I Need A New Photo Editing Software Package

[explanade]

What I've been able to do is usually buy a year subscription of Creative Cloud for like $100 and add in the redemption code.

That saves you more than $20 a year as if you pay monthly, you also pay sales tax, at least you do in CA.

You can go to sites like Slickdealz.net and have it notify you of any deals on Creative Cloud or Lightroom.

 

[tizod]

get a Mac, all this can be done cheap and easy, and avoid Photoshop (always hated it). There is graphicconverter (full package - no longer just a photo converter - great program). And I still use Graphic app (like $40). Can do anything with these for little money. Plus basic Apple tools. Or Apple programs (they are great but learning also - but free classes at local stores). It pays for the Mac, plus there are so many other built in benefits, like .pdf (Adobe's is very bad vs. Preview - maybe more powerful but frustrating 95% of the time for simple tasks). Anyway, to me it's worth it. I run both platforms - work requires the PC. i am way more productive on MAC and frequently do the work there and port it over. Good Luck

 

[rk911]

After looking at the options I've opted for inPixio photo editor. In terms of functionality it does everything I think I need. The only negative is it is subscription based. I signed up for a year and we'll see what happens in 12-months.

Thanks for all of the replies and suggestions.
inPixio

 

[upupandaway]

I use DXO photolab for a few reasons. One it's not subscription based. It's only $139 or $229 depending on the version. It has a database and corrects photos based on your lens/camera body combination. (Think chromatic abberation and barrel distortion) Finally it's very easy to correct one shot from a shoot for white balance and color saturation and then past that correction to all the pictures you took. So for highschool homecomong the other day I did some shots in the kitchen then moved to an overcast outdoor scene. The kitchen white balance was off due to the color temp of the lights and me not correcting in camera while shooting. I fixed one of these shots WB and pasted the correction to the rest of the I indoor pictures.

 

[DrRoy]

I used Elements for many years. I liked that you did not have to pay monthly. Eventually I moved up to the full Photoshop. I suggest that you give Elements a try. Get a third party training guide for it.

 

[Charlie365]

Windows 10/11 (Desktop/Laptop). Shooting with a Nikon D-3000.

I'm a amateur photographer and shoot for myself and friends. My current photo editing software...Picasa...is waaaaay out of date and I'd like to replace it.

Looking for all of the usual functions...brightness, contrast, cropping, color adjustment, etc. but wondering if the new suites actually make changes to the original jpg or do they create a new jpg with the edits (brightness, cropping, contrast, etc. so you end up with the raw jpg and an edited jog. When I shoot for friends and family I want to put the edited jpg's on a CD for them so they can choose the jpg's they wish to print. My current software can print edited jpg's only thru that software but Picasa is really more for organizing photos than anything else and it's been working well in that role. We are new a new uncle and aunt so there will likely be a LOT of photography going forward.

Suggestions? Doesn't have to be free but also not looking to spend huge $. Thanks.

I was in your same situation with Picasa. I did online research, etc. and I went with DigiKam as my replacement. As with any powerful software there is always a learning curve, but I've found it to be pretty useful.

Also, I had all my picasa photos with "face tags" so one of my primary requirements was that capabliity AND the ability for the new software to import the facetags. Anyway, I recommend you check it out and read a bunch of user reviews on ALL your options of course. You don't want to have to deal with the time and effort of migrating more than once !.... digiKam

 

[BlueberryPie]

Came to recommend the GIMP as a free solution. Just like anything else takes a while to master. It's sometimes frustrating to Photoshop users because it does most of the same things but not always in the same way. Not a problem for you.

There is nothing GIMP has not been able to handle for me, although I often have to Google how to do specific tasks because I'm not a pro at it.

I hear Lightroom is great for photos specifically but have no experience with it

 

[catii]

If you're willing to handle the learning curve, DaVinci Resolve from Blackmagic does everything that the full Adobe suite does, & it's free (DaVinci Resolve 19 | Blackmagic Design). Dont know why more people don't know about it.

 

[Pendlm]

I used to use Elements but got tired of having to keep buying new versions. Maybe check out Affinity Photo - Creative Software For Professionals | We Are Affinity

 

[Rustic23]

Affinity Photo. On the Ipad $19.95 one time. Lots of YouTube and other help.

 

[rk911]

Thanks, all. I looked at all of your suggestions and went with inPixio although not the free version. I shot a wedding a few weeks ago and needed a better editing package and boy there are a LOT of them. I'll likely keep Picasa for it's ability to sort photos into collections, folders, etc. (I have several thousand images) but I like inPixio (so far) for it's ease of use and for the results.

As for the wedding, I shot 300+ images over two days (rehersal, preparation, ceremony, post-wedding and reception) and whittled those down to about 80 for the bride to proof. Bride and groom are family friends so this has been a labor of love freebie.

inPixio, like so many others, is on an annual subacription model. I don't shoot nearly as much as I used to so I may not renew next year. Time will tell.

Again....thanks to you all!

 

[GenXguy]

If you're willing to handle the learning curve, DaVinci Resolve from Blackmagic does everything that the full Adobe suite does, & it's free (DaVinci Resolve 19 | Blackmagic Design). Dont know why more people don't know about it.

It looks like to get the full version, it's more expensive.

 

[kgtest]

I use Gimp. I used to spend way too much time editing photos.

 

[Golden Mean]

If you're willing to handle the learning curve, DaVinci Resolve from Blackmagic does everything that the full Adobe suite does, & it's free (DaVinci Resolve 19 | Blackmagic Design). Dont know why more people don't know about it.

I don't think Resolve does image editing. AFAIK it's a non-linear video editor.

It looks like to get the full version, it's more expensive.
View attachment 52768

An issue with Resolve (for me); the free version won't decode (or encode?) mp4 vid in Linux. There may also be a similar issue with aac audio. It is way fast/responsive though. I use Shotcut (and sometimes Blender) for vid editing.