Photo Editing Software: Photoshop vs.

[markreda]

I'm not very good at photo editing but occasionally I want to play with some pics.

I don't like Photoshop because the learning curve is very steep.

Are there any other photo editing programs that aren't as difficult to use but at the same time has more power than MS Paint.

[willy]

I am using an older version of Paint Shop Pro 7 and it's been serving very well. It is not as bloat as the latest versions. Loads up fairly fast and it eats up only ~ 15MB of RAM.

[Headhunter]

Photoshop's basic functionality is quite simple, a quick book like Visual Quickstart: Adobe Photoshop CS2 (ISBN 0321336550) should work if you want to learn more.

[gthorley]

Paint Shop. Almost any version. Like the previous user said latest are bloated. I have PS 7.0 and PS 9.0 and generally prefer to use 7.0.

D/L trial version and try it out. Do a search for 7.0 it may be out there for download.

It is very easy to use compared to Photoshop and much cheaper. Results are excellant.

[markreda]

There has to be a Photo Editing suite that's powerful and easy to use.

I've tried to use Photoshop many many times and have yeilded poor results and much confusion.

I'm not a big fan of Adobe products in general. They make their software for "professionals" (graphic artists). Adobe makes it very difficult to just pickup their software and just start using it, which probably makes them a lot of money training users (graphic artists/editors/photographers/educational instutions etc) to use their software.

[jory29]

Google's Picasa is a MUST; light editing, easy interface that is QUICK - I just got the free paintshop from The Source {after MIR} and I can't say that I care for it that much. I guess I'll probably stick with the FREE downloaded Picasa. :)

[xilinx]

Google's Picasa is a MUST; light editing, easy interface that is QUICK - I just got the free paintshop from The Source {after MIR} and I can't say that I care for it that much. I guess I'll probably stick with the FREE downloaded Picasa. :)


I would have to agree. This software is not only free, but is fairly easy to use. Especially for those like me who cannot take the time to sort out all the advance functions that photoshop is capable of, all the simple touching up can be done in picasa.

I'd definately recommend you to give it a try.

[gthorley]

Google's Picasa is a MUST; light editing, easy interface that is QUICK - I just got the free paintshop from The Source {after MIR} and I can't say that I care for it that much. I guess I'll probably stick with the FREE downloaded Picasa. :)

Light editing is for sure. All it does is red eye (very poorly compared to Paintshop/Photoshop) crops and makes pictures brighter without any chance to adjust, what you see is what you get (no control on color saturation, contrast etc.) It is a picture organizer and viewer not an photo editor.


Paintshop is cheap and real easy to use. You click on enhance photo then 1 step and it fixes it for you. If you don't like what you see you adjust manually for colour and contrast. The bottom line is if my wife can use this program then anyone on this board can. Well maybe not everyone based on some of the posts I have read.

[that_staples_guy]

Photoshop CS all the way. Jasc sucks!

[poppa]

maybe GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/) ?

[siriuskao]

There has to be a Photo Editing suite that's powerful and easy to use.

I've tried to use Photoshop many many times and have yeilded poor results and much confusion.

I'm not a big fan of Adobe products in general. They make their software for "professionals" (graphic artists). Adobe makes it very difficult to just pickup their software and just start using it, which probably makes them a lot of money training users (graphic artists/editors/photographers/educational instutions etc) to use their software.

well it is for professionals, nobody's gonne spend $700 to get a copy just for some home photo editing.

you may want to try their photoshop elements.

as for GIMP, it's free for a reason :) UI sucks.

[that_staples_guy]

well it is for professionals, nobody's gonne spend $700 to get a copy just for some home photo editing.

you may want to try their photoshop elements.

as for GIMP, it's free for a reason :) UI sucks.


Who said anything about spending $700 even after the Staples 10% employee discount? *COUGH*BT*COUGH*

:)

[Cyber6]

The bottom line is if my wife can use this program then anyone on this board can.


Sheesh... I would have said .. if my boyfriend can use this.. then anyone can use it.. :D

Guess we are a "little" gender biased... ;)

C.

[jb22]

Actually Photoshop isn't that hard to use or learn. I mean what's so hard about it? I think it can seem overwhelming at first but it's actually a logical and straight forward app. It's hard to master, I mean there always new things to learn, as in techniques or tricks. Heck, CS2 has so many things automated it's great.

I say try Photoshop Elements. It really depends on what you're tring to get done.

[eedok]

Actually Photoshop isn't that hard to use or learn. I mean what's so hard about it? I think it can seem overwhelming at first but it's actually a logical and straight forward app. It's hard to master, I mean there always new things to learn, as in techniques or tricks. Heck, CS2 has so many things automated it's great.

I say try Photoshop Elements. It really depends on what you're tring to get done.
I found the GIMP much easier to learn.

None of these though were as easy as microsoft paint

[Cyber6]

I have used (and still have)..

CorelDraw 9 / 10 / 12
PaintShop Pro 7 / 8 / 9
Adobe PhotoShop CS
PhotoShop Elements
Corel Painter 8
ArcSoft Photo Studio

.. I think that's pretty much it.. and before anyone ask.. Yes, I have the full licensed version.. from my time as a Beta tester.. testing compatibility issues with our SAP system.

I found CorelDraw 9 the most user-friendly and better overall photo editing software. No need to be an expert to get expert results.

For beginners I would recommend the ArcSoft Photo Studio.

C.