(NAPSA)—Manypeople clean out their closets and organize their possessions this timeof year. Often that means uncovering boxes of old photos, which take up coveted space and are difficult to enjoy, let alone share, with family and friends. So why not explore the benefits of digital photography? Its popularity is exploding: Of the 65 million U.S. households with an Internet connection, 38 percent now own a digital camera. According to Gartner Dataquest Market trends, scanners, which are found in one out of three U.S. homes with a PC, are also part of the digital photography revolution, because they enable people to quickly convert their hard-copy photos into digital form. In addition, many stores that develop film, such as Ritz Camera Centers, offer customers the option to digitize their photos as well. Whygo digital? Preservation. Photos and photo paper will degrade over time while digital photos will last a lifetime. Convenience is anotherreason. It’s easy to share digital photos without the cost or time involved in ordering duplicate copies. Once you combine your digital photos with the power of Microsoft Windows XP, storing and sharing precious memories is fast, easy andfun. “For years I’ve had boxes of aging family photos but rarely looked at them. I recently used our scanner and Windows XP-based PC to store and share all our treasured photos,” said Beverly Schmitz of Edgewood, Ky. “Now I keep all our family photographs right at my fingertips on Windows XP instead of buried in the closet, and this means that I can do more with them. I even created a digital photo album complete with music and my own personalstories!” It’s Simple to Get Started Use a scannerto quickly digitize your precious old photos, and Windows XP will help you store and share them with friends and family. You don’t even need a digital camera to get started. Easy-to-use wizards automatically recognize more than 230 ! fo Storing and sharing precious memories can be fast, easy and fun with modern computer accessories. digital cameras and 240 scanners, including those from leading vendors such as Fuji Photo Film U.S.A. Ine. and Visioneer Inc. Simply plug in the device and you're ready to go. It’s Easy and Fun * Quick and simple tools walk you through the process of storing your photos, sharing them through e-mail, posting them to a Web site, or printing them to make your own coffee-table book. Windows XP enables you to easily reduce thefile size of your digital photos, making it simple to send them to family andfriends in e-mail. Windows XP helps you order prints of your favorite digital photos through great service providers such as Kodak Print Services by Ofoto, MSN Photos and Shutterfly. * You can instantly print your photos using any one of the 1,500 printers currently supported by WindowsXP. Do More With Photos Tell the story behind your pictures by making digital photo album, complete with personal narration, music, and cool pan and zoom effects. Now you’ve created your own Photo Story, a fun newfeature of Plus! Digital Media Edition, a $20 enhancement pack for Windows XP(reseller prices may vary). To learn how to take full advantage of the features in Windows XP and Plus! Digital Media Edition, visit http://www. microsoft.com/windowsxp/digi talphotography/default.asp.
