Best beginner software

<p>Please advise on the best beginner software, I am thinking of Photoshop elements 9 but would like expert opinion. I am not looking for anything advanced but would like to be able to sharpen my photos and remove noise. Thanks, Gareth.</p>

<p>"Best" is hard to say, best at doing what?<br>

Photoshop Elements is a very good Swiss Army Knife: it does a lot of things really well, but the "cost" of having more options can be the learning curve, and second the fact that it is rather limited in performing the same edits to series of photos (batch-processing).<br>

If it's only to sharpen and remove noise, then a dedicated RAW editor may work just as well; a package as Bibble 5 Lite or CaptureOne 6 Express cost about the same as PSE9, and are better geared at doing the simple operations fast (meaning: they can do less than PSE9, but what they do, they tend to do easier and faster).<br>

For free, Google Picasa and IrfanView also are very useful. And I would certainly also give PaintShop Pro X3 or X4 (just released new version) a try. If your camera came with software, it may be worth looking at too.</p>

<p>The best thing is using trial versions (or/and the available free software), and see what suits your way of working best. User interfaces are a rather personal taste thing too.</p>

<p>You can learn more by not spending a cent. Download and install some free things like GIMP, Ufraw, Raw Therapee, Irfanview, Xnview, Faststone Viewer, Photoscape, etc. Both Irfanview and XNview can use free Adobe 8BF type plugins - and some are as good and powerful as anything you can buy. There's also Paint.NET.</p>

<p>Download the free versions of standalone programs for noise reduction, etc. Use them all. After a while, if you still need to spend the big bucks, at least you will have developed a better idea of what you need and want.</p>

<p>I still use some of the above, but when it came time to actually buy something many years ago, I made it Picture Window Pro. I still use the current version. I think it's the most darkroom-like experience you can have in the digital world. No, not because it's anything like an imitation darkroom, but more because you are more in control of what you are doing, like I was in my darkroom eons ago.</p>

<p>It's a very hard question to answer without more information. Two questions are particularly important:<br>

1. Do you want software that you can use at a more expert level later on?<br>

2. Do you plan to start shooting RAW at some point?</p>

<p>I disagree with the advice about downloading a bunch of different things. The time cost of learning multiple software packages is high.</p>

<p>If you don't want expert level software and don't plan on shooting RAW, either Elements or Paint Shop Pro has plenty of power for basic work. I started with the latter.</p>

<p>If the answers to the questions are 'yes,' and if you don't think you are going to need selections and masks yet, I would at least consider starting with Lightroom. It is a powerful RAW converter and database program, and it now includes most of the basic editing features. You won't outgrow it ever, but you will at some point have to add a program that does things like selections and masks. (both elements and paint shop do, although they are nowhere nearly as powerful as photoshop.) I'd estimate that I can process over 80% of my images in Lightroom alone. The rest I start there and finish in photoshop.</p>

<p>I would argue that for a professional or high level user of graphics software, the old giant, Photoshop is the "best" in some general way.</p>

<p>That being said, the main advantage of Photoshop Elements is that it provides an inexpensive way to enter the Photoshop world. However, Aperture for the Mac and Lightroom (for Macs and PCs) are programs which provide enough editing power that many people need little more.</p>

<p>One advantage of Lightroom (and Aperture) is that it also provides strong image management features, that being its original reason for being. If you don't already have a management system for your images, now is always a good time to start. Organization will pay off later on.</p>

<p>Thankyou for the responses, I have a lot to learn. I have spent the last three months getting my camera off 'auto' and over the coming winter plan to work on RAW and post production. All I need for now is a basic fairly simple package and will move on as and when I can. I look at PN at wonder at some of the photos. Thankyou again for taking time to comment.</p>

<p>You might like to download and try PhotoFiltre. It's free (and French, if that matters).</p>

<P>Gareth, better to learn once. Investing time in a basic package now only to outgrow it soon, is not really all that useful.</P>

<P>Since you already shot RAW, didn't your camera come with software? Some brands include good software to convert RAW to JPEG. I would try that first (but it depends a bit on the camera). Else, I'd really recommend to look at CaptureOne 6 Express, or Lightroom as others suggested. You won't outgrow these tools and they do all the normal editing easier than PS Elements does.</P>

<p>I am getting good advice, thankyou all. My camera is a D60 (aiming to upgrade to D7000 at the end of the year) and came with NXview. I may be missing something but this software seems very limited, is this the case or am I just useless? Also, can you only edit RAW or can Jpeg be played with too?</p>

<p>I suggest that if you intend to get serious with photography you bite the bullet and get a competant programme and taking ecconomics into consideration you will not go wrong with Elements #9 with Paint Shop Pro an alternative. It may seem overwhelmingly complicated to you but just as starting with a camera and using automatic you will find one click options to get you started until you branch out and learn to use the other tools provided. When I statrted I spent some interesting time by opening a file and then applying each tool in turn to it to see what happened :-) Just remember that while you probably use jpg in your camera once you open the file in editing you do not save it again as a jpg but rather as a lossless file ... .psd in Elements or pspimage in PSP. Then from that lossless file you can make compressed jpg files for the web.</p>

<p>Thanks JC, I am planning to get serious even if it takes time. It would seem I can't go far wrong with elements. I have now worked out there are no editing tools in viewNX!</p>

<p>Adobe LightRoom, download the free trial, it is a fantastic program for photographers and for simple editing (and some advanced stuff too), plus advanced file management, printing and web galleries it really is a tool you grow into.</p>

If best means good enough and least expensive I would say the free software that comes with your camera and

scanner until you outgrow it.

 

And GIMP, I havent used it in ages but it was a good free alternative to Photoshop when I did.

<blockquote>

<p>there are no editing tools in viewNX</p>

</blockquote>

<p>There are - very limited and ONLY for Nikon RAW files (NEF and NRW), but they're there.</p>

<p>I stand corrected. Thankyou all for the advice it seems there are two to ivestigate, ps9 and lightroom.</p>

<p>I used the free Picasa for a long time till I realized I needed something more. I then switched to Lightroom which I love.</p>

Gareth,

I am a new photographer myself. I only started with editing a little more than a year ago. Photoshop Elements9 and lightroom are excellent and you will not need more for several years. IMHO.

<p>Thanks to eveyone for the advice, I have decided to go with elements so stand by for loads of questions on how to use it! You guys have some stunning images, I have really enjoyed looking.<br>

Keep shooting.</p>

<p>Very best regards,</p>

<p>Gareth.</p>

<p>Hello Gareth,<br>

As something of a beginner myself, I would recommend PhotoScape (free and easy to use). When I first started using it, like you, it was just a tool to sharpen my pictures a bit and remove any unwanted noise. I am now quite competent with many of its editing feaures, and that includes colour curves and other such sophisticated stuff!<br>

Seeing how I was progressing from a total amateur to a reasonably proficient photographer, my (adult) children gave me PhotoShop as a Christmas gift. I find it hopelessly difficult to use since all the tutorials that I have read seem to assume that users are familiar with all the technicalities of photography - not my case at all - so I continue to try and take good shots by using the right camera settings and most of my post-processing needs are met by PhotoScape.<br>

Excuse me, Gareth, for usurping your post, but if there are any kind souls reading this who would be willing to teach an elderly lady, hum hum, how to use Photoshop in baby terms, I would be eternally grateful.<br>

Cheers, Gill</p>

<p>Hi Gill, my copy of PS elements 9 has now arrived although I have yet to install it. I will give it a go over the weekend and see whats what. I have been taking photos on SLR cameras for 25 years, owned my DSLR for 3 and only now am learning not to use 'auto'. I still have to get my head around all this post production stuff, I mean, if the shot is taken right why the need to alter it? Maybe that is a different topic for discussion though. I have seen how photos can be improved(one of mine as an example), so, will knowing this lead me to be less careful when taking the shot. I wonder.</p>

<p>If you plan on moving on to Full Blown Photoshop then PSE is the closet thing available right now.There are other excellent software packages out there some which are cheaper, but PSE is like Photoshop's little brother. Unless you plan to do allot of volume editing I would avoid programs with limited selection and masking tools. Lighroom is fine, but it does things quite differently than photoshop, also there is a pretty steep learning curve. If you start off with PSE then jump to PS the learning curve is minimal. Something to think about.</p>