Photo Editing Software - Page 2

mi77915 · 11-05-2009, 10:22 AM

Thanks everyone for ALL your suggestions and comments. From what I can see, for the money (about $40.00), Paint Shop Pro X2 seems to have some really good reviews. I am by no means a professional photographer, just someone who is trying to take some good photos as a hobby. I simply would like to be able to "enhance" my photos to look cleaner and brighter then they do straight from the camera. I am mainly interested in nature and landscape photography. I think I will download the trial version to see if I like it.

Thanks,

*Wheatfield* · 11-05-2009, 10:24 AM

Originally Posted by Marc Sabatella

And yet, plnty of grownup photographers do find that Lightroom meets their needs. doesn't meet yours - that's clear. No need to insult everyone else.

No insult intended. Lightroom is a good program for what it does. I use it as the first software that my image files go through. With many of my landscapes, it's enough software too.
I just don't consider it to be a capable image editor, any more than I consider Photoshop to be a capable image databasing program.
Why is it an insult to say that even Photoshop Elements will take your image editing capabilities up a notch or two and allow you to grow as a photographer? It's just a statement of fact.

**Marc Sabatella** · 11-05-2009, 01:52 PM

It's possible to see it that way, sure. But I'd just say your initial comment came off as overly dismissive of the editing capabilities that Lightroom *does* offer, which really are quite extensive *if* you don't often see the need to be doing the few specific things that it can't do. Just a couple of minutes ago in another thread I just made the argument that many photos can be improved through use of custom tone curves, color tweaks, and other edits that cannot possibly be done optimally in camera. So I totally get the idea that editing can be an important "growth" area in one's photography. But everyone has to decide for themselves how much and what type of editing is necessary to get the right balance between results and time spent. And many Lightroom users (note I am not one of them) find the editing capabilities LR offers make for a nice "knee" in the curve - providing enough functionality to accomplish what they want most of the time, and do so very efficiently. others find that retouching or whatever is just to important to their own creative vision to feel satsified with a program that is limited in those specific areas, and that's fine too.

chedoy · 11-05-2009, 04:25 PM

One thing I like about Adobe Photoshop ELements is how other software can integrate into it as a plug-in. I prefer to do input RAW images using the free Adobe Camera Raw for example. And I have the Noiseware plug-in, not free, but excellent.

mi77915 · 11-05-2009, 04:47 PM

I was talking to a co-worker yesterday about photo editing software, such as Photoshop, and today, he gave me a disc that he had Paint Shop Pro, Version 7. I think this software is about 8 years old. He also gave me two books on how to teach yourself Paint Shop Pro! One book has 406 pages and the other has 98 pages. I think I will try this out before I purchase any software. I'm sure that you probably can not import RAW files, but for free, I'll try it!!!

As I mentioned in a previous response in this thread, I have down loaded the trial version of Paint Shop Pro Photo X2. I will compare the two and see if it will be worth it to purchase the newer version.

K McCall · 11-08-2009, 11:01 PM

I'm one of those people who use Lightroom pretty much exclusively now. If you're willing to have an open mind and work your way around that not-always-intuitive format, there's a lot of freedom to edit your photos.

I've given GiMP a go a few times over the years, and I always end up incredibly frustrated. PS2 was my poison of choice until Lightroom came along. I'm afraid I can't speak for the others.

mi77915 · 11-11-2009, 10:27 AM

I have downloaded Photoshop Elements 8 and liked what I saw, so I ordered the disc from Newegg for $85, free shipping. They also have a $20 mail in rebate, so when it is all said and done, it will cost me about $65. Not too bad!!

clmonk · 11-11-2009, 10:58 AM

Great choice 'gander! I hope you will look back on this decision in a few months and think, "I wish I had done this earlier!"

rkt · 11-12-2009, 10:56 AM

You can check a lot of freely available software for different needs at the link below...

Among other things it lists categories like HDR, Editors, Viewers, Photo Organisers, Noise Reduction Software etc etc...

The Best Free Image View and Edit Software for PC

Once you figure out what all you typically like to do with the pics you take, then you could pick something more advanced to use...

mrdfred · 11-16-2009, 07:30 PM

For FREE software - Picasa 3.5 is hard to beat! Lots of capabilities and free internet posting!! Try it out, (nothing to lose), and if you want PSE8, it is on sale at COSTCO for $49, (with coupon). I use PS CS2, PSE8 and Picasa 3.5 to give me the "total" flexability.

**Peter Zack** · 11-16-2009, 08:14 PM

I'd recommend Paint.net.

You can find just about everything you need here: Freeware Image Photo Editing Software Resources Enticing the Light

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Rondec · 11-17-2009, 05:33 AM

One thing that I would suggest is getting an elements book -- Scott Kelby's are pretty decent. They will go a long way to explaining how to use layers, how to edit RAW, etc. A lot of these things are not exactly self-explanatory and Adobe tends to throw all kinds of things into the package without much explanation on how they work. I know I was pretty lost when I first started using Elements (I think that was version 2.0).