Which editing software should I buy.

[africanrefugee]

Hi. I am new to digital photography as a hobby but have used a digital compact camera and the very basics of Paint Shop Pro 3 (corel) when I was selling property. Now my question is this... what editing/processing software should I purchase. I am not really into major photo manipulation (HDR for example) or photo gymnastics but would like to improve my 'as taken' photographs. I also am not in a position to spend a fortune (eg CS5) so was wondering which software would allow me the most 'bang for the buck'. I was thinking along the lines of Lightroom. Elements, or Paint Shop Photo Pro X3 (possibly Ultimate X3).

All advice gratefully accepted but remember whatever I buy I will have to learn from scratch.

[DivotMaker]

I started with GIMP, and am glad I did.

Gimp is very powerful and will be able to do quite a bit of manipulation. Ease of learning isnt bad, as there are a ton of tutorials and examples out there if you google.

Best part? It's free.

I would suggest at least starting with it, and once you have refined your skills, you will have a better idea of where to go from there.

(it is just a manipulation program, however, and wont allow you to library or non-destructive edit as Lightroom will)

Gimp Download Here

[sk66]

Well, I would probably suggest Lightroom as best "bang for the buck" purchase. I use it for most basic editing and organization....
If you wanted to do some heavier work I would suggest GIMP..... I use photoshop, but IMO you pay a ton for a bunch of features/capability not needed by a photographer.

[oldwolf]

Lightroom is great. PSP is great. GIMP is great.

I'm an avid fan of PSP. I've used it since the mid 90s. If you're using version 3 and are familiar with it then I'd see if you can get a trial of PSP X3 to try out. The changes from 3 to X3 are pretty dramatic so this is the one time where you could make a clean break from the software your using to try something new and not regret it too much hehe.

I recently started using LR3 and it's a pretty nice program for basic things but I still push pixels in PSP X2. I've yet to use CS4 even though it's installed on my computer.

GIMP is a great program and it's free. There are some awesome books out there for people to learn how to use it and one or two of them are geared towards photographers as well. The interface is a bit daunting as first but it's just like anything else out there. You get used to what you're doing and it becomes easier and easier. We all weren't born walking but it's pretty easy to walk now for most of us.

[LewisCanon]

you cant go wrong with lightroom, in terms of organising your photos and basic edits, its the best thing out there, however id pair it with photoshop.

Originally Posted by sk66

I use photoshop, but IMO you pay a ton for a bunch of features/capability not needed by a photographer...

truly depends on the photographer, there is no such thing as a better editting programme than photoshop.
if your willing to spend the money on it, get it. without a doubt you will not regret it.

i personally use Photoshop, lightroom, photomatix and quark xpres(however this is more for promotional posters etc, design side of things. if im honest its a little dated now, but ive been using it for years)

[Aegea]

Try Gimp first, you have nothing to lose. If you don't like it, then try one of the commercial alternatives.

[africanrefugee]

Many thanks to everyone who replied giving advice. I have subsequently downloaded Gimp and will try it, and see how I get on. I had downloaded PSP X3 but did not try it much before the trial came to an end. It appeared much more powerful AND a lot more complicated than the PSP3 I have. I should have made more use of the trial before it was blocked, as I think it could do all that I need and more.

To Lewis,
[QUOTE=LewisCanon;1142005] there is no such thing as a better editting programme than photoshop.QUOTE] you seem to miss the point, I am not arguing the point that Photoshop is great, I am just not ready to fork out a small fortune for CS5, especially as I will probably not use more than 10% of its ability, and by the time I do manage to understand the programme, it will be obsolete and have been updated a number of times.

My only concern is, like Microsoft with Windows, Adobe with Photoshop, has cornered the market, and I may be doing myself a disservice by using a different type of software, only to regret it later when I am further behind the pack. Most magazines like Digital Photo et al, push Photoshop to the exclusion of all others. Also there is so much more tutorial matter for Photoshop than PSP and other editing software.

Thanks to all once again.

[inkista]

I think from what you've said, Lightroom is probably the best commercial package for you. It's the 10% of Photoshop a photographer uses 90% of the time. While there is definite overlap between PS/ACR/Bridge and Lightroom, Lightroom is a better photography workflow tool, and makes it faster and easier to work on large batches of photos.

But. You could also try Rawtherapee. While the Gimp is an open source equivalent to Photoshop, Rawtherapee is more of an open source equivalent to Lightroom, as RAW conversion goes (don't know about workflow).

[TerryL]

Bibble 5 is also a good one, they have a 14 day free trial, they have a lite version that is 99.00

[junglebear]

Download them all illegally, then donate the cost of your favourite package to a charity :P