Every now and then a bit of worthwhile Web-related software appears in this space. That's the case with Adobe ActiveShare http://www.adobe.com, which was recently updated to include on-line photo printing.

After installing ActiveShare, I had an amazing software experience. A message appeared onscreen stating that images from a Kodak Picture CD were loaded and stored in an album. I was never able to install Kodak's Picture CD software, which continually crashed, even with the help of Kodak engineers. At the time, the only hint of a problem is that one of the thumbnails in my new album was not fully drawn. But ActiveShare gave me access to images I thought were toast. In addition to Picture CD, ActiveShare can capture images from scanners and digital cameras, providing direct support for a number of popular models. I was also able to easily open images stored on CompactFlash and SmartMedia cards using Microtech's microtech.com CameraMate card reader. On the other hand, PhotoCD is not supported.

ActiveShare uses the same kind of attractive and icon-driven interface found on Adobe's current version of PhotoDeluxe. Click the Fix My Pictures box, and a drawer containing a few tools emerges. In it, you'll find Instant Fix, which reminds me of Photoshop's Auto Levels command, Rotate, Trim (crop), and Remove Red Eye. These are the commands the average shutterbug needs for preparing images for Web display or making 4-by-6-inch prints.

In addition to image-capture and enhancement, you can add comments, including names and dates, to the backs of the prints and the image file as well. Clicking in the caption box lets you simply type in any name, and clicking the "I" button brings up a window that displays file size, resolution, location, file format, and original file name. You can append comment information as well. Working with this kind of image information is easier than with many imagebase programs. All my work with ActiveShare was done without reference to any documentation, although a prominently located Help button provides direct help or takes you to the ActiveShare Web site for more extensive assistance.

Clicking the ActiveShare.com button takes you to Adobe's Web site, where you can create photo albums by clicking and dragging images from the Adobe software to the site, providing one of the nicest interfaces between online and offline software I've tried. You can also e-mail photos to friends and family directly from ActiveShare.com. ActiveShare provides a direct link to the Shutterfly Web site to get online printing service; the quality of the samples that I saw was impressive. In addition to online printing, you can output postcards and other prints using your desktop printer. ActiveShare offers two printing options: You can print a custom-sized image in any quantity, or you can use what photo labs (and Adobe) call package printing, which enables you to preview and print six preset print-size combinations using the same image file.

ActiveShare is available for Windows 95, 98, and NT 4.0, but I'm told by ActiveShare that a Mac OS version is in the works. As befitting Web-based software, ActiveShare is available as a free download from http://www.ActiveShare.com.

-Joe Farace