Dumb Question?

kyricom · 11-29-2011, 05:21 AM

Hi all, I was hoping I could ask a quick question, and not be opening some kind of Fan War.

Basically, our old computer finally gave up the ghost, and we had to purchase a new one. It's pretty nice, and makes me admit it was time. But, my old photo editing program (which I bought in the clearance bin years ago) just won't interface with the Windows 7 very well and it's time to get a new one.

I was hoping you kind folks here could give me advice on what program to get. I am definitely not a professional photographer and mainly shoot for my own amusement and relaxation. I also don't have $650 or so to spend on Photoshop (as much as I'd like to). I would like a program where I can post process my photgraphy, but wouldn't mind if it could do some basic chopping as well. Any suggestions? Thanks a lot.

atupdate · 11-29-2011, 05:48 AM

Amazon has Paint Shop Pro X4 on sale for $29.99. It will do 99.9% of what Photoshop can do and can even use the Photoshop plugins.

Amazon.com: Corel PaintShop Pro X4 Ultimate: Electronics

I love Paint Shop Pro X and can highly recommend this software. The only downside is that there are fewer tutorials available for PSP than Photoshop but U-tube and About.com are your friends for free help.

Tim

Gaberlunzi · 11-29-2011, 06:22 AM

I agree that Corel PaintShop Pro is a great value. In addition to all the basics, it also has an HDR photo merge and "Time Machine" photo effect that I like.

Picasa is free. This is a good application if most of the time you only want to view, crop, and adjust levels.

rawr · 11-29-2011, 06:27 AM

Photoshop Elements is also a good cheap option if you want Photoshop but don't want all the bells and whistles of the full Photoshop.

While on the subject of Adobe, you could also just get Lightroom, which can do a decent amount of basic editing, as well as function as an excellent RAW converter and image library manager too.

There are also a bunch of freeware apps you should look into. These is another thread in this area of the forum with some links to some good freeware you might like to check out.

elho_cid · 11-29-2011, 08:22 AM

Check also Zoner Photo Studio 14. It integrates capable editor, image library and also RAW converter that handles the DNG well. In the newest version it is able to make use of the GPU and so it is quite fast for most operations.

**Lowell Goudge** · 11-29-2011, 10:49 AM

I have used PSP for years, in fact before it was even owned by corel.

It is easy to use and intuitive, and supports a variety of photoshop plugin's if you want to, BUT....

- some of the adjustments require you go down from 16 bit to 8 bit color first, therefore thinking a little about work flow is important.
- the CA correction is a fringe remover tool, quite good in spme respects, but not in others. Pentax photo lab 4 and adobe, and others, all perform CA correction by channel separation and re-scaling the individual channels. This gets back lost sharpness due to CA to a great extent. As a result, if you need to do CA correction for things in the focus plane you are better off with something else. for out of focus CA it is not so bad.

wolfiegirl · 11-30-2011, 02:52 AM

Depending on how advanced you want to go (as in I have no idea if it does RAW or not), paint.net is a good program. It's free, and I used to use this before I convinced work I really needed photoshop (for eps files).

kyricom · 11-30-2011, 04:44 AM

Thank you, everyone, for your ideas. It really helps a lot. I'll look into your suggestions and see what Santa brings me. *smile*

Thanks again

.

cats_five · 11-30-2011, 08:23 AM

Does anyone in your household qualify for student software? There are terrific discounts on some software if they do, but do read the small print about proving qualification before buying and do shop around as prices do vary a bit.

Microsoft Student - all the best Microsoft student discounts, programs, and products
Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Student and Teacher Editions

I have also found student versions of some of the Wacom tablets - the normal table pack but with a bit of discount.

BTW originally I used PaintShopPro X, got frustrated with doing colour managed workflow - it was cumbersom in that version, I have no idea if it's improved. Tried Elements - I got a copy with a couse I did. It would process RAW from my camera but at that time was lacking far too many features I was used to using. Finally signed up with the Open University and treated myself to student copies of Photosop CS4, Office 2010 and (I think) something else. The cost of the course plus software was less than the full price of either bit of software. Photoshop is harder to use for a few particular things than PaintShopPro, but overall is a far better bit of software. It's also big and complicated and there are often many different ways to do the same thing.

I tried Gimp quite a few years ago, and it seemed to require download after download - a veritable Tower of Babel - and I gave up after the 3rd one told me I needed yet another download.

Another simple free option is Picassa.

Anvh · 11-30-2011, 08:27 AM

There are some good deals on lightroom right now.
Lightroom is different compared to paintshop or photoshop though, it's solely aimed to do photo adjustments and it also manage your photos.
So everything you do, can be done inside lightroom.

You can download the trail version at Adobe to see how it is.

RioRico · 11-30-2011, 06:26 PM

Originally posted by Lowell Goudge

I have used PSP for years, in fact before it was even owned by corel.

It is easy to use and intuitive, and supports a variety of photoshop plugin's if you want to, BUT....

- some of the adjustments require you go down from 16 bit to 8 bit color first, therefore thinking a little about work flow is important.
- the CA correction is a fringe remover tool, quite good in spme respects, but not in others. Pentax photo lab 4 and adobe, and others, all perform CA correction by channel separation and re-scaling the individual channels. This gets back lost sharpness due to CA to a great extent. As a result, if you need to do CA correction for things in the focus plane you are better off with something else. for out of focus CA it is not so bad.

Hi Lowell -- Is this limitation in PSP X4 also? I'm wondering whether to upgrade from my old PSP9. (I think I started with version 2, oh so long ago...)

TechGuru · 12-05-2011, 11:12 PM

My K-R came with ArcSoft Photo Studio Darkroom 2. I have not used it enough to give you a review though, I do know it reads RAW files.

RAW Photo Editor Software - PhotoStudio Darkroom 2 - ArcSoft

11-29-2011, 05:21 AM	#1
kyricom Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: New York Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 569	Dumb Question? Hi all, I was hoping I could ask a quick question, and not be opening some kind of Fan War. Basically, our old computer finally gave up the ghost, and we had to purchase a new one. It's pretty nice, and makes me admit it was time. But, my old photo editing program (which I bought in the clearance bin years ago) just won't interface with the Windows 7 very well and it's time to get a new one. I was hoping you kind folks here could give me advice on what program to get. I am definitely not a professional photographer and mainly shoot for my own amusement and relaxation. I also don't have $650 or so to spend on Photoshop (as much as I'd like to). I would like a program where I can post process my photgraphy, but wouldn't mind if it could do some basic chopping as well. Any suggestions? Thanks a lot.

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11-29-2011, 05:48 AM	#2
atupdate Pentaxian Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Dayton, OH Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,724	Amazon has Paint Shop Pro X4 on sale for $29.99. It will do 99.9% of what Photoshop can do and can even use the Photoshop plugins. Amazon.com: Corel PaintShop Pro X4 Ultimate: Electronics I love Paint Shop Pro X and can highly recommend this software. The only downside is that there are fewer tutorials available for PSP than Photoshop but U-tube and About.com are your friends for free help. Tim

11-29-2011, 06:22 AM	#3
Gaberlunzi Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Richardson, TX Photos: Gallery Posts: 33	I agree that Corel PaintShop Pro is a great value. In addition to all the basics, it also has an HDR photo merge and "Time Machine" photo effect that I like. Picasa is free. This is a good application if most of the time you only want to view, crop, and adjust levels.

11-29-2011, 06:27 AM	#4
rawr Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 11,913	Photoshop Elements is also a good cheap option if you want Photoshop but don't want all the bells and whistles of the full Photoshop. While on the subject of Adobe, you could also just get Lightroom, which can do a decent amount of basic editing, as well as function as an excellent RAW converter and image library manager too. There are also a bunch of freeware apps you should look into. These is another thread in this area of the forum with some links to some good freeware you might like to check out.

11-29-2011, 08:22 AM	#5
elho_cid Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Prague Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,199	Check also Zoner Photo Studio 14. It integrates capable editor, image library and also RAW converter that handles the DNG well. In the newest version it is able to make use of the GPU and so it is quite fast for most operations.

11-29-2011, 10:49 AM	#6
Lowell Goudge Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Toronto Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 17,887	I have used PSP for years, in fact before it was even owned by corel. It is easy to use and intuitive, and supports a variety of photoshop plugin's if you want to, BUT.... - some of the adjustments require you go down from 16 bit to 8 bit color first, therefore thinking a little about work flow is important. - the CA correction is a fringe remover tool, quite good in spme respects, but not in others. Pentax photo lab 4 and adobe, and others, all perform CA correction by channel separation and re-scaling the individual channels. This gets back lost sharpness due to CA to a great extent. As a result, if you need to do CA correction for things in the focus plane you are better off with something else. for out of focus CA it is not so bad.

11-30-2011, 02:52 AM	#7
wolfiegirl Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Mystery Bay, NSW Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,111	Depending on how advanced you want to go (as in I have no idea if it does RAW or not), paint.net is a good program. It's free, and I used to use this before I convinced work I really needed photoshop (for eps files).

11-30-2011, 04:44 AM	#8
kyricom Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: New York Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 569 Original Poster	Thank you, everyone, for your ideas. It really helps a lot. I'll look into your suggestions and see what Santa brings me. smile Thanks again .

11-30-2011, 08:23 AM	#9
cats_five Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Fife, Scotland Posts: 835	Does anyone in your household qualify for student software? There are terrific discounts on some software if they do, but do read the small print about proving qualification before buying and do shop around as prices do vary a bit. Microsoft Student - all the best Microsoft student discounts, programs, and products Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Student and Teacher Editions I have also found student versions of some of the Wacom tablets - the normal table pack but with a bit of discount. BTW originally I used PaintShopPro X, got frustrated with doing colour managed workflow - it was cumbersom in that version, I have no idea if it's improved. Tried Elements - I got a copy with a couse I did. It would process RAW from my camera but at that time was lacking far too many features I was used to using. Finally signed up with the Open University and treated myself to student copies of Photosop CS4, Office 2010 and (I think) something else. The cost of the course plus software was less than the full price of either bit of software. Photoshop is harder to use for a few particular things than PaintShopPro, but overall is a far better bit of software. It's also big and complicated and there are often many different ways to do the same thing. I tried Gimp quite a few years ago, and it seemed to require download after download - a veritable Tower of Babel - and I gave up after the 3rd one told me I needed yet another download. Another simple free option is Picassa.

11-30-2011, 08:27 AM	#10
Anvh Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 4,616	There are some good deals on lightroom right now. Lightroom is different compared to paintshop or photoshop though, it's solely aimed to do photo adjustments and it also manage your photos. So everything you do, can be done inside lightroom. You can download the trail version at Adobe to see how it is.

11-30-2011, 06:26 PM	#11
RioRico Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Limbo, California Posts: 11,263	Originally posted by Lowell Goudge I have used PSP for years, in fact before it was even owned by corel. It is easy to use and intuitive, and supports a variety of photoshop plugin's if you want to, BUT.... - some of the adjustments require you go down from 16 bit to 8 bit color first, therefore thinking a little about work flow is important. - the CA correction is a fringe remover tool, quite good in spme respects, but not in others. Pentax photo lab 4 and adobe, and others, all perform CA correction by channel separation and re-scaling the individual channels. This gets back lost sharpness due to CA to a great extent. As a result, if you need to do CA correction for things in the focus plane you are better off with something else. for out of focus CA it is not so bad. Hi Lowell -- Is this limitation in PSP X4 also? I'm wondering whether to upgrade from my old PSP9. (I think I started with version 2, oh so long ago...)

12-05-2011, 11:12 PM	#12
TechGuru Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Texas Posts: 77	My K-R came with ArcSoft Photo Studio Darkroom 2. I have not used it enough to give you a review though, I do know it reads RAW files. RAW Photo Editor Software - PhotoStudio Darkroom 2 - ArcSoft