Software for me?

[Neil]

I'm a point and shoot peakbagger but I work hard at getting the best pictures possible. I use a rudimentary program called Compupic which allows me to crop, adjust lightness and darkness, play with colors and a few other things.

Now I'd like to move up and am ready to spend some time learning a new program. Any recommendations?

 

[w7xman]

I'm a point and shoot peakbagger but I work hard at getting the best pictures possible. I use a rudimentary program called Compupic which allows me to crop, adjust lightness and darkness, play with colors and a few other things.

Now I'd like to move up and am ready to spend some time learning a new program. Any recommendations?

Though it takes a bit of learning, and there are some good books to help...I stand by photoshop elements as being as comprehensive as anyone would really ever need at a pretty good pricepoint. It offers complete user control, and many of the tricks of the full photoshop.

 

[nartreb]

The best things in life are free...

Download the GIMP.

Installers for MS Windows: http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/

All about the GIMP (and links to versions for many other OSs): http://www.gimp.org/

 

[DougPaul]

The best things in life are free...

Download the GIMP.

Installers for MS Windows: http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/

All about the GIMP (and links to versions for many other OSs): http://www.gimp.org/

Gimp has a significant weakness--it is 8-bit only. CinePaint (http://www.cinepaint.org/) is a fork off Gimp which should fix this, but it is not ready yet.

8 bits is enough for a final representation, but is inadequate for initial representation and intermediates in serious processing.
BTW, JPEG is 8 bit.

Neil--you didn't specify which OS you want the software for.

I work in Linux and use UFRaw (opensource) http://ufraw.sourceforge.net/index.html for simple processing and LightZone (free for Linux, $ for PC and Mac) for more complex processing.

Doug

 

[yvon]

The best program is Photoshop, it is not simple but it is very powerful.
But you can download a freeware program similar to Photoshop "Photo Filtre", try it, it is free.
http://photofiltre.free.fr/

 

[Neil]

Neil--you didn't specify which OS you want the software for.

Windows XP

 

[ghassert]

PS Elements

I'm using Photoshop Elements 5.0. I'm still very much the rookie when it comes to the Digital Darkroom.

One of the reasons that I chose this software is the wealth of information and forums for it on the web. Just this forum alone is a great place to start.

Glenn

 

[Brambor]

Photoshop 7

Try to get an old version of Photoshop 7 from someone who upgraded. You can get it for very little money or free. It isn't bugging you with registration or licensing once you get past the first few prompts. Although I use Photoshop CS at work I still use Photoshop 7 at home. It is faster than CS and still advanced enough to give me all I can handle.