I am going to get the sony DSC-F717 for Christmas. I am so excited! Does anyone have any advice on the best photo editing software to get? I would appreciate it . I have heard about Photo shop, could you tell me more or about other possibilities? Thanks. Mari
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photo editing software
- Thread starter mernie
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Mike G.75791
Senior Member
The full version of Adobe Phtoshop 7 costs about $500 US (are you in the US?), and has a steep learning curve. Adobe also has a slimmed down version called Photoshop Elements 2.0 (don't get Version 1.0 as it has been superceded). It costs about $99.00, but is available with rebates on Amazon.com for $29.99. Another very popular program is Paint Shop Pro (version 7 is the latest). It also lists for about $99 but is generally available for about 1/2 that amount.
I would suggest you start with one of those programs. If you really get into editing, you can then upgrade to the latest version of Photoshop. But, you may find that Elements or PSP meet your needs. I have Photoshop 6 but find that I use elements most of the time.
Enjoy your new camera and editing. Check out the Dpreview Retouching forum. there are lots of helpful people there posting lots of useful information.
Mike Godett
I would suggest you start with one of those programs. If you really get into editing, you can then upgrade to the latest version of Photoshop. But, you may find that Elements or PSP meet your needs. I have Photoshop 6 but find that I use elements most of the time.
Enjoy your new camera and editing. Check out the Dpreview Retouching forum. there are lots of helpful people there posting lots of useful information.
Mike Godett
rjoyon
Forum Enthusiast
you will find a dedicated forum about software into this site
for free Irfanview is the best value...
...and it does a lot too...
lebororo
for free Irfanview is the best value...
...and it does a lot too...
lebororo
Mike G.75791
Senior Member
Out of curiosity, I just checked Amazon.com for a price on Paint Shop Pro 7 anniversary Edition. It is $19.95 after rebates. You might ask on the Retouching forum which might be best for a novice and the pros and cons of each.
Good luck.
Mike Godett
Good luck.
Mike Godett
alex wetmore
Senior Member
Photoshop is good mostly because everyone uses it, so you can find a lot of information on how to use it better. It is very expensive though and in many ways it is better at graphics editting than photo editting.
I really like Picture Window by Digital Light and Color. It is inexpensive ($50 or $90) but isn't crippled like many other editting packages at that price. The UI takes a little bit of time to get used to, but once you do it is great software. It makes some things very easy to do in a short amount of time, such as warping images (nice for architecture shots), doing perfect rotations, or B&W conversions (the dialog for doing that includes color filters).
http://www.dl-c.com
The main downside to Picture Window is that it isn't as widely used, so you can't use Photoshop actions that others have come up with. On the other hand it is about 10% of the cost of Photoshop...
alex
Kerry Pierce
Forum Pro
It's hard to beat the anniversary edition of PSP. I paid over $150 for the stuff that now comes in that box and it is a very good editor for novice and advanced users alike.
Here's the url to my little PSP tutorial site that has links to some very good tutorial sites. If you browse those sites, especially the FAQ site, you'll get a very good idea of the capabilites and user interface for PSP.
Adobe Elements is another good editor, with which I am not familiar, but
a lot of folks here use it. As Mike said, you can get either package for a very good price and I'm sure that either would work well for you. There are some other good editors, like Photoimpact, Photobrush, etc, that I think you can find some info on if you search the forum here.
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my gallery of so-so photos
http://www.pbase.com/kerrypierce/root
Martin127954
Leading Member
JASC Paint Shop Pro 7 Aniverary Eddition is definitely the most bang for the buck. It's a very capable program for a very nice price.
Read the beta review done right here on this very web site:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0007/00070801psp7beta.asp
Read the beta review done right here on this very web site:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0007/00070801psp7beta.asp
J
Judy Howle
Guest
I have not used PSP but I have Photoshop and Elements 2.0. I recomend both highly. Elements 2 is fairly easy to use. I have a friend who has both PSP and Elements and she likes Elements the best, and as someome else pointed out, there are many tutorials and excellent books on it, and so many plugins available for it.
I have a basic tutorial for Elements on my site below.
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Judy Howle
Digital Photography
http://myweb.cableone.net/howle/page/digital_photography.htm
I have a basic tutorial for Elements on my site below.
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Judy Howle
Digital Photography
http://myweb.cableone.net/howle/page/digital_photography.htm
Stan Robins
Forum Enthusiast
After trying out the trial versions of Picture Window, PSP, and Photo Impact, I settled on PhotoBrush. You can get the trial version here: http://www.mediachance.com .
PB is quite easy to use and has a very complete selection of editing tools. I have also used Adobe Photo Deluxe (ugh!); and CompuPics (not bad). I also have Irfanview, which is freeware, and quite handy for quick thumbnail viewing, and also has some editing capability.
PB can use PhotoShop plug-ins and has a very cool Kodak Wratten filter simulator.
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Stan Robins
Pbase supporter
PB is quite easy to use and has a very complete selection of editing tools. I have also used Adobe Photo Deluxe (ugh!); and CompuPics (not bad). I also have Irfanview, which is freeware, and quite handy for quick thumbnail viewing, and also has some editing capability.
PB can use PhotoShop plug-ins and has a very cool Kodak Wratten filter simulator.
--
Stan Robins
Pbase supporter
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