That could cover many things:
So I am going to assume she will be photographing small models (table top photography) and documents, as well as some large objects.
Table top photography calls for more control of depth of field and consequently more control of exposure.
This means she should have a camera with some manual controls as well as the standard automatic controls.
Having large amounts of megapixels is overkill here.
Canon has the most complete line of low cost cameras with manual controls:
Canon 520 - 4meg - 4X zoom - focus down to 2 inches - $200
Canon 610 - 5meg - 4X zoom - focus down to 0.5 inches - $275
Canon 620 - 7meg - 4X zoom - focus down to 0.5 inches - $375
The 610 and 620 also has a swivel LCD screen.
For table top photography and documents - a tripod is necessary. You can find a good tripod for low cost.
Here is a link to a free short course in photography.
It has a nice section on ''close-up photography'':
http://www.shortcourses.com/using/index.htm
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My daughter is an Industrial Design major and says she NEEDS a good digital camera. Resolution/detail is important. Mostly used (I think) to record her work and create materials for review-- any suggestions? 6-8 megapixs? Any feedback helpful, looking to keep it as inexpensive as possible. Thanks!

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