.

Functioning as a media player, the Wii Photo Channel can play movies and music. Users can scramble existing photos into jigsaw puzzles with varying difficulty settings. The Wii's SD card slot and Wifi options make adding, sending, and receiving pictures extremely easy. Among its best capabilities are its editing options. The Wii Remote has near limitless options for playing with or altering images. Highly recommended.

Sony Playstation 3 Photo Album

Sony's Playstation 3 Photo Album is reliable and smartly designed, but ultimately lacks much of the personality and functionality of the Nintendo Wii Photo Channel. Like the PSP, users can use existing photos as backgrounds to the menu. Also worth noting is the HDD and its massive size for photo fanatics. The editing tools are a bit limited, but the presentation is great. Like the Wii, users can send and receive photos- though SD cards are not accepted unless in a USB adapter. Favorably recommended.

Microsoft Xbox 360 Photo Software

When compared to the Nintendo Wii and the Sony Playstation 3, Microsoft's offerings can appear fairly limited. There isn't much to say. Like the PS3, it renders images nicely but lacks SD card support. Beyond that there isn't much else. Users with an attachable HDD will have plenty of space- those without it will be forced to rely on internal memory or a memory card. The range of options is somewhat low and is hurt by a somewhat unfriendly user interface. Otherwise, passable. Somewhat recommended.