07/08/96 NOW, NOVICES CAN MONKEY WITH PHOTOS

NOW, NOVICES CAN MONKEY WITH PHOTOS

AS DIGITAL CAMERAS AND scanners get cheaper, many PC owners are adding pictures to homemade newsletters and documents. But playing around with those digital images is often a chore, forcing neophytes to deal with such concepts as ``gamma correction'' and ``saturation.'' Kai's Power GOO, a program developed by MetaTools Inc. in Carpinteria, Calif., makes it easy not only to adjust digital images but also to add special effects.
Unlike most image-editing programs, which manipulate pixel by pixel, the $50 Power GOO uses mathematical formulas across the entire image. That allows users to see the effects of their manipulations in ``real time.'' To give the Mona Lisa a bigger smile, just click on Power GOO's ``nudge'' button, then drag the corners of her mouth farther up. Owners can save a series of images to make a ``GOOie,'' or digital movie, that can be shared with other PC owners. Kai's Power GOO is the first consumer software from MetaTools, which has a strong following among serious graphic designers. Power GOO runs on Apple Computer Inc.'s Power Macs and IBM-compatible PCs running Win95. It also comes with Eastman Kodak Co.'s new digital cameras.
EDITED BY PAUL M. ENG