Photo editing software

[Waterbug]

For ease of use and most useful features, what is the best editing software?

I have read multiple reviews, but would like advise from someone who actually use the product.

 

[ronlane]

Is there anything else but Creative Cloud (Lightroom and CS6)? Joking. I think that Lightroom is fairly easy to use and when combined in CC with CS6, has ALL the features a photographer could ever want and then some.

 

[Designer]

For ease of use and most useful features, what is the best editing software?

I have read multiple reviews, but would like advise from someone who actually use the product.

Your question is ambiguous.

We don't know your experience level, your tolerance for learning new software, your budget, and your operating system. Additionally, someone else's idea of "most useful" might not be yours.

Which softwares are you considering?

 

[Dao]

I do not know which one is the best software. But I use LR myself and like it ever since I bought it.

 

[KmH]

Photo editing software that does the least is the easiest to use.
Any good photo editing application will be pretty complicated and will entail a leaning curve.
By the way, digital photo editing applications are raster graphics editing software.

I've been using Photoshop almost daily for a lot of years and am still learning how to use it.
Two of the best free photo editing applications are GIMP.org and Photoscape.org,
There are some books and online resources to help with learning how to use GIMP. I don't know about resources for Photoscape.

Of the paid for photo editing applications Photoshop Elements is the most used and is backed up by a ton of resources to help you learn how to use it.

 

[DslrGuy]

I mainly stick with Adobe Photoshop CS6 and Lightroom 5. Pretty rare I find myself using another software outside of those two.

 

[480sparky41 40]

There is no such thing as 'the best' software, any more than there is 'the best' car or 'the best' orange juice or 'the best' camera.

Every editing program has its pros and cons, and you need to decide what you need, want and desire, and find one that is within your budget.

Yes, money is a factor, at least for the majority of us working slobs. Don't matter if it's great software..... if we can't afford it it isn't 'the best'.

 

[Tabe]

I use Photoshop Elements 10 for all my editing. You can do tons and tons of great things with it, for a fraction of the cost of the full program.

 

[KmH]

Photoshop Elements 10 was a fraction of the cost of Photoshop CS 3 (Photoshop 10, not the Elements 10 ).
Back then Photoshop CS 3 had a retail price of $699.
The current version of Elements is the $88 Adobe Photoshop Elements 13 .

Adobe's pricing model for the pro grade version of Photoshop has changed.
Adobe now offers Photoshop 2014 CC (Photoshop 15) and Lightroom 5 only by subscription @ $9.99 a month.

 

[rudimaes]

Photoshop Elements 12 and 13 have a quick, guided and expert edit mode, so you can f.i. start with the guided mode and then look up in the Expert mode how
it's been done. There are also many books and youtube videos on Photoshop Elements.
Rudi

 

[Andreas Timm Photography]

95% I use Lightroom. The rest Photoshop.

As said in another post: There is not THE answer to this. Depends on budget, needs, etc.

Enjoy Photography!

Andreas

 

[Waterbug]

For ease of use and most useful features, what is the best editing software?

I have read multiple reviews, but would like advise from someone who actually use the product.

Your question is ambiguous.

We don't know your experience level, your tolerance for learning new software, your budget, and your operating system. Additionally, someone else's idea of "most useful" might not be yours.

Which softwares are you considering?

I am a newbie. I have been shooting for a few months after being away from the hobby for many years. I use a macbook and don't want to spend too much over $100. I would like something that would manage my photos too. I have considered lightroom. I am not opposed to learning how to use the software; but would like something that could do some simple as well as advanced editing should I venture into that. I have read that if you shoot in daylight, some programs will actually apply nd filters etc. I usually shoot right before sundown, but you never know when an opportunity may arise to capture something interesting. I have also done early morning. I haven't scouted something out and returned later to shoot it. I am not opposed to that, but haven't done that yet.

Thanks

 

[DustinB]

As stated, there are many options. Based on what you said about organizing photos and being able to move into advanced editing, I would recommend the $9.99/mo Lightroom and Photoshop bundle. There's a bit of a learning curve, but not many programs have the vast amount of free tutorials available for lightroom and photoshop. You can do nearly anything you can imagine, plus there's a lot of plugins available should you want to simplify or make some things quicker.

Check out youtube for some getting started with lightroom tutorials and then basic lightroom editing. That should give you a feel for what you would be getting into. You can do some pretty advanced things in lightroom, if you can't do something in lightroom you'll have photoshop too.

 

[dennybeall]

If you want the ability to take on any post processing challenge that comes up and have an ongoing challenge that will absolutely keep your mind sharp and challenged for the foreseeable future then go with a subscription to Photoshop CC(2014) and Lightroom.
Not easy, a good value and capable of just about anything you can think up. Don't know how to do a particular thing - just go to youtube and watch a video on it........

 

[bratkinson]

When I bought my first digital camera about 2002 (a Canon G3), it came with 'Photoshop LE' - as in "limited edition". It could do all the basic things I thought I needed to do to get my photographs 'presentable'. I finally upgraded to Lightroom and Photoshop Elements about 5-6 years ago and have found those to very sufficient for my needs. In comparison to Photoshop LE of 2002, the current versions are light-years more advanced and easier to use, once I learned about white balance and noise control.