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Most modern digital cameras can now connect directly to your printer to produce quick and easy prints. Alternatively, if you don't have a printer you can walk into almost any high-street lab and order prints from your memory card. But while printing your digital photos may no longer require a PC at home, there are still many benefits to tweaking them first using software such as Adobe Photoshop Elements or Paint Shop Pro.

Compositions that are slightly squint (in other words, not quite straight) look much better when straightened. Many images also benefit from cropping. While many cameras and printers offer built-in cropping facilities, you'll have much more precise control using software on your PC. If you intend to print your image afterwards, though, make sure that the crop matches the shape of standard prints or it will end up being cropped further (as we'll explain shortly).

A boost in contrast or saturation can often help images taken under dull conditions, or perk up a sunset composition. If there's not a great deal of colour in the image you could even consider converting it to black and white for a more pleasing effect.

Software also gives you the chance to retouch selected portions of the image, eliminating demonic red-eye or removing unwanted objects such as tourists spoiling an otherwise deserted landscape photo.

Finally, whether you're cropping an image or leaving it at the original size, take a moment to consider its shape, or aspect ratio. If you choose a print size that doesn't match the shape of your image, you'll end up cropping either the sides or the top and bottom.

Most consumer digital compacts take photos that are the same 4:3 shape as a non-widescreen TV. These images are actually slightly taller than the popular 6x4in postcard print shape, so if you order them you'll end up having thin slices cropped from the top and bottom of your photos.

Many photo labs and online services now offer slightly taller 6x4.5in prints to perfectly match the shape of most digital compacts, although these in turn won't squeeze into albums designed to accommodate 6x4in prints.

One solution is to go for the larger and slightly squarer 7x5in print size. It may not exactly match the shape of consumer 4:3 images, but it's much closer than 6x4in prints and there are plenty of albums designed to accommodate them. The larger 10x8in print size is also a relatively close fit.

Note that most digital SLRs take wider photos with a 3:2 aspect ratio. These perfectly fit the shape of 6x4in prints, but 7x5in or 10x8in prints will crop the sides. If you're a DSLR owner who's after a bigger print without cropping, go for 9x6in or 12x8in prints.