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Best Photo editing software for intermediate level photographer

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Ed Greenberg #29334

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I have been using pjotoelements for a while now and I am wondering if there are more intuitive and moe capable programs out there that might serve me better. I am not haappy with the raw conversion capabilities of photoelements, but other aspects I enjoy. I prefer a single editing solution as opposed to using a variety of packages. Also, would like help with setting up my epson r800 printer to more accurately reflect what I see on my monitor.
 
I'm a happy user of Photoshop Elements 6.0. Of course I'd love to have Photoshop CS3 but I'm not enough of a skilled user of PSE to make the expensive jump.

What do you use, Mac or PC? If Macs, a good intermediate-level photo processor is Graphic Converter (Lemkesoft) -- it's only $35 and you can try it for free. Go to Lemkesoft.com for more info.
--
http://www.hkisorphoto.blogspot.com
 
You might want to give lightzone a try. It's quite different from all the other RAW converters, I would say a more darkroom based philosophy. I found I can get my head around it a lot more than the more "graphics design" based programs.

It also has capabilities that most other RAW converters don't have, such as stacking of tools, region based editing. So this might suit your need for only using one tool.

They have a 30 day free trial and there's some good tutorial videos, however because it's quite a small program it's hard to find tutorials or even books.
link is http://www.lightcrafts.com

Cheers
Jochen
 
Hi,

You might want to try Paint Shop Pro Ultimate. You can download trial version. If you want to buy it costs only $90.
Good luck,
AK
 
Graphic_Converter :
Graphic_Converter is a very well recognized and usable tool ...

around 30 euros if you do not need a box / dolares I don't know but not much more.
http: http://www . lemkesoft. com/ [remove blanks]

The_GIMP :
The_GIMP is GPL software for free
http: http://www . gimp. org/ [remove blanks]

direct download-link for GIMP on Mac:
http: gimp. lisanet. de/Website/Overview.html [remove blanks]

The GIMP for Mac comes with UFRaw 0.14 free RAW converter software.

Xee :
Some like Xee for simpel tasks:
http: xee. en. softonic. com/mac [remove blanks]

Picasa :
Picasa by Google just recently was released for Mac:
http: picasa. google. com/mac_tools.html [remove blanks]

Hope this helps a bit.
SpaceDoc
.
 
I am using digikam and gimp on Linux.
They are free and powerfull tools.
There ara versions for windows and mac too.

Gimp is like photoshop
Digikam is PhotoManagement/ basic edit

Vadim
 
FWIW: Photoshop Elements also has a free 30 day trial. The software is identical to the pay version so you can really get a feel for it. There are also books on it so that helps get started.
 
I can't get GIMP to work on my computer. Any advice? Every time I try to open it it closes on its own. I restarted my computer and it still didn't work.
SpaceDoc said:
Graphic_Converter :
Graphic_Converter is a very well recognized and usable tool ...
around 30 euros if you do not need a box / dolares I don't know but
not much more.
http: http://www . lemkesoft. com/ [remove blanks]

The_GIMP :
The_GIMP is GPL software for free
http: http://www . gimp. org/ [remove blanks]

direct download-link for GIMP on Mac:
http: gimp. lisanet. de/Website/Overview.html [remove blanks]

The GIMP for Mac comes with UFRaw 0.14 free RAW converter software.

Xee :
Some like Xee for simpel tasks:
http: xee. en. softonic. com/mac [remove blanks]

Picasa :
Picasa by Google just recently was released for Mac:
http: picasa. google. com/mac_tools.html [remove blanks]

Hope this helps a bit.
SpaceDoc
.
Click to expand...
 
Bacchus1310 said:
I can't get GIMP to work on my computer. Any advice? Every time I
try to open it it closes on its own. I restarted my computer and it
still didn't work.
Click to expand...
did you download the latest version?
the one from Simone?

Leo or Tiger?

SpaceDoc
.
 
I recommend GIMP too, very powerful, free, and multiplatform. I found GIMP to be more similar to Photoshop than Photoshop Elements is to the Photoshop.
 
Yeah, I downloaded that one and it kept telling me It needed Apple x11 then closing. I didn't think it would be that hard to get this program. And i'm using Tiger. 10.4.11 with the Intel processor.
SpaceDoc said:
Bacchus1310 said:
I can't get GIMP to work on my computer. Any advice? Every time I
try to open it it closes on its own. I restarted my computer and it
still didn't work.
Click to expand...
did you download the latest version?
the one from Simone?

Leo or Tiger?

SpaceDoc
.
Click to expand...
 
The latest version of Gimp for Mac requires an update to X11 that is newer than what's in the OS. You have to download this separately. Links should be available on the official site ( http://www.gimp.org/macintosh/ look at the bottom in the requirements section).

Another program you can try is Aperture, if you look around you can get it as low as $120ish vs $200 retail.
 
As a past Phtoshop user, I bought Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 and have not looked back. It has excellent interface and a learning centre tool that really makes it easy for the beginner to get started. So much so that one function I could never get working in PS I could get working in PSPX2 (the colour replace function), largely because the explanation was so clear. I believe it is twice as user-friendly than Photoshop. There also an excellent online help reference and a forum you can link directly to from the help button.

Money well spent. I have PSP2 at home, and CS3 at work amd prefer Corel's product.

Download the trial and try it.
 
I would love to try it, but they don't offer a MAC version.
Stefan Carey said:
As a past Phtoshop user, I bought Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 and have
not looked back. It has excellent interface and a learning centre
tool that really makes it easy for the beginner to get started. So
much so that one function I could never get working in PS I could get
working in PSPX2 (the colour replace function), largely because the
explanation was so clear. I believe it is twice as user-friendly than
Photoshop. There also an excellent online help reference and a forum
you can link directly to from the help button.

Money well spent. I have PSP2 at home, and CS3 at work amd prefer
Corel's product.

Download the trial and try it.
Click to expand...
 
Ed Greenberg said:
I am not haappy with the raw conversion
capabilities of photoelements, but other aspects I enjoy. I prefer a
single editing solution as opposed to using a variety of packages.
Click to expand...
I never seen any single package software solution that does both RAW and Bitmap Editing without the use of multiple software components; therefore, the difference between using a variety of packages and an "integrated solution" is very slim. I use a combination of Sylkipix (which I find the best for RAW) and ACDSee Pro. You can setup ACDSee to open up Sylkipix from its own menu if you like integrated software solutions. ACDSee doesn't do a bad job at RAW processing itself, but doesn't have nearly the flexibility and user friendliness of Sylkipix.

--
Roger
 
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