what is the difference

[p._g.]

<p>There is another thread concerning suggested editing software but this is a different question. What is the differences between picassa vs photoshop elements 7 or any other programs for that matter. I am having extreme trouble getting around in photoshop. I have read photoshop for dummies, I have watched youtube videos and still no dice. I went into picassa and was done in an hour. Picassa was very user friendly. Is any one program better than another and if so why?</p>

[rainer_t]

<p>Accept that there is no such thing as "the best program for ..." ... use what does the job for you ... if you're satisfied, that's it, if not, continue searching and trying.</p>

<p>-- "Is any one program better than another and if so why?"</p>

<p>What is good for you isn't necessarily good for someone else.</p>

[cabbiinc]

<p>The one drawback to Picassa that I have found is that it doesn't save the edits at the same resolution as the native file. So when you try to print enlarged it's a degraded image. But Picassa always saves the original image, so if you wanted to just use something else on the ones that you knew were going to be printed big you could do that.</p>

<p>I've found that Paint Shop Pro seams to do a fairly good job of editting photos. It takes the same plug-ins as PhotoShop. But it just seams to be more intuitive in my brain. Now that doesn't mean it's the best program, it's just the best program that I've come across for me. I've only had it to compare to PS Elements 3.0 though.<br>

Gimp is another one, and it's free. Takes the same plug-ins as PS.<br>

There's also PhotoFiltre, Photobie, Paint.net, Irfan View, and probably some others, all free.<br>

There's also others that are free to try.</p>

<p>Dan</p>

[p._g.]

<p>When you say enlarge do you mean 8x10? I think that would be the largest that they would go. Unless 11x13. At what point will it start degrading the image? I think my nikon d80 has 10.5 mgpxls if that helps.</p>

[cabbiinc]

<p>I don't know if Picasa 3 does this, but Picasa 2 did and I got poor results from 8x10s from a 10 megapixel dSLR. When I used other software like what came with the camera I didn't have that problem. I tried to find out if I could turn that off and couldn't find a setting that seamed relavent, so I haven't used Picasa much since.</p>

<p>Dan</p>

[p._g.]

<p>What is the best "free or cheaper" program could be used that wouldn't produce poor results with 8x10's or 11x13's? I didn't get software with camera that can produce effects that i desire. Such as softening the picture.</p>

[nodpete]

<p>Try FastStone, it's free and does just about everything.</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>Of the various freebie photo editing programs I've tried, Picasa is the most intuitive. I don't care for the weird file hierarchy, but the photo editing features are very easy to use.</p>

<p>FastStone has some good features and uses a more standard file hierarchy (it sticks closer to the Windows convention). But I find it a bit awkward and slow.</p>

<p>Irfanview is free but not really a photo editing program. It's more of a graphics file handling program. It can be used to view most graphic images and convert them to other formats. The editing tools are rudimentary. But, to its credit, it can handle many standard Photoshop compatible plug ins, which does help extend its usefulness.</p>

<p>P.G., you might prefer the intuitive interface of the various PictoColor iCorrect programs. As easy to use as Picasa and more effective at certain types of basic editing functions for higher quality output. While not free they all offer free trialware versions. As far as I know, you can use the free version indefinitely until you're sure it suits your needs. But all output is watermarked (saved edited files and printed files).</p>

[raymondborg]

<p>I am not up-to-date with picassa. I have always used photoshop. But there is no one better than the other. Stike to what satisfied you most.</p>

[kari v]

<p>Gimp is free and feature rich, it actually has more advanced editing capabilities than PSE7 but if PSE feels unintuitive then Gimp may be a bit nightmarish with zillion of options (some of them with really odd names) and without the easy "click here" adjustments.<br>

It's way better than Picasa *if* you need layers, curves, advanced color manipulation and accurate local edits but has serious learning curve like every other full featured app.<br>

Irfanview is fast and light app for viewing images (and batch resizing) but it's not really an editor. I've used it for years along with "heavy" PS and GIMP.<br>

Paint Shop Pro was very nice but I haven't used the newer versions. It should have the same functionality as PSE7 +/- some.<br>

Photofiltre (not Photofiltre Studio) is free and light but not very good. Basic stuff and nice for Old computers.</p>

<p>I don't edit with Picasa (I don't like it at all, matter of taste) so I don't know what Dan is referring to but I don't know any editor that would unexpectedly degrade image quality. With PSE / PSP / GIMP just make sure you don't set jpg quality level too low when saving the file and you're good to go at any size.<br>

You don't need 10Mp for good quality 8x10, in fact, when the image is clean and sharp even 2,5Mp is fine for that size. Just thought to mention. Beware of pixel madness. ;)</p>

[p._g.]

<p>I shot in RAW thinking I would use photoshop elements 7. BIG mistake. Couldn't even print them at the kiosk from my sd card. So I had to convert all the pictures to JPEG. WHen I did it asked me what percent and the default was 10. Does that sound right? or good enough to blow the pictures up?</p>

[phule]

<p>[[bIG mistake. Couldn't even print them at the kiosk from my sd card. So I had to convert all the pictures to JPEG. WHen I did it asked me what percent and the default was 10.]]</p>

<p>You can't print RAW images from a photo kiosk. Shooting in RAW means you are going to be responsible for creating JPG or TIFF files that will be used for printing. </p>

<p>When saving JPG files that will be used for printing, you should always save them with the least amount of compression.</p>

<p> </p>

[cabbiinc]

<p>"...I don't know what Dan is referring to..." I can't seem to reproduce the effect at all now. Maybe it's because I'm now using Picasa 3, maybe I was just nuts. At any rate Picasa 3 does not compress the files any more than they already are from what I can tell.</p>

[kev_400d]

<p>I like Gimp, there is a bit of a learning curve but as long as you take your time and experiment with one feature at a time to figure out how to use it. Figure out cropping first then curves, then the repair tool, the unsharp mask. <br>

Btw i don't really understand unsharp mask I know what it does but technically but that isn't translating into getting the best out of my pictures (but i digress).<br>

Also noisware community edition is free, you need to pay for the version that'll do loads of images at once but the standard version is good.</p>

[don_e]

<p>"Is any one program better than another and if so why?"</p>

<p>Are you making prints?</p>

 

[richard_turner1]

<p>I am a begginer and got photoshop c3 from my nephew who uses to design, it was like the starship enterprise to me. S o i tried a couple of others, they all had good points but there was always something missing. My nephew convinced me to try lightroom and i haven't looked back since, it took only 2 days to get my head round it, which was good for me as instructions only ever open up another bag of worms.</p>