Editing Software other than Photoshop

[douglasely]

I recently purchased Lightroom and would like to add a serious photo editor. I cannot justify the cost of Photoshop at

this time. Can you please make alternate suggestions?

 

I have used Adobe Elements in the past but I am looking for something more sophisticated. Thom Hogan

recommends Picture Window Pro. Your thoughts are appreciated.

 

Thank you, Doug

[alec_style]

What kind of editing do you have in mind, so we can determine you needs?

 

I use Lightroom 1.4, and find I only occasionally need a photo editor. Lightroom 2.0 is even better, I hear. When I do need to do additional editing I use Photoshop Elements 6.0 for the Mac, which shouldn't be underestimated.

 

I also hear good things about LightZone by Lenscraft. They offer a free trial too.

 

Alec

[andrew_gale]

The Gimp, its almost as good, and its free. I have both CS3 and the Gimp and i have to say that I use the gimp more. Granted, it is on my linux laptop that I use every day and not on my desktop which I use only for CS3, watching movies. But for most stuff, like crop, resize, clone, watermark, lighting and color balance, curves etc it is as good as PS. It also runs faster (on linux everything runs faster) and used less system resources so if you would have to upgrade your computer for CS3, get the gimp.

 

If you know PS, you can get gimpshop which is also free and is basically gimp but in a PS CS layout.

 

Almost everything has a free trial so i suggest that you try them all, and see which is best for you and your wallet.

[hal_a]

I second Galen. Give Gimp a go. Its completely free, so even if you feel limited, you wont have spent a cent. Upgrades are also free, which is very nice about the open source movement. As soon as a bug is fixed or a feature added, its available to you

[patricklavoie]

add a serious photo editor...I cannot justify the cost of Photoshop.."

 

the things is that if you want something serious you will need Photoshop. BUT having Ligthroom, i dont see why you should have it? Since you can do pretty much everything in Lr )better since Lr2) a lot of photographer dont use or barely use anymore Photosgop for the needs. There is always Element that come free with a graphic tablet, another good addition to your digital darkroom.

 

The more serious is your choice, the more support you will get from user; photoshop and photoshop element are the most use, so you migth get more answer, fast, from users.

[richsimmons]

Gimp is good. But there's also Paint Shop Pro, PhotoImpact, and Corel Paint. But Photoshop elements is about 80% of photoshop, so don't underestimate it and when you upgrade to the full version, the learning curve will be quite small.

[jay a. frew]

Check-out Picture Window Pro (v 4.0).

 

16 bit/channel, non-destructive editing, colour managed, powerful masking tools, advanced sharpening (with noise reduction), lens distortion correction, CA correction, composite transform (stitching ect.), image stacking (HDR etc) and much much more.

 

Very good customer support on their message board. You will see on the message board that a V 5.0 is in the works. Upgrades have been cheap so far.

 

There is a "free trial" offer as well.

 

About US90.00 from http://www.dl-c.com/

 

Cheers! Jay