OT Editing Photos

[SDL]

HI

Question for the photo experts.

What software would you recommend for basic photo editing mainly adjusting the photo level, cropping etc, and a bit of removing ariels behind type of thing.

I used to use Microsoft image 2006 but was wondering about one of the Photoshop versions as I have lost the disks and done a fresh install, but there is so many variations and I don't want to miss an opportunity to sort this.

Steve

[DICKEYBIRD]

I like Photoshop Elements. I got v1.0 a some years ago bundled with a Nikon and loved its power & simplicity.

Then I lost the disc and got v2.0 on ebay for a pittance and it's even better. I tend to go with older software on the cheap as I couldn't care less about the latest greatest stuff. I still use W2000 & XP so that makes me a neanderthal I guess.

edit: Me = no photo expert...I just re-read your post.

[JoeEM]

I use IRFANVIEW for all the pics in my store. It's free. I can resize, crop, cut, adjust colors, add text, sharpen, etc.

[dp]

For Windows there is a free tool called IrfanView - it is an excellent product. http://www.irfanview.com/

Here is a quick tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CdGo-aFr8s

[MikeWI]

Adobe has made an old version of Photoshop available for free. It's CS2 (the current is CS6 I believe) and will work great for anyone here. OTH, I personally use GIMP which is also free and nearly identical in capability. I switched to it after CS4 because Adobe was simply getting too expensive. That said, I actually use Adobe LightRoom for the vast majority of the time, as it will let me do corrections, and crops, maintain my library of photos which is currently over 100k in number with older stuff on archive. It also let's me publish the pictures directly to my sales site on Smug Mug with a plugin made for Lightroom. About the only time I really use a different photo editor such as Gimp these days is for making water marks to use in Lightroom! LOL

Since you are talking about removing things from the picture and are used to Photoshop, I'd look up the CS2 download, or use Gimp. I have IrfanView as well, but it's pretty primitive compared to the others. Then again, I'm a photographer so I guess I'm a little more picky

[dp]

UPDATE, 2:40 p.m. PT: There has been clarification since this story broke. Adobe has not released the CS2 software for free. Instead, it has cancelled its CS2 license management servers, so for those with existing licenses it is now offering downloads that do not require contact with the licensing servers. This service is only going to be available for those with existing Adobe CS2 licenses, which will be verified when creating the Adobe account to download the software.

All the Adobe products are now cloud-like apps. You no longer buy the product, you rent it. CS6 is the exception for now and it is still available as an installable non-metered product and is still supported with updates. I'm a big fan of Lightroom - lots of nice tools in there. At $150 price tag it is spendy but if you need the features well worth it. I have the full CS6 suite, LR, and Dreamweaver but still make frequent use of the basic Mac Preview app and Pixelmator if I'm just touching up or preprocessing an image for the web. For RAW photo images I use Photoshop and Lightroom. I gave up on The GIMP long ago as it wasn't keeping up with my needs. Its opensource roots are very exposed. My wife uses iPhoto for everything though I'm trying to get her to move to Aperture.

For Windows users IrfanView is frequently all that is needed for prepping images for photobucket, Craigslist, or eBay - it is the go-to tool for people with little time to learn the complexities of Adobe products.

[MikeWI]

That's interesting to hear about CS2. I guess we got lucky when we downloaded it. My wife is using it on her machine from that offer.

[Paul Alciatore]

I have an older version of Photoshop (5.5) and I use it primarily for the ability to adjust the gamma curves of a photo. You can adjust the overall gamma curve which preserves the original colors while bringing out details that are lost in dark or light areas of the original. Or, if the photo needs color correction, you can use the individual R-G-B curves to achieve color correction. This is a lot better than the brightness or contrast features that many programs are limited to. I suspect the free version of Photoshop would have this feature.

I use Microsoft Paint for cropping, rotation, resizing, pixel retouching and other simple tasks like that. It is far easier to learn than Photoshop and the results are just as good. And the latest versions can open and save to a number of different image formats.

Another program I use is Paint.NET. It is a freeware program that was intended to be an improvement on Microsoft Paint. I understand that Microsoft helped to sponsor it. Like Microsoft Paint, it also is far easier to learn than Photoshop. But it has a lot of the features that Photoshop has, including the overall gamma curve feature. And like Photoshop, it has layers which can be very useful when you need to edit different elements. It also can open and save to a number of different image formats. Of course, not all formats support the layers and they are lost if you only save to such a format. Overall, I can strongly recommend it.