So you got a camera, good for you!!! Now, the question is, what do you do with the pictures that you take?
Let's face it, some photos need some manipulation.
Some need to be cropped, some need to be lightened, some darkened, some look better in black and white. And some, you just want to have fun with.
Not everyone needs a full version of Adobe Photoshop. At this time, CS6 is running about $600. Generally speaking, I don't think it is a good idea to get software that costs more than your camera. If you happen to be a student or teacher, then you can get CS6 for under $350. If you can get it, go for it.
If you have an entry-level to mid-level camera, then Photoshop Elements would be perfect for your needs. It is designed for a photo enthusiast.
I can also recommend Photoshop Lightroom 4. I use this for the majority of my photo manipulation. The good news is that Lightroom can be found for under $150. The bad news is that it isn't as intuitive as Photoshop CS6/Elements. I have had it for a year or so, and I'm still learning it. A word of warning: Only buy this if you shoot in RAW. If your camera only shoots to JPG format, do not buy this. Lightroom is fantastic for manipulating RAW images. JPGs... not so much.If you do buy Lightroom: Get training. This is not a user-friendly software. I took a one-day class on it, and bought the DVDs. The class helped a lot, before I took it, I was lost in the program. Check out YouTube and Adobe's website for tutorials. Trust me, you'll need it. But you get great images from it.
If these options are out of your price range, then check out Gimp. It's free, but it only works on Windows platforms. I have not used this, so I can't comment on its effectiveness.
No matter what program you use, when you get it, give it a test drive. Play with some images. If you are afraid of ruining your original photos, save a back up copy on your hard drive and create a folder for images to manipulate. Read some reviews about the software, check out tutorials, go to the library and get a book on it. Most of all, have fun and get out there and go shooting!!!
I will post more about basic image manipulation next... stay tuned!
Hey Bill
ReplyDeleteFYSA, GIMP works great on Linux platforms - it's all I use any more and the functionality is comprable to the full version of PhotoShop. It's just like getting a different make of car - the controls are all there, they may be in different spots and not look quite the same, but they get the job done!
Ted
Ted, thanks for the info. I'll have to look into GIMP further. And probably Linux platforms as well. ;-)
ReplyDelete