I was tempted, but on the same day I received an offer from Ashampoo to purchase Photo Optimiser 5 at only £7.99 (GBP). Once you have registered any Ashampoo product you get the option to receive product offers. Aslo, if I had so wished, I could have pre-ordered and purchased the lasted version for only £3.99 (GBP). So not today thank you GOTD. btw Ashampoo offers discounts on all its products if you sign up to it's email.

Hello everyone,

@4-anon5150...Anonymous I suppose? You didn't have much to do today huh? Well I don't have much to do tonight myself so...

Vaughn asked why the program wanted to take over his homepage and his search engine toolbar. If you read his post, it does NOT say that he didn't click advance install. He NEVER said he hadn't seen it. In fact, it doesn't even say that he did install it.

Personally I think his post is VERY helpful for those who pay less attention while they install the software. It didn't denigrate the company or offend anyone. It just got a "negative" ball rolling for dozens of posters.

I too, dislike programs that attempt on high jacking your browser...whether it's hidden or not!

BTW, I don't know Vaughn. I'm merely defending the fact that it's another community member getting down voted for expressing something he dislikes about a program. If he can't say it here where else is he suppose to comment?

Again, I find his post useful and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Which is more than I can say for yours, it didn't help anyone at all!!!

@14- Stephen B. Cohen - I had the same problem. What I did is add them to my contact list and after that no more problems receiving the registration keys. Hope this helps you so you don't have to post another comment and get down voted for it:-)

@21- Dont Hill - Well said, my thought exactly!!! Plus, I would add that it's NOT true that Ashampoo bombards with emails. At least not in my case and I don't see why I wouldn't get too many emails and another would be bombarded...it just doesn't make sense.

LOL @ Melika on her last comment.

@43 - dcs13 - Where do you get that Vaughn didn't want the desktop and quick launch icons? Your comment is not only unfounded but inappropriate and unneeded!!!

@55 -Arvind 560003 - And to anybody who wants to unsubscribe! All you have to do is go to your Ashampoo account click on Settings and "Deactivate" whatever you activated when you created the account. If not, you can always send their support team an email requesting your unsubscription. As for licenses that stop working and files that get deleted...well that's a bit much! Specially when ALL the software programs you downloaded from them stay in your account and you always have access to them and to the registration keys and can always re-download at any time.

Isn't time people to use this forum the way it was intended to be used? It's a waste of space to post stupidities and waste of time for the readers as well. People get down voted for asking questions about the software!!!!!! Geez! Also get down voted when they say they like the program when the majority doesn't. How immature is that? I for one would like to read constructive comments. I've said enough and just wish I could have posted earlier so it could have been read by most users instead of now near the end of the giveaway.

Anyway, I installed the program on Vista HP x64 without any problems. Program works great. Thank you Ashampoo for another great software and thank you GOTD.

Cheers for this program. I use Ashampoo products and they are excellent, don't know whats all the complaining about giving your e-mail out, Ashampoo keep all your activation keys for you online so if you ever need to reinstall a program again...........Have tried Ashampoo Photo Optimizer 3 just to test and very happy with the results, nice program easy to use and thank you Ashampoo and GOTD much appreciated!!

Jay

@ 55 Arvind560003 _______ the password they ask you for to unsubscribe is NOT for your email acct They want the password for the acct you had to set up on their site to get the reg key. SHeeeshhh--- wake up.

I have been using Ashampoo photo optimizer since long. I find that it works quite well. I have used other Ashampoo products as well. Ashampoo maintains a list of all licenses (which is downloadable in .pdf format). Hence if the software gets corrupted/deleted/formatted, you can always re-install the software if you have a full license and not a trial license. This is a great feature which other companies should follow. Thumbs up for this package.

I tried four times with different emails to receive the license code. NO WAY!!! One of these emails is already registered. Guess what? Does not recognize my password, offer to change it but doesn't send the required email to do it. Is it a personal issue, sirs?

you can download Ashampoo Photo Commander 8 which is free in their website....it has all the features of Ashampoo Photo Optimizer and also many other features like Photo Converter.....
http://www.ashampoo.com/en/usd/lpa/gift?c=gimmeagift

I thinks the reviews are great. After reading all of the reviews and from using a few Ashampoo product, I am passing on this for several reasons.

1. The registration process is a pain.

2. The spam you get is way to much. I am sure we can dispute all day that if you sign up, you are giving the company permission to send you email, but sheez, the email coming from Ashampoo is way to much. I can understanding advertising, but the amount of email is unwanted so I will pass on this give away.

#14 is correct. Ashampoo is more interested in getting addresses for their marketing champagne. I also provided what they asked for in order to register the product. After waiting 8 hours, I'm guessing their not going to send me the code. However, I'll bet they sent me their marketing material.

Some of you are paranoid beyond comprehension. I just today have an offer from Ashampoo to buy version 5 for less than £4 ($8 US) if I am upgrading from a previous version. I don't have a previous version of this offer so, by taking this, I potentially get the best and latest version for the price of two loaves of bread.

All your comments about spam are nonsense but I've said that repeatedly so I'll shut up. Cannot recall giving my DOB or age to them. I must have every product they make and registration is a breeze because they recognise me immediately and I do not even have to look at the two step process ~ if only all GAOTD registrations were so easy.

I have many hundreds of Pounds (a thousand or so if I think about it) of professional Photo software - programmes like Ben Vista PhotoZoom Pro 4: you can get a trial version (with watermarks I believe) but you will never see the full version here, because it will set you back £150. I think it is the best photo enlarger/reducer on the market but some Professional Photogs may prefer something different. PhotoShop/PhotoPlus/ etc etc cannot touch it. If you are a purest and need the best, you have to put your money where your mouth is. Yes, I do know the example here is a different type of product from Ash's offer but it is only an example.

So, if I take this freebie now, I can buy v.5 should I decide I would like it.... reading the mailing (not the spam) on it, I may well get it. Get a working relationship with a great Company; if you are a fly by night or spiv, you are on the wrong site. I'm sorry but only an idiot would accept a toolbar and moan about icons; virtually every active company does the same thing (eg Download Accelerator Plus) free or paid.

I usually get my Ash freebies from Germany so it is great to see them appearing more on English speaking websites such as GAOTD. So, thanks to both. Ashampoo is a quality software producer from Germany, not an unknown quantity from somewhere most have never heard of. The chap who commented on 'that is business' was just telling the truth. Some commentators seem to want the freebies but do not get a damn whether the companies concerned make any money for research and development.

Okay, enough from me. No one is forcing you to do anything. I'm getting this now. It is at least as useful as many of the other photo type offers we see here regularly.

@ PocketAces
RE: "posters providing alternatives are doing a disservice"

When a user here compares this (Photo Optimizer) to GIMP, for example, it's great information and the competing product is a whole different animal. Choices are good - that's what we have here. This product might very well be the best product in existance for simplifying a few simple tasks (and it's free). It's a win-win.

The community on GAOTD is what makes this the best giveaway site on the internet, hands down. The users here helped me update my bookmarks to an amazing amount of free useful software, and they provided insight to each giveaway. Good products like Ashampoo Photo Optimizer have nothing to hide (even their competition) - not so good products should go to one of those other freeware sites.

A good example of the wealth of information here might be how quick the community posted notice of an offer in which the Logo of another company was used, and the fact that the product literally did not have the feature it claimed, and there were many alternatives for us listed among the posts.

For great offers like Ashampoo and Paragon, the benefits are mutual - for shifty companies, we provide the background so our users can make a much better decision.

Thanks MikeR !!!
Just grabbed the free stuff for liking on Facebook. I highly recommend the newer version of Photo Commander and Burning Studio 2012. You are correct in the assertion that the total 5 of packages you get in the Facebook is worth $110 - but I didn't have $110 - so free is a really good deal ☺

Thanks again, Ashampoo

@everyone complaining about this giveaway. Do you not realize that YOU DON'T GET SOMETHING FOR NOTHING. Ashampoo is a business and they must make money. It makes no sense to give away a product for free without some kind of strings attached. If you owned a business would you give your products away for free without getting something in return even if it is only an e-mail address or contact information. Stop whining and start living in the real world.

PhotoScape has it all and it's free...

http://www.photoscape.org/ps/main/download.php

It is embarrassing to read the comments.

First, it isn't spam! You have agreed to receive emails for the privilege of trying the developers software - it is easy to unsubscribe.

The complaints about not getting the latest "Full" version for life are a joke. Those who make these comments are either 14 or just freeloaders who don't have a job and wouldn't pay for any software under any circumstance.

The purpose of GAOTD is for developers to provide a older or limited version to try and if you like or need it then you will pay for the latest version. Any other way is not feasible.

I believe that as software developers see the constant ridicule and complaining about "spam" and not giving away the store they will stop using this as vehicle to market their software.

PA

PS The posters providing alternatives are doing a disservice to the developers who use GAOTD.

Why isn't anyone talking about RWpaint, or Real World Paint? EXCELLENT and FREE, comes in a portable too!!

Download and more info: http://www.rw-designer.com/image-editor

To Digital don hill

The stop mail link does not work. It will ask for you password of the e-mail if you have to proceed further. I did not want to give my true password of e-mail account and hence unable to stop unsolicited mails from them. Further, I tried to 'Spam' it. It does not get 'Spammed". I have also observed that if you instal a GOTD software, on some day in future their GOTD licence stops working and installed files gets deleted. No further activation is possible.

I keep away from anything that carries 'Ashampoo" name.

Arvind560003

I can't find the most important feature. How do resize a jpg? Without this feature, why bother. Aesthetically it's nice.

Hi all, I advise all who use this programme that it occassionally produces images that have small area(s) with strange colour bursts in them. When a single image has being processed the fault can be seen and rejected; however, if the patch process is used the consequences can be hilarious. So it would useful for the programmers at Ashampoo to tweak the algothirms so as to prevent these apperitions

Was looking for the perfect quick and easy photo fixer for my 87 year old aunt. With her upgrading to Win 7 64 bit her original version of Photosuite which she knew and loved quit working. This one looked like it had the potential to be the perfect replacement, but you have to be kidding me here. It doesn't crop photos? How is she ever going to clip out the cute little kitty in the middle, or chop off the cluttered coffee table from the darling pic of the latest great grandchild. I searched, poked and prodded the help tab looking for a way to do it with no results. It looks like this program is yet another Ashampoo cripple that has some of what you want, but leaves out must have functions that pretty much make the whole package useless.

Being puritannical about Ashampoo may mean you hold the moral high ground but that's all. The developer generally puts out quality software and if you're a customer who bought or acquired an Ashampoo freebie then all that's required is the exercise of a few brain cells to manage your relationship with Ashampoo.

Brain cell exercise can, for example, start with learning how to delete those QL icons so bemoaned of by one horrified poster here (hint: press Del on your keyboard) or that unwanted toolbar (hint: use Revo; it'll find and strip out any toolbar ever installed from anywhere.) Learning how to manage your email is no bad thing, either, because if you've no idea how to set up and use an instantly disposable gmail address with server-side filtering to delete/do not send to spam then really, you shouldn't be let out on the Internet on your own.

As to today's GAOTD. It's a quick, easy, simple and effective image enhancer, and a nice little starter app for anyone who has no experience of post-processing their own photographs (according to one survey, that's apparently 80% of the population.)

There's nothing wrong with Photo Optimizer 3 and as it's free today, then -- unless you're utterly paranoid about dealing with Ashampoo -- it's well worth having.

But of course, if you are one of the righteously outraged, you'll also be waa-aay too paranoid to take out a Facebook account using a phony name and disposable email address, and will therefore deny yourself the $110sworth of Ashampoo full products that are to be had today simply by ticking 'I Like'.

As one of those products includes the full $40 / 96Mb Ashampoo Photo Commander 8 -- full-fledged image management software that's considerably more comprehensive than the little $10 Photo Optimizer on offer here today -- then really, the Facebook promotion is a no-brainer.

Finally . . Ashampoo may sell hard but it's by no means one-way traffic. Almost alone of all the major software developers, it offers generously lengthy trial download periods of its full products, not crippleware, and it also has some great value (i.e., free) promotions at least twice a year, viz: around the time of its CEO's birthday, and around the time of the customer's birthday (i.e., yours.)

You won't get those if you're terrified of toolbars and QuickLaunch shortcuts (aaargh!) or are so unable to get a grip on the management of your own affairs that you can't even spoof a Facebook membership or a Google throwaway address with delete-no-spam filtering.

But if you're a normal average every day computer user, then today is a pretty good day: a nice little $10 image management starter-app for free, courtesy of GAOTD and Ashampoo; and a $110 5-strong set of full products (including Photo Commander) also for free, courtesy of Ashampoo via its Facebook page. And no: it doesn't mean you've crossed over to the Dark Side . . .

Since 2am my time zone , whem this came up. I have tried to register this program. I enter my email , it says enter password , I try what I thoght was the password, nope. It sends me to a screen to change my password via email. I enter my password ... and nothing. It is now 10:02 am . I give up . 8 hours and no response. BIG THUMBS DOWN ON ASHAMPOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any photo editor can do more than this version.
And Yes, I use most of the features from my Photoshop software.
Ashampoo is judging their client as being illiterates and unfit to be their own choosers of software.
That is a big No No to treat your clients as such users.

Three requests for the full licence have so far failed to produce an email response from Ashampoo! Thanks for the effort GAOTD on this offering but I'm afraid I'm passing on this offer. I have tried but to no avail.

Being that there are only 2 screenshots in their site, a rather bland and limited set of photo edit options, and on sale for a cheap price of $9.99, this tells me that you are not getting much bang for the buck and that there are better and free software out there, such as Faststone, etc.

Hi, Ashampoo Photo Optimizer 3 is.. really just a "tester", or a "teaser" that (hopefully:) might lead you to all those upgrades upon upgrades.., after all that's why they need your Account to flood you with all offers. I'm not trying to be funny here or cynical, since - like many Others I too am a "proud owner" of such Account, lol.

My point is this: There is Free version of Photo Optimizer, there is v.3 offered today, there is v.4 - offered today for a "fraction" of the price ($4.99 instead of $14.99) - there is also v.5(!!) already out there.

Being (slightly) tempted by this upgrade to v.4 - I went on their website to see what's in v.4 (that ISN'T in v.3!), basically for some "Version History", or Comparing prices of each Version to see which Features were "added" (??) - WORTH of Upgrade..

After spending a fair amount of time (far too much!) I found big fat nothing!:( - and I have no time to rummage through all those (junk) e-mails with possible detail information of each version as they were rolling in..

Is it not possible for Ashampoo to follow other Companies which make it much easier for Buyers to see what Upgrades are about??
Even History (in this case) of this Product would be helpful! "Much improved" might be OK for Updates, not Upgrades(!) where price jumps up!

Am I alone in my quest of finding simple answers, did I missed something that Others found, and my "rant" is not worth a proverbial penny?
I truly would like to find out (Developer!, Anybody willing to help) about Software I might be interested in upgrading, but not like that! Apologies in advance if I'm wrong:)

Thanks for the program. I have used Ashampoo products for years and they are usually pretty good. If you don't want to receive their emails register with a disposable address, opt out or label as spam in your email program. All the whining is silly, just sounds like a bunch of crybabies. Thanks GAOTD and Ashampoo, keep up the good work.

Thanks for the comments so far, everyone.

But to those who ignore their own responsibility to manage their own computers, if you just click [ default install ], you are giving control to someone else, so quit complaining that you willingly gave up control.

But ... I agree that the [ default install ] should clearly identify if they are going to install anything other than the default program we clicked on.

That is, if the program name says "AshampooPhotoOptimizerSetup.exe" then it should set up that and only that ... or clearly OFFER additional crap WITHOUT PRE-SELECTING additional crap.

So, both are wrong -- the programmers who default to installing additional crap are wrong, and end users who let them by incessantly and irresponsibly clicking [ default install] (and then complaining!) are wrong.

==========

Now, on to imagine software:

PICASA: FREE -- can someone compare APO Ashampoo Photo Optimizer to free http://www.Picasa.com/ which DOES open Raw files -- Ashampoo does not open Raw, so it ignores the majority of my growing imaging archive.

RAWTHERAPEE: FREE http://www.RawTherapee.com/ Giovani, thanks for the great alternative challenges as always -- you mention RawTherapee, does anything from Ashampoo do Raw? RawTherapee offers versatile, flexible, tunable noise reduction, but no lens correction.

COREL AFTERSHOT: $60 or 30 day trial http://www.corel.com/aftershot ... personally, we can't beat the demo version of Corel's acquisition of Bibble, which does Raw AND camera lens correction (reducing or eliminating chromatic aberration and distortion) AND sophisticated noise reduction ... but we gotta migrate the demo to different machines when the 30 day demo time is up ... a GREAT opportunity for GOTD to add another vendor (are you listening, GOTD -- call Corel and get 'em on board!) ... at least all your converted Raw pictures stay perfect after the demo expires.

APPLE APERTURE: $80 (no trial?) http://www.apple.com/aperture/ and I have NO IDEA if it offers anything competitive in terms of results ... note that if you click on "Creative" software at Apple, they proudly claim "none found"! =8^o http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/software/apple?n=creative&s=topSellers hahahaha!

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS: $99 or 30 day trial http://www.adobe.com/elements converts Raw, offers some lens correction, but presumably not tuned distortion and aberration correction for your specific lens, no mention of noise reduction.

DxO OPTICS PRO: $99 or 30 day trial http://www.dxo.com/opticspro does NOT offer to eliminate lens distortions and aberrations on some "older" fixed-lens camera Raw image files, of which I have tens of thousands of Raw images in my growing archive, so SCREW THEM!

ADOBE LIGHTROOM: $150 or 30 day trial http://www.Adobe.com/Lightroom also opens Raw and removes lens distortions and aberrations, but it is expensive.

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP: $399 or 30 day trial http://www.adobe.com/photoshop does pretty much everything well.

==========

We have to decide what's important to us, and there are way too many different things we each want from imaging software for any one software to make everyone happy, especially considering price:

-- find and display all photos, quick browsing through your archive, free http://www.picasa.com/ is unbeatable

-- turn photos right side up without re-JPG-ing (lossless rotation) http://www.irfanview.com/ Picasa does everything virtually without touching your original (very smart!)

-- Raw conversion (remember, JPG tosses up to 90% of what your camera captures, and even though the results are stunning, that "other" 90% holds a lot of recoverable information IF you want to retrieve it!)

-- exposure optimization

-- dynamic range balance and enhancement

-- leveling horizons

-- red eye removal

-- cropping

-- resizing

-- printing, free Picasa is surprisingly nice here with very sharp results with no sharpening artifacts

-- sharpening - to much to discuss, start here: http://dpbestflow.org/image-editing/sharpening

-- distortion and aberration correction, DxO and Adobe are great, but DxO misses many important cameras

-- "perspective" distortion corrections (stand up leaning buildings), DxO or manually in other programs

-- panorama and stitching across and down, start Google searching for alternatves, none are all purpose for everyone

-- "giga" combining many photos http://gigapan.com/

-- focus stacking http://www.heliconsoft.com/heliconfocus.html and Adobe and others

-- metadata management, TAG YOUR PHOTOS so you can find them on demand via intelligent "search, sort, and select", and add metadata so they are marked as yours when you share them, there are too many varieties of controls to begin a list here, but see http://www.metadataworkinggroup.org/ to get started

-- "slide" shows, free Picasa screen saver is unbeatable

-- automated sharing "uploads"

-- more?

What else do people want to do with their photos?

==========

So, how does Ashmpoo Photo Optimizer fit into what YOU want to do with your endlessly growing collections of photo files?

#7 Hey VaughnF

If you don't want both a desktop and quick launch icons, why not right-click and delete the one you don't want? Have you ever bothered to learn how to use your PC?
And before anyone starts to complain about the SPAM from Ashampoo -- you can always opt-out in your Ashampoo account OR from the service channel/options menu within each application. It's always a good idea to review ALL the operations/options in ALL the menus of ANY software application your install -- to ensure it is not "phoning home" or by using the software you have signed away rights to your first-born.

@27: It seems Photo Optimizer is simply for removing red eye, color correction, etc. whereas Photo Commander does some, if not all, of those things AND can create a virtual album, calendar, etc with your photos. Get both, you can always uninstall later, but you'll still have your keys.

You are a great man Giovanni! I like online photo editors, but StylePix and Screenshots are amazing... no more PhotoShop!

Sorry for this negative comment, but I can't imagine any basic photo editor without cropping tool! Visual cropping is a key feature and skill in photography and I always advise my students to crop images before using or sharing to bring focus and attention into the photo objects and elements. I found Microsoft Office Picture Manager more effective.

I have used this program for quite some time. I highly recommend it for single click enhancements. It does a wonderful job.

When you install Ashampoo software, use the custom installation mode which allows you to opt out of the changes for homepage and search engine.

Ashampoo released version 5 today and it is even better.

If you want all the editing tools I recommend their Photo Commander which is reasonably priced. It does even a better job of one click optimizing.

Downloaded and installed easily. I chose the custom install so I could control the installation of the Ashampoo toolbar. As I have installed Ashampoo programs before, registration was a breeze. After entering my e-mail on the registration page, it was recognized and I was prompted to enter my password. The registration immediately came up and was stored in my account. What I like most about this is, I never lose my

I started the program and played with the pre-installed photos. All of the features that are included seemed to work very well. I would like to hear how the red eye reduction function works from another person who has their own photo that needs correcting (I didn't have any). It worked great with the pre-installed photo, but I don't really trust anyone.

My only complaint about this program is that there seems to be no way to crop an image. I can zoom in fine, but if I want it cropped, I'll have to open another program to do so. This is unacceptable in such a program, as cropping is such a integral part of photo manipulation (at least for me) and is the only complaint I have with the program.


For those who haven't installed an Ashampoo product, I'd like to correct some misconceptions regardless of the negative ratings this comment will get. I have never had an Ashampoo product hijack anything. I like my toolbar the way it is. If I installed every toolbar that companies request with products, I wouldn't have any screen space left for web pages (provided they installed with each other). My point is, many companies have toolbars that can be installed with their products and many companies have these options pre-checked because they want you to install them. Wanting you to do so and forcing you to do so are two different things, and there are companies that require their toolbar to use their product. When you are going through the installation, a large window shows the "full install" and "custom install" choices, so it is hidden through another choice. If you do not want the Ashampoo toolbar, choose custom install and UNCHECK THE OPTION.

Ashampoo does require you to create a user account on their web site. I was a little leery the first time I registered, as I was unfamiliar with the company. Since then, I've gotten about 4 of their programs through GAOTD. The user account stores my programs (the version I have) and the registration key. I had a crash where I had to reinstall all of my programs. Aside from one other company, I lost almost all of the GAOTD programs, except for my Ashampoo products. I am now very happy to have a repository for this information off-site. Whereas other companies that participate in GAOTD do not assist or allow a person to reinstall their "free" program, Ashampoo does - they treat you as if you actually purchased this program.

Regarding the "spam" issue. Spam is unsolicited e-mail that doesn't stop even though you request it to stop, usually from people you don't know. As far as I can tell, Ashampoo does not sell e-mail addresses (I have never seen a bump in spam from it). For the e-mails that Ashampoo sends (which would be classified as marketing or promotional e-mails), you can either click "unsubscribe" at the bottom of the e-mail or visit your account to chose not only to stop all e-mails, but you can even customize and receive promotional e-mails only from the products you may be interested in. I've never been bothered by e-mails from the company if I didn't want them.

To the new users of GAOTD: personally, I'm beginning to suspect that the loudest braying complainers regarding the Ashampoo toolbar and promotional e-mails are either from the competition or trolls.

A regular install should install the product and not related extra stuff or change your web site - at least not without indicating to the user what a non-custom install means. I don't think that is intuitive. I usually do a custom install with software when I want to put it in a non-standard directory and not because I need to uncheck non-related changes to my system.

@“Digital” Don Hill

"including a “global” unsubscribe option which will stop ALL further emails from Ashampoo."
That's not true anymore. I downloaded one of their programs from GAOTD a few months ago and as always the registration meant subscription options were automatically changed to ON. I logged into my account to unsubscribe as I always did and I could click forever on the unsubscribe buttons with no results (regardless of browser). The gmail spam filter didn't stop that spam (yes, that became spam after I wanted to unsubscribe and couldn't) I had to email their support to unsubscribe me manually. No more Ashampoo for me.

@ VaughnF #7
Uncheck option, install, create your own shortcut.

Don't be lazy, it only takes about 30 seconds! :)

Hey #24, ClassAPCS!!

Why do you want to crop ME out of the vacation pictures anyway?
Its not like I'm going to scare anybody! And I was on vacation too ya know.

That just doesn't seem right to me! : (
But I had fun anyway..


Ashampoo creates some pretty good products. But all the email after registering is troubling. Email Ads, and Spam, are one and the same thing whether registered with them or not. They do that so much, that they clearly deter a lot of business for themselves, and their users should be aware of it, as should they.

As a developer at "Uncle Eddy's Slick Software" I believe we can kill ourselves with excessive advertising (aka Spam). And sadly Ashampoo overdoes it in my view. It would behoove them not to inundate their customers in that way. If we want something, we'll buy it after 4 or 5 emails. No need to keep it coming for years.

For that reason, and not that many extra features in this package, I am a no-go on this one. But then, I'm Uncle Eddy, and nobody listens to me anyway. : (

-Uncle Eddy

According to the Ashampoo website, the latest version of the Photo Optimizer software is version 5.01, so why are we being offered version 3? The least you could offer is version 4 - I'm not paying to upgrade the software to be out of date!

Ashampoo has good products, though little heavy on the email!

I like Ashampoo, stuff, but this is a little too basic. Shotwell is free, has a straightener, crop & redeye, publishes to Facebook, Picasa and others, and a sorter. If I need more editing it opens up the photo in Gimp for me.

Selecting "custom install" does not install all the unwanted packages that some here complain about.

Installed fine on my Win 7 32-bit machine.

Went to correct some red eye on a random photo I have. It was difficult to do so...

Selecting two eyes will alter the skin color around the nose, and eyes in addition to dealing with the red eye. As others will say, the recommendation is to select each eye separately.

It worked fine for the first eye, but unable to select a second eye. This is because the UI seems designed for a screen size larger than 768. The horizontal scroll bar is unreachable. I can't scroll to access it. I can not resize the program to view the entire screen. It also appears that there are some buttons which are "off-screen".

Older programs do not really bother me if the program works and it does appear that it does. However, the GUI which is larger than my screen size is a major fail. 1366 by 768 is a common screen configuration and I can not see why this program would not be usable in that format.

So, now we have Ashampoo Photo Optimizer 3 and Ashampoo Photo Commander 8 both free for download today. Then which one is better if I only want to install one?

Once you see it's a previous version you are put off right away. No Thanks GOTD

@Don Hill, #21: "Email sent with the recipient’s permission is NOT classified as spam, which is defined as UNSOLICITED commercial email"

Come on, don't hide behind such a formal definition. The point is that one should be free when they give their permission. I bet many visitors that gave their so called "permission" wouldn't have done that when they were truly free in that. They were forced to do so, to be able to accept the Ashampoo free offer of today.

You could argue they were free not to take the free offer and you would be right about that, but then again how free is "free" when you must turn in your mailaddress. Isn't that really tits for tats?

To be clear about this: I didn't react against Ashampoo but merely reacted on "giving permission while accepting a free offer". There are ways to protect yourself from spam thoough.
On the other hand, I don't like the spammimg (classified by me) ways of Ashampoo either unless you tell me so to like it. :)

It installs and registers quickly and painlessly if you already have an Ashampoo account. Which, if you follow GAOTD regularly, you likely have because Ashampoo features new releases fairly often.
Anyway, the program does what it claims quite well and looks great doing it with some really classy skins.
However, even the most basic editor needs a cropping tool which this program is lacking. So, without it, this is a little too basic to justify even the low $9.99 fee.
With a cropping tool, this would be an excellent basic editor, but without it, most users will eventually be disappointed. Especially when they want to crop toothless uncle Eddy out of their vacation photos.

@Arnie, #19:
You seem to complaint about people complaining about not liking to be spammed. If you owe a mailbox, do you really like spam in it? I know I don't. I have a mailbox and if you try to mail me anything you have to pass my spamfilter. Sorry Arnie -"That's life".

If you don't want follow-up spam, use a mailinator or spamgourmet e-address!

Here we go again with all of the complaints about "spam" from Ashampoo. Let's clear the air about that...

If you fill out ANY form on the internet asking for your email address and you submit it, the resulting email IS NOT SPAM! By submitting your email address, you're giving them permission to send you email! Email sent with the recipient's permission is NOT classified as spam, which is defined as UNSOLICITED commercial email.

Besides, each and every email from Ashampoo (and every other reputable company on the internet) includes a link in EACH AND EVERY EMAIL they send you that will (or at least should) STOP them from sending you any further email from that point forward.

In fact, IMHO Ashampoo "goes the extra mile" by allowing you to create a free account on their website which - as mentioned by previous commenters, enables you to access the product keys for ALL of the Ashampoo products you've downloaded and registered, and in some cases will even provide you with the actual install files themselves so that you're able to re-install the application in the event that your current installation is lost due to hard drive crash, accidental deletion or corruption of the install. They even provide the ability to download a list of your product keys in PDF format so that you can print it out as a "crash-proof" way to archive and preserve those keys.

Although Ashampoo does request a lot of personal information from you when setting up a free account, only your name and email address are required to establish an account - the remaining items are strictly optional. While logged into your account, you're also able to edit your email preferences, which will give you some control over the type(s) of emails that they do send you, including a "global" unsubscribe option which will stop ALL further emails from Ashampoo.

I'm pretty sure that if those of you who haven't received the promised registration email were to thoroughly check your "spam" or "junk email" folder, you'll find that "missing" email. The fact that you're receiving other email from them indicates that your email address is in their system, and if you're still unable to find the registration email, by all means contact their support desk - they'll most likely respond in kind.

The program itself is decent, and well worth the download if you only to make simple "adjustments" to images. To those of you complaining about the fact that this version isn't the most recent release, I have to ask just how many other "gift horses" do you "look in the mouth?" This program performs as advertised - regardless of whatever version it may be - and that's the point, isn't it? It seems that there's just no satisfying some people, who will find fault with practically anything that's offered for free, always demanding MORE bang for their "non-buck." I, for one, am grateful for the many generous offers Ashampoo has provided through their participation in GAOTD, and I always appreciate professionalism when I see it.

In the interest of full disclosure: Although I'm a full-time internet marketer by trade I am NOT affiliated with Ashampoo in any way, and the opinions put forth in this comment are strictly my own and are NOT necessarily those of GiveawayOfTheDay.com nor Ashampoo.

- "Digital" Don Hill -

Install went fine, except I had to go through custom settings to avoid all of the adware. I liked the installer though, they didn't just throw their program into an Install Shield template and call it a day (although, there's nothing wrong with doing that).
After throwing my E-mail address at them and telling them my name, date of birth, etc., I managed to get it to spit out a serial key.

Ashampoo provides some basic retouching tools. You have gamma adjust, color/contrast adjustments, red eye correction, a few basic color effects (including black and white). What they did do right is that they give you the ability to see the original, so you can find out if you're heading in the right direction, in terms of retouching it. However, this is only a few basic tools. I think I'll stick with Photoshop.