Photo Editing Software

I'm in the market for decent photo editing software. I don't need Adobe Photoshop. I don't need all the features and I don't want to spend the time figuring it out.

Got any suggestions? I've been looking at Adobe Elements 7 but I hear that it's slow and tends to lock up. Right now I use Roxio PhotoSuite 4, which came with my old Gateway digital camera.

I have a Sony Vaio computer with 508MB of RAM and a 1000MHz Intel Pentium processor. The browser is XP with Service Pack 2.

Thanks.

Google offers a pretty neat program for free called Picassa or Picasso. I'm sure you can find it with Google. I use Photoshop but have also heard good things about Apple's program Aperture (sorry, I think it's Apple only) and Adobe's Lightroom. I think both run around $200.

Marilyn,
I have been very pleased with Picasa, the free one from Google. It has been my primary photo software for a few years now. It is easy to use and easy to order photos from a variety of sources.
Best,
Mark

Mar said:

I'm in the market for decent photo editing software. I don't need Adobe Photoshop. I don't need all the features and I don't want to spend the time figuring it out.

Got any suggestions? I've been looking at Adobe Elements 7 but I hear that it's slow and tends to lock up. Right now I use Roxio PhotoSuite 4, which came with my old Gateway digital camera.

I have a Sony Vaio computer with 508MB of RAM and a 1000MHz Intel Pentium processor. The browser is XP with Service Pack 2.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

You might want to stick with the recommendations for Picassa. It's a nice program, well-featured, and it works on modestly configured systems such as yours. Elements would probably not perform very well on your system. BTW, the amount of RAM you have is marginal for Windows XP. For about $20 you could double the amount of RAM and see a real improvement in the responsiveness of your system.

What features do you need? I've been using Photoshop Elements 5 and have quite a bit of power with it. No locking up or slowness.

Irfanview has some basic features and it's free.

Depends on what you're after...

Paint Shop Pro

The new Photo XII is pretty good for the money.

20774 said:

What features do you need? I've been using Photoshop Elements 5 and have quite a bit of power with it. No locking up or slowness.

Irfanview has some basic features and it's free.

Depends on what you're after...

Click to expand...

Photoshop Elements will give you 90% of what the full Photoshop will do for editing. You can remove elements from one photo and insert into another using "layers" - a feature none of the other low cost programs offers. The automatic correction features are first rate, and it has arguably the best catalog system for your photos of any in this class. On the downside, it is slow at times, and requires some time up front to learn where all the good stuff is scattered.

Picasa is good for light duty work - very easy to use. ACDSee is more powerful than Picasa and relatively easy to use.

If you just want to do light exposure and color adjustments, and crop your photos Picasa will do that, and it's free. If you want to add some advanced editing ACDSee is a great upgrade. If you want to build a long-term catalog, and (eventually) be able to do some very advanced manipulation, Photoshop Elements.

Just my two-cents worth.

You didn't really say what you'd like to be doing for edits?
If you just need eye removal, adjust the horizon, tweek the color and resize Fastone Image viewer is a easy to use, free, small footprint

20774 said:

I've been using Photoshop Elements 5 and have quite a bit of power with it. No locking up or slowness.

Click to expand...

I use Photoshop Elements 5 most of the time.

Uploads photos to Smug Mug. Came free with a Canon scanner:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=canon+scanner&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&cid=16562959047936590824&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&resnum=5&ct=result#ps-tech-specs

I'm liking what Elements does. I'd like to move beyond my Roxio PhotoSuite 4, which will straighten; crop; adjust colors, brightness, hue, etc.; and give me some strange effects if I want them.

I'd like to be able to remove parts of a scene (telephone poles and lines, construction cones, etc.) and adjust white balance. Occasionally I have to photograph jewelry or beads in a mixed lighting situation and I currently can't get rid of the "muddiness."

It's looking like I need a computer upgrade before I can upgrade my photo processing software. Ugh. I already have two laptops, one is 2000 vintage Compaq and this one is circa 2003, a Sony Viao PCG-TR3A, which is small and fits nicely in my motorcycle side case. I really like this Sony.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

photo editing

Another advantage to Photoshop Elements is that there's a Dummies book for it.

GregFeeler said:

Photoshop Elements will give you 90% of what the full Photoshop will do for editing. You can remove elements from one photo and insert into another using "layers" - a feature none of the other low cost programs offers. The automatic correction features are first rate, and it has arguably the best catalog system for your photos of any in this class. On the downside, it is slow at times, and requires some time up front to learn where all the good stuff is scattered.

Picasa is good for light duty work - very easy to use. ACDSee is more powerful than Picasa and relatively easy to use.

If you just want to do light exposure and color adjustments, and crop your photos Picasa will do that, and it's free. If you want to add some advanced editing ACDSee is a great upgrade. If you want to build a long-term catalog, and (eventually) be able to do some very advanced manipulation, Photoshop Elements.

Just my two-cents worth.

Click to expand...

As a PhotoShop CS4 user ... I can't agree with your "will give you 90% of what the full Photoshop will do for editing" assertion, but for the audience you are addressing on this forum, I'd say Elements is 200% more usefull than PhotoShop because you don't have to learn so darn much to really use it.

In the late 1980s I bought a digital camera - which recorded the pictures on a floppy disk inserted into the camera. With the camera I got a ..... floppy disk ..... with Arcsoft Photo Studio Version 2.0.

Since then we have bought 6 or 7 digital cameras - each with associated software. And I've bought a couple of other photo editing programs.

So guess which program of these 9 or 10 is my primary photo program. You guessed it! Photo Studio.

I now have - and use - on this laptop:

Photo Studio
Fuji Fine Pix Ver. 4.2
Picassa 3
and the ubiqutous Microsoft Paint

They each have a few things they do best - but Photo Studio Version 2.0 from about 1985 does most things best of the bunch. And that doesn't even count the half dozen or more programs I don't install and use any more.

Take a look at Nikon Capture NX2. While it is considered a professional tool and can be a challenge, the tools are exceptionally good and the resulting pictures rewarding. I use RAW rather than JPG files for most of my work and all of the camera manufactures have their own version of RAW, thus for us Nikon users, Capture NX2 is a great option. One big advantage of Capture NX2 is NX2 does not modify the original file! I use PhotoShop Elements 7 for "quick and dirty" work.

GregFeeler said:

Photoshop Elements will give you 90% of what the full Photoshop will do for editing. You can remove elements from one photo and insert into another using "layers" - a feature none of the other low cost programs offers. The automatic correction features are first rate, and it has arguably the best catalog system for your photos of any in this class. On the downside, it is slow at times, and requires some time up front to learn where all the good stuff is scattered.

Picasa is good for light duty work - very easy to use. ACDSee is more powerful than Picasa and relatively easy to use.

If you just want to do light exposure and color adjustments, and crop your photos Picasa will do that, and it's free. If you want to add some advanced editing ACDSee is a great upgrade. If you want to build a long-term catalog, and (eventually) be able to do some very advanced manipulation, Photoshop Elements.

Just my two-cents worth.

Click to expand...

jcpuckett said:

As a PhotoShop CS4 user ... I can't agree with your "will give you 90% of what the full Photoshop will do for editing" assertion, but for the audience you are addressing on this forum, I'd say Elements is 200% more usefull than PhotoShop because you don't have to learn so darn much to really use it.

Click to expand...

I'm a CS3 user, and while Elements may not be 90%, it is 90% of what the average introductory user is looking for.

I was able to do some great things with Elements, and with the help of Elements, I was able to afford CS3...

Elements is a great value for the price. Until you have mastered Elements, you're not likely to get into the features of the higher priced versions.

-Alex

I didn't want to spend the $$ for Photoshop. I accidently found an opensource program called GIMP (free) http://www.gimp.org . It looks to be equivilent to Photoshop and it doe's a whole lot more than I've been able to use as of yet. I found a book on it at Barnes&Noble that is excellent for learning the program. Might want to take a look at it.

Elements

Elements works really well and I doubt what you heard about 7 but get an unsold #6 and if you get it installed and want help send me a private message. The following picture of my bike in a bottle was done with Elements


Jim Slater BMWMOA #34

34 said:

Elements works really well and I doubt what you heard about 7 but get an unsold #6 and if you get it installed and want help send me a private message.

Click to expand...

Thanks, Jim. I'll keep that in mind. Great picture!

Reid is sending me his Elements Version 2 that he doesn't use anymore. We'll see how that works.

My vote is to go to Picassa and experiment, to Irfanview and experiment, and download the free for 30 days ACDSee and experiment. I think you will find something you like in one of those. You will find a personal feel for the program and the process to touch up your fotos.

After you've shot a bunch, you will get better at cropping in the viewfinder. After you upgrade your camera, face recognition will help the lighting in most photos. Adding an on camera flash attachment will improve the lighting at events...all of which make lots of the tedious touch-ups less of a PITA. Remember to always take at least two shots of every scene. With today's cheap storage, they're cheap. Closed or lazy eyes, a hand across a face, a badly open mouth can all be killers for an image, or a royal rastlin' match with PS or other cloning devices. Yep, click click is a deal saver.

Main thing is to pick a program YOU like and learn the keyboard equivilents for the main items. (Any good software program will allow you to do the major editiing with the left hand on the keyboard and the right hand on the mouse. Seldom accomplished well.) No, CS2, 3, 4 are not for the casual user...they can be suicide bombs due to frustration.

Claimer: I have and have used all of the above programs...my mass processor is ACDSee, and has been since it was conceived in the author's basement somewhere around the early 90's... I have used Photoshop and CS x since they were available, but only for work projects, brochures, and a few very special photos. FWIW.

jmbiii said:

I didn't want to spend the $$ for Photoshop. I accidently found an opensource program called GIMP (free) http://www.gimp.org . It looks to be equivilent to Photoshop and it doe's a whole lot more than I've been able to use as of yet. I found a book on it at Barnes&Noble that is excellent for learning the program. Might want to take a look at it.

Click to expand...

Hmmm. Another good idea.

Thanks, everyone.