I Need Help choosing new program for viewing/editing pictures?

[scottie]

Well we have utilized Kodak EasyShare for the past several years and have been fine with its ability to view and arrange our P&S pictures and do some minor adjustments, but not happy with the length of time it takes to startup etc.
Now that we have added a D40 to the mix and a new laptop, I am considering utilizing a new program instead of Kodak EasyShare.
What are everyone’s suggestions for a low cost software program that has nice capabilities to manage a photo library and do some adjustments to photos? I don’t mind EasyShare- especially since it is free- but would prefer something still user friendly but more robust.

Forgot to add this program will likely be accessed by adults and kids alike in our house- with mainly us adults viewing and editing and the kids viewing, emailing, printing.

 

[Donold_Fan]

I think I might be in the minority here, but for free, I don't think you can beat Picasa.

http://picasa.google.com/

 

[frugal_mar]

I would have to agree on the Picasa - it works well and it is very easy to use. I also have a copy of Adobe Lightroom. It works well. I use them both and I am still not sure which I like better.

You can download a trial copy of Lightroom and give it a try, but for the price, Picasa would serve you well.

 

[cmwade77]

I like Picasa, also for all of us Mac users out there, it's now available at http://labs.google.com

I use it with a combination of Aperture and iPhoto, depending on what I want to do.

On a PC, I use Picasa and gimpshop (can be found via google) and paint.net, gimpshop is also available for the Mac, I just find that iPhoto and Aperture are easier to use.

 

[cinderella'smommy]

Another vote for Picasa. It does everything I need. I have a D40, and I really don't spend a lot of time editing my photos. It has the basics, and just added "retouch" ability, which is really nice.

 

[Groucho]

For viewing photos, IMHO you can't beat Irfanview, it's very small and extremely fast. It also is extremely powerful, with the ability to do lots of pretty useful things quickly and easily. However, it is potentially a little more "advanced" - it's not built to be novice-friendly (like EasyShare) but it is not overly complicated, either. You can do basic editing tasks like cropping, rotating, red-eye, add text, etc. It's free and updated regularly and just keeps getting better and better. I consider it an absolutely essential tool for dealing with my photo collection.

 

[eeyoreland]

Have a question about Picasa and hope those of you who use it can help. I downloaded it and thought it looked great for what I wanted to do. But I'm having a problem saving my changes. I do a file save, but the picture goes back to the original. Any idea what I might be doing wrong? Also, when you get the message that your original photo will stay on the computer (something like that), where exactly on the computer does it go?

 

[timetogo]

cool iris is good.

 

[Donold_Fan]

Have a question about Picasa and hope those of you who use it can help. I downloaded it and thought it looked great for what I wanted to do. But I'm having a problem saving my changes. I do a file save, but the picture goes back to the original. Any idea what I might be doing wrong? Also, when you get the message that your original photo will stay on the computer (something like that), where exactly on the computer does it go?

I don't have it installed on my work computer, but there should be a subfolder in the folder that the picture is in called originals. It may be a hidden folder, so you might need to turn on "View Hidden Files and Folders" to see it. I'll look when I get home to verify.

Also, I'm not sure what you mean by a file save. Again, I'll look when I get home, I just can't remember the program enough to answer your question off the top of my head.

 

[Donold_Fan]

Ok, I looked and there is a hidden folder in the folder that contains the picture called "originals", you can find the original in that folder. Also, if you've made changes to a picture and then right click on the picture, you will see that there is a menu option called "locate" with a fly-out arrow, which will allow you to find the picture on the disk as well as the original version on the disk.

I don't have the same "save" issue that you have. When I click save, it just applies my change and then creates a backup of the original. I don't see it reverting to the original.