[OnTheWeb]

I'm so far off the beaten path since I don't use photoshop or lightroom.

FastStone is the go-to editor for basic stuff... cropping, auto-adjust, highlights/shadows, USM sharpen/blur.

I've used Imagic 5.0 which has a few cool features some others don't. Free version available.

Paid versions I currently Use: DxO with Filmpacks (expensive but powerful RAW processing), Cyberlink PhotoDirector 5 (some unique patching features, stray object removal, not too expensive), OnOne Perfect Photo Suite 8 (love this).

No longer use Picasa or Microsoft Live Photo Gallery (both free and are decent but outgrew them)

For HDR stuff I use EasyHDR 3 which can do RAW or JPG's.

[tibbitts]

I like Faststone, but still need other software (Gimp, etc.) for a couple of reasons:

1. raw conversions don't seem to quite have the dynamic range of some other software - maybe an 8 vs. 16-bit issue, I'm not sure.

2. no selection feathering capability, which is something I use for almost every image.

I don't really understand the organization issues, but have only tens of thousands of images so far. So far I prefer a viewer/editor to just be a viewer/editor. I do wish the index files that Faststone builds would be position-independent, for removable media purposes - they seem not to be, forcing them to be rebuilt when media is moved between computers.

I still get banding sometimes, even with all the options set for highest quality raw conversions. And highest quality settings make the software very slow.

Hi, what is the most user friendly editing software for a beginner? Thank you for your responses.

For a lazy and mildly anti-tech guy like me photoscape was a reasonable beginning. And it's free.

[donpjt]

I use photoscape and faststone for jpegs and rawtherapee for raw image processing.. Just started using raw therapee because its free. I've also heard a lot about light room and that its a great tool..

[pjm1]

I tried PS and couldn't "get" it. I tried GIMP and thought it was slow and still overly complex. I tried ACR and thought it lacked some functionality.

I tried LR and bought it within a day - for me, it was the perfect middle ground of having 95% of the editing and touchup functionality I would ever need, but in a simple-to-use package. The big plus for me is its discipline in filing and organising photos... I'm another one who doesn't like software doing that usually (e.g. MP3/FLACs) but LR does an excellent job IMO and forces a particular ethos, which I find helpful.

I've since started to play with PS and am starting to get the hang of things which now allow me to do the other 1-5% which LR can't.

I reckon it's the best bit of software I've ever bought.

[rparmar]

I love lightroom, but just as with my mp3s, I never let some software do the organizing of my raw files.
That's what I have folders for ;-)

Since when does Lightroom mean you stop using folders? I use both. But 10,000 numbered files in folders mean little to me unless I have previews, tags, filters, and searches available as well.

[arkav]

I like Faststone, but still need other software (Gimp, etc.) for a couple of reasons:

1. raw conversions don't seem to quite have the dynamic range of some other software - maybe an 8 vs. 16-bit issue, I'm not sure.

2. no selection feathering capability, which is something I use for almost every image.

I don't really understand the organization issues, but have only tens of thousands of images so far. So far I prefer a viewer/editor to just be a viewer/editor. I do wish the index files that Faststone builds would be position-independent, for removable media purposes - they seem not to be, forcing them to be rebuilt when media is moved between computers.

I still get banding sometimes, even with all the options set for highest quality raw conversions. And highest quality settings make the software very slow.

I'm a huge fan of FastStone, but I wouldn't use it for RAW conversion. I only use it for doing browsing and doing simple editing. I'll use PSE for more complicated editing, but it's not my first choice for RAW conversion either.

Personally, I dislike Lightroom, but I'm in the minority.

YMMV

[Megapixelmk]

I'd recommend Photoshop Elements. It has an excellent organiser which I find easy to catalogue my images. The editor has 3 levels: Quick, Guided Edit, and Full Edit. Initially you may find the Quick edit with its automated functions sufficient, but the guided edit allows more advanced editing with explanatory features.
PSE has many of the features of the full Photoshop program, so as you use it more and more you can progressively learn to use its more advanced features
I more recently acquired Lightroom (which is great for Raw files) but I feel its a steeper learning curve(at least for me it was).
Other features of PS Elements include an excellent and easy panoramic mode that automatically stitches and crops your composite images.
All the best with your eventual choice

[pjm1]

I'd recommend Photoshop Elements. It has an excellent organiser which I find easy to catalogue my images. The editor has 3 levels: Quick, Guided Edit, and Full Edit. Initially you may find the Quick edit with its automated functions sufficient, but the guided edit allows more advanced editing with explanatory features.
PSE has many of the features of the full Photoshop program, so as you use it more and more you can progressively learn to use its more advanced features
I more recently acquired Lightroom (which is great for Raw files) but I feel its a steeper learning curve(at least for me it was).
Other features of PS Elements include an excellent and easy panoramic mode that automatically stitches and crops your composite images.
All the best with your eventual choice

It's funny, I found PS completely inpenetrable but took to Lightroom far easier. I actually now find PS much easier to use (well, I can actually use it) since getting to grips with LR...

We're all different!

[johnmflores]

Snapseed on a tablet. Wonderfully easy to use yet still quite capable

[dmfw]

I would also consider Corel PaintShop. It is easy to use and powerful.

You can download trials of Photoshop elements & Paintshop pro. Try them and see what works for you.

[pentaxk10duser]

New to this . I'm new to this also and I just started using lightroom 2 today because my photoshopcs2 won't open the k3 raw file . there is a lot more sliders in lightroom 2 than in cs2 to adjust the color ,lightness and darkness contrast and all that . So by you saying editing do you mean things like that . or editing things like removing spots from scanned photos or repairing old photos by using a brush to cover up wrinkles in skin or adding back grounds or framing photos . I think you need photo shop to do that . I have a older cs2 that worked with my k10d raw file so it was easy for me because I has enough slides to adjust exposure, saturation ,sharpness, temp.tent ect and after I finished doing that I saved it as jpeg and use the brush and all the other cool stuff in photoshop that I don't think you can do in lightroom . I'm learning you really need both because there's things you need from both .but for every day adjusting of color and exposure and saturation plus all the other things something like cs6 can do I would spend my money on cs6 or higher . That,s what I want to do as soon as I get some money . I think photo shop made a big change in cs6 to make photo editing better and easier. That way you have the best of both worlds and you can always add lightroom later on when you start getting the hang of stuff. I'm saying this from a beginner view with very little need to do simple thing light exposure control . One more thing I just received the k3 . and used the cd that came with it and used the noise filtering controls and it really got rid of noise .With the k3 I don't think I'm going to be editing anything but noise and thats just because I was playing around with photo I took inside with very little light and not using a flash so I could test out the software.Out side photos are 10 x better than my old k10d . What a difference 7 years makes in a camera . If you get the k3 you won't need to edit anything . I know this is off your subject but I set the k3's mode to TAv and I set my shutter speed to where I need it to be and I set my aperture to what I want and I let the camera set the iso . On my old K10d I was very limited to nothing over 400 iso so I did a lot of exposure editing just to make it bright enough to keep. but with the k3 it is nice and sharp and clear and perfect exposure and great color even at high iso . So I think editing is going to be few and far between. Its that big of a difference .I'm just so amazed every time I look at the screen of the photo I just took .Its like I turned into a pro over night lol . not hardly but 100x better photos than before. The camera is so good its going to take me a while to get use to it processing photo thats so good I don't need to edit them . I think this is a good price http://www.thesoftwaretechstore.com/adobe-photoshop-cs6-windows-download.htm...a_7c65158237dd this is a pretty good cs6 video that shows what you can do . I don't know if lightroom can do things like this or not .

Youtu.be

Youtu.be

[pjm1]

Good luck with your hobby pentxk10duser - a few comments/thoughts below, for what they're worth...

New to this . I'm new to this also and I just started using lightroom 2 today because my photoshopcs2 won't open the k3 raw file. there is a lot more sliders in lightroom 2 than in cs2 to adjust the color ,lightness and darkness contrast and all that . You should see Lightroom 5 then!

So by you saying editing do you mean things like that . or editing things like removing spots from scanned photos or repairing old photos by using a brush to cover up wrinkles in skin or adding back grounds or framing photos . I think you need photo shop to do that . Lightroom 5 provides an adjustment brush, spot healing and grads/radials but they're not as powerful or flexible as in PS

I have a older cs2 that worked with my k10d raw file so it was easy for me because I has enough slides to adjust exposure, saturation ,sharpness, temp.tent ect and after I finished doing that I saved it as jpeg and use the brush and all the other cool stuff in photoshop that I don't think you can do in lightroom. See above - you can do a lot of that now... I probably use LR for over 95% of my post production and I don't even do much PP now so barely use PS2 except for luminosity masks.

I'm learning you really need both because there's things you need from both. I'm going to disagree here because I don't think there's anything us amateurs NEED to do with our photos - we may choose to, but I'm a big fan of getting it right in camera first. I'm also not a massive fan of effects except for B&W conversion

but for every day adjusting of color and exposure and saturation plus all the other things something like cs6 can do I would spend my money on cs6 or higher . That,s what I want to do as soon as I get some money . I think photo shop made a big change in cs6 to make photo editing better and easier. That way you have the best of both worlds and you can always add lightroom later on when you start getting the hang of stuff. Again, I'm going to disagree here for two reasons: LR is under £100 whereas Photoshop CS6 isn't. Lightroom's handiest features, IMO, are photo organisation (tagging etc.) and also the ability to batch process if you wish, as well as manage workflow and exporting. CS6 can do some of that - and a whole heap more - but I'd see it as most advanced, rather than a better starting point. Just my opinion though.

I'm saying this from a beginner view with very little need to do simple thing light exposure control . One more thing I just received the k3 . and used the cd that came with it and used the noise filtering controls and it really got rid of noise .With the k3 I don't think I'm going to be editing anything but noise and thats just because I was playing around with photo I took inside with very little light and not using a flash so I could test out the software.Out side photos are 10 x better than my old k10d . What a difference 7 years makes in a camera . If you get the k3 you won't need to edit anything. Again, not wishing to be picky here, but I think that's usually the aim of photography - getting it right in camera! However, I know I'm prone to mistakes such as exposure and certainly need to adjust WB when shooting RAW, so I'll usually do something whether just NR, slight sharpening, exposure adjustment, shadow recovery or WB change. Again, easy stuff which can be done in a lot of packages but I just like LR's workflow and organisation. I'm not convinced that upgrading to a "better" camera is a guarantee that you're going to get it right all the time... if anything, the higher res sensor might show up more focusing issues?

I know this is off your subject but I set the k3's mode to TAv and I set my shutter speed to where I need it to be and I set my aperture to what I want and I let the camera set the iso . On my old K10d I was very limited to nothing over 400 iso so I did a lot of exposure editing just to make it bright enough to keep. but with the k3 it is nice and sharp and clear and perfect exposure and great color even at high iso. Agreed, TAv is a brilliant mode, but it still relies on the camera metering correctly or you adjusting exposure compensation to suit "unusual" scenes (lots of white or lots of black).

So I think editing is going to be few and far between. Its that big of a difference .I'm just so amazed every time I look at the screen of the photo I just took .Its like I turned into a pro over night lol . not hardly but 100x better photos than before. The camera is so good its going to take me a while to get use to it processing photo thats so good I don't need to edit them

[Aksel]

I use XARA Designer Pro and Faststone for jpegs and RawTherapee for raws. Sometimes I use also Luminance HDR (for hdrs) and Magix Movie Edit Pro (for movies).

[pentaxk10duser]

Thanks pjm1 . I wasn't sure how far lightroom has come since lr2 it sounds like they added a lot and thats all newtothis needs . I though lightroom was for adjusting light and photo shop was for adjusting and changing the things in a photo but I guess lightroom does both for a lot less money.