Software

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Kuhlmann
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Software

Post by Kuhlmann » November 20th, 2016, 1:03 pm

I'm in the market for a new computer and am thinking about getting some photography software for it. What do you use, if anything, to touch up your photos?

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kepPNW
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Re: Software

Post by kepPNW » November 20th, 2016, 1:16 pm

If Windows, and can't afford Adobe, I'd recommend taking a look at FastStone Image Viewer.

Price is right, and pretty powerful. Comparable to Lightroom, afaic.
Last edited by kepPNW on November 20th, 2016, 4:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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jdemott
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Re: Software

Post by jdemott » November 20th, 2016, 3:06 pm

Adobe Lightroom is a good choice. The editing tools are quite powerful, and the slider based interface is simple to learn so you can quickly make a few adjustments to your photos. Lightroom is also very useful for managing, organizing, and viewing your digital photos. There is a 30 day free trial.

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RobFromRedland
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Re: Software

Post by RobFromRedland » November 20th, 2016, 4:08 pm

I used Google Picasa for quite a few years, however when they announced it was no longer supported and I started having odd issues with it, I looked at a lot of alternatives. I started to use Cyberlink PhotoDirector, and although I liked most of it, there were a few things about the interface that bugged me. I re-did my evaluation, and ended up settling on PaintShopPro X9. The ultimate edition has a really nice plugin to auto enhance photos - Perfectly Clear SE - plus it allows you to do all sorts of detailed edits if you want to. My evaluation ended up being between Photoshop Elements and PaintShop Pro. I found Photoshop Elements to be very slow at times, plus I wasn't really fond of how it split up functions between programs (one program for organization and a different one for editing). It was also more expensive.

If you are on windows and don't want too many features, you might also look at the Windows Photo Gallery. I was surprised at how much it did, including facial recognition.
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: WOW! What a ride! - Hunter S. Thompson

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rainrunner
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Re: Software

Post by rainrunner » November 20th, 2016, 5:24 pm

Last year on Black Friday, B&H photo had a years subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud for around $80. It contains Lightroom and Photoshop among other programs.
You might wait until the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales to purchase something.
I used to use Adobe Photoshop elements, until I started using Creative Cloud. If you know your adobe Photoshop then GIMP is suppose to be a good program and it's free.
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justpeachy
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Re: Software

Post by justpeachy » November 21st, 2016, 8:11 am

I use the full version of Photoshop, but I don't recommend it for the casual photographer. It has a very steep learning curve and is not intuitive for beginners.

Photoshop Elements is great. It's pretty powerful for a program that costs less than $100 and is MUCH easier to learn than the full version of Photoshop.

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Guy
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Re: Software

Post by Guy » November 22nd, 2016, 10:01 am

kepPNW wrote:If Windows, and can't afford Adobe, I'd recommend taking a look at FastStone Image Viewer.

Price is right, and pretty powerful. Comparable to Lightroom, afaic.
Kep thanks for sharing this link, downlaoded it last night & this will be perfect for my needs. I have neither the patients, skill or desire to become a master of photo editing, this little program will meet my needs nicely.
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kepPNW
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Re: Software

Post by kepPNW » November 22nd, 2016, 4:32 pm

Guy wrote:
kepPNW wrote:If Windows, and can't afford Adobe, I'd recommend taking a look at FastStone Image Viewer.

Price is right, and pretty powerful. Comparable to Lightroom, afaic.
Kep thanks for sharing this link, downlaoded it last night & this will be perfect for my needs. I have neither the patients, skill or desire to become a master of photo editing, this little program will meet my needs nicely.
Glad to hear it, Guy! So many fantastic little gems in there. I do pretty much everything in it, short of actual "photoshopping" (editing at the pixel, rather than image, level). It's one of the few free tools that I actually paid for. :)
Karl
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