Each time we go trigger-happy with the shutter, we're reminded of digital photography's beautiful myth. Yes, fancy cameras and impressive megapixel counts can deliver brilliant photos far above the usual point-and-shoot quality. But then there's that time-consuming task of cropping, editing, captioning and distributing the sprawling photo collection.

Don't get put off by the time and effort it takes to process a large batch of photos. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you share your photos with friends and family.

Step 1: Image editing
Many digital cameras come with some basic photo-editing software for getting images from your camera to your computer, plus a couple of extra tools like the ability to resize pictures and remove red-eye. They're not always the most effective but work well enough for the average user posting to a Web album.

If you're willing to invest a bit more time and money though, you'll be rewarded. For US$149, Photoshop Elements impresses as an all-round editor with a features arcade and powerful editing tools.

For those who have a tighter budget, never fear--there are plenty of free image editing tools available. Below are a few of our favorites.

Paint.NET is a robust, consistent achiever in freeware photo editing. Though it supports layering and blend modes, bear in mind that it's intended for personal rather than professional use.

FastStone does a first-rate job with essential tools for resizing and filters, great for simple edits.

GIMP is another good editor that can perform many tasks like retouching, across a wide number of platforms including Windows, Linux and Mac.

IrfanView is a stalwart of the free image-editing scene, available as a download for Windows. Though the interface isn't as pretty as some of the other options listed here, it's incredibly fast and does a good job of batch-processing tasks, like resizing a bunch of photos in one go.

Tags: Image-editing, Camera, Microsoft Windows, digital photography, freeware