# Photo Editing Programs



## kathy65 (Jul 23, 2015)

What is a good program to buy and use for photo editing? Something that is easy to use for a beginner, but yet has awesome tools to use.


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## chuasam (Jul 23, 2015)

Adobe Photoshop CC2015. Might as well learn the best and not have to relearn as you improve.


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## kathy65 (Jul 23, 2015)

Is it easy to teach yourself?


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## PropilotBW (Jul 23, 2015)

Photoshop is excellent, but it is not beginners software.  You can teach yourself but there is a huge learning curve.   I don't use it anymore.  Lightroom is much more user friendly.


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## chuasam (Jul 23, 2015)

kathy65 said:


> Is it easy to teach yourself?


Near impossible but you can take classes at the local college. It is the defacto program for retouching so there are lots of places to learn it.


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## Derrel (Jul 23, 2015)

kathy65 said:
			
		

> What is a good program to buy and use for photo editing? Something that is easy to use for a beginner, but yet has awesome tools to use.



I am going to say Lightroom is what you want to buy. It's good. Lightroom is very,very good. And it is easy for a beginner to use, and at the same time, it has awesome tools for cropping, leveling, doing BASIC cloning/spotting, image adjustment and editing, and it has very easy "Lightroom Actions" that can be easily found on-line, or created on your own and saved. Th actions are a series of adjustments that can be saved in a set, and titled, and then applied to future photos, and of course, edited/adjusted. Lightroom also can help you publish photos to the web in basically a click or two. it is what I would suggest for a beginner wanting to learn the basics of shooting, organizing, then editing photos.

Lightroom allows a person to import a folder's worth of photos, and to then sit down and zip through adjusting them in a very fast,efficient way. It's not designed for pixel-level, micro-editing of minutiae, but is geared more toward fast, simple, logical editing of images.


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## unpopular (Jul 23, 2015)

chuasam said:


> kathy65 said:
> 
> 
> > Is it easy to teach yourself?
> ...



not really. I taught myself, though I was very young when I did. Taking a class, online or in person, would be a good idea.

But, as far as software goes, PS isn't that difficult to learn once you have some basic concepts down: channels, additive color theory, curves, masks


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## dennybeall (Jul 23, 2015)

In my estimation Photoshop has levels of features. Sure there are complicated and difficult to use tools and processes but there are also a full set of easy to use intuitive tools that you can learn and use quickly and easily. There are hundreds(+) of videos on youtube and Adobe and other places that show you how to use tools and techniques.
Lightroom is a different basic concept with it's strengths being in file handling with many of the features available from Photoshop.
It can be just a simple tool to use on your photos or it can be another hobby  unto itself. For you to decide????


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## chuasam (Jul 23, 2015)

unpopular said:


> chuasam said:
> 
> 
> > kathy65 said:
> ...


a lot of the self taught folks neglect things like proper organisation and naming of layers, blend modes and expert feedback.


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## unpopular (Jul 23, 2015)

chuasam said:


> unpopular said:
> 
> 
> > chuasam said:
> ...



I can *definitely* agree with proper naming, it's a bad habit I have to force myself to overcome when doing work both at school and for work. All my professors will dock for this - and they should. I'd imagine proper layer grouping is another thing self-taught people would probably neglect. 

I do use blending modes, and actually I use them in ways that I think a traditionally taught person might not think of. I do think self-teaching you'll get a better understanding of the mechanics and theory behind image processing, but I agree, it probably comes at the expense of not having expert feedback and real-world practices.


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## JoeW (Jul 23, 2015)

kathy65 said:


> What is a good program to buy and use for photo editing? Something that is easy to use for a beginner, but yet has awesome tools to use.


Photoshop is the gold standard.  But it's expensive (you pay a monthly fee) and it's very complex to learn how to use it--it's definitely not something that is easy to learn or something I'd recommend for a beginner.  

Pixelmator is sophisticated and relatively easy to learn.  Lightroom is a versatile program that is  a coupe of steps below Photoshop in terms of capability and difficulty to learn.

Now, if you feel that Pixelmator or Lightroom are still too sophisticated, a good option is Picasa.  It's not that difficult to use and it ties in to a bunch of other options that make photo sharing and storage easy.  If you have a Mac, it will come with a program called Photos which is easy to use and very capable.


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## KmH (Jul 23, 2015)

FWIW - Photoshop CC 2015 has the same software used in Lightroom CC's Develop module. It's called Adobe Camera Raw or ACR.
In fact, ACR has been part of Photoshop quite a bit longer than Lightroom has existed.
The version of ACR used in Photoshop is the ACR 9th version of ACR. Lightroom 6  uses essentially the same ACR 9.

Adobes $9.99 a month subscription includes both Photoshop CC 2015 and LR CC because the 2 are designed to compliment each other. Adobe has designed to 2 applications so photographers can start their editing in LR, then move to Photoshop to finish editing their images using for more precise tools, additional features, and additional capabilities.


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## Derrel (Jul 24, 2015)

And now an independent person's opinion on the Lightroom/Photoshop connection:

Lightroom. *BUY it*. Own it. Learn it. That will get you off of the $10 a month leasing program Adobe came up with when their customers agreed they would NEVER pay $50 a month for Photoshop. Adobe did not design Lightroom and Photoshop to work as a tandem...they are bundled now at $10 a month because of a massive failed attempt to take millions of licensed OWNERS and convert them to poor sharecroppers who could be forced to pay $50 a month in perpetuity...

Lightroom was "designed" and refined and iterated as *a critical step to counter Apple's growing presence in the photo editing and organizing market *as digital imaging went from serious hobby people only to "everybody with a P&S and everybody with a smartphone camera". Lightroom is designed to be something that can actually help people organize, catalog, and web-publish or print-prepare many,many,many images--something that Photoshop is not capable of doing.

Lightroom was designed because Adobe's lame "Photoshop Elements" application was...totally lame and showing its age and limitations in a very bad way...and other software/computer/hardware industry players, like...Apple Computer...began to present a real, growing, and genuine threat to Adobe's product matrix.

I used Photoshop for 18 years...since I got Lightroom, I BARELY ever open Photoshop...


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## EIngerson (Jul 24, 2015)

kathy65 said:


> Is it easy to teach yourself?




YES!!!! There's nothing out there that Youtube and Google can't teach you. I have never taken a class for photography or editing.


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## jaomul (Jul 24, 2015)

Lightroom and YouTube, another pair that complements each other


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## floatingby (Jul 24, 2015)

I would look at Corel, either Paintshop pro or Aftershot pro depending on what you meant by "editing". Aftershot is more centered around a photographic, RAW workflow while Paintshop leans more toward graphic design. At the current price, you can even get a perpetual license for both for less than the cost of 1 year rental of Adobe equivalent, and they're just as capable programs, in some ways more capable(AS for instance support layers).


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## floatingby (Jul 24, 2015)

Derrel said:


> I used Photoshop for 18 years...since I got Lightroom, I BARELY ever open Photoshop...


Here too, heck, last time I formatted my HD I never even installed either Photoshop or Elements, and I don't miss 'em at all.


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## soufiej (Jul 24, 2015)

kathy65 said:


> What is a good program to buy and use for photo editing? Something that is easy to use for a beginner, but yet has awesome tools to use.





_*GAWD!!! Don't we all luuuuuuuv "Awesome Tools"????!!!!
*_
D'ja ever have a friend who fancied themself an auto mechanic?  Bought the vintage '63 Caddy convertible that has already been a project car for five other owners.  Added on to the garage and had the pit installed so he could stand up to change oil.  Ordered the 5,ooo pack of nitrile gloves and shop towels.  Yada yada then capped it off with the top o' the line:

* 72" 17 Drawer Professional Triple Bank Roller Cabinet *

_72" Triple Bank Roller Tool Cabinet Provides Many Storage Options

This 72-inch black 17 drawer triple tool bank gives you a massive amount of storage room for all your tools and equipment. The drawers offer double steel wall construction for greater strength and stability. The drawer back panel is designed for rigidity to hold more weight and prevent sagging. The drawers are fully extendable with heavy-duty ball-bearing glides, and are strong enough to load with tools and still get smooth opening and closing movement.

The 72" triple bank roller tool cabinet is made of 11-gauge steel with a strong box frame. It moves on six heavy-duty casters (four locking swivels, two fixed) that together can support up to 950 lbs. The cabinet comes with high-density foam drawer liners to help keep your gear in place. There is a separate locking safety drawer to stash valuables when your tool cabinet is open for the work day. Built to last, this unit is protected from corrosion by a high gloss powder coat finish that's scratch, chemical and stain resistant.

_

This 72-inch black 17 drawer triple tool bank provides ample room for all your tools
11-gauge steel construction
Double steel wall drawer construction
Fully extendable drawers with ball-bearing slides can hold from 300 up to 600 lbs.
Separate locking drawer to keep valuables secure when the tool cabinet is unlocked
1 Drawer 50" x 28-1/8" x 4-3/4"
1 Drawers 50" x 28-1/8" x 2"
5 Drawers 13-3/4" x 28-1/8" x 2"
3 Drawers 13-3/4" x 28-1/8" x 4-3/4"
2 Drawers 13-3/4" x 28-1/8" x 10-1/5"
2 Drawers 32-3/4" x 28-1/8" x 2"
3 Drawers 32-3/4" x 28-1/8" x 4-3/4"
Handle fits either end of cabinet
Extra long and two extra-deep drawers for hard-to-fit tools
Comes with a 304 grade 16-gauge stainless top work surface
Modular design allows drawer configuration to be rotated
Double channel spot-welded support brackets
High gloss powder coat AKZO paint finish
Cylinder lock for quick access
_*Wowsers!!! *
_
That's Photoshop.


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## soufiej (Jul 24, 2015)

I doubt anyone here would suggest a "beginner" is best served by owning a $6-10k camera kit.  I would guess everyone here would rightly suggest a student of photography would be best served with a high value camera that is comprehensible and understandable. 

That is not what you get with PS. 

There are several very workable editors out there that actually cost nothing.  A simple search engine will give you at least three or four suggestions for freeware editors which are similar in their results and in their operation to what any beginner would need from Photoshop. 

One that seldom gets mentioned but IMO deserves a look is LightZone; A quick review of the LightZone Photo Editor Digital Photography Review

*IMO you really only need an editor that is capable of opening Raw files, has a high (16) bit count for its operating system, non-destructive editing and a history file for referencing what you've done to the image*. 

Now, I admit I am not a fanatic about editing tools and don't actually care that much about sitting at the computer diddling with an image.  Possibly those more experienced users and those who feel your requirements are more comprehensive than what I've listed will chime in with more must haves for a basic image editor.  That's where I think you will benefit, not a specific recommendation but a more complete list of what you will actually need and use as a student of photography.

Take that list and find some freeware which will serve your purpose now yet not limit your choices for future editing of an older image.  You are though, rather likely to toss out many of your student level images so you need a system that can grow with your expertise. 

When you finally feel it is the software that is your limiting factor, then you move forward with a more extensive system.  By then you will have your own ideas about what you need rather than just having the 72" roller tool chest. 

The same advice would apply to your student level camera gear, until you feel your camera is your real limitation, you don't need more than "X" and anything more than that is likely to get in your way more than assist you. 

Hopefully, not every shot you take will require "awesome tools".  Make it simple on yourself.


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## Bryston3bsst (Jul 24, 2015)

kathy65 said:


> What is a good program to buy and use for photo editing? Something that is easy to use for a beginner, but yet has awesome tools to use.



Confused yet?

Photoshop Elements. Powerful, relatively easy to learn with tutorials and inexpensive. 99% of what you'll ever need to do to a photo you can do with Elements. That is, unless you're a graphic artist. Don't let the 'Creative Cloud' crowd convince you otherwise. There are those that believe that if you're not shooting with $6000 worth of hardware and editing with the Creative Cloud then you are merely a snapshot taker. To that I would say bull shyt.

You're probably going to see a lot of 'disagrees' on this. That would be the 'Creative Cloud' crowd.


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## TCampbell (Jul 24, 2015)

There's a huge difference between Lightroom and Photoshop.  BTW, when you buy the Adobe $10/month subscription, you get both.  You get both... because they are very different.

If you are a "photographer" and not a "digital artist" then most of the time what you want to do with your images is "adjust" them... that's not the same as "editing" them.   

Lightroom is designed to help you manage huge numbers of images (rather than opening one image at a time, you open a library with all your images and can easily move from image to image.)

Lightroom is also designed to help by simplifying image adjustments.  Usually we want to adjust things like white balance, maybe tweak the exposure, deal with highlights & shadows, work on color, sharpening, cropping, etc.    We might even touch out a blemish or scratch.  But what you would NOT do with Lightroom is build a composite image... you wouldn't decide to take an element that wasn't even in the photo and add it.  

One other nice thing about Lightroom is it's ability to work with RAW files without first having to convert them.  It's also a non-destructive tool by nature (it really loads the base image and then applies the adjustments ONLY on your screen (the original RAW file is unchanged.)  When you export a image that you'd like to print or share then it produces a version which is based on that master image plus all the adjustments you made.  You can also remove (or change) any adjustment you made at any time.  Nothing is ever permanent due to the nature of how Lightroom works.

Another nice advantage is the ability to apply global changes to entire shoots.  If I took several images in the same location and with the same lighting then they probably all need the same white balance adjustment (and there may be a number of other adjustments that they all need).  You can "sync" adjustments from one image to a whole range of other images.  This really speeds things along.

That's Lightroom.  

Every "adjustment" you make it Lightroom could also be made in Photoshop... but it would take you a lot longer to do it in Photoshop.  Also, Photoshop is NOT a non-destructive editor, although it has tools that allow you to use it in a non-destructive way.  It doesn't natively work on RAW images... nor any other image format than the .PSD file.  It "imports" your images into a PSD and you get a main background "layer".  Photoshop is then layer-based.  If you make a change in that main background layer, then that change is actually a "destructive" change.  Sure you can do an "undo" if you accidentally apply something unintentionally... but that has limits and once you "save" it's permanent.  Normally you care a new "layer" in front of the background layer and make changes in those layers.  If you are careful to do this by adding a layer for each adjustment, then you can "undo" something by removing that layer (or disabling it).  

The mainstay of Photoshop is to learn to do "selections".  In Photoshop you select a part of an image and then you perform some manipulation on that selection.  Learning all the different ways to create selections is a big part of the tool.  You can then creatively perform manipulations and be very artistic about it.  The manipulations go far beyond what is possible by merely adjusting exposure or color or the sorts of changes one might make in a darkroom.  This is why I refer to it as a tool for digital artists.  

Photoshop has a much steeper learning curve.  BUT... for hard-core editing, it is the most popular tool on the market.  There are a huge assortment of 3rd party add-ons, books, tutorials, and other support for it.... primarily because of it's popularity.  

That's Photoshop.

There are many other tools that can do quite a bit of what you can do in Photoshop.  Adobe is getting away from "selling" software licensing and now you "rent" it by getting a subscription.  The base subscription for photographers is $10/month (but it's a 1 year commitment so it may be better to think of it as $120/year instead of $10/month).  In theory you can buy the traditional perpetual license, but they make this hard to find (so hard to find that I thought they decided to do away with it... then ultimately found out you could do it... then they changed it and the option disappeared again... and while I think it still might be out there, it's a bit of a hide-and-seek game they keep playing.  They do enough so they can get away with saying it's an option, but it's very clear when you use their website that what they REALLY want you to do is get the subscription.

Photoshop Elements is an entry-level version of Photoshop.  It does much of what Photoshop does and it works pretty much the same way.  But it doesn't do everything.  Much of what it does NOT do are things that most regular users would never miss.  If you are a publisher and you're creating a mailing or catalog, then you need a way to do CMYK separations for the printing presses.  Photoshop Elements can't do CMYK separations.   But as a home user, you'd NEVER miss that feature.  But since Elements works pretty much the same way as the full version of Photoshop (with selections and layers, etc.) then once you learn your way around Elements,  making the jump to the full version of Photoshop is easy because it's already familiar.


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## nerwin (Jul 24, 2015)

For photography I use Lightroom most of the time and sometimes I'll bring the photo into Photoshop if I need to use content aware or need to fix something that was unavoidable when shooting. Also use photoshop for doing panoramas and Brenizer  Method and it does it very, very well. Photoshop is a very powerful tool if you know how to use it. I took photoshop classes in school which help out a lot. But there is still so much more that I don't know. I use photoshop for non photography things as well..usually for web design. 

I think Lightroom + Photoshop go together like two peas in a pod.  Its worth every penny. 

Before Lightroom, I used Irfanview! Ahh good times.


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## unpopular (Jul 24, 2015)

floatingby said:


> Derrel said:
> 
> 
> > I used Photoshop for 18 years...since I got Lightroom, I BARELY ever open Photoshop...
> ...



LR feels very, very weak to me. I'd like to get Silky, but $$.

I wouldn't recommend Silky to a beginner though.


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## chuasam (Jul 25, 2015)

floatingby said:


> Derrel said:
> 
> 
> > I used Photoshop for 18 years...since I got Lightroom, I BARELY ever open Photoshop...
> ...


I have both open all the time. Lightroom is really for image asset management. If you're doing any serious amount of retouching, Photoshop is the way to go.


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## raventepes (Jul 26, 2015)

I've been a Photoshop user for a long time now, but I'll also use Corel Paint Shop and Aftershot from time to time if I need something within either of the programs. I've tried Lightroom, and it's a great program, but ultimately found it's not to my liking. 

I'm self taught. I agree that there's a very steep curve there, and I've spent a LONG time pouring over books that helped me along my path, many which were written by Scott Kelby. I don't regret a second of it. In my experience, "Easy" and "Good" don't always belong in the same sentence. Yes. Learning how to use Photoshop was a lot of hard work, but in the end, I prefer it that way. There are no good shortcuts in photography.


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## AlanKlein (Jul 26, 2015)

Buy Lightroom or Photoshop Elements.  Don't lease CC.  It's overkill.  The regular Photoshop is also overkill for a beginner.  If you buy Elements and you also shoot video once in a while, you could get a package that includes Photoshop Premiere Elements for video as well as Photoshop Elements for stills.  That will let you combine stills and videos clips into a DVD show that can be played on your HDTV, computer, YouTube, Facebook, etc.    Of course that's all in addition to photo editing.  Good luck on whatever you decide.   They're all good programs.


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## xgriffin_o2 (Jul 30, 2015)

For basic editing I usually use Faststone Image Viewer, it allows you to edit levels, lighting, colors and curves. It also has a crop board and different filters you can use.

If you're interested in putting watermarks on your pictures Faststone Image Viewer can do that (but if you want to put a watermark on multiple images I recommend Faststone Image Resizer, another good program).

Both are free and very straight-forward and easy to use if you aren't doing anything fancy.


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## TCampbell (Jul 30, 2015)

Incidentally I noticed that Adobe announced today that Adobe Camera RAW 9.1.1 will be the last version of Camera RAW for Photoshop CS6.  Beyond that, they only intend to provide camera RAW updates for Creative Cloud.


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## beagle100 (Jul 31, 2015)

kathy65 said:


> What is a good program to buy and use for photo editing? Something that is easy to use for a beginner, but yet has awesome tools to use.



start with the basics, the free one with the camera (Canon DPP) is pretty good


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## philsphoto (Jul 31, 2015)

Adobe Lightroom is hands down, the best program to use for; your photo library, picture editing, and publishing.  Lightroom has wonderful presets to use on your pictures.  Editing is easy, no where near as complicated as Photoshop.  


Sent by philsphoto.com from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## onepercentx (Aug 1, 2015)

Definitely go with adobe photoshop!  I have cs6 (it's a little older).  It does take some practice because it is more professional, but once you get used to it, you'll be SO happy you learned.  I started using photoshop when I was just 12(back when I was into web design)!


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## dennybeall (Aug 1, 2015)

Lightroom does have some very good features and is designed for file handling but if you are more of a concepts person and started with Photoshop it can be a real adventure.
Lightroom does almost everything different than PS and the Windows File System and it takes some getting used to!!! The biggest thing to me is that LR doesn't actually change anything, it makes another file that contains the changes and also file location information. If you move the photo file and not the attached file you lose all the changes. Not a bad thing just something to get used to.
I'm old and hard headed and have been using the Windows system for 29 years so it's hard to change workflow.
Did use LR for a panorama yesterday and it worked very, very well. Just babbling here, so take the info as you will.


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## philsphoto (Aug 1, 2015)

I do the Adobe $9.99 cloud-based license fee for both Adobe Lightrroom and Adobe Photoshop. As a professional photographer, most of my work is done in LR, Leaving Photoshop for more complex work.  Lightroom is the full workflow package to get 90% of the work done, quick and easy.  


Sent by philsphoto.com from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## philsphoto (Aug 3, 2015)

Yup, if you work in Lightroom, you need to stay in Lightroom.  If you move files, delete files, do it in Lightroom.  LR maintains a catalog of images, it is amazing if you understand that concept.  I love LR because of it's workflow and image editing capabilities.  

When I do a shoot, say a Wedding, I have Lightroom all setup to automatically do the following:

1) Create a named folder for the files.  I do have to type in the name of the gallery.  
2) Add metadata preset to the images right at import.  I have different metadata presets for Weddings, Portraits, etc. My copyright and keywords go in right from the start. 
3) Convert RAW to DNG with a medium image preview. 
4) Apply my favorite preset that applies my sharpening, WB, tone curve, noise reduction, all upon import.

Everything above is nearly automatic.  Then I pick and edit, publish and share. 

5) I use LR to pick my good pictures and reject the bad ones
6) Edit the "pics", crop, clone, heal, and adjust. 
7) Only go into Photoshop when more complex work is needed. 
8) Export edited pictures onto Smugmug, in a gallery I create. 
9) Export to social media. 
10) Delete the rejects.
11) Any picture I re-edit or change later gets synced to my website.  

It's amazing how many hours and hours a good workflow tool and process can save you!




Sent by philsphoto.com from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## GreenJelly (Aug 5, 2015)

No one mentioned Paint.NET?  I guess its a secrete.  Its an easy image editing tool that doesn't have a ton of features for usability reasons.  Its also light weight, good for quick edits.  Open Source (Free) and the interface is similar to Photoshops!

Paint.NET - Download
I have it on my machine now, no spyware or adware.  Completely free! Open Source!

As for a heavier option, I know Photoshop and love it.  If you want to learn it, I hear GIMP is good, but the last I tried it was awhile ago and back then it needed allot more to be as good as Photoshop.  It was also very different from Photoshop.


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## robbins.photo (Aug 5, 2015)

GreenJelly said:


> No one mentioned Paint.NET?  I guess its a secrete.  Its an easy image editing tool that doesn't have a ton of features for usability reasons.  Its also light weight, good for quick edits.  Open Source (Free) and the interface is similar to Photoshops!
> 
> Paint.NET - Download
> I have it on my machine now, no spyware or adware.  Completely free! Open Source!
> ...


I thought the first rule of paint.net was not to talk about paint.net

Sent from my 306SH using Tapatalk


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## philsphoto (Aug 5, 2015)

I tried GIMP, but it's Lightroom/Photoshop all the way for me.  I recommend Google Picasa to friends.  It is free.  


Sent by Phil s Photography Weddings Engagements Portraits from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Dao (Aug 6, 2015)

CyberLink offer PhotoDirector 5 Deluxe free.  (Current version is 6)
PhotoDirector 5 Exclusive Download


So you can give it a try and see if that works for you.  I personally use LR and not too sure how good PhotoDirector 5 is.  But free is free, someone may find it useful.


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## IndianaYakFish (Aug 9, 2015)

Glad this question was asked, as I had the same question and was looking for something free as well.  Just getting started in this photography stuff and at this point I would rather spend money on gear I need instead of software, although I'm sure that'll come in time.  Downloaded LightRoom and am playing around with it.  Seems pretty good for a free download.  Thanks everyone!


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## Jasii (Aug 9, 2015)

IndianaYakFish said:


> Glad this question was asked, as I had the same question and was looking for something free as well.  Just getting started in this photography stuff and at this point I would rather spend money on gear I need instead of software, although I'm sure that'll come in time.  Downloaded LightRoom and am playing around with it.  Seems pretty good for a free download.  Thanks everyone!


Can you please share your download link?


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## IndianaYakFish (Aug 9, 2015)

Jasii said:


> Can you please share your download link?



Sorry, I said LightRoom, but what I meant was LightZone.  It can be downloaded here...  LightZone Open-source digital darkroom software for Windows Mac Linux

You have to create an account to download it, but no big deal.


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## IndianaYakFish (Aug 9, 2015)

Ignore the title on that link in my last post.  There are links to download the versions for Windows and such as well.


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## philsphoto (Aug 12, 2015)

My order of preference for beginners is: Free Google Picasa, when you outgrow that go to Lightroom/Photoshop CC for $9.99 a month.  You can use LR for amazing workflow and editing.    Lastly, Photoshop for those "must be perfect for selling" projects.  GIMP and Photoshop are not for beginners.  


Sent by Phil s Photography Weddings Engagements Portraits from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## RaduStefan (Feb 4, 2016)

There have been enough mentions of Lightroom and Photoshop, so I would recommend two different tools. Not as popular as the Adobe products, but worth trying. 

For retouching - Pixlr. I think it's a great combination of photo editing and designing.
Photo editor online - Pixlr.com

For productivity - BatchPhoto. It is effective when you have to do batch resizing, converting, watermarking or date/time stamping.
BatchPhoto — Powerful Image Converter, Watermarker and Resizer Software


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## table1349 (Feb 4, 2016)

RaduStefan said:


> There have been enough mentions of Lightroom and Photoshop, so I would recommend two different tools. Not as popular as the Adobe products, but worth trying.
> 
> For retouching - Pixlr. I think it's a great combination of photo editing and designing.
> Photo editor online - Pixlr.com
> ...


Photoshop and Lightroom have been mentioned multiple times because frankly they are at the top of the game, have been so for a long time and continue to stay there offering an amazing set of tools.  There are also literally thousands of individuals and companies that write plug-in that enhance the capability of the programs and make virtually any editing job easier as well as Digital Asset Management. 

I would ask what reasons you have for recommending the above two programs.  What tools have they that are equal too photoshop and or Lightroom.  Neither of them seem to have much strength in Digital Asset Management, a strong component of Lightroom.  Neither have what seem to be much in the way of layer tools.  An important part of most quality editing software such as Photoshop.  Most of the tools seem to be simplified stock effects that can be applied.  

Sorry but for a first post in an old thread this leaves a flavor of SPAM in my mouth.


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## RaduStefan (Feb 4, 2016)

First of all, I would like to apologize if my message was perceived as a spam. I have absolutely nothing to do with the companies that have created those tools. I simply mentioned them because, from my point of view, they are simple, easy to use and can streamline certain operations. 

I think everyone is entitled to an opinion, even if the idea expressed differs from the rest.


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## table1349 (Feb 4, 2016)

Fair enough.  

I am curious though, what are some of the features that make them worth considering?   

As a Mac user Affininty photo is the closest to Photoshop that I have found.  It is inexpensive compared to Photoshop, has virtually all the same tools.  The layout is a bit different if you have used photoshop and takes a bit of getting used to.  The one improvement I have found is its rendering speed.  Blows photoshop out of the water for speed.  How they do it I don't know, but they do.  It is not a subscription program like Adobe is going to.  Non destruction Raw editing, a must have.  

Down side, well for some, it is currently Mac only.


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## RaduStefan (Feb 4, 2016)

I mentioned Pixlr because, at least to me, it is a successful online version of Photoshop. It is easy to use, easy to navigate and it provides great editing options, including some overlays which I find one of a kind.

On the other hand, BatchPhoto is a completely different tool. It is designed to streamline certain repeatable operations. It's not the ideal program if you aspire after brilliant retouching, but it's the right one if you want to automate operations like resizing or watermarking.


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## The_Traveler (Feb 4, 2016)

RaduStefan said:


> I mentioned Pixlr because, at least to me, it is a successful online version of Photoshop. It is easy to use, easy to navigate and it provides great editing options, including some overlays which I find one of a kind.
> 
> On the other hand, BatchPhoto is a completely different tool. It is designed to streamline certain repeatable operations. It's not the ideal program if you aspire after brilliant retouching, but it's the right one if you want to automate operations like resizing or watermarking.



Pixlr is remarable for the price and is available as a DLable app.


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## sm3g (Feb 8, 2016)

Don't know if this is every one's cup of tea but:
install | darktable
This is a free alternative to Lightroom - currently the developer targets OSX/Linux however a kind soul has also ported it to windows:
Partha's Place

Given it's 100% freeware if you like the sort of thing Lightroom offers but not he price tag, I suggest giving this a go (I am not affiliated with this product in anyway, a guy from some other forums I lurk posted this one).


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