Photo Editing Software

[Jarrotk]

I was looking into purchasing Photo Shop CS3 and wanted to know how people react to this software, or is there another prefered brand of software to edit photos that I should be looking into.

Just wanted to get a good overview of what is out there and what will do the best job for an amateur photographer.

Thanks!

[Keith Reeder]

Hi Jarrotk,

CS3 is the de facto standard for image processors, and with good reason.

I have to say though that although I own CS3, I very rarely use it - preferring instead Paint Shop Pro X (PSP X) which I find to be more intuitive, less bloated, and (for my purposes) more effective in terms of use and end results.

I just prefer the image quality I get from PSP processed images: there's a little gem of a sharpening tool in PSP called "Focus", and it results in more pleasing sharpening results than anything I can achieve in CS3, even using multiple iterations of Smart Sharpen at low settings in LAB mode.

CS3 has far more to it, and interfaces seamlessly with ACR and Bridge, but - for me - PSP gets the nod pretty much every time.

[Jarrotk]

Keith, thanks so much for your advice, I will try the Paint Shop Pro x.

[brianchapman]

Photoshop is undoubtedly the standard for image editing so I don't think you can go wrong learning and using it. If you're shooting RAW it is a pretty big deal for me to have the integrated workflow.

It would probably be a good idea to take a look at the types of image editing you are going to be doing and see if Photoshop Elements might be enough - at least while you're learning the tools. PSE has the same integration with Camera Raw, etc, so it's a great way to get your feet wet without dropping $600!!

[David]

Hi Jarrotk
What photo editing software to use is a continuing problem. I agree with the other responses that Photoshop is the standard, but at what a cost to the average user. I, like Keith, find Paint Shop Pro extremely good, easy to use and value for money. I also use The GIMP, free, very powerful, but difficult to get into (but then I like that sort of thing). I suggest that as you develop your abilities you may find having a variety of software beneficial, using the best bits from differnt packages. For example, I use Canon's own software to process RAW files (from my Canon 40D), but sometimes prefer RawTherapee, or UFRAW, a powerful plugin for the GIMP. Then, I have PSP for most of the basic editing, blending, tonal adjustments and so on. Finally, having saved the work in TIFF mode, I use Qimage for printing. I think that as experience develops so you find the tools best suited to your work. Overall, to start, PSP would be my recommendation.

David

[GillR]

Originally Posted by Jarrotk

I was looking into purchasing Photo Shop CS3 and wanted to know how people react to this software, or is there another prefered brand of software to edit photos that I should be looking into.

Just wanted to get a good overview of what is out there and what will do the best job for an amateur photographer.

Thanks!

Hi Jarrotk,

Don't forget that if you qualify for an Educational Store purchase (and I believe that part-time/evening courses -may- qualify you), Adobe offers a significantly reduced price on its products. Check it out here

Alternately, if you were to choose PS Elements (~$100) and then later decide you really did want or need the full version, you can upgrade for a cost ~$100 less than the buy-it-outright price, so you won't have wasted the original purchase $$.

You can download full 30-day trial versions of both to see what you think.

I've used PS Elements for a number of years and been perfectly happy with it. Occasionally I read about something CS3 does that Elements doesn't and that I would quite like, but it's never been anywhere near enough to make me want to pay the substantially higher costs for the full version.

As others have said, PSP is a very good program for its cost, and the cost of The Gimp is even better

If you're going to be editing RAW files then also look at Bibble and LightZone.

[Jarrotk]

Again thanks so much for the help from all of you, I am a college student so the educational discount on the software is awesome.

I will try and play with all of the ones that were suggested here. I have to confess some of them I have never heard of, so this was very educational. Thanks so much again.

Time to start editing!