[jeffw]

Question ? I confess that I have been using Google Picasa to quickly edit my photos . It is fast , easy and makes exporting photos simple via gmail. My college age kids post them on facebook and share on cell phones and Ipads so it works great. No need for extensive editing most of the time. I have downloaded PSP X6 trial to explore more advanced editing. Picasa just doesnt cut it for creative editing . My question is can I run both programs using Picasa for organizing and exporting while using Paintshop for editing ?

Will this create duplicates ? I do not save Picasa edits to my disc so all of my back ups are original shots. Any suggestions will be welcome . Even software choice . Thanks, Jeff

[daacon]

I think you could live with both just fine. PSX6 offers and organizer as well (ha,ve not used it) and if you are editing in PSX6 you would at least initially export from there. As for software choice that's purely subjective with lots of options from the now monthly subscription Photoshop , to free tools such as Picasa and Gimp. I have used PSX5 and it's a very competent editor so I assume PSX6 is just as good with some new features.

Most of the popular editors do have free trials , so like PSX6 you should download them and see what you like. A couple of the more popular ones is Lightroom and Elements. Gimp is very powerful and free but it has a steep learning curve if you are willing to put in the time. You can also go through some of the threads here there are lots of comments on various editors and plugins. Personally I use Lightroom 5 and various Topaz plugins for 99% of my editing. I also have Photoshop Elements 11 for the rare occasion I need to something a little more complicated. Good luck.

[reeftool]

Picasa won't create duplicates, it just displays and organizes your photo folders in it's space. I still kind of prefer Picasa as an organizer. I use Lightroom and Elements for editing but still use Picasa, mostly for the sync feature which uploads to my Google + space.

[jeffw]

Thanks daacon and reeftool. The trial version PSP X6 seems to fit my needs and I got a good local price . Picasa works well for downloading from camera and exporting to my smugmug . Drag and drop organizing in Picasa works well and simple email through my gmail account . Think this arrangement should work fine for me .

[davek]

PSP works well for me as well. I use it with lightroom, to do any complex editing. I'm still using X5, not sure if I'll upgrade, - haven't really looked into the new features.