Processing software

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pipc

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Hi all

I am newish to DSLR and would like to know which is the best processing software for me to do everything, particularly cloning. I am looking at Elements 9 possibly.

Thanks
 
Elements 9 is a good editing suite- Have a look at Photoshop CS 5 Extended ( I use this & its brilliant) or for a real good frebie - download GIMP

Les :thumbs:
 
+1 for the Elements packages. Elements 8 is still an excellent package abd can be picked up ridiculously cheap. ( is still reasonably priced and has some nice extra functions, the new content aware brush is supposed to work great and if you need cloning for distracting object removal it could be a boon)
CS5 is horrendously expensive so I would be more specific about your intended use and actual needs because Elements 9 has a large percentage of CS5s funtcionality and some of the PP experts on here (not me :naughty:) could give better guidance and save you a wad.

Gimp is used by many who love it. I tried it and just cannot get my head round the layout system they use. (Been using adobe products too long) but its free so it would be nuts not try it first.
 
I have Elements 9 and it is good. What it doesn't say on the packet is it is only licenced for 3 computers.

Realspeed
 
I agree about Photoshop CS 5 Extended, being expensive, however you do get a lot of bang for your buck :thumbs:


Elements 9 seems a better option, depending upon your needs / skill levels
I started with Elements 9 and after a couple of months up graded to CS 5

Les :D
 
Digital Photo Professional, supplied free on CD with Canon cameras, is perhaps the best Raw processor out there and also does most basic stuff. Or Photoshop Elements is very good and affordable.

But I bought Adobe Lightroom 3 recently and have used nothing else since :thumbs: Really excellent and far more intuitive that Photoshop (even though it's basically Photoshop underneath, with a completely revised interface). I got a cheaper American import copy from Amazon Marketplace for £120 which works perfectly with free upgrades etc (I'm using v3.4.1) except that if you want Adobe support apparently you've get it via the US. But since I can't imagine ever needing that, I'm £100 happier :)
 
Adobe have a 30 day free trail on all their current products. I'd suggest you get a good book (Scott Kelby?) before you download it -your library will get it for you if you don't want to buy, so you could get a few. It looks daunting as hell at first, but soon makes sense if you tackle it the right way. Elements is outstanding value and a thoroughly brilliant bit of kit.

Edit to note: You can't do much cloning with LR!
 
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jon ryan said:
Adobe have a 30 day free trail on all their current products. I'd suggest you get a good book (Scott Kelby?) before you download it -your library will get it for you if you don't want to buy, so you could get a few. It looks daunting as hell at first, but soon makes sense if you tackle it the right way. Elements is outstanding value and a thoroughly brilliant bit of kit.

Edit to note: You can't do much cloning with LR!
Click to expand...

True enough, the cloning options are basically limited to spot removal. LR is designed to do the kind of things that everyone wants to do to every image - fast, easy and very well - linked to an extensive library database function. I believe it is Scott Kelby's software of choice now ;)

The main controls for exposure, contrast and colour for example are brilliant, very comprehensive, and I find them intutive and easy as a photographer, as opposed to a graphic artist (which is what Photoshop is primarily designed for). If you want to sharpen for example, you just move the sharpen slider, instead of messing about with the 'unsharp mask' in Photoshop.

It is also designed to work alongside Photoshop and other software packages as fast access plug-ins - Elements, Photomatix, Portrait Professional etc - so you just dive in to those, do what you need, and then back to Lightroom.
 
There are quite a lot of options, but I'd choose PS Elements 8 or 9. They're affordable, do most things that most photographers want to do, and are a good primer for the full versions of Photoshop if you ever decide to invest in them. Photoshop is very powerful, has a steep learning curve and is really targeted at professional graphic artists. You can get most of the Adobe software at far lower prices though, quite legally, if you're a student or have children at school or in college. The details are on their website.

The GIMP is worth checking out if you fancy it. It's free, powerful and also takes a fair bit of learning; and I'd stick to Elements, Photoshop or Lightroom, but that's just me. I'm used to Adobe and don't have any compelling reason to change.
 
HoppyUK said:
sive, and I find them intutive and easy as a photographer, as opposed to a graphic artist (which is what Photoshop is primarily designed for). If you want to sharpen for example, you just move the sharpen slider, instead of messing about with the 'unsharp mask' in Photoshop.
Click to expand...

Ther is a world of difference between the Sharpen Slider and Unsharp mask. Unsharp mask uses a mathematical trick to make your eye perceive something as being sharp. It "Masks" the elements that your eye sees as "softness" or "unsharpness". It therefore mathematically detects the edges using an algorithm and allows you to alter the luminosity of the tones to make a more dramatic change.You can then adjust the radius and threshold of this effect to fine tune further. Not the same thing at all.

Portrait artists have used a similar technique for hundreds of years by adding lighter or darker lines around the edge of an object to increase its contrast between it and the background to make it appear sharper.
 
Gazamonk said:
Ther is a world of difference between the Sharpen Slider and Unsharp mask. Unsharp mask uses a mathematical trick to make your eye perceive something as being sharp. It "Masks" the elements that your eye sees as "softness" or "unsharpness". It therefore mathematically detects the edges using an algorithm and allows you to alter the luminosity of the tones to make a more dramatic change.You can then adjust the radius and threshold of this effect to fine tune further. Not the same thing at all.

Portrait artists have used a similar technique for hundreds of years by adding lighter or darker lines around the edge of an object to increase its contrast between it and the background to make it appear sharper.
Click to expand...

Isn't that how sharpening works in Lightroom? It has all those extra adjustments if you want them. As I said above, Lightroom basically has the Photoshop engine working underneath, but combines several Photoshop functions into one simple slider. To quote Scott Kelby (with the Detail slider) "...it makes your sharpening appear very much like the Unsharp Mask filter in Photoshop."
 
HoppyUK said:
As I said above, Lightroom basically has the Photoshop engine working underneath, but combines several Photoshop functions into one simple slider.
Click to expand...

I would say that LightRoom is more like Adobe Bridge and Camera Raw combined (with a few bits extra that Photoshop CS doesn't have like publishing to websites), rather than being closer to Photoshop imho. If you want proper cloning and healing tools, LightRoom is not it.

I saw an online workshop on Elelments 9 a few weeks ago and was very surprised at how much it can do. :eek: I hadn't used it myself since version 5, and so watched to see what it was missing compared to CS5, and for the most common useful things, it isn't missing anything. It's got Layers, Cloning Healing (Content Aware). The only major thing it doesn't have as far as I remember is the Curves Tool. It is not one I use that often, and is quite an advanced tool, so I don't think many would miss it in the short term, if ever. :shrug:

I think Elements' Camera Raw implementation is not as full featured as the CS version, but again it is not to be sniffed at, and if you don't shoot RAW it's not a problem. ;) :lol:


In my opinion there is not enough extra in CS5 to warrant about a £600 difference to Elements. :shrug:
 
Have you had a look at serif?
I've been playing around with various software recently.
I downloaded the trial versions of PSE9, Lightroom and Serif photoplus.
i eventually went with Serif Photoplus X3 for £9.99. Looks like it does all that PSE9 does, plus it saves money that can be spent on my next lens :thumbs:
 
redhed17 said:
I would say that LightRoom is more like Adobe Bridge and Camera Raw combined (with a few bits extra that Photoshop CS doesn't have like publishing to websites), rather than being closer to Photoshop imho. If you want proper cloning and healing tools, LightRoom is not it.

I saw an online workshop on Elelments 9 a few weeks ago and was very surprised at how much it can do. :eek: I hadn't used it myself since version 5, and so watched to see what it was missing compared to CS5, and for the most common useful things, it isn't missing anything. It's got Layers, Cloning Healing (Content Aware). The only major thing it doesn't have as far as I remember is the Curves Tool. It is not one I use that often, and is quite an advanced tool, so I don't think many would miss it in the short term, if ever. :shrug:

I think Elements' Camera Raw implementation is not as full featured as the CS version, but again it is not to be sniffed at, and if you don't shoot RAW it's not a problem. ;) :lol:


In my opinion there is not enough extra in CS5 to warrant about a £600 difference to Elements. :shrug:
Click to expand...

^^^^^

Agree. Elements 6 was my earliest version - a very powerful tool which has RAW capability and can still be bought for a few pounds on Amazon. Possibly the best bargain in photography today (though I'm happy to hear suggestions for alternatives for this distinction ;) )

On sharpening, there is quite a difference between Unsharp Mask, High-Pass Filter and Lab Colour methods. USM is the one I use least, HPF being my choice in 90% of cases. (Not sure if you can use Lab Colour in Elements - I use CS4 for my day-to-day work) LR sharpening does a pretty good job in most circumstances, but lacks the subtlety that Elements can offer. You can't do accurate selective sharpening, for instance (needs layers for a start).

Elements is harder to learn than LR, which is perhaps what puts some people off.
 
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