Need advice on editing software..

StarryEyedGirl · May 27, 2013

Hello all

I am looking for advice on what editing software is best, at the lowest price

Of course I would love photoshop, but I'm poor, lol. I am thinking lightroom 4 possibly, but I know there are more out there, so I am looking for opinions and advice. I would love the ability to remove objects, and add backgrounds, increase color saturation, etc.. Yes, I am a beginner, and not very knowledgeable on such programs, but I am a fast learner. I have no real way of editing my photographs, nothing professional anyway. Thank you for your help in advance!

Kim..

Big Mike · May 27, 2013

My favorite software (when it comes to photography) is Adobe Lightroom. It's what I call a 'workflow' software. It does 95% of what I need to do 95% of the time. It's great at organizing and archiving all my photos, and very good 'global' edits (color, tone, brightness etc). It's even pretty good at some selective editing. But that it lacks, is the ability to layer images...so it's not something that you would use to change a background, or swap heads etc.
For something like that, you'll want an actual image editing software...Photoshop CS being 'the best' but also very expensive. Have a look at Photoshop Elements. It's a 'lite' version of CS, but it's much less expensive. You might even check out 'GIMP', which is a free image editing software.

Also, keep in mind that Adobe is switching to a 'creative cloud' system, where you don't buy the software, but pay a monthly fee for the license to use it. I think their price for Photoshop CS is something like $20/month.

texkam · May 27, 2013

As mentioned, LR is not really editing software, but rather a workflow solution. It is very good at what it does. GIMP, the "Open Source" alternative continues to improve, but still is only capable of 8 bit color depth, however 16 bit is on the drawing board. Take a look at Paint.net Paint.NET - Free Software for Digital Photo Editing. It's not open source, but it's free. Other considerations:
Picasa
...and the list: Comparison of raster graphics editors - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

StarryEyedGirl · May 27, 2013

Thanks so much! I am thinking of purchasing Photoshop Elements 11, the price isn't bad and it may be all I need. But I've read really good things about lightroom, lol. Maybe eventually I'll end up with both, lol. I had totally forgotten about GIMP, I have it downloaded on my old, very slow laptop. Maybe I'll open it up and look at it again.

Thanks again for your input, I really do appreciate it!

StarryEyedGirl · May 27, 2013

texkam said:
As mentioned, LR is not really editing software, but rather a workflow solution. It is very good at what it does. GIMP, the "Open Source" alternative continues to improve, but still is only capable of 8 bit color depth, however 16 bit is on the drawing board. Take a look at Paint.net Paint.NET - Free Software for Digital Photo Editing. It's not open source, but it's free. Other considerations:
Picasa
...and the list: Comparison of raster graphics editors - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks! Will definitely check these others out. I actually use Picasa at the moment, but was looking for something a little more in depth, something to remove electrical lines and such from pictures..

texkam · May 27, 2013

2.8.4 is the most currant release. It's also available as a portable app.

There are also online photo editors.
Five Best Online Image Editors
Photo editor | PicMonkey: Free Online Photo Editing

Tailgunner · May 27, 2013

If you're shooting with a Nikon, you may want to read up on Capture Nikon NX2. You can find it as low as $130.00.

dbvirago · May 27, 2013

Best bang for the buck is probably elements, but I wouldn't want to handle my workflow without LR. If you can swing both of those, that will take you a long way before you need to think about full Photoshop.

KmH · May 27, 2013

StarryEyedGirl said:
I am thinking of purchasing Photoshop Elements 11, the price isn't bad and it may be all I need. But I've read really good things about lightroom, lol.

Lightroom 4's Develop module is essentially the same software that is PsE 11's Camera Raw.

Both use ACR 7 (Adobe Camera Raw).

So, if you get PsE 11 you'll gain little if any image editing capability over Lightroom. PsE 11 has many tools and capabilities Lightroom does not have, precision selection tools, layers, masking capabilities, better cloning and healing tools etc.

Lightroom is primarily designed for working photographers that make a lot of images that they need to monetize.

dbvirago · May 27, 2013

The main reason I go to Photoshop from LR is if I need to clone something out that the LR clone tool can't handle. If LR could overcome that limitation, I would likely never leave it.

Dikkie · May 28, 2013

Try ACDSee Pro 6, download the trial on their website.
Download the trial of AfterShot Pro (by Corel) too. And some other trials of other software companies.
Then you can compare which suits you the best, for quality, workflow, tools, price , ...

Big Mike · May 28, 2013

dbvirago said:
The main reason I go to Photoshop from LR is if I need to clone something out that the LR clone tool can't handle. If LR could overcome that limitation, I would likely never leave it.

Have you seen/tried LR 5? The clone/heal tool can is now a brush, not just a spot.