Camera Labs

I am a total newcomer to photo editing/touching up and really have no idea on which software to buy, I have heard of sooo many. I dont want anything that is too complex but i dont want something thats rubbish. A happy Median of the 2 if possible.

If anyone has any suggestions I would be more than greatful.

Thanks alot!

Steven.

AdobePhotoshop is the most used, most powerfull and best single bit of software for imaging you can get But I recommend adobe lightroom, I absolutley love it.

Photoshop is a powerful bit of software that you can manipulate images with such as photo's, website images, icons etc.. but it is a bit complicated to use when your new as there are so many features.

Lightroom is a program specialy made for photographers. Unlike photoshop you can actually import, store and categorise your images and then also edit the photo's you choose. There is more to the program and the image editing options are not so great compeard to photoshop but I find its more than enough for my photograph editing and its much easiler to use.

There are other software solutions available but these are the most used. You could look into a program called GIMP which is an opensource "equivalent" to photoshop that is free but its not so powerfull.

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Tobywuk personal website || My Flickr
Gear: Sony a700! || CZ 16-80mm! || Sony 75-300 || bag: Crumpler PB xxxl / Lowepro slingshot 200

Depends on how much you want to spend.... in the Adobe camp you have the cheapest which is Photoshop Elements around £50 for version 5 now on Ver 6 (£?), Adobe Lightroom between £130 - £180 or if you really are flash with the cash Photoshop CS3 £569 I have CS3 but it was a Christmas present from 'er indoors

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Roy
EOS 350D, 40D + BG-E2N, EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM, 430 EX Speedlite




My Fotopic

You might like to give Lightzone a try. At least have a go with the demo anyway. I think it's a great program to use.

http://www.lightcrafts.com/

Zorro

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http://zorrofox4.deviantart.com/



Various lenses, SB800 & Manfrotto 190 with 460MG head

Irfanview, not a full-blown editor, but for resizing, croping, brightness/contrast/hue/saturation/gamma and a few other nice features it is very good, quick and easy to learn/use, and freeware.
www.irfanview.com

For more complex tasks I like the Gimp, also freeware
www.gimp.org/, very steep learning curve tho' and the first time I used it I fell off !
But it is worth persisting with.

I usually use Faststone for basic editing -- it's free and works better than the manufacture's software I've tried.

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BrianS
D50, 70-300mm VR, 50mm f/1.8

how easy is Photoshop CS3 to use??

It's a breeze mate. A mere mattter of moments

No, actually it's not

It's very clunky I find. However it is the industry standard and I think well worth persevering with.

Zorro

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http://zorrofox4.deviantart.com/



Various lenses, SB800 & Manfrotto 190 with 460MG head

It is a very powerful program and has a lot of features. once you start learning how to use after a while things become second nature but I found there was quite a steep learning curve.

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Tobywuk personal website || My Flickr
Gear: Sony a700! || CZ 16-80mm! || Sony 75-300 || bag: Crumpler PB xxxl / Lowepro slingshot 200

Ask me again in six months and I might be able to tell you then, as I have only had it since Christmas

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Roy
EOS 350D, 40D + BG-E2N, EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM, 430 EX Speedlite




My Fotopic

then you're the perfect person to ask. How are you finding it so far?

Hard work, but getting there very slowly, with the CS3 package came a freebie I could have either a set of new fonts.. ergh no thanks, a video from Lynda.com... umm only if she does a strip midway through the vid or "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Classroom In A Book" with lessons on a CD as well... so went for the book which has now arived 470 odd pages just need the time and a few more new photos to get started on the first lesson, will report back on my progress as and when it does or doesn't happen.

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Roy
EOS 350D, 40D + BG-E2N, EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM, 430 EX Speedlite




My Fotopic

4 Year Veteran in Adobe Photoshop and I'm just about 17 haha!

Photoshop is so simple once you get the hang of it.

What you need to do is watch plenty video tutorials - they help a lot in photoshop if your new - I only had text ones back in the day, but they still helped a lot!

www.revision3.com - Look at pixel perfect with Bert Monroy (yes THE Bert Monroy!) - lots of cool tips and tricks for various things, and even a few in Adobe Lightroom.




Anyway - If you only want to do photo editing, then if you are a student in the UK you can get Adobe Lightroom for close to £60 i think.

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Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

MY FLICKR!

Photofiltre is simple, light, and free with great tools too.
Or you could get their pro version "Photofiltre Studio"
hxxp://www.photofiltre-studio.com/download-en.htm (change xx with tt )
P.s. I watch bert monroy too

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α NEX-5 with 18-55mm Lens
Contax G 90mm f2.8
Olympus Zuico OM 50mm f1.8
Minolta 50mm f1.4