Time to change the software?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rob.Richards
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Rob.Richards

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I have been using PSE v5 for some time now. I have been offered dodgy copies of CS3 extended and to be honest, I dont feel comfortable using pirated copies of software that many people have worked so hard to create.

On the flip side I cant afford the price of PSE9 or lightroom etc.

I was considering buying second hand LR1 or 2 (if possible) and combining this with PSE5. Can anyone offer advice?
 
To be honest it depends on what you do with your images, LR is great for the basic edit/raw conversion etc but it has limited selective editing, and theres no layers or cuting/pasting.
If your doing really creative stuff like swopping parts of image around LR simply can't do it, if your fixing colours, exposure, etc then LR really good at that.
 
Maybe worth considering Gimp as a free alternative.

I use LR for most things but just occasionally I export to GIMP
 
Consider Paint SHop Pro X3 as an alternative, Gimp is little better tha MS Paint! PSP is capable of much of what Photoshop can do, although it wil take some time to learn where everything is and it will probably have different names for things.
 
I wonder if anyone has used capture one (basic version). i was reading about this today and looks a possible alternative to LR?
 
I disagree that GIMP is little better than MS Paint.

They are not the same type of package.

GIMP is not the simplest editor to use, but as I have not used other comparable editors, I don't know how much more difficult than paid for ones and therefore I accept its capabilities may not be as extensive as PSP or LR.

However, as it is free I think it is definitely worth having a look at.

Dave
 
Alan Clogwyn said:
Consider Paint SHop Pro X3 as an alternative, Gimp is little better tha MS Paint! PSP is capable of much of what Photoshop can do, although it wil take some time to learn where everything is and it will probably have different names for things.
Click to expand...

Gimp has Layers, Channels, Histogram, Sharpening, Clone etc etc it is much more than MS Paint. I did find it hard to learn although there are lots of tutorials available.
I preferred to use Paint.Net which is also free and has Layers, Curves, Histogram, Clone etc etc and it also has no resemblance to MS Paint :)
 
Capture one 6.1 is out now and is a great choice but not really the industry standard. it has an awkward interface and isn't very user friendly. Reports are good on it's output though.
In fairness, you can't go wrong with Lightroom perhaps with elements 8/9 to add a little something when needed.
 
Current version of Elements (9) is £57 on amazon at the mo, no good?
 
I see you are using a Canon camera, have you tried using their DPP software? It does a similar job to Lightroom and you should already have it.
 
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