Which photo editing software do you use...

<p>I am at a crossroad right now, I am presently using Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0 to edit my images... I like the program but I find myself going back to my old standby program Adobe Photo Shop 7.0.. I like elements but it is real slow and limited , the Photoshop 7.0 is fast but has so much stuff I never use that it can actually be slower than Element 7.00I have another friend in the business and he swears by Paint, then another friend also in the business that swears by Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.. he states that it is more user friendly and much faster than Elements 7.0 or Photshop 7.0 and uses a lot less computer resources.</p>

<p>What dooes the folks on the board use and what do you think about Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0</p>

<p>I actually really like Elements. I have 6.0 for Mac and I find it really useful for quick edits and such. My main program is Lightroom. I can't imagine doing weddings without it. Very, very useful program.</p>

<p>I have Photoshop CS4, but, honestly, my wife uses it more than I do...mostly for album design.</p>

<p>CS2</p>

<p>Since I'm a graphic artist, I'm a bit biased about having the industries latest and greatest. So...I use Photoshop CS3. Haven't switched to CS4 because there are bugs in the software that cause color display issues in Bridge. During my editing, I start out with basic adjustments including some dodging and burning in Lightroom 2, then I polish everything in PS CS3 using a combination of my own actions, a few modified ShowIt actions (really got to watch it so you don't overdo it with ShowIt!) and several actions that I live on from Nik Color Efex 3.0 Complete. Photoshop 7 was great when it came out, but CS3, or CS2 even, offers SOOO much more. The patch tool alone is worth the upgrade.</p>

<p>If your programs are running slow, try upgrading your RAM. I'm running 8G on a quad processor (I'm a PC'er) and can process Lightroom, Photoshop and Nik Color Efex in addition to Outlook and iTunes while surfing the web. Once in a while I get bogged down and require a restart, but usually I just zip along with no problems.</p>

<p>Your friend uses Paint??? Really? You're joking, right? To me like that's like using a stick instead of a screwdriver. And I never liked any version of Elements. I just never saw the point in it when Photoshop does it all.</p>

<p>Sorry my mistake I did not mean Paint I was refering to Corel Paint Shop Pro X2. the name just escaped me when I was posting and it just came to me as I read your post. funny how that sometimes happens. I have yet to try any of the CS programs from Photoshop, my understanding is that they are essentially Photoshop 7.0 with Adobe Premiere/pagemaker built in, I could very well be wrong.</p>

<p>Lightroom.</p>

<p>CS2 would like to try Lightroom, but I hear the new version is buggy. I have so much stinkin software that upgrading is driving me nuts. I consider Photoshop to be the best tool there is and I've tried PSP and a couple other smaller ones. So many actions, plug ins etc are available for PS it seems silly to go with anything else. I have worked PS on Mac and PC and both to be just awesome, unlike some of Adobes other programs. CS3 will be in the near future. <br /><br />You will eventually find that Elements does not do all that you need to do. Also, if Elements is slow, then your computer needs upgraded. Processing speed and memory will help you. Then eventually you are going to need a bunch of storage. Have fun!</p>

<p>I use CS3<br>

I've tried Lightroom numerous times and I just don't like it.</p>

<p>Aperture, just started Lightroom 2, and have switched. Lightroom is just amazing</p>

<p>Saad</p>

<p>Aperture for the bulk, but cs4 for anything that requires more attention. I tried using lightroom, but i think i boarded the train too early as it was always crashing and had heaps of bugs. Apparently it's much better now which is good, because when it would work properly it was spectacular.</p>

<p>Lightroom + CS2. Dragged my feet on lightroom initially, but I'd never want to do without it now. If you go the LR2 route, you can really unlock the program's potential with a tutorial such as the one on Luminous Landscape (http://store.luminous-landscape.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=203) or one by Kelby. FWIW, I've used Lightroom extensively and have yet to encounter the "bugs" or "crashes" at all.</p>

<p>LR & PS/cs3. It took me a while to really get into LR, but it speeds up my workflow tremendously. </p>

<p>You have LOTS of choices and many of them are good. It seems that Photoshop CS3 & CS4, Lightroom 2, and Aperture, are the dominant players in the market. I do most of my work in Lightroom and I think it's terrific, especially if you need to process a lot of photographs. But I occasionally use a number of other programs including LightCrafts' LightZone. Right now I'm trying SilkyPix Developer Studio 4 Pro and it's awfully good. </p>

<p>Lightroom and CS4</p>

<p>I finally 'got' Lightroom and have not looked back since. Previously I used Bridge and CS4. Lightroom does everything from soup to nuts. I do however use Graphic Converter for my initial cull (the good, the bad and the ugly edit) because I find it faster. Yes, no, no, yes, yes, yes, no and so forth.</p>

<p>Lightroom v2.4. The newer selective processing tools make it so I rarely need to use Photoshop. Some folks may not know that you can edit in Photoshop right from LR, then stack the edit on top of the RAW file. Bridge is all but made useless because of this. </p>

<p>Some layered actions work in CS4. But user loaded Pre-sets in LR are starting to eliminate that need also.</p>

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<p>Sorry my mistake I did not mean Paint I was refering to Corel Paint Shop Pro X2.</p>

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<p>Haha! That's good, Todd. I figured you meant something else. I couldn't imagine anyone using MS Paint for, well, ANYTHING, lol!</p>

<p>Lightroom & PSCS4.<br>

Adam</p>