Need Software Suggestions

[thirdxacharm06]

Hi! My name is Jamie and new to the DSLR world. I just got a Nikon D5000 for Mother's day and I think I've taken over 300 photos since. LOL

I have 3 kids and want to try to capture every moment possible. They grow up way too fast.

Anyway, I'm trying to find a good editing/watermarking software that is easy on my brain and wallet. Something to just get me started so I can show off my pictures to friends and family. I would like to eventually expand and take photos for friends and see if I can maybe make it as a pro.

Thanks for your time. And if you have any advise I'm open to to it.

[Niresangwa]

I know a lot of DPS users are big fans of GIMP.

Easy on the brain, I don't know about that but there are plenty of tutorials available, easy on the wallet, I believe it's free.

[thirdxacharm06]

Thanks for your input. I'll have to try that out. In the past week I think I've tried several free ones and just end up unistalling them after a day. I just don't have the knowledge of editing yet for some of the more advanced editing tools.

[Niresangwa]

It all depends on how much time you're willing to spend learning how to use it. As I understand it, (and will gladly step aside when someone who uses it chimes in), GIMP is a quite powerful program. Being quite popular, I assume there are plenty of youtube tutorials and web-text tutorials to get you going.

[inkista]

If you want to start with a more basic piece of editing/cataloging software, you might want to try Google's Picasa. It's free, and you can add text watermarks to photos when you export them.

[zappo]

Yes he is right, Google Picasa is a great piece of software, especially if you're just starting. The GIMP is nice for editing, but you will need something to organize your photos, too.

Picasa is a great mixture of editing functions and the possibility to sort your pictures.

[kencaleno]

Paint.net is another very capable free one to download.

[thirdxacharm06]

Thanks for all suggestions. I'm sure I'll be back around with many, many more questions!

[RLucas]

I use Raw Therapee for organizational, and minor tweaks to my images. It is free. It also has a pretty sweet noise reduction program built in. Any major editing is done in GIMP. There is quite a learning curve, but the sweat equity is well worth it for the free price tag.
Actually there are more and more tutorials coming on for GIMP than there used to be. Especially since it is starting to be configured more for 3D modeling, and more of a full production suite. It has a nice range of plugins, and other add ons, and also, I believe you can use some of the PS plugins and brushes as well. Can you tell I like GIMP?