Actually there will be no image degradation if you just open a jpeg image and then close it without saving it. As long as you don't change it and then save it the file remains unchanged.

I have suggested a number of times that people try Picture Window Pro 5.0 at DL-C.com. It is not free but much, much less expensive than PhotoShop and has very powerful capabilities for masking, EDR, RAW processing, and countless other tasks. It also has a free trial. Go to the web site and read some of the documents available there. Also look at the manual and the beginner's tutorial that is provided online.

Try Picture Window 5.0, available as a free trial at DL-C.com. It is an excellent photo editing program, and its cost is less than $100.

A couple of points: the usual recommendation for reformatting a memory card is to do it in camera rather than on the computer. I've done it both ways without any problems, but have heard that it is safest to use the in-camera formatting software. Second, a card reader is not very expensive. I had to buy a new one recently to accommodate a new and high-performance memory card, and it cost about 20 bucks at Best Buy. It is a Dynex 11E-16 model. It works very well. My memory card is a 16GB Toshiba SDHC.

In Picas, you can go to the tools menu and set up your email to reduce pictures to an appropriate size (640x480, for example) and that will be done every time you email pictures. If you want to send a full-size file, perhaps because you want the recipient to make a nice enlargement, you can opt for that as well.

No one has mentioned Picture Window 5.0 as an editing package. It is quite powerful and not nearly as expensive as PhotoShop. In my opinion it is much easier to learn to use. I have used it for several years and think it handles virtually any editing situation. It has RAW file capability and even has a special transformation for doing EDR. It also has very powerful masking transformations. Check out the web site at www.dl-c.com.