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Author Topic: What is the best photo application to start?  (Read 12979 times)

Paul Weinstock

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What is the best photo application to start?
« on: November 21, 2008, 08:40:47 am »

Hi, My name is Paul Weinstock. Does any of you know what it the best program to start editing photo?
Thanks a lot
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DarkPenguin

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What is the best photo application to start?
« Reply #1 on: November 21, 2008, 09:19:24 am »

Lightroom.
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martinreed22

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What is the best photo application to start?
« Reply #2 on: November 21, 2008, 11:01:18 am »

Quote from: Paul Weinstock
Hi, My name is Paul Weinstock. Does any of you know what it the best program to start editing photo?

Paul, we need help from you to define what "best" means. Everyone's needs are different. Answering the following will help:
  • What is your approximate budget?
  • Windows, Mac, Linux?
  • What is your previous experience (if any)?
  • What do you want to do to your photos?
  • What kind of camera kit are you using? (Helps judge an appropriate solution)

On the other hand, I also agree with the answer of Lightroom . Whilst it might be slightly intimidating at first appearance, it does focus on photos rather than general image editing (like Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro).

cheers, martin
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DarkPenguin

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What is the best photo application to start?
« Reply #3 on: November 21, 2008, 08:24:09 pm »

Without details I stand by lightroom.  With details that answer might change.
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BernardLanguillier

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What is the best photo application to start?
« Reply #4 on: November 22, 2008, 01:53:53 am »

You should also consider Lightzone (do it all, photography centric and cheap) and Photoshop (Elements and CS4).

Whatever the choice, be ready to invest several tens of hours (not to say hundreds) to master them.

Cheers,
Bernard

KeithR

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What is the best photo application to start?
« Reply #5 on: November 22, 2008, 12:46:39 pm »

Quote from: BernardLanguillier
You should also consider Lightzone (do it all, photography centric and cheap) and Photoshop (Elements and CS4).

Whatever the choice, be ready to invest several tens of hours (not to say hundreds) to master them.

Cheers,
Bernard

Old saying:
One can spend years learning Photoshop, but it takes a lifetime to master it!
That said, I have both Lightroom and Photoshop. Both have their pluses and minuses, but they do the work that I ask of them and they do it well.
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PeterAit

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What is the best photo application to start?
« Reply #6 on: December 05, 2008, 09:45:10 am »

Quote from: DarkPenguin
Lightroom.

Lightroom is indeed a great program but alone it is quite limited. It does not permit any changes that apply to only part of an image. Nor does it let you soft-proof an image using your printer's color gamut, an absolutely essential tool.

If the OP is serious about digital image editing, I recommend PhotoShop and Lightroom. Expensive, yes, but you'll have what most people consider to be the best tools, it will be less expensive than buying something else now and then buying PS and LR later.

Cheers,

Peter
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DarkPenguin

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What is the best photo application to start?
« Reply #7 on: December 05, 2008, 12:39:20 pm »

Quote from: PeterAit
Lightroom is indeed a great program but alone it is quite limited. It does not permit any changes that apply to only part of an image.

Yes it does.

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Paul Sumi

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What is the best photo application to start?
« Reply #8 on: December 05, 2008, 03:16:08 pm »

Also without any details from the OP, something like Photoshop Elements is an inexpensive ( <US$100) entry into both basic photo editing and RAW development.

Paul
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Plekto

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What is the best photo application to start?
« Reply #9 on: December 05, 2008, 07:30:27 pm »

I'd actually recommend the "zero noise" software that is discussed on this forum.  It's free and solves a lot of problems with your images in you are willing to use bracketing and a little tweaking.

(I like free stuff the most)

Of the stuff that you have to PAY for, Photoshop and Light Room, of course.
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marcmccalmont

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What is the best photo application to start?
« Reply #10 on: December 06, 2008, 07:01:01 am »

Quote from: PaulS
Also without any details from the OP, something like Photoshop Elements is an inexpensive ( <US$100) entry into both basic photo editing and RAW development.

Paul

If you buy a Wacom palet you can get elements for free!
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Marc McCalmont

PeterAit

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What is the best photo application to start?
« Reply #11 on: December 06, 2008, 01:46:14 pm »

Quote from: DarkPenguin
Yes it does.

Gee, such a helpful answer. Perhaps I should respond "no it doesn't."

Perhaps you could explain how exactly LR permits you to change part of an image. I have yet to find such adjustments and if they are available I'd like to know about them.

Peter
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DarkPenguin

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What is the best photo application to start?
« Reply #12 on: December 06, 2008, 02:12:02 pm »

Quote from: PeterAit
Gee, such a helpful answer. Perhaps I should respond "no it doesn't."

Perhaps you could explain how exactly LR permits you to change part of an image. I have yet to find such adjustments and if they are available I'd like to know about them.

Peter

The local adjustment brush and the graduated filter would both seem to qualify.
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KeithR

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What is the best photo application to start?
« Reply #13 on: December 06, 2008, 08:52:32 pm »

Quote from: PeterAit
Gee, such a helpful answer. Perhaps I should respond "no it doesn't."

Perhaps you could explain how exactly LR permits you to change part of an image. I have yet to find such adjustments and if they are available I'd like to know about them.

Peter
The adjustment brush and gradiant tool . These are found in the latest version of Lightroom 2.1(soon to be 2.2) and in ACR5.2(within PSCS4)
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PeterAit

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What is the best photo application to start?
« Reply #14 on: December 09, 2008, 12:31:45 pm »

Quote from: DarkPenguin
The local adjustment brush and the graduated filter would both seem to qualify.

But you cannot select regions to operate on, which is what I was talking about. This is the main thing that prevents LR from being useful as a stand-alone tool (which it was never intended to be, IMO). But when used with PhotoShop it is indeed a great tool.

Peter
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mbridgers

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What is the best photo application to start?
« Reply #15 on: December 09, 2008, 12:35:23 pm »

I'd take a look at Picasa from Google as well.  It is also free, and does a respectable job managing photos and allowing some basic corrections, which may be enough.
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DarkPenguin

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What is the best photo application to start?
« Reply #16 on: December 09, 2008, 12:35:29 pm »

I don't understand what you mean.  You can select regions with both tools.  Is there a specific method of selecting a region that you prefer to do?

Edit: It does occur to me that you might want to do more precise selections than LR offers.  That would be a fair point.
« Last Edit: December 09, 2008, 02:47:16 pm by DarkPenguin »
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Deepsouth

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What is the best photo application to start?
« Reply #17 on: December 10, 2008, 04:52:14 pm »

To get back to the OP's original question, my vote is for Corel Graphics Suite, in particular, Corel PhotoPaint. It costs far less than PS and stand-alone versions of PhotoPaint are still available.

Photopaint's learning curve is a LOT gentler than PS, and on my machines, the system overhead seems to be less. Having said that, the number of plug-ins for PS exceeds those for PhotoPaint by a factor of 20 (at least).

So, you can spend less money and do a lot of photo editing sooner, with an app that will never be as universal as PS, OR you can spend much more money and time and get to know the app that is well-nigh unversal.

I use both; PhotoPaint for basic editing and adjustment and PS if there is a particular feature or plug-in I must use.
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DarkPenguin

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What is the best photo application to start?
« Reply #18 on: December 10, 2008, 05:00:51 pm »

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petermarrek

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What is the best photo application to start?
« Reply #19 on: December 12, 2008, 12:34:24 am »

For years I thought that photoshop was it. Now Lightroom 2.1 reigns supreme. Just finished a 5 day shoot in a mine, absolute darkness. Shot with D2x and sb800 &900 flashes, had a lot of exposure variations, LR did a fantastic job on very difficult files esp. the gradiant tool and brush. As a bonus it did it very quickly. Never opened cs3.
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