[NogBoy13]

The Daddy of them all is CS5 of course. But it's very expensive to acquire legit unless a verified student. There is a new Elements out, I thinks it's 9. I'd go for that in your shoes.
Or - if you'd like to save a few dollars - get the superseded version. Usually very cheap and has almost all you need in a pretty well laid out package.
I have tried and tried to like Lightroom, but I don't much like the interface a whole lot. I find it clunky as hell after Photoshop. Get familiar with Elements and it'll be a snap to
move onto 'Big Daddy'. Of course they are all a learning curve, but you know what they say about practice? Have fun. Nogster

[Glen]

I use Lightroom. Photoshop is for graphics design and takes much too long to learn. Elements is probably okay but it is still not designed for this task. Assuming you are shooting in raw. you need software that will do what the camera would otherwise try to do as a jpg. Some like Aperture and others like Lightroom. They are two unique products on the market that have no peers when looked at as the whole package. That is not to say you will get the best photo from Lightroom, as many have claimed that Silkypex (the Pentax software) does better. But if you are looking for the full package that will process, and catalogue and either print or create a slide show, you are talking about either Lightroom or the Apple equivalent.

[masloff]

Lightroom mate. Easy and powerful, and I really like it's batch mode - much simpler than in Capture2nx, which I used from Nikon times.

[Bestzoom]

I use photoshop CS4 and not more than 2 min per photo pp time.

Too busy shooting...
Don't see a need to upgrade at this stage.

Enjoy photography!

[Jim Radcliffe]

I use Lightroom. Photoshop is for graphics design and takes much too long to learn.

Sorry, but this is not true. Photoshop is not just for graphics design. Photoshop does take a while to learn but it offer more tools for post work than any other software package available.

[Javaslinger]

Lightroom 3 90%
Photoshop 5%
Nik Software plugin's 5%

For HDR
A mix of HDR Efex Pro and Photomatix

For Pano's - PtGui

[pinholecam]

PDCU for RAW conversion
Picasa for browsing/management and simple editing
Combination of Paint.net/Elements for more serious editing

[JayBee]

I have been using ACDSEE Pro 4. I find it to be similar to Lightroom but easier.

Ditto. And it was just on sale for $99 - not sure how long that offer's available, so pretty good bang for the buck.

[GDRoth]

I use Lightroom 3 and PS CS5............I also have a few Topaz plugins (to CS5) that I really enjoy..........

I have Photomatix for HDR, but CS5 has great HDR processing built-in now.....

[einstrigger]

I initially used Lightroom for everything and would occasionally use CS5 for certain edits (e.g. spot healing brush, clone stamp, layering, etc.) But, I've since began learning to use CS5 more in depth and find that it can do everything Lightroom does through Adobe Bridge (e.g. star ratings, batch adjustments, etc.) I now actually prefer just using CS5 and Bridge, finding myself using Lightroom a lot less frequently. Exporting to jpg or embedding watermarks, I still go through Lightroom, as I find it simpler to do.

[GDRoth]

I initially used Lightroom for everything and would occasionally use CS5 for certain edits (e.g. spot healing brush, clone stamp, layering, etc.) But, I've since began learning to use CS5 more in depth and find that it can do everything Lightroom does through Adobe Bridge (e.g. star ratings, batch adjustments, etc.) I now actually prefer just using CS5 and Bridge, finding myself using Lightroom a lot less frequently. Exporting to jpg or embedding watermarks, I still go through Lightroom, as I find it simpler to do.

I prefer to use LR to import and manage the images and make some fine adjustments. But it's real value is the easy export to whereever you wish to save the images......

[Staffan]

Just wanted your collective feedback on what post processing software people are using? I used the Silkypix, and I currently use iPhoto. I've got CS5, but again, just a bit of feedback.

I recently googled to survey the best post processing programs, in order to be more up-to-date. For the moment being, I use a combination of Lightroom 3 for the RAW format and Ulead PhotoImpact 12 for the JPEG ditto. But since XP will not last for ever, I have to replace the Uleads program since it is not adapted to later Windows versions. What comes closest is the very new Corel PaintShop Pro X4, which I already have tested and found very good, indeed! All my important Adobe PS plug-ins work there, and it is still rather similar to Ulead (which was bought by Corel in 2008) but with a number of valuable added tools. The price is very much lower than Adobe PS CS5!

Free and well-reputed alternatives are the GIMP and the Paint.net. First I got impressed by the description of Photo Pos Pro, but then I read that many got into trouble with malware and bad functioning computers after installation of Photo Pos Pro, so I personally would not risk testing that program.

[starstuff]

Another vote for Lightroom 3 here. It's powerful and *SOOO* easy to use.

[RichardS]

Bibble 5 is very, very broken and renders K-5 files poorly, with pink highlights that can't be suppressed without ruining the rest of the picture.

They have known about this for half a year. So I'd suggest looking elsewhere.

Yeah. Purple/magenta all over the place. It's a pity because Bibble 5 has some good points.

Richard.

[creampuff]

I use Lightroom. Photoshop is for graphics design and takes much too long to learn.

Perhaps you're not aware that pretty much all of the image processing tools in Adobe Lightroom are exactly the same in Adobe Photoshop's Camera Raw (ACR).

Lightroom and ACR share the same image processing engine. Where Lightroom has the edge is in the ease in image cataloging but one can use Adobe Bridge to catalog, sort and rate your images just as easily. Most of day to day image processing work for photographers can be done by Lightroom alone, but Photoshop can do far more like image compositing, panoramas, image stacking, selective image retouching and manipulation and more. The biggest plus to use these software is because the image edits are non-destructive and reversible. They process RAW, jpeg and other file formats with no fuss and with the greatest possible control.