What Are the Different Types of Multimedia Software?

Photo editing, media player, and video editing programs are part of daily life for many people. If a person rotates or brightens photos or listens to music on a computer, he or she is already familiar with some types of multimedia software. In addition, presentation software is commonly found in business, educational, and entertainment environments to aid communication in meetings. These types of multimedia software come pre-installed on some operating systems, are available free online, or taught in classrooms.

Also known as graphic editing or photo retouching software, photo editing software is a type of multimedia software that allows the user to alter images. These programs can be simple or incredibly advanced; in fact, sometimes higher education institutions offer courses in the most popular photo editing software. This type of multimedia software gives a user the ability to manipulate photos in countless ways, including changing its color, removing objects, and tweaking the features of people and objects.

Music media players are digital music players that often allow a user to rename and organize song titles and information and play the official music video or a substitute. These devices are also sometimes built to ease exporting music onto a physical device. In many cases, a music media player also works as a video player, and can be set to automatically show video the user attempts to run. This is another type of multimedia software that usually comes with a new computer’s operating system, though many people choose to un-install it in favor of their preferred open source, resource-saving, or simply aesthetically appealing media player.

With video editing software, users can manipulate digital video, like deleting scenes, adding scenes, and slowing or speeding the video up in certain parts. Like photo editing software, the difficulty level of this kind of multimedia software varies considerably. For example, many computer operating systems come with a basic or intermediate video editing program. These programs are not as advanced as the software used to edit high budget television or Internet entertainment shows.
Presentation software contains some elements of a graphics software, but the rest of its capabilities and purpose are much different. This type of multimedia software is frequently used to create slide slows for presentations. It typically allows the user to at least add and edit text, insert and manipulate graphics, and create a slide show out of the finished project. Advanced programs have many more capabilities, like video in addition to text, graphics, and slides.