What software?

welshgirl21

welshgirl21

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Sarah
Edit My Images
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I am picking up my new, first DSLR camera on Saturday (am a total, total beginner).

What software will I need to edit photos? I've looked at Photoshop CS5 but it's far too expensive for me to afford - is there anything that's cheaper or do I not need software to begin with? :thinking:
 
GIMP!

However, I have been getting by for a decade without editing, depends what you do with your photos I suppose.
 
Photoshop elements is much cheaper than the full Photoshop and covers all the basics or as has been mentioned there is gimp which is free and is damn near as good as PS ( some say better!)
 
At first I just want to build up a bank of photos to put a portfolio together, but in the future I would like to sell my photos online and/or as prints.
 
Photoscape is free and is reasonable.

Or you could go to the Serif website and download Photo Plus 9 (I think).

The full version is only £9.99 and the SE version is free.

I bought the full version years ago and it's an excellent, easy to use, program which would suit you well.

And if you register for their mailshots you will often get good deals on very good editing software.

Last year I got Serif Photo Plus X2 for £12.00 which included manual and a CD.

Excellent bargain.

.
 
welshgirl21 said:
At first I just want to build up a bank of photos to put a portfolio together, but in the future I would like to sell my photos online and/or as prints.
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Try Picassa - it's free and does a lot of the basics.
 
I recently picked up a copy of Photoshop Elements 8 for about £50. I got it with a free Canon bag too, sold the bag so the software worked out even cheaper! :lol:

Basically a cut down version of CS5. Does everything I need it to at the moment and is slightly less daunting to use than CS5 (plus alot of the tips you get in magazines etc are geared towards either CS5 or Elements). Has a nice 'organise' section for displaying, sharing and basic editing and then the 'edit' part for more complicated edits.
 
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Have a look at the free trial for Lightroom 3 - best there is for editing pictures.
 
Cant speak for Nikon but I imagine the same; I used my Canon supplied RAW conversion software (comes free with the camera) for a while. Lets you tweak a few things, adjust your white balance, bit of sharpening, contrast etc and then output JPEGs if you desire.

Then later on when youve got some spare money, elements 7 or 8 perhaps. Ive got 7 coz it was only £35 on amazon. I find elements (and Ive hardly got to grips with it yet) is good for adjusting levels (no similar tool in the canon software that I found) to give you a nice punchy picture.

2p.
 
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Picasa (free on Google) will do the basics as a previous poster said. I'd recommend Photoshop Elements if you want to go further. It's affordable and can do most post processing tasks very well. It's quite easy to use and most of us probably don't need CS4 or CS5 (I'm still using CS2), and it's also a good introduction to the full package. GIMP is very powerful and a freeware download. It's not far behind Photoshop, but there is a steep learning curve. Lots of help and tutorials on the 'net though.

FWIW, I'd get Photoshop Elements. I don't like the GIMP, but I'm biased and so used to Photoshop that I find it a bit of a slog!
 
Free - a number of open source stuff such as Gimp, Raw Therapee and so on.

Cheap - Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop Elements

Mid range - Adobe Lightroom

Expensive - Photoshop CS series

Photoshop Elements has 80% of the features for a fraction of the cost of full photoshop.

However, if you have kids you may qualify for academic or educational discounts you may be able to get the full thing for a much more reasonable sum.
 
Photoshop Elements will do all that you will need, about £50

Pick up a copy of a guide to using it, I have one by Scott Kelby which is simple to follow, and you are all set.
 
IMO, PSE (PhotoShop Elements) is the one to go for. V.8 (the latest version) is around £50 so shouldn't break the bank.

IMO, Gimp is value for money - it costs nothing and is worth about the same. It may have been improved since I tried it but it really couldn't have got any worse!
 
GIMP and Photoscape - both free. You can do more with GIMP, but there is a lot to learn. Photoscape is very easy to use, but more limited, though still reasonable.

Dave
 
Nod said:
IMO, PSE (PhotoShop Elements) is the one to go for. V.8 (the latest version) is around £50 so shouldn't break the bank.

IMO, Gimp is value for money - it costs nothing and is worth about the same. It may have been improved since I tried it but it really couldn't have got any worse!
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:agree:
 
I think I will try Elements - downloaded a free trial of Lightroom 3 last night and loaded in some photos taken on my 'point and click' to have a fiddle with and........I had nooooooo idea what I was doing lol.

Been looking at some of the edited photos on here and they look amazing, will put mine to shame I think. Might just get used to my new camera though before I worry about editing photos on software.
 
Elements is your best way to go. If you stick at it, at some point you are going to upgrade to Photoshop once you know how to use Elements it provides the easiest learning curve for the move to Photoshop..
 
Steep said:
Elements is your best way to go. If you stick at it, at some point you are going to upgrade to Photoshop once you know how to use Elements it provides the easiest learning curve for the move to Photoshop..
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I agree. I use CS3, but it is expensive. Elements does most things and if you subscribe or buy occasionally Digital Photo magazine it has video tutorials and articles on image processing in Photoshop and Elements. It is very easy to learn this way.
 
Do what so many others do. All you have to do then is purchase the book.
 
So my post has been struck off. What was it Jesus said, "He that is amongst you who is without sin, let him cast the first stone" Are you taking note all you whiter than whites.
 
Another vote for Elements, v8 is around the £50 so a good buy and not going to break the bank :thumbs:
 
classcams said:
So my post has been struck off. What was it Jesus said, "He that is amongst you who is without sin, let him cast the first stone" Are you taking note all you whiter than whites.
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Which post? Not the one that seems to advocate the use of pirated software - that seems to be still here...

classcams said:
Do what so many others do. All you have to do then is purchase the book.
Click to expand...
 
Another vote for Elements 8, I got it for £32 without the manual. But a excellent book by Scott Kelby & Mark Kloskowski is The Photoshop Elements 8 book covers everthing and more.
 
Go for Elements, there are so many free tutorials around all referring to Elements, plus many magazines always refer to Elements for editing.
 
I always found PS a bit of a faff and a pretty steep learning curve if you haven't used anything similar before. As others have said GIMP and Picassa are free and will do most basic things well with minimal effort.

I have just started to use Lightroom and so far I'm finding it fantastic to use, quite powerful, well laid out, intuative....the only draw backs are the cost and depending on how far into editing you go, you may outgrow it.
 
Another vote for photoshop elements 8. You can try for free (30 days) from the adobe website and as others have said £50 plus canon bag and cloth wont break the bank.
The free bag is of reasonable quality and will hold a consumer dslr with kit lens attached plus flash and one extra lens.

Roy
 
Another vote for gimp
can't believe it was free!
 
If you can stretch to Lightroom it will be the best investment. You can store all your photos, make them easy to access, edit them, and export to flickr or even create web galleries. There may even be a bargain about on Lightroom 2 which is the last version, the current version is Lightroom 3. Download a trial from Adobe and you will see why this is the standard (that said if on a Mac Aperture in my opinion is even better)
 
May I suggest Serif Photoplus X4 on offer at mo but also very VERY capable for the beginner and I use more advanced stuff too with it so far it has yet to let me down

Photoplus x4

Does HDR too but photoreal as opposed to the usual Ott stuff
 
What I find very important is the ability to quickly cycle through a day's photos and be able to immediately reject the throwaways and earmark the good ones, filter down to just those and then quickly move between each one to make adjustments.

Programs like GIMP and Photoshop are great for modifying single images but aren't suitable for this way of working.

ViewNX 2 is completely free and a very good start (a massive improvement over ViewNX since it actually allows cropping!). Give it a try. EDIT: This is for Nikon only, by the way.

If you find you want more then consider upgrading to Lightroom. It's better by quite a distance but obviously costs a bit of moolah.
 
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