We're sorry, but this discussion has just been closed to further replies.
I have always used adobe photoshop for all my photo editing needs, but recently there have been some credible competitors rising with Apple's Aperture and iphoto, Google's Picasa, and more.
One thing I don't really like about Photoshop is it doesn't seem to work too well for working on many photos at one time. I usually use it for one photo at a time and it is quite time consuming.
I would be interested to know what software other people use and what they think about it. Also what they typically use it for, (cropping, color balance, exposure, brightness, contrast, etc...)
Have you looked at Adobe LightRoom? It is pretty nice for what I think you are looking for. There is a 15 day demo you can download. It is not crippled in any way other then the number of days until it stops working. You can go to the link below to download.
Windows Vista Photo Editing capabilities do well for me when I'm only cropping and/or rotating photos 90 degrees or more. Lately I've been using Photoshop 7 >Layers> for exposure correction, brightness, contrast and saturation. I just downloaded Topaz Vivacity for special effects, sharpness, cleaning and denoise adjustments. I prefer pictures without much in the way of post processing but I want my images straight (I am tending toward 1-3 degrees off either vertically or horizontally). I am self taught in all photo editing processes and have had no difficulty with Photoshop with all the tutorials that are available.
This is what i'm using:
1. Photoshop CS3 for Image Editing (nothing beat Photoshop, eh?)
2. ACDSee for photo management
3. Image Compressor for image compression and batch RAW converter
Have you tried looking at the freebies...G.I.M.P. http://www.gimp.org/ Its fantastic and with it's new interface almost like Photoshop (superb), some say it rivals photoshop, I think it's up there with the best and it's free so you can't go wrong downloading it even if you don't use it often.
Another alternative is get yourself signed up for the new Photoshop Express http://www.photoshop.com/express/
It's an online "very" cut down version of CS3 which allows you to do some pretty basic editing but it's all free (For the moment) and it has some rather feature to all the basics that you mentioned for cropping/colour/exposure/contrast etc.
http://www.mediachance.com/digicam/bworks.htm has several free standalone picture transform editors especially B/W works which is superb, I used it with other bits to do my Edinburgh Alleyway Duotone picture, the result can be superb, colourcastfx and clearskinfx from this site are also cool to use. Highly recommended as they are really easy to use and you don't have to spend hours transforming pictures, literally seconds to do impressive pics.
Nothing will compete with CS2 or 3 but you may find the free software I mentioned more than capable of creating quicker and often better pictures as you won't need the knowledge as you would with Photoshop.
Have you tried looking into batch editing / Actions with Photoshop, that may be the answer for editing photos which need the same changes/settings.
Get yourself signed up to www.photoshoproadmap.com as previously mentioned as they send you daily projects via email and some are very impressive and give you step by step tutorials on how to !!! One of my fave websites.
I use Photoshop for edit all of my pictures at first, Paint shop Pro for quick Frame and Photo Impact to add the Text on them if I want to...The new software I havent tried it...because untill now I cannot use all the function of photoshop yet...I hope some function I dont know can ask your help here...Photoshop just give us a lot of tools we can use it or not or in which way...depend on our choice our skill our knowledge about it...not just use it to put the head of something to another thing..couple years ago I was very happy when I finished this one ;
i think this is why photo folks like DAM type software apps like Aperture and Lightroom because you can view multiple photos side-by-side and edit within the program. I'm a die-hard photoshop girl and I'll always use it, but that's because I'm a designer. Since I am a newbie in the photo world, I'm going to start using Bridge CS3 as well for the photo management aspect. I hear it's a good simple lightweight DAM and since I already have it, there's no additional expense for me. I am just a photography hobbyist, so I cannot justify buying something deeper than Bridge CS3.
I haven't heard much about Picasa in terms of being able to stack up to Aperture or Lightroom.
if you like the way of photoshop that can do many pictures at once, use adobe lightroom.
I use that most of the time.
I love picasa too but it doesnt come out for mac version :(
I've tried aperture also, the good thing about it when use it for shooting on the set, the picture will show up on full screen and you can check every detail, but the problem is that aperture is a bit complicated compare to lightroom.
the differences between lightroom and photoshop is ... layers and other digital imaging purposes, lightroom can't do that (anyway you have to do it one by one rite?) RAW processing in photoshop is available in lightroom, just try it first before you buy it, you can download the free trial fully working for 15/30 days.
Monthly Photo Contest
Photo Criticism
Canon User Group
Nature Photography
Landscapes
