For posting pictures to online auctions and social networking accounts, basic photo editing is all that's needed by many users, and this concept is the backbone of ArcSoft PhotoStudio. This comparatively budget-priced piece of software lets users make adjustments to pictures without spending a huge amount of time or money.

PhotoStudio gives users a simple interface that provides frequently used functions at a glance. Saving, undoing, copying, scanning and other options are all available on the toolbar at the left of the screen. Users can access design functions including histogram, layers and navigation at the right of the interface, a practical decision that follows the lead of many other photo editors. With experience, users can take advantage of transform, lasso, clone tools and numerous filters and distortions, but even beginners can appreciate the included correction tools, such as auto-exposure and equalization.

PhotoStudio users can work on all the common image formats from several camera manufacturers. RAW and CMYK files are also supported, but JPEG2000 and a few other advanced ones aren't, and 48bit RGB images lose much of their usability.

Editing is simplified by the inclusion of Magic-Cut for easy cutting and pasting, Face-Beautify for facial enhancements and macro setup for editing many photos at a time using chosen options. To dramatically boost colors, clarity and detail of photos, users can create high dynamic range, or HDR, images. Users can further refine images using manual functions including detail, smoothness, saturation, brightness and contrast.

PhotoStudio makes it easy to find and organize images in a collection by using ratings, tags and a calendar function. For the features and simplicity offered by this program, it's perfect for a wide range of photo editing, and it's a bargain compared to many similar applications.