The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 68

They make saving, sharing, even changing your pictures a whole new experience: Fop girls who prefer character stories to action games: Rocket? New School, from Purple Moon, $30; American Girls Premiere, from The Learning $35; Zero Zero, about an independent heroine in Paris in 1900, from Nicholson, N.V., $35, (The computer for boys too is the Hewlett-Packard Pavilion 8160 PC; $1900 without monitor.) TIRED OF WAITING FOR FILM TO be developed? Annoyed when your favorite photos don't come out? Want to change the ones that do? You can avoid those frustrations by getting a new digital model camera. A digital camera uses the technology of a computer, storing images as files of computer data, called pixels. This means that you'll never have to buy film and that you can save, manipulate and share by combining photographs and switching backgrounds. Or add titles to customize your greeting cards or party souvenirs. E-mail.

Want to share your favorite snapshots with friends and relatives over the Internet? Digital pictures can be attached to any e-mail message. Imagine sending a family photo to everyone on your Christmas list, or posting your daughter's birthday picture or your son's graduation photo on your very own Web site. 1 I Prints. Viewing Do your kids know the difference photos on TV or a i computer moni- When you've got the picture: Scan it in with Microtek's flatbed ScanMaker E3 (top), $149; or print out photo-quality pics with Hewlett-Packard's HP PhotoSmart printer; Windows, $499. between RAM and ROMP Learn all about the wacky world of computers with The Totally Techie World of Young Dilbert, Hi-Tech Hijinks.

From KnowWonder, $35. a tor, of course, will never replace paper prints that can be carried in wallets or framed. Digital cameras produce prints with color inkjet printers or spe your pictorial files in ways that will make picture-taking a whole new experience. Shoot, Just aim and click. You can see your photo on a screen inside the camera.

If you don't like it, press a button to erase it, then try again. Some models take up to 192 pictures. Display. Would Take a photo with the Olympus D-200L camera Then manipulate it onscreen with software like Microsoft's Picture It! (Windows, $55), MetaCreations' Kafs Photo Soap ($50) or Adobe PhotoDekixe 2.0 cially designed photo printers, but the quality of the prints is poor. Do you love Lucy? A must-have for the Babalu in you is Lucy A Desi: The Scrapbooks, Volume with rare photos and interviews.

Education Through Entertainment, $40. Score a home run in homework with sports-related software: Slam Dunk Typing, from Creative Wonders Major League Reading ($30) and NFL Math-Second Edition both from TheatrixSanctuary Woods. Why? Most affordable digital cameras produce a picture resolution of 307,200 pixels. Compare that to a 35mm print of 20 million pixels or a Polaroid shot of 2 million. Digital-camera makers are working to improve print quality.

Models that produce shots of more than 1 million pixel resolution cost more than $1000. Cost. Be prepared to spend $500 to $900 for a digital camera. Photo printers range from $300 to $500. Should you buy? Yes, but don't throw away that 35mm camera.

You'll need it to take high-quality prints. IS Tom Seligson is a TV producer and a contributing editor at PARADE. you like to show your photos on TV? Most digital cameras connect to your set with a simple cable. Imagine photographing friends at a party, then instantly turning them into TV stars. Computer benefit.

You can store your photographs as files or organize them by year, event or separate files for each family member. Computer albums can be updated or rearranged simply by merging or redesigning files. A few keystrokes can crop a photo, remove the red-flash spot from someone's eyes, change the brightness, flip a picture from left to right or change a color. Digital magic allows you to place your family at the White House Cameras with a kick. The Nikon Coolpix lOO downloads 42 pics into a notebook PC; $299.

Casio QV-200 holds 192 photos, with a special-effects option; $599. Panasonic's I 7 PalmCam PV-DC1000 SELIGSON BY TOM store 94 images; $380. e3 PAGE 8 NOVEMBER 30, 1997 PARADE MAGAZINE.