Which Photo program is best??

Karalee · Feb 23, 2004

I havent really used any photo shop type programs before and am going to buy one but want to know which is better the adobe photoshop or Microsoft one? Is there a difference? Or is there something better out there that you all are keeping a secret lol. Any opinions, Im definately open for suggestions.

voodoocat · Feb 24, 2004

I would recommend Photoshop Elements or Paint Shop Pro over any other software.

Dew · Feb 24, 2004

photoshop

Goofup · Feb 24, 2004

Which is one is "best" for you... depends.

If all you're going to do some color, contrast, etc. correcting, resizing, cropping, etc., MS Picture It!, PhotoPaint, and the others in the <$50 range will do just fine for now and are pretty easy to work with and learn.

At the other end is Photoshop CS. There's nothing it won't do(!), but, for a beginner remember that it's about $600 and has a pretty good learning curve to it! (In other words, it's the only program you'll ever need- partly cause it's the only one you can afford).

In the middle group around $100 is Photoshop Elements 2.0 (yep, same people as above) that will do roughly 85% of what CS does. There's also Paint Shop Pro 8. These also have a learning curve- not as steep as CS but steeper than Picture It!.

What ever you get, stick with it and learn it. You'd be amazed what any of these programs can do once you tear into them.

vonnagy · Feb 24, 2004

good comments goofup.

one thing to keep in mind though is that you will probably find more folks who know photoshop than other programs - it maybe harder to find help for the other programs. PShop has myriads of tutorials across the web and your more apt to get a response here if you ask how stuff is done in photoshop.

I personally think its worth the learning curve and i still use an old version of pshop (5.5)

(nudge, nudge - anyone willing to share

)

voodoocat · Feb 24, 2004

vonnagy said:
good comments goofup.

one thing to keep in mind though is that you will probably find more folks who know photoshop than other programs - it maybe harder to find help for the other programs. PShop has myriads of tutorials across the web and your more apt to get a response here if you ask how stuff is done in photoshop.

I personally think its worth the learning curve and i still use an old version of pshop (5.5)

(nudge, nudge - anyone willing to share )

Thank you vonnagy for clearing that up. That is what I had in mind when I recommended it over other software packages. You will find far more tutorials and people that can help when you use Photoshop (or Elements). PSP is close to Photoshop as well. I am currently in the process of putting together an extensive list of tips in the stickied thread at the top of this forum.

Vonnagy, if you can update to 6.0 or higher, I would do that. You're missing out on some great tools