Web Albums made easy on Windows and Mac

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Just about anybody with a little computer experience can put a bunch of photos together onscreen and print them out. But what if you want something a bit more exciting? Maybe something that gives you the flexibility to control the layout, add captions, and upload your work to the Web so your friends and family can enjoy it. JAlbum, for both Windows and Mac is one of my long-time favorite programs. JAlbum just got a major upgrade, so if you're looking for a way to get your photos out to family and friends, it's definitely worth checking out.

Browse skins using JAlbums instant previews.

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JAlbum helps you make snazzy photo albums from premade templates, giving you a professional-looking album in just a few clicks. What's great about JAlbum is that everything is customizable, letting you resize thumbnails to fit your desired specs, write captions the way you want them, and set the overall look of the album to fit your photos. You can even add different file types to your albums--such as sound and movie files--to add spice to your project. Did I mention the interface is completely drag-and-drop?

Get more skins and layouts at the JAlbum Web site.

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Once you have your album laid out to your specs, JAlbum lets you share your creation in a number of ways. Using the integrated FTP client, you can upload your album to your Web site or you can use the integrated Web server to serve your album from your computer. You can even create an account at the JAlbum Web site to get free hosting for your albums. So all your friends and family will need to do is point their Web browser at the link you send them, and your holiday photos will appear onscreen without the need for extra downloads.

Make quick edits to your images with the new image editor.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

The folks at JAlbum sent a press release today to tell me about the latest version, so I reacquainted myself with this great software and got a look at some of the new features. One welcome addition is the integrated image editor that adds plug-ins for common tasks such as red-eye removal, image cropping, and color adjustment, and they also added a few simple image filters for more drastic effects. There are only a few skins included in this version, but it's easy to add more using the huge skins section at the JAlbum site. While you're there, you can also check out other user's albums for more ideas.

If you've been looking for a new way to post your photos, JAlbum is a great choice with an extremely easy-to-use interface and plenty of options to create the perfect album.