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photo editing software recommendations

twtex85

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Well since I signed up for the Project 2011 contest and with that a new commitment to improve my picture taking this year I would like to get some recommendatons for photo editing software from some of you more experienced camera buffs out there. Will use it mainly to import photos and do some minor retouching and will be running it on a Windows based PC.

I am not that experienced with photo editing software so I would like to get something that is user friendly for novices and also something that is not to expensive. I am hoping to find something in the $100-$150 range that could be used to learn on and act as a stepping stone to the more comprehensive editing software like Photoshop as my picture taking skill improves.

Any recommendations would be helpful especially if you have experience with the software you recommend. Thanks for the input
 
Lightroom 3...I think it is $199. LR will handle 99% of the editing you will need to do and also helps organize your photos.
 
Photoshop Elements is a good place to start.... Like any new software there'll be a learning curve. If you're just looking at basic touch-up, cropping and resizing there are lots of free programs available.
 
Picasa is free. Use that until you max it out. Or the software that came with your camera.
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Lightroom 3...I think it is $199. LR will handle 99% of the editing you will need to do and also helps organize your photos.

More like $299, but it does the vast majority of my editing Try the free 30 day trial. Watch out though, it is like crack to an addict.

Photoshop Elements is a good place to start.... Like any new software there'll be a learning curve. If you're just looking at basic touch-up, cropping and resizing there are lots of free programs available.

Yep, a good starting program. I little more difficult to use than Lightroom for photo work (lighting, color...), but more powerful editing (removing objects, blending....).

I've found I work in Lightroom 95% of the time and PS Elements the rest. Photoshop CS 5 would be the highend tool, pushing $700.
 
I bought Photoshop elements than moved on to light room. I wish I would have gotten it first.

Light room is very easy to use and intuitive, I can't recommend it highly enough.
 
Put me in the Lightroom camp as well. I need to upgrade to V3, but V2 does well for me. I also started out on PS-Elements which wasn't a bad thing, but LR does 95% of what I need.
 
Thanks for the input. I will check out both the Photoshop elements and Lightroom.
 
If you want to ever add text, frames/borders, geometric shapes (arrows, circles, polygons, etc.), photo collages, photo merges, panoramic stitching, edit or create animated GIF's, remove complex objects or many more things then don't consider Lightroom. Lightroom is a great tool (I just started learning it) but like posted above, it won't do it all.
 
Of course once you install the software you will get sucked into the Wacom Bamboo vortex.....another $199.
 
One thing that has not been put on the table is Windows Live Photo Gallery, from Windows Live Essentials 2011.

What it does great:

- people tagging / face recognition / bulk tagging
- bulk import functionality is very good
- supports a lot of photos, because it uses SQL Express as the database (installs automatically) - I have it running my 22,000 photo library easily
- very easy to use; very intuitive, IMO
- it allows you to modify your photos and at the later time, roll back the changes if you want to; kind of like Lightroom does for RAW images
- it supports a great panoramic stitching algorithm and a cool thing called Photo Fuse
- it does simple editing; very simple red eye removal, color/exposure adjust and noise reduction. Not a fully featured editor like Gimp, Paint.net or Photoshop though.

Oh yeah, it's free. And you do not need to install the rest of Live Essentials if you don't want to. It'll import and display RAW files too if you load the OS driver for your camera RAW format.

I actually bought a copy of Lightroom myself and am currently selling it. After evaluating Ligtroom and Windows Live Photo Gallery, I decided that for most of my photo workflow, Photo Gallery is plenty. I do not shoot RAW as a general rule though, more as an exception. It's a conscious decision I made and it's not right for everyone. I am more after getting the right exposure I want in the camera rather than spending a lot of time tweaking photos.
 
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