If you buy or sell on eBay, you know the importance of great photos. They can literally determine whether your item sells at all, and directly influence the price you’ll get. But while you want photos to be large and clear, you don’t want to create overly flattering pictures, or buyers may be unhappy when they receive their merchandise.

Some professional auction photo advice from BetterPhoto.com:
• Use Natural Light or External Flash — Your camera’s built-in flash will likely create white reflections on your item, and can easily overexpose. Two external soft lights or a bounce flash are best.
• Keep Your Subjects Sharp and Close — Every important detail in your product should appear crisp and clear. Use a tripod and Macro mode if needed.
• Clean Up the Background — Either set up a nice neutral background for your photos, or mask out the background entirely after you’ve taken the pics.

Read the article on BetterPhoto.com

Digital Media Picks - Ringtone All-Stars

According to the Seattle Times, the top 10 ringtones of all time are:

10. "Jetsons Theme," Hoyt S. Curtain
9. "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Theme," Will Smith
8. "Sandstorm," DaRude
7. "Mission: Impossible Theme," Lalo Schifrin
6. "The Next Episode," Dr. Dre
5. "Halloween Movie Theme," John Carpenter
4. "Super Mario Brothers Game Theme," Koji Kondo
3. "Sweet Home Alabama," Lynyrd Skynyrd
2. "Stairway to Heaven," Led Zeppelin
1. "In Da Club," 50 Cent

But why pay for ringtones? Most smartphones let you assign standard MP3 files as ringtones, and hook up to your PC via USB or Bluetooth for downloading. Use Creator’s Quick Sound Editor to snip your own custom ringtone from any non-copy-protected audio track.

Q:What’s the best way to prepare and upload video for YouTube? Do I need to convert formats?

A: Great question! Creator 10 takes the pain and guesswork out of YouTube uploads, with a simple one-click process. Just open the Media Manager, right-click on your video file, and select the "Upload to YouTube" option.

The first time you upload, you’ll need to enter your YouTube account information, but after that, just click the Upload box, and you’re done! Creator handles all the rest, including any needed conversion. You too can be a video star!

Have a question about using Roxio software? Have a tip to share? Have an interesting story about how you use our software? Send them to us at editor@roxio.com, and we’ll address as many as we can in this space. Questions and tips should be of general interest. If we use your tip or story, you’ll get a special gift in return, so include your mailing address!

Important Note: if you have a specific tech support question, please contact the tech support line, we cannot provide personal answers here. Please use the following link.

Go to online technical support

We welcome your comments and suggestions for future issues of the Roxio Digital Media Report at: editor@roxio.com

From the Editor

It’s our favorite time of year — time to bring you a brand-new version of Easy Media Creator! Now fully certified for both Windows Vista and XP, Creator 10 also adds a host of cool new features, like HD video editing, Blu-ray/HD DVD recording, and thorough mobile device support. Want to convert a video for playback on your iPod® or iPhone™, or to upload to YouTube™? One or two clicks are all it takes. Learn more in this month’s feature article.

Home video mavens also shouldn’t miss this month’s CineMagic tutorial — there’s no faster way to create great movies.

Tip of the Month: Have two or more CD or DVD drives? Use Creator 10’s new Multiple Audio CD Ripper to import songs from multiple discs simultaneously! Rip your whole CD collection in a flash.

The wait is over! Easy Media Creator 10 is shipping now, with hot new features like Internet radio recording, iPod backup, HD video editing, one-click YouTube uploads, Blu-ray and HD DVD recording, automatic cataloging of CDs and DVDs, and seamless integration with Windows Vista.

A fully revamped interface also makes it easy to launch any task, as well as access helpful tutorials and creative inspiration. Don’t miss the special upgrade price available to registered Roxio users. Just $69.99 after a $30 mail-in rebate!

Download NEW Creator 10 for $69.99 after rebate

Buy NEW Creator 10 in DVD format for $69.99 after rebate

Buy NEW Creator 10 in CD-ROM format for $69.99 after rebate

I want to learn a bit more about Creator 10

Stumped about what features we could possibly add to the already packed Easy Media Creator 9 Suite to produce Creator 10? Here are a fitting top ten reasons (and there are plenty more where these came from):

• All-new interface designed for Windows Vista
• Seamless integration with Vista media folders
• Capture and editing of HD video
• One-click disc copying, including Blu-ray and HD DVD media
• One-click YouTube uploads
• Copying of favorite audio, movies or TV shows from any iPod to your PC (non-copy-protected files only)
• Capture of Internet radio or any PC audio directly from your Windows Vista desktop
• Synchronization of digital media from a PC to your mobile device
• Simultaneous ripping of CDs from multiple drives
• Looping soundtracks for the perfect slideshow or home movie

See and learn more about Creator 10’s new features

If you only print photos on paper from the same vendor as your printer, Macworld’s Rick LePage says you’re missing out big-time. And he’s not just talking about saving a few pennies with a cheaper brand. There’s a whole host of interesting print surface possibilities, from fine-art paper to fabric. Resin-coated (RC) paper is similar to that paper you get from a photo lab, fiber-based papers like rag paper are great for black-and-white shots, fine-art papers are available in a variety of textures, and even fabrics like silk, rayon and poplin come in printable sheets. Learn the ins and outs of exotic print surfaces, and who makes them.

Read the full article

Paper sources

Got a pile of CD-Rs and no idea what’s on them? You’re not alone. Creator 10 comes to the rescue with a new Disc Gallery feature that indexes all your discs automatically. To index the files on a CD or DVD, choose Disc Gallery from the Creator Tools list, insert your disc, and click the Index button. The disc and file names will be listed in the Gallery, and audio CD track names retrieved from the Internet.

Keep popping in discs until everything is indexed, then you can use the Gallery as a search engine for all your media. In addition, you can use the Gallery to find the originals of files that also reside on your hard disk.

Learn more about Creator 10

Are your home videos languishing around in drawers, sight unseen? Want to create great-looking home movies but don’t have the time to spend learning about video editing and special effects? Or simply don’t have time, period? Roxio’s CineMagic, part of the Easy Media Creator 10 suite, was made just for you. With CineMagic, all you do is bring in clips from your video camera, make a few quick picks, and the program does the rest! In literally 30 minutes, you can have a Hollywood-style production all ready to share — via email, Web, portable media player or DVD.

See screenshots and step-by-step directions

Coming off a long summer of Apple-love, starting with the iPhone, and ending with the iPod Touch, what else can we do but bring you CNET’s top ten Apple rumors of all time? Some even turned out to be true.

1. Apple to buy Nintendo -- What better way to revive the Mac as a games machine?

2. Mac OS for PC Users -- Run OS X on a Dell PC? Never happen...

3. The Return of the Newton -- Is the iPhone Newton reincarnated? You be the judge...

4. Apple to buy BeOS -- Luckily, Be turned them down, so Apple bought NeXT instead, bringing Steve Jobs back to the company.

5. The Secret OS X Build -- Shockingly true. Apple kept the Intel version of OS X secret for a staggering five years.

6. The Apple iPhone -- It was all true, and then some...

7. iTunes as a record label -- Hmm. It may yet happen.

8. Widescreen Video iPod -- This one was true too. Hello Touch!

9. 30th anniversary Mac -- The most disappointing day in Apple's history. Still, there's always the 40th Anniversary!

10. Apple to buy Disney -- Stevo wants Pixar back!