Which Photo Editing Software is best?

[Elonwy]

I just bought a new digital camera and have been studying some techniques for photography, using the camera settings etc and have noticed that ALL of the books recommend using photo editing which I rarely do.

I basically take the picture and if comes out good...then great...if not, I delete it, but I realize that some basic editing may help "save" some of my photos.

I'm not looking to do extreme edits by removing the castle and replacing it with a giant ice cream or anything but just to enhance the photo to it's best quality.

I would like to hear what photo editing software any of you use and why you like (or don't like) it so I can make a decision.

thanks

 

[eagles]

i have adobe elements, and really love it. it is under $100.00 and easy to use. they usually have a free 30 day trial. give it a try.

i would love to get photoshop cs but the price tag on that always stops me, around $600 or more?

 

[NowInc]

...or you can just go free and do gimpshop

http://www.gimpshop.com/download.shtml

Very powerfull..very easy...and you can't beat the price.

 

[EpcoTim]

Gimpshop is free and it works well, but to help take the headache out of the learning curve you could get photoshop elements and a book to help walk you through it.

 

[Elonwy]

Thanks for the advice. I actually found a good deal on PS Elements and can get a book from the library to help me navigate through.

I have had friends tell me that this is a good program as well so I may get it soon.

 

[EpcoTim]

You'll be glad you did. It's a bit overwhelming at first, but once you understand layers and the rest of the basics you'll have a blast. Plus, with all the resources available you can pretty much figure out how to do anything you want easily.

 

[NowInc]

Just a tip...Youtube is your friend..for any program out there. Just type in *program name* tutorial in your search field Gimp is all over

 

[EpcoTim]

Theres also a lot of poorly done tutorials out there. Thats why I think it was a good idea to go with PSE and a book. It's the quickest way to learn the absolute basics. Once you have those down its easy to transfer them and learn on gimp or any other software suite.