# good photo editing software/programs for amateur?



## mommyfran

I'm just starting my journey photography. So I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice in what the best editing program would be for me to start with? It would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!​


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## 480sparky

GIMP if you're poor, PhotoShophttp://www.photoshop.com/ if you're rich.


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## MTVision

Photoshop elements 9 is good and under 100.00! If you are a student or teacher you can get Photoshop for 200.00


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## cgipson1

I agree with Sparky... GIMP is probably your best bet.. works well and lots of features. Photoshop is awesome, but very expensive. CorelDraw is an option too.. but it is not the standard, and is rather expensive also. You can get the Corel Paintshop Photo for like $29  or so..  Corel - Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 Ultimatebut I think GIMP is better, and totally free.


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## Peano

Any version of Photoshop Elements -- even back to 3.0 or 4.0 -- is fine for learning the basics 
and would be very inexpensive. I started on Elements 3.0 when it wasn't current. 

If you go that route, get the free layer mask add-on and, as early as convenient, begin learning 
about (and working with) layers and masks. One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is 
destructive editing directly on image pixels rather than working with adjustment layers and masks.
Not working with adjustment layers is the dead giveaway of a novice.


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## skieur

Paintshop Pro Photo X3 Ultimate is better than Photoshop Elements, is photoshop-like in features and runs Photoshop Plug-Ins.  Express Lab is the equivalent of Lightroom but built-in to the program rather than an extra cost.  I have Photoshop CS5 as well, but for speed, Paintshop Pro Photo X3 is excellent.

skieur


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## usayit

In my experience, most of what a photobeginner has in mind when they think photo editing falls well into the capabiliies of Lightroom.  

Those that think more along the lines of photomanipulation, will be fine with Elements and or GIMP.

If you really get hooked, start saving and the purchase price of Photoshop will seem like a bargain....   There is a reason why some wouldnt blink twice on spending $1500 on a lens but have a problem spending $630 on Photoshop.    Its a lack of understanding ofnthe capabilities of the later.  Just like outside this circle would not understand nor spend $1500 on a lens.

I personally use lightroom 3 with GIMP amd an outdated version of PS.  My wife loves Picassa but isnt interested in photography as much as simply capturing moments.


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## JohnPAtl

+1 to usayit.. Elements is a good program however Lightroom is a great one and has good features, lots of great books that go along with it.
look up Scott Kelby's books on Elements and Lightroom, Lightroom is designed with a photographer in mind.. if you need layout, art type things then elements is fine


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## mommyfran

thanks to all! ya'll have been very helpful, i will be checking all these out & weighing my options!


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## bigheadkyle2

If you like to keep things legal then GIMP is your best bet. If you know someone that is a teacher or student you can get them to get the discount from Adobe and Photoshop is $199. If you don't care about being legal then there may or may not be certain ways to get photoshop free


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## cgipson1

bigheadkyle2 said:


> If you like to keep things legal then GIMP is your best bet. If you know someone that is a teacher or student you can get them to get the discount from Adobe and Photoshop is $199. If you don't care about being legal then there may or may not be certain ways to get photoshop free



yea.. and viruses to boot... most torrents have backdoors, and other nasty stuff built into them... but hey, do what you want.


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## 480sparky

cgipson1 said:


> yea.. and viruses to boot... most torrents have backdoors, and other nasty stuff built into them... but hey, do what you want.



Who said anything about torrents? Besides, I've never had any virus issues.


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## cgipson1

480sparky said:


> cgipson1 said:
> 
> 
> 
> yea.. and viruses to boot... most torrents have backdoors, and other nasty stuff built into them... but hey, do what you want.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Who said anything about torrents? Besides, I've never had any virus issues.
Click to expand...


I think " If you don't care about being legal then there may or may not be certain ways to get photoshop free ;-)" makes it pretty obvious what he was talking about. I work in IT.. with a slant on security. There are a lot of torrent users don't know what they have, and their antivirus may or may not catch it   . All I will say on the subject.. don't want to hijack the thread.


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## KmH

bigheadkyle2 said:


> If you don't care about being legal then there may or may not be certain ways to get photoshop free


Advocating copyright infringement on a forum frequented by creatives that have a vested interst in protecting their own intellectual property is not cool.

On many photography forums it would be grounds for being bannished.


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## Mike K

If you own a Canon, don't overlook Digital Photo Professional which came free with your camera on CD. It's the only program I've used and I was surprised at the things you can do with it.


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## WesternGuy

mommyfran said:


> I'm just starting my journey photography. So I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice in what the best editing program would be for me to start with? It would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!​



You can download any Adobe product, Lightroom, Photoshop Elements, etc., and use it free for 30 days here: Adobe - Downloads , so if you are interested in trying either or both then you might want to think about the free (for 30 days) downloads.  If you decide to go with either product, then I would buy a good book and work through the examples in the book.  Most "good" books will have a web site where you can download a lot of the images in the book for your convenience, to work with as you read through the book itself. Not only that, but there are a number of sites on the web which have tutorials and such for you to follow through as well as a number of discussion forums for each relevant product.  For example, a good one for Photoshop Elements can be found here: Elements Village - Powered by vBulletin and for Lightroom, you can find one here: Lightroom Forums There are, of course others, as well as many "learning sites" as I have indicated.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

WesternGuy


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## PerfectShotPhoto

Great tip from WesternGuy.  I agree.  Trying them out is the best way.  Do keep in mind that certain programs have higher learning curves than others so you'll have to be patient.  Youtube is also a great place to find tutorials on software.


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## trizzo

If you shoot with Nikon take a look at Nikon View NX2. It has a lot of options how to edit your shots.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk


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## dec11ad

or google "gimp" and give that a shot.

it's free....


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## shootermcgavin

Photoshop elements 9 has tons of features, I can't really see needing more than that for editing photos...  Unless you're looking to make them fake and have lazer beams shooting out of eyes and stuff like that.  I'd say it'd take about 40hours on youtube to learn elements 9 and feel comfortable


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## BuS_RiDeR

480sparky said:


> GIMP if you're poor, PhotoShop if you're rich.



I use GIMP almost exclusively for all my PP needs from simple cropping, converting to B&W or Sepia, or more advanced stuff like changing a background or fixing blemishes....  

Its FREE and very powerful. Also there are MANY YouTube tutorials for GIMP.

I am definitely a poor man and I love it.

WWW.GIMP.ORG


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## KmH

Compared to Photoshop CS, GIMP has some serious limitations.

No Raw converter, though there are plug-ins
No image browser, organizer
Limited bit-depth editing capablility


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## 480sparky

FWIW, I'd rather spend money today on gear than software.  Getting good images now is more important than having fancy software.  When I can afford PhotoShop and it's entourage of plug-ins, my archives will still be there.


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## mwdoher

Can I ask what the general consensus is on Apple's Aperture 3?  It's only $80 and I've got a gift card... Just trying to get set up and get started with something entry level.  I have a copy of PS CS4 that I have from work.  I "get it" that I should just use that, but Aperture - while I get started and learn the ropes - just seems to be pretty user friendly.  PS just looks kind of daunting.   Thoughts?


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## KmH

You have in PS CS4 Camera Raw (ACR 5), the parametric image editing equivelent both Aperture 2 and it's Adobe counterpart - the Develope module of Lightroom 2, have.
PS CS4 Bridge allows many of the file management workflow features both Aperture and Lightroom offer, like rating and keywording.

PS CS4 is pretty user friendly, but it offers features, functions, and capabilities well beyond what Aperture and Lightroom have available, making the PS CS4 learning curve longer.

PS CS4 may be more approachable as 3 separate applications Bridge, Camera Raw, and Photoshop.

Certainly any application will have a learning curve and having some guidance is always helpful:
Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS4


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## mwdoher

Love the way that book is laid out (thank you Amazon.com preview feature).  I'm not a PS rookie, but I am when it comes to photography editing.  Consider the book purchased.  I'll make the effort to use the Adobe suite as it was intended, and I'll use my gift card @ apple to buy a memory card and a reader.

Matt

Oh, and TY for the reply, KmH


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## BuS_RiDeR

KmH said:


> Compared to Photoshop CS, GIMP has some serious limitations.
> 
> No Raw converter, though there are plug-ins
> No image browser, organizer
> Limited bit-depth editing capablility



But Gimp is *free*...  And the limitations you mentioned aren't that big of a deal for the average beginer or amateur photographer.


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## dmtx

I am testing Paintshop Pro Photo X4.  Much better than X3 on speed, handling RAW files, etc.   

I also like the power of Lightroom  + Gimp or PSE/PSP.


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## investmenttechnology

why is money even a factor, haven't you guys heard of torrent?


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## usayit

becuase it is illegal.... and in some forums would get you banned.


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## BuS_RiDeR

investmenttechnology said:


> why is money even a factor, haven't you guys heard of torrent?



I like to pay for the products and services I use... 

You can't just walk into the camera shop and grab a dSLR of the counter... Why should you be able to steal the software???


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## 480sparky

investmenttechnology said:


> why is money even a factor, haven't you guys heard of torrent?



Why do you pay for your gear.... why not just break into the camera store at 3am and take what you want?


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## gerardo2068

mwdoher said:
			
		

> Can I ask what the general consensus is on Apple's Aperture 3?  It's only $80 and I've got a gift card... Just trying to get set up and get started with something entry level.  I have a copy of PS CS4 that I have from work.  I "get it" that I should just use that, but Aperture - while I get started and learn the ropes - just seems to be pretty user friendly.  PS just looks kind of daunting.   Thoughts?



I personally use Aperture 3 with PS CS5. I tried Lightroom but I just love the organization used in Aperture. Aperture also covers many of my basic needs and for some advance editing I export to PS CS5.


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## mommyfran

I have been using Gimp for now, however I am saving for Photoshop! It's a little pricey for me to just shell it out at this moment in time. lol


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## DennyCrane

Mike K said:


> If you own a Canon, don't overlook Digital Photo Professional which came free with your camera on CD. It's the only program I've used and I was surprised at the things you can do with it.


This- 
I do the majority of my major corrections to RAW files in DPP. I'll open Gimp for things like tilt, cropping, and the clone/heal tools. Also, Gimp has some good artistic tools as well. But on my last 2 shoots, about 125 shots each, all work was done in DPP. In fact, it was mind-numbingly simple, since you can get all your corrections set, save the recipe and past it into each shot afterward... saving a bunch of time.


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## Overread

*Notice* 
The site does not advocate nor support the theft of property, be it physical or digital items. Photoshop might be expensive, but so was your camera; work save and earn the cash to buy it; or join a course and get official student status since students in education get significant discounts on the software.


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## kojack

I was using psp x2 and enjoyed it alot.  Since switching to macs I have been playing with aperture.  I think it has everything I need for editing.  Now I have to organize my drive as the photos are named everything and there is no flow to how I started.  Things you learn as you grow as a photographer.   I do love me some apple products for computing and tech tho.  They are great.


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## kojack

I was using psp x2 and enjoyed it alot.  Since switching to macs I have been playing with aperture.  I think it has everything I need for editing.  Now I have to organize my drive as the photos are named everything and there is no flow to how I started.  Things you learn as you grow as a photographer.   I do love me some apple products for computing and tech tho.  They are great.


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## marcy

Photoshop, coreldraw are very useful.


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## Peano

mommyfran said:


> I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice in what the best editing program would be for me to start with?



Photoshop Elements. Even an older version would be fine. I started on Elements 3.0 when the current full version of Photoshop was CS2. I could do many things with my old Elements that many with the latest full version couldn't do -- not because CS2 lacked the capabilities but because the users lacked the skills. Elements is a very sophisticated editor. Get any old version and start playing.


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