Long ago (when New Wave was literally new) and far away (in Illinois, which is pretty far when you’re in New Guinea. I have no idea how new that place is), I was on my high school’s yearbook committee. We’d think up silly captions to accompany pictures of our favorite (and, with cruel glee, our least favorite) people to entertain and inform future generations of what was going on in that particular place at that particular time. While they say that a picture is worth a thousand words, without captions of any kind, a picture may raise more questions than answers.

For example: A few years ago, I found a family photo album in a Salvation Army thrift store. It was chock full of pictures from the ’30s and ’40s, but there was no clue as to the identity of the apparently tightly knit members of this large midwestern clan aside from a few familiar landmarks and penciled-in dates. Perhaps the family was so close that it was felt captions weren’t necessary. “Of course everyone knows Uncle Chuck and Aunt Beatrice!” But time passed and what was undoubtedly a once-treasured collection of family history found its way onto the bookshelf of a stranger for the bargain basement price of $1.00 cash money American.

Now that digital cameras and computers have become ubiquitous tools and toys of our modern era, this sort of tragedy should be completely avoidable. If only there were some sort of software solution that could ensure an almost effortless pairing of images and information in a fun and attractive manner to preserve, for all time, their meaning.

Ah! But there is. Welcome to FotoBalloon!

With the ability to annotate text to digital photos without destroying their integrity as well as enhance such photos, FotoBalloon provides a quick and easy solution for anyone who wishes to preserve the past and present for now and years to come.

FotoBalloon Features :

• Work with APM, BMP, DIB, EMF, GIF, JPG, PCX, PNG, PSD, RLE, TGA, TIF, and WMF files

• Restoration tools
• CD creation Wizard
• High capacity of annotation
• Share photos via e-mail
• Customizable notes
• Zoom into images and notes

There’s a Standard version and a Pro version of FotoBalloon, and eSoft Imaging also offers a free download of FotoBalloon Viewer so your friends, relatives, and stalkers can have a look at your creations without having to drop a single thin dime. The comparison between all versions goes like so:

Saved images with the trial version have the center area pixelized — but you can at least give it a try and see if it’s something you’d like to use to preserve and share your memories for all time!