Photo editor for Novice

[petrochemist]

I've always found elements far more complex & powerful than I need. I've had a copy available since 2011 and can count the number of times I've used it on my fingers.

I find the free FastStone to be really simple & yet capable of doing the vast majority of what I need. It's not good for selective processing (no layers & masks) and I wouldn't try panoramic stitching, focus stacking or HDR with it, but for hue, brightness, contrast etc adjustments along with dust removal, resizing, cropping etc. it works well.

 

[PhotoHobbyist]

Gimp is free, powerful, but cryptic. Seems they are all cryptic to me.

 

[Don Fischer]

I have been flying my drone for a year or so now and have been editing my video in Capcut. I have been getting into photos more and more lately. Can anyone recommend an easy-to-use photo editor? something a 75-year-old novice could understand. One that is sophisticated enough to merge HDR photos? I'm capturing some pretty decent stuff and would like to improve my final product. I don't want to get bogged down with software that will be too overwhelming. I need something simple and straightforward.... and hopefully, free. Thanks!

I've been using Picasa, free version, a long time and worked for me. I have Photoshop and a brother in Mich that can use it. I, on the other hand, fail terribly!

 

[RacePhoto]

I'm surprised no one mentioned this. Affinity, free trial $69 for the license. Best Photo Editing Software | Affinity Photo

I have it, but I also bought Elements 2020 which still works fine for what I need to do. Affinity is the non-destructive kind of editor where you export your work and keep the original file, unchanged.

 

[Thiophilos]

Irfanview and Faststone are both free and capable. So is Photos that comes with Windows. And Digital Photo Pro 4 by Canon is pro-level (useful if you shoot Canon).

 

[RacePhoto]

Irfanview and Faststone are both free and capable. So is Photos that comes with Windows. And Digital Photo Pro 4 by Canon is pro-level (useful if you shoot Canon).

Probably the first thing I install on every computer I own is Irfanview. Doesn't matter if I have Photoshop CC or CS#, Elements, or Affinity or half a dozen others. I consider it a file management tool, more than a photo editor. BUT... for fast editing, nothing fancy, make a websize, color corrections, and crops, plus batch processing, rename, thumbnails, and over a dozen other things, it runs 8bf filters, and F12 it has Paint included. Yes, Irfanview is my favorite of all time.

Ever want to do a circle crop on a JPG, it does it, easier than anything else. FREE!

 

[Thiophilos]

I use Irfanview mostly for quick viewing and editing of pics, but it is also my fav app for making MP4 slide shows. It is fantastic for doing batch processing. You can crop hundreds of pics precisely and fix contrast/brightness all in one swoop. It also does text, drawing, and limited cloning.

Irfanview is able to deal with my raw files, probably by reading the embedded JPG.

Yes, always gotta have Irfanview on the computer.

 

[dstreetphoto]

Try Zoner Photo Studio. Its very capable, easy to learn and use.

 

[tinytmp]

@AlanKlein software has always been a "license" only purchase. It used to be that updates were only free during a specified term, but the software continued to be usable until hardware updates made it obsolete. Over the last few years the rapid advances in technology have shortened the useful life without updates. Elements amortization over 3 yrs is $20/yr, you can get the individual CC for another $100/yr.

What really burns me is the accounting software license I've used for many years used to be about $600, but you could generally get 5 years before it became obsolete. A few years ago they went to a 1 year term license, and with continuing price increases they're up to over $500 for renewal acft calculator. Microsoft Office 365 is a 1 year term at $99/yr. Technology is great, but it comes with a cost.

Photoscape X is a great, easy-to-use photo editor that supports HDR merging and is perfect for beginners. It’s free and has a clean interface that won’t overwhelm you. Fotor is another simple option with HDR capabilities and a user-friendly design, available online or as a desktop app. If you want something more advanced but still manageable, Darktable is a free alternative to Lightroom with good HDR support—just a slightly steeper learning curve. All are solid choices for improving your photos without getting bogged down in complex software.