Photos are only half the fun of digital cameras

Companies that track consumer technology estimate that 10% to 12% of American households own a digital camera. And with products on the market such as the Kodak Easyshare and Hewlett-Packard Photosmart series cameras, which make transferring images from camera to computer a snap, there's a good chance that these cameras won't be left to gather dust.

Most digital photographers simply print or e-mail their photos, but the fun part of digital photography is how wacky you can get once you've captured images. Sure, you can put your digital photos on T-shirts, holiday cards and coffee mugs, but a whole new suite of digital photography tricks is on the way. Here's a look.

Paint your digital photo by the numbers

While the results can be a bit "impressionistic," this might be the most Zen thing you'll ever do. It will certainly rekindle moments of your youth. Log onto Club Photo (www.clubphoto.com) and for $53 you'll be able to upload your digital image and get your photo back as a paint-by-number painting, complete with all the paints and brushes you need to do the job. The trick here is to use a relatively simple image or you'll be straightjacketed before you finish.

And while you're at it, think about ordering the Amazing Photo Cookies (about $1.89 each) or Chocolate Photo Cards (about $3.15 each) at Club Photo as well. They look better than they taste, and they're sure to turn a few heads.

The electronic photo album

Many of the photo-imaging products on the market are overkill for mere mortals, but two new entries — Sony EZ Memories ($49.99, www.sonystyle.com) and FlipAlbum Suite 4.1 ($79.95, www.flipalbum.com) from Ebook Systems — make it easy to create simple photo albums with pictures, text and music for sharing via e-mail, for burning onto a CD or for printing into handsome albums. FlipAlbum uses a book metaphor so that images fall onto book-like pages. Sony's EZ Memories is powered by the same technology as FlipAlbum, and it includes three Sony CD-R discs and CD mailing labels.

Make a picture storybook starring your child

Your kids can visit Pnutz the Elephant (www.pnutztheelephant.com) where they can build an online interactive storybook ($24.95) starring them. It's pretty funny to watch your child's photo placed on a cartoon body, which then becomes a floating mouse pointer in alphabet land. Kids use this egocentric pointer to work through the alphabet, numbers and other concepts in game-like fashion. This product needs a little work to overcome its sense of amateurishness, but it's a pretty unique experience.

Talking pictures

Soundpix (http://soundpix.com) is a handy program for adding sound to any image. Because it encapsulates the sound within your image file, the two travel together as a single unit. To create an image, you open your photo using Soundpix, record your voice or other sound effect and save the image as a new file. To play back the sound, your listeners will need the Soundpix plug-in, which is a software component that works with their Web browser. You can try out a free version of Soundpix at the company's Web site or buy a richer version for $29.95.

Robin Raskin is the author of numerous books on computers and kids, including Parents, Kids and Computers and Your Child’s Eduusatodayitor for the FamilyPC series of books published by Hyperion Press.