What is the difference between "Personal Rating" and "Public Rating"?

The Personal Rating is the rating you give to your own photos.
Only you can see the personal rating of your photos.

To rate your photos:

From the Manage page, click a photo to view. In the upper left-hand pane you will find Personal Rating.
Click the stars to give your photo a rating from 1 - 5.
You can click the clear (x) icon next to the stars to clear your rating.

The Public Rating is the average rating your photo has received from other ACDSeeOnline.com viewers. If you have set a folder/album to public, anyone can see and rate those photos.

To rate other people's photos:

From the Home page, click a photo to view. In the upper right-hand pane you will find Public Rating.
Click the stars to give the photo a rating from 1 - 5.
You can click the clear (x) icon next to the stars to clear your rating.