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Editing Photos on the Linux System

Editing Photos on the Linux System

Editing Photos

On Linux

Q. I have an older laptop that can't support Windows 7's requirements. If I reformat it to run the free Linux system, will I be able to import and edit photos from my digital camera?

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A. The latest edition of Ubuntu Linux, nicknamed Lucid Lynx and known as version 10.04 LTS, can probably handle most of your photo needs. The system comes with a free program, F-Spot Photo Manager, to import pictures from a camera or memory card. F-Spot includes basic tools for editing, organizing, printing and sharing photos.

You can get the files to make your own Ubuntu installation disc by clicking the Download Ubuntu button at the top of the page at www.ubuntu.com. Once you install the system onto the laptop, the F-Spot Photo Manager program is under the Applications menu in the Graphics area. A full user guide for F-Spot is online at f-spot.org.

Google's free Picasa photo editing software also comes in a Linux version; you can find more information on it at picasa.google.com/linux. Picasa includes basic editing tools that let you fix red-eye and crop images. You can also create online albums.

Older versions of Ubuntu Linux include a more complex image-editing program, GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program), but the software has been dropped from Ubuntu 10.04 LTS. If you find F-Spot too limiting and want to try GIMP, you can easily add it to your system.

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To install it, go to the Applications menu, choose the Ubuntu Software Center option and search for "GIMP." When the program appears in the list, click the Install button and type in your system password to proceed. A user guide and tutorials for the program can be found at www.gimp.org.

Recording Movies

From HBO

Q. I just got HBO but I can't seem to record movies from the channel. Is the cable company blocking this ability?

A. Depending on your recorder and what you are trying to record, you may be running into copy-protection technology HBO uses on some of its programming. According to a page on the HBO Web site, viewers are not allowed to make recordings of On Demand movies shown on HBO or Cinemax. HBO points out that On Demand programs can be ordered and watched at any time and don't need to be recorded.

While viewers can make a single recording of an HBO program, for instance to a digital video recorder for watching later, HBO's copy-protection technology is intended to prevent multiple copies of a show from being recorded on DVD or transferred to a DVD from a VCR or DVR.

You can find HBO's full explanation of its copyright-protection practices at bit.ly/a1ihlv.

TIP OF THE WEEK The Jump Lists feature of Windows 7 offers you a list of recently used files or tasks used by a particular program, but you can modify the Jump List to always show your favorite items. To see a Jump List from the Start menu, just move the mouse cursor over the program's name to see any recently used files or pages. You can also right-click a program's icon in the Taskbar to see its Jump List, and then select what you want from the list.

If you have files on a Jump List that you want to keep there permanently, place the mouse cursor on the file's name until a pushpin icon appears. Click the pushpin icon to "pin" the file or task to the list. (To remove a pinned item, put the mouse cursor back on the file name and click the pushpin icon again to "unpin" it from the list. J. D. BIERSDORFER

Personal Tech invites questions about computer-based technology to QandA @nytimes.com. This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually.

First Published: May 27, 2010, 6:00 a.m.

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