[AtlantaChris]

As part of my recent laptop purchase, I got a free version of the ACDSee Photo Editor 2008, and I really like the parts of it that I've been able to figure out.
But all of the "how-to" articles I'm finding, both in the photo mags and online, exclusively give the cookbook instructions for Photoshop only. The names of the programs, and the functionality usage, doesn't cross over very well, and I feel like the tips I am reading about (mostly in Outdoor Photographer) would be very beneficial to my work.
Has anyone else found an ACDSee users guide in print? Their in program tutorials are too basic.
And/or, maybe the ultimate question, should I just go ahead and get with the communal program and get the Photoshop/plugins programs?

It would be worth noting that Im on a really tight budget.

Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Chris in Atlanta

[thazooo]

Ahhh the great debate

I'm not a PS user, I'm sure one of the folks that use it will reply. I use Corel Graphics Suite and ACDsee Pro. Both have less documentation than PS but info can be found
online. Forums are a good place to start, I get some knowledge from the ACDsee forum. Corel has more info available than ACDSee and is a stronger editor. If you get into serious image manipulation, you'll need to step up to a stronger program.
One that will give you layers capability and since you like plugins, one that will accept
plugins.

I don't do many plugins and have always been able to duplicate PS techniques that interest me in Corel. Just have to translate terminology.

There are many Editors out there and most let you download a free trial. Do a Google and see what interests you.

[Marc Sabatella]

I use ACDSee's "Photo Manager" products, which contian some image editing capabilities - mostly in the form of RAW processing. I haven't really ever used their Photo Editor product, although I gather it is indeed more "photoshop-like" in capabilities. I don't think it supports layers per se, though. But still, most basic controls are very similar between programs - sharpening, noise reduction, exposure controls, curves, color controls, etc.

[Wombat]

I've recently started using ACDSee Pro because I wanted to get away from Photoshop as much as possible. Nevertheless, there are times when there's no option but to use something like PS if you want to do some heavy-duty photo manipulation. If you're on a tight budget I'd really recommend trying GIMP. It's free and although it takes a while to find out where everything is compared with PS, you'll find it will do pretty well everything you need. And there's a wealth of documentation on GIMP specifically, plus you can use many Photoshop plugins with it and most of the magazine articles on PS can be applied to GIMP. Just be aware that it doesn't work with RAW files, but that's what ACDSee is for. Between the two you'll be all set.

[davemdsn]

Comparing Photoshop (full version) to just about any other software (Gimp excluded) is a bit of an unfair comparison. It's a lot like comparing the K7 to the D3x. The two are meant for very different things.

You really need to determine what features you can't live without and then find the app that has those features. Many photogs can live without Photoshop. Many others can't. Just depends on their editing style. Fortunately there are free apps out there, like the afore mentioned Gimp, as well as free trials of the paid apps. Once you find out what you need try out all the options and pick the one that suits you.

One thing that's real nice for a lot of photographers is Photoshop Elements because it has layers and masks like the full version, it just doesn't have the graphic design tools. The cost is under $100.