What software would you recommend for photography?

What software would you recommend for photo editing?

Photoshop Elements (has most of the best bits of its larger, far more expensive sibling Photoshop), or if you want totally free but with a steep learning curve, GIMP at http://www.gimp.org/

I've found photoshop a bit easier but that may have been because I've watched more PS videos than GIMP. Both are great.

After getting advice on here I've been trying Paint.net . Free and plenty of tutorials on u tube.

Really depends what you want out from it, if the actual editing itself isn't too crazy, then I'd highly recommend Lightroom for photos, fantastic cataloging tools etc.

For editing itself then things like paint.net and gimp are both worth a shot since they're free, so may as well try them, see how you get on.

Hmmmm, 21 posts between 0830 and 1201 yesterday then stops :)

I wonder if he is actually reading these posts ?

Depends what 'for photography' means.

If you want to do whole-image processing - cropping, applying an effect to the entire image, that sort of thing - then paint.net will probably do most if not all of what you want.

If you want something more complex - adjusting the levels in one part of the image but not in another, removing blemishes, that sort of thing - then go for Photoshop Elements.

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Originally Posted by cookie365

Depends what 'for photography' means.

If you want to do whole-image processing - cropping, applying an effect to the entire image, that sort of thing - then paint.net will probably do most if not all of what you want.

If you want something more complex - adjusting the levels in one part of the image but not in another, removing blemishes, that sort of thing - then go for Photoshop Elements.

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Ill try and download paint and is photoshop elements free? I've heard of Lightroom one of my friends mentioned it to me

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Originally Posted by g8ina

Hmmmm, 21 posts between 0830 and 1201 yesterday then stops :)

I wonder if he is actually reading these posts ?

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Yes I am thanks I just received emails today as I can't sleep I thought I'd reply :) thanks

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Originally Posted by GeorgeStorm

Really depends what you want out from it, if the actual editing itself isn't too crazy, then I'd highly recommend Lightroom for photos, fantastic cataloging tools etc.

For editing itself then things like paint.net and gimp are both worth a shot since they're free, so may as well try them, see how you get on.

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Thanks will have to check them all out I'd never heard of paint or gimp so I really appreciate the advice

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Originally Posted by Mehta23

I've found photoshop a bit easier but that may have been because I've watched more PS videos than GIMP. Both are great.

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Thanks for the advice is Lightroom the more latest model of the photoshops

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Originally Posted by vinnyT

Photoshop Elements (has most of the best bits of its larger, far more expensive sibling Photoshop), or if you want totally free but with a steep learning curve, GIMP at http://www.gimp.org/

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Thank you will have to check it out

Another Lightroom vote. I generally use Picasa/Google for simple processing and archiving, but I tried the Lightroom4 demo a year or so ago and was very impressed by the output, and paid up straight away. It was a lot more intuitive and simple to process shots than some of the other trials I'd used.

It's not a photo-manipulation package, like Photoshop, but it is a remarkable processing package. I haven't felt the need to cough up for the upgrade to 5, and I still don't find it as simple to use (in terms of organising my photos compared to 'Noddy' software like Picasa) as I'd like, but the results make it worthwhile. Try the demo at the very least.

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Originally Posted by Andrew McP

Another Lightroom vote. I generally use Picasa/Google for simple processing and archiving, but I tried the Lightroom4 demo a year or so ago and was very impressed by the output, and paid up straight away. It was a lot more intuitive and simple to process shots than some of the other trials I'd used.

It's not a photo-manipulation package, like Photoshop, but it is a remarkable processing package. I haven't felt the need to cough up for the upgrade to 5, and I still don't find it as simple to use (in terms of organising my photos compared to 'Noddy' software like Picasa) as I'd like, but the results make it worthwhile. Try the demo at the very least.

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Thanks for the advice, I've been told about photoshop and an iMac one called appature does anyone know or is anyone familure with it

+1 for Lightroom, I barely know what I'm doing in it but my photos look better and I'm learning more and more each time I delve into it ;)

Photoshop is probably the most powerful package available, and certainly the "reference standard" for professionals BUT it is not, in my opinion, the best option for everyone. First, it's very expensive, so it either means getting a pirate copy or is WAY outside what most people can afford. Nor is it the easiest package to learn or use.

If you want an editing package capable of, for instance, combining elements from different images, and if you're going to be using it a lot, then Photoshop might be the best bet. But for most people, either Elements or Lightroom will be a better bet, and for yet more people, some of the more basic, and free, tools will be quite powerful enough.

It all depends what you want to do with it.