What is the best...

djtyrrell · Jan 23, 2007

i would like to start taking photography more seriously, i am in the market for a new laptop anyways but what i would like to no is what is the best photography program out for the most reasonable amount of money, i no that you can get some that range up to £600-700 but i would be looking at spend kinda upto ...around £300 maximum.

Cheers

Stu

Big Mike · Jan 23, 2007

Adobe Photoshop is the king of photo/image editing and manipulation...but it's expensive. Adobe Photoshop Elements is like Photoshop 'Lite'...it's pretty close to Photoshop but a fair bit less expensive.

You may also want to consider a 'work flow' software as well. Adobe Lightroom, is currently available as a free Beta version...but won't be free forever. RAW Shooter Essentials is also free but won't support the newest cameras because Adobe bought them out.

There are also programs like Paint Shop Pro...which should be less expensive than Photoshop...but I don't know much about them.

Don Simon · Jan 23, 2007

If you're a student you can get Photoshop CS2 for around £100, if not then the full version of Photoshop is a bit more expensive (about 5-6 times more). Photoshop Elements on the other hand is much more affordable than the full version at £60.

just x joey · Jan 23, 2007

i didn't pay for my photoshop :meh: it was toooo expensive.

Robbie · Jan 23, 2007

Who would pay for their photoshop ?

Why not burn it ? Or..borrow it off a friend, install it, and hand it back ?

xfloggingkylex · Jan 23, 2007

Robbie said:
Who would pay for their photoshop ?

Why not burn it ? Or..borrow it off a friend, install it, and hand it back ?

well someone had to pay for it to get that original copy floating around.

I personally use GIMP because none of my friends have photoshop and GIMP fits my college budget perfectly (free).

Big Mike · Jan 23, 2007

Robbie said:
Who would pay for their photoshop ?

This forum does not support or endorse software piracy. We can't tell you how to run your lives...but please don't discuss illegal software trading/stealing on this forum.

fmw · Jan 23, 2007

Robbie said:
Who would pay for their photoshop ?

Someone who isn't a thief?

MACollum · Jan 23, 2007

I've heard that GIMP is a good program but I've also heard that you have to download it in pieces and sort of put it together (something about the open source thing; I'm no programmer though). Is there a place where you can download it in one installer package?

Lars Leber · Jan 23, 2007

I use Photoshop on my laptop. It is awesome but pricey. My wife uses Ulead PhotoImpact on her computer. Looks pretty good for less than $100.

xfloggingkylex · Jan 24, 2007

MACollum said:
I've heard that GIMP is a good program but I've also heard that you have to download it in pieces and sort of put it together (something about the open source thing; I'm no programmer though). Is there a place where you can download it in one installer package?

http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html

that is the link to the automated installer for GIMP 2.2 (the most recent stable version). you'll need to download the "Gimp for windows" file (only if you use windows of course) as well as the GTK 2+ environment for your operating system.

www.gimp.org only has source coding so yes, you would need to piece that together.

Jeremy Z · Jan 25, 2007

Since you're willing to spend the money, you might as well get Photoshop (CS?) and have the industry standard. I think it is around $600. You can do just about anything with this.

If you don't think you will be doing a lot of complex image manipulation, you might try Photoshop Elements, which is $100.

Personally, I use the RAW software that came with my Pentax, do the basic editing in there, then save as JPEG. However, 90+% of my work is done with the simple and free Irfanview. I used it for a couple years as freeware, then finally registered it for $25. It does a lot of basic stuff and is very easy to use. (especially once you learn the keyboard shortcuts) Give it a go.

www.irfanview.com

MACollum · Jan 25, 2007

xfloggingkylex said:
http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html

that is the link to the automated installer for GIMP 2.2 (the most recent stable version). you'll need to download the "Gimp for windows" file (only if you use windows of course) as well as the GTK 2+ environment for your operating system.

www.gimp.org only has source coding so yes, you would need to piece that together.

Thanks! I'm not as into computer stuff as I used to be, but I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I've heard nothing but good things about GIMP.

PetersCreek · Jan 25, 2007

fmw said:
Someone who isn't a thief?

Exactly! What gets me is that some folks would complain bitterly if someone violated copyright on their photos...but then turn around and pirate software without a second thought.

If one isn't a student, there is another legal, ethical way to save money on Photoshop. I purchased a legal copy of PS6 then purchased the upgrade version of CS2. I saved well over 50% compared to the full price version.