Photo Editing software
- Thread starter BossDog
- Start date
Adobe Photoshop - The King?
Many/most might call Photoshop the king of photo editing software. It's insanely expensive but it will do anything if you bang on it hard enough.
Adobe is migrating to a cloud based subscription business model so it is harder to simply buy a version and call it yours. You have to sign up for a yearly subscription fee. We have two master suite licenses here and use it every day. We have to take thousands of product pictures a year and for us, it's simply the single best solution. For a guy that might need to take a few photo's every week, it is not cost effective.
There are multiple versions of Photoshop. If you can, find a cheap copy of Photoshop Elements and it might be all you need. It's all over ebay for $60 to $70.
If you want professional level image production, you may need a more advanced version. Photoshop Extended runs $600 to $700 for the full install, box retail version on ebay. Academic versions are less and I'm not sure if they are limited or restricted versions or not. I also see download links for Photoshop on ebay that are quite a bit less. All Adobe software self validates on the internet and if you end up with a bootleg copy and Adobe is aware of that license number not being valid, your software will end up being deactivated and you are out your money.
Photoshop is beyond belief in how complicated it can get for a user. It is also maybe the best documented software in existence other than Windows. By that I mean there are more tutorials and "how to's" on photoshop than any other software out there.
Unless you are in the business that requires a lot of image production or you are a cutting edge, high tech hobby photographer, you probably don't need the full version of Photoshop. In fact avoid it. Pro photographers already have it and use it on every image they take. They also routinely buy additional third party "plug in's" that give it even more abilities than it already has.
Many/most might call Photoshop the king of photo editing software. It's insanely expensive but it will do anything if you bang on it hard enough.
Adobe is migrating to a cloud based subscription business model so it is harder to simply buy a version and call it yours. You have to sign up for a yearly subscription fee. We have two master suite licenses here and use it every day. We have to take thousands of product pictures a year and for us, it's simply the single best solution. For a guy that might need to take a few photo's every week, it is not cost effective.
There are multiple versions of Photoshop. If you can, find a cheap copy of Photoshop Elements and it might be all you need. It's all over ebay for $60 to $70.
If you want professional level image production, you may need a more advanced version. Photoshop Extended runs $600 to $700 for the full install, box retail version on ebay. Academic versions are less and I'm not sure if they are limited or restricted versions or not. I also see download links for Photoshop on ebay that are quite a bit less. All Adobe software self validates on the internet and if you end up with a bootleg copy and Adobe is aware of that license number not being valid, your software will end up being deactivated and you are out your money.
Photoshop is beyond belief in how complicated it can get for a user. It is also maybe the best documented software in existence other than Windows. By that I mean there are more tutorials and "how to's" on photoshop than any other software out there.
Unless you are in the business that requires a lot of image production or you are a cutting edge, high tech hobby photographer, you probably don't need the full version of Photoshop. In fact avoid it. Pro photographers already have it and use it on every image they take. They also routinely buy additional third party "plug in's" that give it even more abilities than it already has.
The best free photo software? easy, it's GIMP
GIMP is open source, community driven software (like Firefox or Open Office) that is hands down the best free photo editing software out there.
I have been using it on and off for several years. I have a copy installed now on my work and home PC's. It will do nearly everything you need for image editing of knife pictures. It will just be harder to get there. If we have two people here using the Photoshop licenses and I need to edit an image, I pull up GIMP.
The upside to community driven software is that it is free or crazy cheap. The downside is you get slammed with constant version upgrades to fix bugs and the interface changes often. GIMP takes time to learn and when you do learn it, it's going to change later. The interface reflects that it is community driven in that it will not have the same look and feel across the software. It's designed by committee. Once you get past that, it's awesome stuff.
If you want photo editing software that is the best bang for the buck and you have the time to learn it, get GIMP. It will not do everything Photoshop does and it's not fair to expect it will. It will do layers, adjust size and resolution, crop, auto enhance, set levels, sharpen, tone control, import and export in several file formats, annotate and that maybe all you need to do. It does a lot more also.
Here is the link >click this<
GIMP is open source, community driven software (like Firefox or Open Office) that is hands down the best free photo editing software out there.
I have been using it on and off for several years. I have a copy installed now on my work and home PC's. It will do nearly everything you need for image editing of knife pictures. It will just be harder to get there. If we have two people here using the Photoshop licenses and I need to edit an image, I pull up GIMP.
The upside to community driven software is that it is free or crazy cheap. The downside is you get slammed with constant version upgrades to fix bugs and the interface changes often. GIMP takes time to learn and when you do learn it, it's going to change later. The interface reflects that it is community driven in that it will not have the same look and feel across the software. It's designed by committee. Once you get past that, it's awesome stuff.
If you want photo editing software that is the best bang for the buck and you have the time to learn it, get GIMP. It will not do everything Photoshop does and it's not fair to expect it will. It will do layers, adjust size and resolution, crop, auto enhance, set levels, sharpen, tone control, import and export in several file formats, annotate and that maybe all you need to do. It does a lot more also.
Here is the link >click this<
OkieCowboy
Well-Known Member
Lightroom
When I had my studio open it was a mainstay in my workflow, Part photoshop it allows you to tweak and play with things such as ,spot removal, however it would allow you to have presets, letting me apply the same amount of contrast, etc. to the photos, letting me maintain the same "look" from shot to shot when editing
When I had my studio open it was a mainstay in my workflow, Part photoshop it allows you to tweak and play with things such as ,spot removal, however it would allow you to have presets, letting me apply the same amount of contrast, etc. to the photos, letting me maintain the same "look" from shot to shot when editing
TacticallySharp
KNIFE MAKER
On my desktop I use both Adobe Master Collection and CorelDraw/Paint. Corel was on the PC platform before PhotoShop was a Windows product. I find PhotoShop not only does everythjng you could possibly need, it does it well too! One my cellphone I use PhotoShop Expess and an App called Reduce Photo Size for cropping and reducing the size of a photo. Both of these are free in the Google App Store. They are easy to use and learn. PhotoShop Express could use some features added to it.
I have also used Picasa, Google's editor with some success while at a friends house. It's also free.
I have also used Picasa, Google's editor with some success while at a friends house. It's also free.
slatroni
Well-Known Member
Just be careful downloading anything off the internet. Although Gimp is a good program it does have a downfall. I downloaded it today and also piggyback virus’. Norton caught one of them and I spent another two hours trying to get rid of the others. They took my email settings with them. I spent another two hours getting my email back up and running. All is good now, but at this point I am wishing the guys who write virus’ would trip and fall face first into my 36 grit belt running full speed.
Ebbtide
Well-Known Member
Photoshop is part of my job requirement. I think it is similar to playing the piano. You can play chopsticks, you can play in bars and then there will always be the guys that can play Lincoln Center.
It is a powerful program that is the best for retouching, creating and combining photos.
Is it necessary?
No.
But it is really nice to have.
If I could have one program for my digital photography needs it would be Light Room.
(Shooting in RAW mode is a given here.)
Anyone who has spent a little time in a dark room will feel at home with LR.
LR is pretty intuitive to use, where PS is most definitely not.
LR is also provides a great sorting/filing system for your photos. It prepares slide shows and builds basic websites.
LR's biggest advantage is that you never change your original photo. You work on an alias of sorts, and can always go back to the original. Your adjusted/altered/processed photo exists only in the digital nether until you export it.
Since LR & PS are both Adobe products, they link together. You can edit in PS and then still work on the edited image in LR. Very cool.
I'm so happy to have these two programs I haven't looked at any others.
That's my cactus and I'm sticking to it
Hope this helps
It is a powerful program that is the best for retouching, creating and combining photos.
Is it necessary?
No.
But it is really nice to have.
If I could have one program for my digital photography needs it would be Light Room.
(Shooting in RAW mode is a given here.)
Anyone who has spent a little time in a dark room will feel at home with LR.
LR is pretty intuitive to use, where PS is most definitely not.
LR is also provides a great sorting/filing system for your photos. It prepares slide shows and builds basic websites.
LR's biggest advantage is that you never change your original photo. You work on an alias of sorts, and can always go back to the original. Your adjusted/altered/processed photo exists only in the digital nether until you export it.
Since LR & PS are both Adobe products, they link together. You can edit in PS and then still work on the edited image in LR. Very cool.
I'm so happy to have these two programs I haven't looked at any others.
That's my cactus and I'm sticking to it
Hope this helps
The poor mans photoshop, Paintshop Pro is on sale (almost always) this weekend at 50% off here. https://store.paintshoppro.com/1184/purl-ATG_PID_HPbanner_PSPproX7?hptrack=us2hl1#tab=1
this is a good deal and Paintshop Pro is a fantastic bargain in commercial photo editing software.
this is a good deal and Paintshop Pro is a fantastic bargain in commercial photo editing software.
Never heard of that one, now I better go look it up...