[radikal]

so i want my pictures to be better, or i want to have more control over processing iffy exposures. recommendations for photo editing software? lightroom? lightshop? darkshop? what?

[gZAhTyWY]

I use Adobe Lightroom to edit my pictures, but I'm not even close to an amateur when it comes to photography, so I don't know how valuable my opinion is. I do really like it, though.

[radikal]

what do you usually do in editing? my big issue is usually contrast, so i cant imagine i need a 236762$ software program to do that. id like to shoot more in raw though (i know shame shame) so i may need more than just contrast?

[Cnbaapuy]

Lightroom does handle raw format and give a lot of control over most aspects of your photo. Of course, it's Adobe, so it's going to cost $$$ unless you know a pie rat. Freebie program I love and use almost exclusively is called The Gimp - it's got a bit of a learning curve if you're used to Adobe programs setup, but well worth the price. I firmly believe you can find a plugin that will allow you to work with raw format in Gimp, as well, also free. It can and will do everything pshop can do.

[radikal]

^ nice...cheers!

[mylittlejewelaa]

I do all my editing in Photoshop. I used to rely exclusively on tools like levels, curves, and color adjustment, but now that I shoot raw I do all my color-correcting in Photoshop's Camera Raw. Even with just those types of adjustments I still recommend Photoshop because you can do more fine tweaking and editing (i.e., creating a composite with 2 or more different images to make everything just right). Photoshop is what I'm used to, so it's always what I recommend...but I know it's pricey and there are other options out there. It just depends on what you want to do.

[HartOvara]

Horses for courses, says I. What you buy depends on what you want to do with your photos. I think that if you're shooting RAW, you can do most of what you need to do with Lightroom, including colour and contrast adjustments, some masking, levels, brightness and contrast, colour temperature ... the list goes on. I find that it provides more comprehensive image manipulation and adjustment tools than Photoshop's Camera Raw add-on. But if you want to make more extensive adjustments -- composites or anything involving layer manipulation, then you ought to be thinking about something like Photoshop, which is far more versatile when it comes to that kind of thing.

[Kt-viagra]

I use Lightroom and Photoshop Elements and like them both a lot -- but I think playing around with photos is fun. Holly doesn't, and when she was looking for a photo editor we stumbled upon Photoscape. She's been pretty happy with it, and can get good results, quickly. And it's free, which is always a bonus, so it might be worth checking out if you haven't settled on anything else yet.

[radikal]

So I've decided to go with lightroom--mostly because i get a nice university discount for under $80.And because photoshop seems a bit too complicated for my needs. I just picked up a Canon Powershot S95---a lovely point and shoot that will capture in RAW for all my travels. I will keep this wee forum updated on my love/hate with all. Thanks for the tips!

[Sapremolz]

Lightroom does handle raw format and give a lot of control over most aspects of your photo. Of course, it's Adobe, so it's going to cost $$$ unless you know a pie rat. Freebie program I love and use almost exclusively is called The Gimp - it's got a bit of a learning curve if you're used to Adobe programs setup, but well worth the price. I firmly believe you can find a plugin that will allow you to work with raw format in Gimp, as well, also free. It can and will do everything pshop can do.

I use The Gimp as well as I run Linux so don't really have access to Photoshop and such and always prefer Open Source software anyway. All I really do is tweak curves, crop and scale so can't comment on advanced photo manipulation or original image creation. I use ufraw for loading and processing RAWs and correcting lens distortions from my Canon 7D and G10.

[iklostardinn]

I'm so glad ths thread was here! Our PC is dead and we're forced into buying a new one (posting on a mini old old netbook for now), my old programme is so old it doesn't run on windows 7 (booo to 7, but you can't get XP computers in the UK anymore ) and as the computer itself will take all the money we didn't want to really have to buy a prog.. so he'd been looking at a free version of gimp.
Is gimp really good enough for photo editing, and all stuff like adding text and doing design work as well to things not just photos?

[Cnbaapuy]

The gimp is the only thing I use... for all of my photos, for my website, for my logos, for everything. It really will do everything Photoshop will do with proper experience and proper plugins, for free. My biggest piece of advice is play around with it as much as you can in order to get used to it, and save your work often! It's not horrible about crashing, but it will do every once in a while.

[wrefrinny]

Lightroom and Photoshop. Depends on what kind of editing I want to do.

[DagoIgnog]

Photoshop. I'm not a pro. I don't intend on going pro. There's enough gadgets, filters and flexibility to keep me happy.

[iklostardinn]

I use The Gimp as well as I run Linux so don't really have access to Photoshop and such and always prefer Open Source software anyway. All I really do is tweak curves, crop and scale so can't comment on advanced photo manipulation or original image creation. I use ufraw for loading and processing RAWs and correcting lens distortions from my Canon 7D and G10.

Can i ask your opinions of the G10? I'm trying to get cash together for the G12, but cash is limited so am trying to triple check any flaws before i commit! I've read a lot about it, but can i ask do you think it's a good compromise buy for someone who wants to get a lot of SLR features without being able to afford an SLR and all the kit involved? I mean i still only have the (broken) Canon A720 and my Canon SX110, i know i'll never be able to get an SLR, so is the G12 a good bet?! And is the basic image quality - any good?!
Thankyou