Photo Software?

[armomof3lvsdisney]

What is the best photo software program? It's time for a new computer and I would like to get a new, easy to use photo software program. TIA

 

[dawson5]

Not sure what you are looking for but Gimp and Picasa both do good jobs for photo editing and are both free.

 

[Jey12]

If you're looking for more control of your editing, but aren't wanting to spend the money for items like photoshop or lightroom I would suggest Corel paintshop pro duo x4. It has many similar features of photoshop (although not near as much) but it is very user friendly. You can normally find the software for around $60 on sale. If don't want all of the new bells and whistles you can find the x3 version that was out last year on Amazon.com for just under $25. I use both the higher priced photoshop with lightroom and corel paintshop pro and when it comes to basic editing I almost always go to Corel because it's quick and easy.

You might want to ask this on the photography boards. You will probably get a better more accurate answer on there.

 

[bonoriffic]

The best photo program is Photoshop. That is neither simple nor cheap. Photoshop Elements is the consumer level of Photoshop, easier to use and learn, and priced much more reasonable.

Free options that mimic Photoshop are gimp and paint.net. But just like Photoshop and Elements, aren't idiot proof and require at a little bit of effort to learn.

Picnik may be the best of the free, almost idiot proof photo editors. There are other choices that are fine too, but require you to start using that program as your editor as well as method of photo management such as Picasa or iPhoto.

If you just want to remove red eye, clean up color correction, and basic adjustments, Windows Photo Gallery Live does that for free. iPhoto as well for Macs.

 

[Lewisc]

Staples will be selling Photoshop Elements for $50 on BF. You should be able to purchase it online.

100% of the knowledgeable people I've spoken to, and reviews, agree with the PP, absolutely the best consumer level photo software.

That said one of the free or cheap programs might do everything you need.

 

[sbsteel]

I got Photoshop Elements last year for $80 and have been very happy with it. Pioneer Women has some action sets that are Elements-friendly on her website that are easy to use and I've had great luck with them. Definitely a great entry level software.

 

[disneymarie]

Not sure what you are looking for but Gimp and Picasa both do good jobs for photo editing and are both free.

I have both and love GIMP!!!!
dd school uses this for their digital photog class and great editing, effects and layers work. Price is right at FREE

 

[thomas998]

What is the best photo software program? It's time for a new computer and I would like to get a new, easy to use photo software program. TIA

The best would be photoshop but that will cost you several hundred dollars. The runner up would be Corel's paintshop... And you are in luck. Corel is having their own blackfriday sale right now so you can get it for 39.99 with no taxes and free shipping. Just go to their site
http://www.corel.com/corel/product/...us&trkid=NASEMGglDM#tabview=tab1&LID=59882802

It will do almost everything Photoshop will do except some of the very advanced graphic design options that I doubt you would ever use... I highly recommend it...

and just to save yourself some grief, always copy the photo you want to edit onto your hard drive and work on the copy, the biggest mistake first time users make is working on the only original of a photo and then saving their edits which makes it impossible to go back to the original image.

 

[HunnyPots]

It depends on what kind of editing you need to do. If you are an average hobby photographer and you want to organize, store, and make minor edits on pictures for scrapbooking or just for your family to share, something like Picasa is probably good enough. If you want to be able to a little more, go with Photoshop Elements, especially if you are shooting with a DSLR, and really want your pictures to look like the pros. You can go to the Adobe site and get free 30 day downloads of any of their products. Plus, if you have a a student or a teacher in your house you can get a signifigant discount on most of their software. My son got Lightroom, reg. $299, for $89 with the student discount.

 

[LMN]

Memory Manager by Creative Memories! It is only $39.99 and does most everything the higher priced softwares will do. It is great at photo-editing, organization and you can even journal the story behind the photo- up to 5000 characters. Fantastic!

 

[PartyOf5]

Staples will be selling Photoshop Elements for $50 on BF. You should be able to purchase it online.

100% of the knowledgeable people I've spoken to, and reviews, agree with the PP, absolutely the best consumer level photo software.

That said one of the free or cheap programs might do everything you need.

I've been looking for a great price on Elements so I put this on my BF list thanks to this post. However, if anyone is interested, Staples has the sale on this software today online...just picked mine up and I can cross Staples off my list!

Many thanks for the tip!