Simple PP software for work

**klh** · 10-26-2016, 10:27 AM

Originally posted by SpecialK

FastStone Image Viewer, Screen Capture, Photo Resizer ... is popular and easy. Move your mouse to the edges of the frame for the different menus (editing is on the left).

For what you need, FastStone should be perfect.

SpecialK · 10-26-2016, 01:00 PM

If you bought your Pentax camera new it should have come with their software. I don't recommend it over many other options, but there it is, free, for the basics.

**GUB** · 10-27-2016, 12:13 PM

+1 for Picasa - perfect for your job description plus a great catalogue as well. Yes it is no longer supported but it is still floating around for download.

**Another dyemention** · 10-27-2016, 12:35 PM

Originally posted by BigMackCam

OK, try an application called Polarr Photo Editor - it's excellent. There are free and paid versions - you only need the free one.

I tried this one first as it was the easiest to download. I wish it supported raw. At least for the pictures I took today with my FA 77. I'll try posting them tomorrow. They came out ok but the color was kinda funky. I'm guessing it's because I shot in jpeg and I'm not familiar in the least with shooting in that format. Could've not had the WB set properly or something Ill start going down the line and trying all of the programs. Thanks for all the suggestions everyone.

**BigMackCam** · 10-27-2016, 12:54 PM

Originally posted by Another dyemention

I tried this one first as it was the easiest to download. I wish it supported raw. At least for the pictures I took today with my FA 77. I'll try posting them tomorrow. They came out ok but the color was kinda funky. I'm guessing it's because I shot in jpeg and I'm not familiar in the least with shooting in that format. Could've not had the WB set properly or something Ill start going down the line and trying all of the programs. Thanks for all the suggestions everyone.

Aha... free RAW converters and editors are a slightly different matter. Oh well, at least you tried it

Picasa is probably your best bet, unless you want to get into more complicated software such as RawTherapee or GIMP.

BrianR · 10-27-2016, 12:58 PM

I'd also vote for faststone, it's pretty simple.

But before the PP software, I'd streamline your capture process as much as possible. If you have a place to permanently setup your small lightbox + lights, you should be able to have the exposure and white balance all ready to go with little to no software adjustments needed, just drop the product in, focus, compose, and fire. Ideally you could get the in-camera jpegs to your liking and all you'd need to do in post is resize*. Depends on your requirements though.

*FastStone also makes a barebones "Resizer" that does just that.

**GUB** · 10-27-2016, 04:01 PM

Picasa will handle and export DNGs in a pretty basic way

**Des** · 10-27-2016, 06:26 PM

Originally posted by SpecialK

If you bought your Pentax camera new it should have come with their software. I don't recommend it over many other options, but there it is, free, for the basics.

Digital Camera Utility 5 Update for Windows : Software Downloads | RICOH IMAGING

**Another dyemention** · 10-28-2016, 03:37 AM

Here are the three pictures I edited with Polarr. I literally spend about 2 minutes each on these. They're not the best but they're sufficient for our needs here. plus, if anyone is familiar with the FA 77 and its minimum focus distance, you can imagine how much I had to crop these. Its definitely hard not having the convenience of editing a raw file but I guess the images didn't come out that bad. Ill still try the other suggested programs and see what I like the best.

---------- Post added 10-28-16 at 03:43 AM ----------

And just for size reference for the amount of cropping I had to do. The cutter is about 1.5"-1.75" diameter and maybe 2.5" - 3" long. I briefly used to own an M100 macro, which I may pick up again just for work. While the 77 is a near perfect lens, I wouldn't want to use it for this kind of work.

**UncleVanya** · 10-28-2016, 06:47 AM

Those look great. Polarr will do RAW as will some other tools mentioned was there a problem with RAW? I had issues running it (with raw files or jpg) on a low end chrome book myself but that was memory and CPU related I thought. The tool seemed fine on my beefier windows laptop.

**Another dyemention** · 10-28-2016, 06:59 AM

Originally posted by UncleVanya

Those look great. Polarr will do RAW as will some other tools mentioned was there a problem with RAW? I had issues running it (with raw files or jpg) on a low end chrome book myself but that was memory and CPU related I thought. The tool seemed fine on my beefier windows laptop.

The raw files don't show up when I go to import from my card. I do have the free version so maybe raw is included in the paid version. I'll look into it though. And really it's not a big deal as long as I have the settings close when I take the picture. I'm just spoiled with raw as I can pretty much turn any crappy picture into what I want in Lightroom lol.

**BigMackCam** · 10-28-2016, 07:14 AM

Originally posted by Another dyemention

The raw files don't show up when I go to import from my card. I do have the free version so maybe raw is included in the paid version. I'll look into it though. And really it's not a big deal as long as I have the settings close when I take the picture. I'm just spoiled with raw as I can pretty much turn any crappy picture into what I want in Lightroom lol.

Actually, Brad's right - it does process RAW files just fine (the free version, that is). Are you shooting .PEF or .DNG? I use .DNG...

**Another dyemention** · 10-28-2016, 08:14 AM

Originally posted by BigMackCam

Actually, Brad's right - it does process RAW files just fine (the free version, that is). Are you shooting .PEF or .DNG? I use .DNG...

Actually, I was looking in the wrong folder. Smh. Anyhow, so the dng files show up and when I go to import them, it just stays at 0% forever. So I'll let it run through lunch and see what happens.

**BigMackCam** · 10-28-2016, 08:36 AM

No problems with .DNG files here... Are you loading them from the hard drive or straight from the card? I don't see why it should make much difference (unless your card and card reader are slooooow

), but I'm loading from my hard drive.

**UncleVanya** · 10-28-2016, 09:04 AM

Originally posted by Another dyemention

Actually, I was looking in the wrong folder. Smh. Anyhow, so the dng files show up and when I go to import them, it just stays at 0% forever. So I'll let it run through lunch and see what happens.

So that's not what I ran into - in my case the program just crashed and wouldn't restart on Chromebook. But it could be related to memory or disk space potentially - check both just to be sure you aren't too tight on either.

The best free photo editor 2016 | TechRadar

Another option would be to review these and see if any fit your needs.

10-28-2016, 03:37 AM	#24
Another dyemention Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 432 Original Poster	Here are the three pictures I edited with Polarr. I literally spend about 2 minutes each on these. They're not the best but they're sufficient for our needs here. plus, if anyone is familiar with the FA 77 and its minimum focus distance, you can imagine how much I had to crop these. Its definitely hard not having the convenience of editing a raw file but I guess the images didn't come out that bad. Ill still try the other suggested programs and see what I like the best. ---------- Post added 10-28-16 at 03:43 AM ---------- And just for size reference for the amount of cropping I had to do. The cutter is about 1.5"-1.75" diameter and maybe 2.5" - 3" long. I briefly used to own an M100 macro, which I may pick up again just for work. While the 77 is a near perfect lens, I wouldn't want to use it for this kind of work. Last edited by Another dyemention; 08-05-2017 at 12:46 PM.

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10-26-2016, 10:27 AM	#16
klh Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: May 2009 Location: West Lafayette, Indiana, USA Posts: 827	Originally posted by SpecialK FastStone Image Viewer, Screen Capture, Photo Resizer ... is popular and easy. Move your mouse to the edges of the frame for the different menus (editing is on the left). For what you need, FastStone should be perfect.

10-26-2016, 01:00 PM	#17
SpecialK Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: So California Photos: Gallery Posts: 16,481	If you bought your Pentax camera new it should have come with their software. I don't recommend it over many other options, but there it is, free, for the basics.

10-27-2016, 12:13 PM	#18
GUB Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Wanganui Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 5,760	+1 for Picasa - perfect for your job description plus a great catalogue as well. Yes it is no longer supported but it is still floating around for download.

10-27-2016, 12:35 PM	#19
Another dyemention Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 432 Original Poster	Originally posted by BigMackCam OK, try an application called Polarr Photo Editor - it's excellent. There are free and paid versions - you only need the free one. I tried this one first as it was the easiest to download. I wish it supported raw. At least for the pictures I took today with my FA 77. I'll try posting them tomorrow. They came out ok but the color was kinda funky. I'm guessing it's because I shot in jpeg and I'm not familiar in the least with shooting in that format. Could've not had the WB set properly or something Ill start going down the line and trying all of the programs. Thanks for all the suggestions everyone.

10-27-2016, 12:54 PM	#20
BigMackCam Digitiser of Film Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: North East of England Posts: 20,686	Originally posted by Another dyemention I tried this one first as it was the easiest to download. I wish it supported raw. At least for the pictures I took today with my FA 77. I'll try posting them tomorrow. They came out ok but the color was kinda funky. I'm guessing it's because I shot in jpeg and I'm not familiar in the least with shooting in that format. Could've not had the WB set properly or something Ill start going down the line and trying all of the programs. Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. Aha... free RAW converters and editors are a slightly different matter. Oh well, at least you tried it Picasa is probably your best bet, unless you want to get into more complicated software such as RawTherapee or GIMP.

10-27-2016, 12:58 PM	#21
BrianR Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Ontario Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,332	I'd also vote for faststone, it's pretty simple. But before the PP software, I'd streamline your capture process as much as possible. If you have a place to permanently setup your small lightbox + lights, you should be able to have the exposure and white balance all ready to go with little to no software adjustments needed, just drop the product in, focus, compose, and fire. Ideally you could get the in-camera jpegs to your liking and all you'd need to do in post is resize. Depends on your requirements though. FastStone also makes a barebones "Resizer" that does just that.

10-27-2016, 04:01 PM	#22
GUB Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Wanganui Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 5,760	Picasa will handle and export DNGs in a pretty basic way

10-27-2016, 06:26 PM	#23
Des Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Victoria Australia Photos: Albums Posts: 6,423	Originally posted by SpecialK If you bought your Pentax camera new it should have come with their software. I don't recommend it over many other options, but there it is, free, for the basics. Digital Camera Utility 5 Update for Windows : Software Downloads \| RICOH IMAGING

10-28-2016, 06:47 AM	#25
UncleVanya Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2014 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 28,446	Those look great. Polarr will do RAW as will some other tools mentioned was there a problem with RAW? I had issues running it (with raw files or jpg) on a low end chrome book myself but that was memory and CPU related I thought. The tool seemed fine on my beefier windows laptop.

10-28-2016, 06:59 AM	#26
Another dyemention Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 432 Original Poster	Originally posted by UncleVanya Those look great. Polarr will do RAW as will some other tools mentioned was there a problem with RAW? I had issues running it (with raw files or jpg) on a low end chrome book myself but that was memory and CPU related I thought. The tool seemed fine on my beefier windows laptop. The raw files don't show up when I go to import from my card. I do have the free version so maybe raw is included in the paid version. I'll look into it though. And really it's not a big deal as long as I have the settings close when I take the picture. I'm just spoiled with raw as I can pretty much turn any crappy picture into what I want in Lightroom lol.

10-28-2016, 07:14 AM	#27
BigMackCam Digitiser of Film Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: North East of England Posts: 20,686	Originally posted by Another dyemention The raw files don't show up when I go to import from my card. I do have the free version so maybe raw is included in the paid version. I'll look into it though. And really it's not a big deal as long as I have the settings close when I take the picture. I'm just spoiled with raw as I can pretty much turn any crappy picture into what I want in Lightroom lol. Actually, Brad's right - it does process RAW files just fine (the free version, that is). Are you shooting .PEF or .DNG? I use .DNG...

10-28-2016, 08:14 AM	#28
Another dyemention Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 432 Original Poster	Originally posted by BigMackCam Actually, Brad's right - it does process RAW files just fine (the free version, that is). Are you shooting .PEF or .DNG? I use .DNG... Actually, I was looking in the wrong folder. Smh. Anyhow, so the dng files show up and when I go to import them, it just stays at 0% forever. So I'll let it run through lunch and see what happens.

10-28-2016, 08:36 AM	#29
BigMackCam Digitiser of Film Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: North East of England Posts: 20,686	No problems with .DNG files here... Are you loading them from the hard drive or straight from the card? I don't see why it should make much difference (unless your card and card reader are slooooow ), but I'm loading from my hard drive.

10-28-2016, 09:04 AM	#30
UncleVanya Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2014 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 28,446	Originally posted by Another dyemention Actually, I was looking in the wrong folder. Smh. Anyhow, so the dng files show up and when I go to import them, it just stays at 0% forever. So I'll let it run through lunch and see what happens. So that's not what I ran into - in my case the program just crashed and wouldn't restart on Chromebook. But it could be related to memory or disk space potentially - check both just to be sure you aren't too tight on either. The best free photo editor 2016 \| TechRadar Another option would be to review these and see if any fit your needs.