Post Production Software for the beginner

[DrVols]

I am new to the forum so excuse me if this is posted to the wrong forum heading. What software should I purchase for my post production pictures. It seems Photoshop is the most prevalent but there seems to many different types of Photoshop it is confusing when trying to figure which to purchase. I am a beginner interested in sports and portraits right now.

[BabetteKD]

Here is a post from Web Design Booth with 15 free alternatives of Photoshop. I suggest these because some regard programs like Gimp to be better than Photoshop Elements because of program size, functionality and ease of use.

Some programs include:

• GIMP
• Paint.NET
• Seashore
• Artweaver

[douglas]

It depends how much you want to do. A good simple free program is picasa, and you might look at that to begin with. The previous post lists a good number, and they vary in how much they will do. I use GIMP, because I'm cheap, and not willing to pay Photoshop prices, but just like Photoshop it takes some learning. Look at the other free ones and see if they will do what you want.

[teaking]

I cant hide my love for GIMP but if you are going for photoshop elements there are free plugins available to add tools to elements you may need for portrait editing like curves tools it has been mentioned here by someone else its called "smartcurve" and I would deffinately recomend having a curves tool at your disposal

[JeffSmith]

For me, it's not whether you are skilled or not, it's about budget. If you have the dollars, buy Photoshop CS4, you will not have any limitations and there's loads of free video tutorials on the web. Just because a programme is free is cheap, does not make it easier to use or understand. The principles of post processing are the same for all, it's just a matter of how far you want to go and how much help you want to receive. Photoshop tops all (if you have the budget).

[lynnphotography]

I use Paint.net currently it has curves, layers, etc. I really like the software and it is completely free. I am sure it may not do everything photoshop does but it is a good starter for learning beginners it is a good software for a beginner to start with to learn the basics of post processing.

[Grumby]

Originally Posted by JeffSmith

...Photoshop tops all (if you have the budget)...

...and a powerful enough PC ;-) I love my old copy of Photoshop CS3, but I have been able to run GIMP on every PC I used over the last 5 years - I can't say the same for Photoshop.

[wulf]

Originally Posted by DrVols

I am new to the forum so excuse me if this is posted to the wrong forum heading. What software should I purchase for my post production pictures. It seems Photoshop is the most prevalent but there seems to many different types of Photoshop it is confusing when trying to figure which to purchase. I am a beginner interested in sports and portraits right now.

The first two questions that come to my mind for a question like this are:

1. What computer operating are you using (Linux? Mac? Windows?), including what version. There may be something already available on your system - for example, iPhoto on a Mac will do a lot of common tasks.

2. Do you like or hate technology? Some programs have a pretty steep learning curve. If you don't class yourself as a computer or graphics geek you might find an online solution like Picnik a better starting point (and then the operating system doesn't matter!).

Wulf

[Athas_orm]

How does paint shop pro measure up. Thats what I'm currently trying to use. It seems to have most of the features that I find in Photoshop tutorials, but I may be wrong.

Regards,

Wes

[wulf]

Can you do what you want to do with it? Does it feel like it helps or gets in the way? Those are the real tests (unless you can afford the time and money to do an impartial comparison of several products).

Wulf