best editing software for beginers/amature.

[Rahul Bhalerao]

Hello;

I want to know which is better photo editing software for begginers/amature.
But it must be in low cost/ cheap in price.
Pls suggest me. Thanks in advance.

Regards;

 

[R Ortiz]

For beginners and amateurs I would recommend Picasa (free) for adjustments and organization and Photoshop Elements ($60-80) for more complex photo manipulation.
Both are available on Mac and Windows.

If you don't want to pay $60 for PSE, you might consider The Gimp, which is free.

Picasa and The Gimp are available on Mac, Windows and Linux.
PSE is available on Mac and Windows.
On a Mac you could also use iPhoto (free with any new mac) instead of Picasa

 

[Allen Gerdes]

In my opinion, other than the free Gimp, which I have never used, the best, low cost image editing software for beginners is PaintShopProX3. And do not fall for the excuse that you need to use Photoshop Elements because it will be easier to transition to the full Photoshop CS series as you become more accomplished. I grew up with PaintshopPRO and have found it rather easy to use Photoshop CS3. The initilal learning slope is fairly steep for all such software.

Regards...Allen

 

[leroyvanhee]

Nik Complete and Lightroom. If you qualify for a student edition your cost about $200us

http://www.amazon.com/Nik-Software-Collection-Lightroom-Aperture-Academic-/dp/B004ACASXI/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1312043534&sr=8-5

Nik makes editing easy and it will do things the others can't. Why learn all the hard stuff when you can go right to the powerful stuff.

 

[newmikey]

Why learn all the hard stuff when you can go right to the powerful stuff.

To learn how to do it right, maybe?

--
http://newmikey.zenfolio.com
http://www.flickr.com/newmikey

 

[Deleted1929]

GIMP is free and vary powerful, but it does take time to learn ( as with any editor ).

Also if you try GIMP also get the G'MIC plug-in for it, which has some fabulous features, including several noise reduction methods.

Note that a lot of people use LightRoom for editing. While it's not strictly a full blown editor, like Photoshop or GIMP, it's a very powerful piece of software and suits most people's needs. There is a free demo.

I also like LightZone from LightCrafts.com, although that's off the beaten track for most people.

--
StephenG

 

[brucet]

Bang for bucks it's hard to go past PSPx3.

 

[BobSC]

And do not fall for the excuse that you need to use Photoshop Elements because it will be easier to transition to the full Photoshop CS series as you become more accomplished.

It would be more difficult to move to CS from PSP if you store your edits in PSP format. If you always save as to psd files from PSP then it's no more difficult.

PSP is good software for $100, and I use it for somethings, despite having CS4 (like de-fishing fisheye images).

But gimp, for free, would be OK for learning the basics. Last time I checked it still did not do adjustment layers, which makes it far less useful than the two mentioned above.

 

[cberry]

I second Picasa - plus zoombrowser if you have a canon camera.

I'm a techno-head but I always think of those that just want basic adjustments especially when learning to shoot. At that stage, it's worth taking more photos and spending less time behind the PC.

For me the danger for new photographers is that they spend too much time fixing mediocre photos - trying to make snaps look great when they can't.

Next time, take your laptop/phone (Pity the ipod doesn't take micro SD but can you wifi to it?) and shoot til you nail the focus and the exposure on a good composition.
cb

 

[nelsonal]

I'll second the GIMP, it takes a little more time to get the basics down, but you'll be well ahead of anything besides full blown Photoshop, once you get beyond very basic editing.

 

[Jim B (MSP)]

that no one has asked you what you shoot with, how you shoot, and what you short and long term goals are.

It is sort of asking "what kind of truck should I buy"?
The answer depends a lot on what you want to haul.

The same for software.

I will assume you are shooting jpegs right now.
Camera?
Do you shoot a lot?
Do you simply want the photos to be brighter & sharper?
or do you want to do things like clone out lamp posts or insert new backgrounds.

What do you want to be doing a year from now?

But certainly, like one poster said, learn to shoot good photos as well as learning new software.

--
Jim

 

[BobSC]

I'll second the GIMP, it takes a little more time to get the basics down, but you'll be well ahead of anything besides full blown Photoshop, once you get beyond very basic editing.

PSP is substantially more powerful than GIMP.

 

[pellepiano]

You can also check http://www.pixlr.com or Phoenix at http://www.aviary.com , they are both editing software, that is free and you simply load them in your browser. No installation needed. Rather cool.

--
-Pelle Piano
Blog at http://www.talesofthepixel.blogspot.com/
Gallery at http://www.studiobild.com



http://www.talesofthepixel.blogspot.com/

 

[Deleted1929]

PSP is substantially more powerful than GIMP.

Making these bald statements isn't very helpful. Could you explain why you think this is so ?

--
StephenG

 

[nelsonal]

Support for vector graphics is one important area, where GIMP lags, though I'm not sure how many photographers that helps. My personal experience hasn't found anything in a tutorial for a commercial program that the GIMP can't, though the process seems to be quite different, and several times it's required an add-in to get something native to the others.

 

[BobSC]

PSP is substantially more powerful than GIMP.

Making these bald statements isn't very helpful. Could you explain why you think this is so ?

--
StephenG

GIMP does not support adjustment layers.

Photoshop was the first program to offer adjustment layers, and PSP followed not too long after. GIMP has not implemented them yet. Until it does it will be second rate.

Yes, you can do some things with layers in GIMP that kind of sort of do some limited adjustments, but it's not the same.

Here's how an adjustment layer works:

You add an adjustment layer the same as you add a regular layer. There are dozens of different types of adjustment layers. One is levels; another is curves. Then you can make adjustments like levels and curves to the image. The adjustment layer is a mask, so you can use any selection tools and paint on it (even with the pressure sensitive airbrush). The adjustments are applied through the mask. In this way if you want to limit the effect to just the shadow area, you just paint a black mask over the rest (perhaps selecting it with the magic wand). If you want to change the amount of the adjustment, you can do so at any time, or even delete it. You can change the order of the adjustments too, and toggle them on and off. You could have several different levels adjustments and switch between them. You could have an adjustment layer to de-saturate the image, or to change the white balance. They're saved with the file, so 5 years from now you can come back and change the adjustments -- or turn them all off and see the original, unedited file.

Another area of PS that is worth the entry price for me (more particularly -- for my employer) is scripting. The scripting language in Photoshop is as easy to use as it is powerful. I realize most people don't need scripting, but if you do, it's great. You just do the action once and PS records it. You can then play it back on an individual image, a folder, or a directory tree. I shoot in high resolution, but one of our apps can only use 1600x1200 images. So I have an action that re-sizes them. Then another that crops them all to a 4:7 aspect ratio. I have actions that do all sorts of things that I do repetitively -- like open every pdf in a folder and convert it to a jpg. I understand you can program GIMP too, but based on the documentation, it's not nearly so easy.

 

[glacierpete]

Photoline, very powerful photoshop clone
http://www.pl32.com/

Phase One Capture One Express 6. Normaly $ E 99,0 - FREE promo at
http://www.dphotographer.co.uk/captureone/

 

[BobSC]

A friend of mine suggested this program as being both powerful and easy to use, yet free:

http://paint.net/

 

[Deleted1929]

I am aware of the differences between PS and GIMP, my comment related to the poster who specified PSP.

Regarding adjustment layers I don't think they're as indispensable as people like to think, but that's a very contentious point. It would certainly be better if GIMP has them although I suspect I'd still make little use of them myself - we develop our own approach to things.

--
StephenG

 

[BobSC]

I am aware of the differences between PS and GIMP, my comment related to the poster who specified PSP.

You were replying to my post -- I had previously mentioned that PSP has adjustment layers too, so while I was writing in terms of PS, the same comments would apply to PSP v. Gimp.

Regarding adjustment layers I don't think they're as indispensable as people like to think, but that's a very contentious point.

They might not be indispensable, but they are powerful. You can quickly and easily do things that are tedious and time consuming without. I primary advantage is that you can do a fair bit of editing in a non-destructive manner without adjustment layers, you'd be stuck making a long series of revisions and saving copies along the way (in case you wanted to go back).