Photo Editing Software - What's good?

[WDWRids]

Looking for a photo editing software - what's good?

Specifically, want to add/highlight a color object into a black and white photo.

I have a black and white of a church that has a bright red tin roof. Want to still keep the pic black and white but add (pull out) the red roof.

Thanks much!!!

 

[wbeem]

Photoshop.

 

[havoc315]

There are lots of choices for an effect like that. For a feature rich photo editor with a reasonable price, PaintShopPro. I've done that effect by making 2 layers of the same picture. B&W on top, color on bottom. And then I would "erase" the B&W roof, so that the red roof comes through.

More recently, I've been using Lightroom. Which would also give you a couple ways to make that effect. You could use a brush to desaturate the entire picture except for the roof. Or you could desaturate the entire picture, except for the "reds." And then use a brush to clean up any random reds outside the roof.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

Lightroom 4 can do that and so much more and it is a beautiful piece of software IMO.

And if you qualify for student pricing (or someone in your house does) you can get it for $54 on Amazon.

 

[havoc315]

Lightroom 4 can do that and so much more and it is a beautiful piece of software IMO.

And if you qualify for student pricing (or someone in your house does) you can get it for $54 on Amazon.

Not to mention, you can get a 30 day free trial of Lightroom. So if you really just want to use it for that 1 picture, it may be the perfect free solution.

 

[WDWRids]

Thanks so much!!! Really like the idea of the free trial!

 

[havoc315]

Thanks so much!!! Really like the idea of the free trial!

I did the free trial. Then purchased it through Amazon for $58. Any student in the household can qualify for the education discount, including primary school.

 

[photo_chick]

OP you're gonna get a lot of different recs and many for various Adobe products. I'd suggest Photoshop Elements if you're just starting out. The best thing is to get the trials and figure out which one fits your needs best. Most photo editing software can do selective color, which is what you're looking for.

 

[2Tiggies]

Didn't want to post another thread for the similar questions.

Does the free trial on LR4 offer everything that the full licensed version does? I downloaded the free trial to see how I get along with my introduction to the world of software. I will spend some time with it on the weekend.

I have had Elements (I think 7? - never used it and yes, you can see by the version how long it's been sitting around unused ). Would it be better to upgrade to Elements 11? Should I get LR4 and upgrade elements?

I don't need full blown software just yet. This is my first proper experience with any form of it so I'm likely to get frustrated and overwhelmed if I have too much to start with.

 

[wbeem]

Didn't want to post another thread for the similar questions.

Does the free trial on LR4 offer everything that the full licensed version does? I downloaded the free trial to see how I get along with my introduction to the world of software. I will spend some time with it on the weekend.

Yes, it's the same version. The only difference is the license. You get to use every feature to try it out for a couple of weeks. If you decide to buy it, you just enter your serial number and continue using the same installation.

 

[2Tiggies]

Yes, it's the same version. The only difference is the license. You get to use every feature to try it out for a couple of weeks. If you decide to buy it, you just enter your serial number and continue using the same installation.

That's great, thanks

It looks pretty idiot-proof so I'm suspecting I may get along quite well with LR

 

[wbeem]

That's great, thanks

It looks pretty idiot-proof so I'm suspecting I may get along quite well with LR

There's a lot of good training out there for Lightroom and Photoshop. I use Kelbytraining.com, but you can find help for free at Adobe's own site to get you started.

 

[2Tiggies]

There's a lot of good training out there for Lightroom and Photoshop. I use Kelbytraining.com, but you can find help for free at Adobe's own site to get you started.

Thank you William (again!)

Adobe has some great user friendly guides on their site, which will be a good start. I know about the Kelbytraining you use from reading about it on your daily blog. I could probably do with some good grounding in the basics first but I would be happy to pay for good training if this becomes addictive so I would never rule out the willingness to pay for it if I felt it would benefit me.

 

[havoc315]

Yes, the trial version of lightroom is identical to the full version.

I used it based on the advice from this board, and now I can't live without it.

It is very different than photoshop elements. While it can do many of the same things, it does them differently. It is a bit difficult to explain, but I'd put it like this:
Elements is great for photo EDITING. Making structural changes to the photos themselves. Adding or subtracting elements from the photos. You want to take your picture of Mickey Mouse, and put him on top of Big Ben, then Elements is the way to go.

Lightroom is really more akin to the old fashioned dark room. It is not for heavy duty photo editing. It is great at photo organization, and is great for photo adjustments. A photo can be enhanced significantly just by adjusting the lighting, shadows and highlights. Lightroom is also very powerful at noise reduction. And it can serve your very basic editing needs -- it will crop pictures, it can remove spots/blemishes, remove red eye.

Now while you probably can make similar lighting adjustments on Elements, on Lightroom it is incredibly intuitive and easy.

If you have an iphone or ipad, there is a photographer who has a cheap app tutorial of how to use lightroom. Lots of videos taking you through it. It can lead to rather amazing results.

My own personal video editing suite has become -- In order of how often used:

1. Lightroom 4.2. I am now primarily shooting in raw, and giving every picture a little tweak.
2. Photomatix -- I enjoy occasional HDR. There is a plugin from Lightroom, so Lightroom exports the pics right into Photomatix.
3. PSP5Pro, with Topax an Nik plugins. Used very rarely. Similar to Elements. Allows me to sometimes do more advanced editing, but rarely do I have much use for it. Using the filters, can sometimes add a bit of extra flavor to a pic.

Truthfully, if I wasn't going to ever do HDR, I could live with just Lightroom.