Hello Shredman,

I'm a PowerDirector user too. I've used quite a few of the other photo editing programs to which you've referred, & still do. As you'd know, some can do what other cannot. For my purposes, PhotoDirector meets about 95% of my needs so it has become my "go to" tool.

It's part of CyberLink's forum policy NOT to run comparisons with competing products, but you'll find plenty of reviews that do just that. Of course, there are unbiased reviews & others with "strings attached".

Some reviews...
http://download.cnet.com/CyberLink-PhotoDirector/3000-2192_4-75451800.html
http://www.downloadcrew.com/article/26460-cyberlink_photodirector_3
http://usingwindowshomeserver.com/2012/03/01/cyberlink-launches-photodirector-3-for-photographers/
http://booredatwork.com/2012/03/01/photodirector-3-review/

Essentially, PhotoDirector is photo workflow software for cataloguing & editing. In this way, it has similarities with others you've mentioned. They each allow albums or collections to be created, but it's in the finer filtering adjustments that you find the differences. In this, & its GUI, PhotoDirector is up there with the best of them.

It is a personal choice, so what is best for one might not be best for another.

PIX PIX YouTube channel

I use a competitors sfw and looked at the Cyberlinks beta. Let me say, I am not locked into anything.
I looked at features/design elements/software design of the sfw.
I needed to reach my goal in editing (a little deeper than taking the "red eye" out. Not for just to try, to learn, or play.
1. Did they have a trial?
2. was the sfw non-destructive?
3. how intuitive?
4. Presets (predetermined change to maximize viewing enjoyment?
5. Support?
6. Cost? Not always a $. Amature does it till he gets it right. A Pro does it till he can't get it wrong.

Ok, those are great replies. I guess I wasn't looking for comparison so much as "will this fit my needs". Since photodirector is so new I was looking for some input from users if it would fit my requirements. Thanks for the review links, seems to have a favorable reception. I guess the trial is really the only way to know if it will work for want I want it to do. I was just hoping to narrow the field a bit based on inputs from the folks here. I'm not sure how to use "presets" but thanks for mentioning them, DLS, so I will educate myself on that. I like the idea of easy editing and improving of my photos. Any more inputs are appreciated. Thanks again for the comments. Still Learning PD and the world of HD video and digicams...and photo organizing and editing!
i870, 8gb, ti560, Win7, 64bit OS

Hello again Shredman,

You might be interested in reading some of the Beta testers' tesimonials http://www.cyberlink.com/products/photodirector/features-showcase_en_AU.html - they are real users who spent time working with PhD3 before it was released.

One thing I like about PhD is that, when you want to edit/adjust photos, you can use presets for general purpose tweaking or use the manual adjustments, which gives you absolute control. You get this in other software too, of course.

You mentioned you were a "casual" photographer. Maybe the preset section might suit you best... there are also plenty of user generated presets on DirectorZone. http://directorzone.cyberlink.com/phd/#PRESET_-1_downloadCount_30_ALL_thumb_1

PIX

PIX YouTube channel

Pix, those presets are really cool. Thanks for educating me on the concept of these, PIX and DLS. I wasn't familiar with presets before. Really cool.

I'll give Photodirector 3 a trial run and see how it works for me as soon as I have a chance. Still Learning PD and the world of HD video and digicams...and photo organizing and editing!
i870, 8gb, ti560, Win7, 64bit OS

Don't forget to look beyond the photo editing tools however - that really isn't the primary reason most folks use a DAM application.

A DAM application is used to Data Management - ie: importing, tagging, and finding your images when you need them, quickly and efficiently. Editing capabilities is a nice plus - but there are programs that are dedicated to that as well and do a very nice job of it. Certainly a single program that can "do it all" would be wonderful - but at the moment - it just doesn't exist.

Personally, I want my DAM application to really shine at data tagging, searching, scripting, sharing images and working with users to tailor specific items to their workflow. I find Phd does some of these items well while falling short in many of these same areas. Its a step in the right direction and urges the competition to keep on their toes - all good things for consumer.

The best advice - take 100 images with your camera and keep them on the memory card. Download and install 4-5 DAM applications and then take each package through a sample workflow with those 100 images. Ask yourself some questions during the process: does the software allow me to rename my images during import, is the software flexible in adding metadata, how are tags stored in the catalog and database, what search options are available, what standards are followed for storing data, how well does the program allow you cull images (light table, multi-image compare, multi-image zoom)?, etc. etc...

Will give this a shot. Installing DAM applications seems to be legit.

Installing DAM applications seems... legit? What does that mean?

Anyone interested in finding out more about the ins & outs of DAM software might wish to look at this http://thedambook.com/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=5u9qfm0pnlakpeegfdpa0rkfq7& I've not read the book, but it looks like a useful resource if you can get your hands on it.

DaPest - you're absolutely right. The suggestion to put various pieces of DAM software through their paces is the best way to find out what suits. Everyone will develop their own workflow, based on the facilities of the software. Combine that with reading about the experiences of other users will give the best information.

PIX

PIX YouTube channel

thx pix.. just to note - the DAM book is very out of date and even the support website is falling behind the times. Iview (the author's recommended tool) is no longer in business and its successor product is not well received by the user base.

One of the problems of course is to put a piece of software like Photodirector, or Lightroom, os Zoner through it's paces properly, you need to learn it in depth, compare the results and make a balanced decision. That all takes a LOT more than the crappy 30 day trials everyone gives.
I can tell you though that Lightroom 4.3 is frustratingly slow on my machine, but it's library module is twice as slick and feature full as PhotoDirectors.
The tools in PhotoDirector are more comprehensive and one of the reasons I dislike Lightroom is that there is no PNG support. The background erase tool in PD is awesome, but it's not reading the tags in each RAW file I import, and that's a major, major flaw if I can't find how to do it, as I am not going to retag 45,000 photos!

On the strength of features I'd rate PD way ahead of Lightroom 4 and Zoner.
On the strength of usability I'd rate Lightroom ahead of the rest.
On the strength of reliability I'd rate PD way below anything. It constantly crashes on my Windows 7 machine.
On the strength of not being able to read keywords in my photos, I'd rate PD as below the worst.
I will edit this post if I find out that I'm being a dork and the keywords are there

Version PhotoDirector Deluxe_OEM 3.0.3618
SR Number PTD121207-02

Tried to add DXDIAG file, how do you add a file to the post?

**EDIT:
Synchronise folder does not work if you de-select "Show import dialogue before importing." It simply freezes. If you tick that box to show the import dialogue, it crashes and I am unable to import a whole folder. It's crashed now 9 out of 11 times.
Is it possible that PD can't import if it's rendering and simply crashes instead of pausing one task?
Unless these are simple issues to resolve it looks like I'll be going back to Lightroom.