What photo editor should I buy?

Hello,

I loaded the Pixela imagemixer that came with my Sony camera and I was thorouhly under-impressed with it. It is like childrens software. I am completely happy with my camera.....more than happy. But this software bundle is a joke. Can you guys give me a suggestion of what photo editing software to buy? I would like to spend under 50 dollars and do not need every bell and whistle under the sun. Basic editing. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks!

It's not a "Photo Editor" but more like a Photo Utility and for the price - (FREE!) you can be without it. - Irfanview! No digital photographer work his salt would be without it.

httt: www.irfanview.com

Now, as far as a Photo Editor for under $50 ? Tought order for something that isn't a "toy". Save a few extra dollars and I'll bet you can find Jasc Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop Elements for about $79 or so. Both are excellent.

• Rick

bauerman said:

Hello,

I loaded the Pixela imagemixer that came with my Sony camera and I
was thorouhly under-impressed with it. It is like childrens
software. I am completely happy with my camera.....more than
happy. But this software bundle is a joke. Can you guys give me a
suggestion of what photo editing software to buy? I would like to
spend under 50 dollars and do not need every bell and whistle under
the sun. Basic editing. Any suggestions would be welcome.
Thanks!

Click to expand...

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• Rick

Photobrush has a real fistful of useful tools for $38:
Barrel and Pincushion Distortion
Perspective correction
Chromatic Aberration Auto-Removal
Date Stamp
Image Browser for Thumbnail view
Load and Save Exif information
Support for Adobe Compatible plug-ins
Support for Scanners, even 32 bit film scanners
DCenhance (noise reduction and colour correction)
White balance adjustment tool
Hot pixel removal
Lanczos resampling (excellent)
Jpeg quality enhancement ( makes smaller files at better quality)
B&W tools (duo tone, sepia etc)
Wratten filter simulation
Red eye removal
Actions
Plus all the retouching, sharpening, curves, histograms etc.

It doesn't use layers though, and I think it's weak in some areas like retouching, but you get a 30 day trial and unless you get a special offer on Paintshop Pro (which happens sometimes), I very much doubt you'll get better for your $50.

This is very much designed for the average digital photographer and not the graphic artist, and it's getting better all the time.
30 day trial here, 5mb download.
http://www.mediachance.com/pbrush/index.html
regards
Ian

Truelight said:

httt: www.irfanview.com

Now, as far as a Photo Editor for under $50 ? Tought order for
something that isn't a "toy". Save a few extra dollars and I'll
bet you can find Jasc Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop Elements for
about $79 or so. Both are excellent.

• Rick

bauerman said:

Hello,

I loaded the Pixela imagemixer that came with my Sony camera and I
was thorouhly under-impressed with it. It is like childrens
software. I am completely happy with my camera.....more than
happy. But this software bundle is a joke. Can you guys give me a
suggestion of what photo editing software to buy? I would like to
spend under 50 dollars and do not need every bell and whistle under
the sun. Basic editing. Any suggestions would be welcome.
Thanks!

Click to expand...

--

• Rick

Click to expand...

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6900

$50,- gets you Picture Window 3.1 at http://www.dl-c.com

I use the Pro version at can only say this is an excellent program for editing photo's. Good doc's, good support and if you want, in time, you can move up to the Pro version. There's a trial version available. One of the best programs you can get (even if you pay more...) and you won't have to spend the next months having to learn how to use it.

best regards, Chris

bauerman said:

Hello,

I loaded the Pixela imagemixer that came with my Sony camera and I
was thorouhly under-impressed with it. It is like childrens
software. I am completely happy with my camera.....more than
happy. But this software bundle is a joke. Can you guys give me a
suggestion of what photo editing software to buy? I would like to
spend under 50 dollars and do not need every bell and whistle under
the sun. Basic editing. Any suggestions would be welcome.
Thanks!

Click to expand...

If you need a software thant can do 'seriousness' editing but easy-to-use, you can try Turbo Photo. This software is good at 'adjustment', turn your photo into great one in 1 minutes. It can also support normal features like rotate, crop, jpeg quality, save for web, add frame, noise reduction, sharpen, and so on... If most of your photos is portraits, It provide a powerful 'skin-clean' tool to beautify the the skin. $29.9 only with 31 days trial time.

http://www.stepok.com/Eng/Tphoto/index.htm

bauerman said:

Hello,

I loaded the Pixela imagemixer that came with my Sony camera and I
was thorouhly under-impressed with it. It is like childrens
software. I am completely happy with my camera.....more than
happy. But this software bundle is a joke. Can you guys give me a
suggestion of what photo editing software to buy? I would like to
spend under 50 dollars and do not need every bell and whistle under
the sun. Basic editing. Any suggestions would be welcome.
Thanks!

Click to expand...

Another program if you can stretch to $79.95 is Uleads Photo Impact 8. This program has simple single click enhancements to your photos all the way through to major Photoshop tricks and enhancements. They also have hundreds and hundreds of templates and have just introduced a number of filters and effects just for digital photographers.

They have a trial version for you to download. http://ulead.com/pi/runme.htm

Just something, it would be a shame to spend the $50 now on a program you soon find will not do what you really want to do down the track a bit.

bauerman said:

I would like to
spend under 50 dollars and do not need every bell and whistle under
the sun. Basic editing. Any suggestions would be welcome.
Thanks!

Click to expand...

For routine viewing, slideshow production, etc. I would use the free program Irfan Viewer.
http://www.irfanview.com/

For photo editing I would spend the extra money and get PhotoShop Elements 2.0. If you have a broadband internet connection you can download a trial version of the program.
http://www.adobe.com/products/tryadobe/main.jhtml#product=40

Although I have not tried it, after looking at the features and examples on the web site, I must say I'm pretty smegging impressed. It has some features I've never seen in other graphics programs. While I'm unlikely to move from my current choice of ThumbsPlus + PaintShopPro combination, TurboPhoto is one I'll recommend for someone looking for a light but feature rich application.

JASC has a new program, AfterShot (equivalent to Paint Shop Pro light?), for around $40 that I am trying out. Seems to be what you & I are looking for (I am an editing newbie as well).

Meph

bauerman said:

Hello,

I loaded the Pixela imagemixer that came with my Sony camera and I
was thorouhly under-impressed with it. It is like childrens
software. I am completely happy with my camera.....more than
happy. But this software bundle is a joke. Can you guys give me a
suggestion of what photo editing software to buy? I would like to
spend under 50 dollars and do not need every bell and whistle under
the sun. Basic editing. Any suggestions would be welcome.
Thanks!

Click to expand...

The "top-of-the-line", full function editor (Adobe PhotoShop) is now available (today) at a seemingly attractive price:
http://www.adobe.com/store/products/special.jhtml?id=catPSspecial1002

I'd recommend Microsoft's Picture It or Digital Image Pro for Photo editing newbies, both obtainable for $50.00 or less at the end of their model years.

You can get Digital Image Pro For $50.00 at Microcenter, and there is even a $30.00 upgrade rebate on top of that, so it ultimately cost me $20.00.
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MVittands