LumaPix FotoFusion 3

Most photo-editing apps need to resort to awkward workarounds to print multiple images, such as Photoshop's Picture Package command, if they can do it at all. The end result is that most digital camera users rarely print their images. And that's where FotoFusion 3 comes in.

Given the application's cost, we expected it to simply offer predefined grids into which you drop your images before hitting Print. While the program can work that way, with four templates provided, it's clearly not the preferred route. Instead, you're encouraged to create your own layouts by interactively subdividing frames using the Grid Collage option, or by simply dropping images anywhere on the page using the Freeform Collage option, which can then be saved as templates for future use.

By far the easiest and most effective option is to let FotoFusion design a layout for you with its patent-pending AutoCollage command. Based on the number of photos you select and their aspect ratio, this works out a layout to fill the page with the minimum of cropping. Click the command again and you have another layout to choose from. Click AutoJumble and the images are instantly given a creative slant. The end results are invariably attractive and look as if you've spent hours producing them, but as FotoFusion works by linking to the original images rather than importing them, it's all done in seconds.

FotoFusion makes editing your collage as interactive as possible: you can drag to resize individual frames and whole sections of the layout; swap images around with ease; and quickly scale, crop, pan and rotate your photos. A convenient floating toolbox provides further interactive control over image parameters, such as brightness, gamma, contrast and so on. There's full control over background, border and shadow settings, and you can also add simple text banners.

FotoFusion lets you email your collages or post them as eye-catching web galleries, but its biggest strength is print. You can print your collages at any size up to 16in x 20in - or export images at any size up to 5,000 x 5,000 pixels - all at maximum quality. And if you need larger output, the Pro version lifts these limits entirely and adds other high-end features such as watermarking, bleed and crop lines, as well as the ability to add text to individual frames, including extracted EXIF data.

FotoFusion is simple, creative and fun, and successfully turns the major weakness of digital photography into another major strength.

Author: Tom Arah