Which Post Processing SW ?

Mier

Mier

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I've had my dSLR (Nikon D3000) for about two weeks now. Although I'm very happy so far with my photos, it looks like post processing is actually an essential past of digital photography.

What software do you recommend for an Amateur/Hobby photographer like myself ?

Photoshop seems to be the most popolar, but Coral Paint Shop is quite a bit cheaper.
I got Photoshop Elements 3 with a new pc a few years ago. Can I expect much more in the newer software ?

Thanks
 
Mier said:
I've had my dSLR (Nikon D3000) for about two weeks now. Although I'm very happy so far with my photos, it looks like post processing is actually an essential past of digital photography.

What software do you recommend for an Amateur/Hobby photographer like myself ?

Photoshop seems to be the most popolar, but Coral Paint Shop is quite a bit cheaper.
I got Photoshop Elements 3 with a new pc a few years ago. Can I expect much more in the newer software ?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Download the latest Element's demo and have a look - it will probably do all the pixel pushing you need.

Are you shooting RAW? Have a look at Lightroom - its more of a workflow app than PS but you'll be able to do a lot of your image tweaking right in there.
 
I would also recommend Adobe Lightroom.

For Amateur/Hobby that is perfect, Photoshop is much more powerful but comes at a price.
 
Yes. Photoshop is expensive but worth it.

My choice is Lightroom. The work flow is so easy.

The other piece of software I use is ACDSee ... I like it because my wife finds it easy to use ...
 
Mier, be sure to show us some of the pictures you take with your dSLR - we'd love to see them.
 
Rouxenator said:
Mier, be sure to show us some of the pictures you take with your dSLR - we'd love to see them.
Click to expand...

Will do. This is my first dSLR so I'm still learning the camera. So far my two year old daughter has been the main subject :)
 
Mier said:
Will do. This is my first dSLR so I'm still learning the camera. So far my two year old daughter has been the main subject :)
Click to expand...
They make great subjects. Fortunately, as your skill increases so does their speed. :D
 
Mier said:
Although I'm very happy so far with my photos, it looks like post processing is actually an essential past of digital photography.
Click to expand...

I can't answer your question, about the software, if I don't know what it is you want to do.
 
how about nx2? you should have gotten a trial version of it with your camera purchase. compared to ps, it is cheap, of course everything compared to ps is cheap. plus if your camera came with free training then the folks that offer the training gives even more of discount on nx2 if you purchase it through them during your camera training.
there are tons of tutorials with video online on how to use nx2 as well and i find the program pretty easy to use. i will say though it is a memory hog on your computer.
if you want to go really cheap then there is always gimp which is free and there are plenty of tutorials on the gimp website showing you how to use the program.
 
Moklet Kcuf said:
GIMP (open source) is also worth having a look at, it's improved over the years and is capable of doing almost anything PS can.
Click to expand...
Thats what I am using, and it does most of the things I want it to do!
Although I wouldnt mind trying PS
 
Downloading GIMP now.

I'm part of Webafrica's 10GB free trial next month. Then I'll download trial versions of all the most popular software.
 
There is a simple KDE application that I cannot recall the name of now that is also very cool. It only does the basics but it did most things I used in other apps.
 
Thanks, but I only have Windoze.

I installed GIMP last night and played with it for 10 minutes. Looks quite cool. The problem I have now is that I don't know what to adjust and when. I still have lots to learn on the technical side of things.
 
I prefer to do no post processing at all and rather focus my attention on just taking pictures with the camera set up correctly for the scene. I have played around with RAW output and post processing on it and to be honest I could not see the value in it.

However sometimes you need to adjust the levels (gamma/contrast/hue/etc...) or do a little cropping and for this I find ACDsee the best. I have been using it for more than a decade now and I can highly recommend it to anyone - especially beginners.

Just always keep in mind that no amount of post processing will make a bad picture good. Sure you can tweak the exposure and bump up the saturation or contrast but a good shot always starts with just that - a good shot.

The most important thing you can learn is to correctly use your camera and know its strong points and weaknesses. Practice, practice and more practice is the best Skills Lacking Replacement :P
 
Mier said:
Downloading GIMP now.

I'm part of Webafrica's 10GB free trial next month. Then I'll download trial versions of all the most popular software.
Click to expand...
Since you're a windows user I'd start off Demo'ing Elements and Lightroom. Its amazing what those applications can do in the right hands.
 
Rouxenator said:
I prefer to do no post processing at all and rather focus my attention on just taking pictures with the camera set up correctly for the scene. I have played around with RAW output and post processing on it and to be honest I could not see the value in it.
Click to expand...
Definitely true that minimal Post is always a good goal to have for Photography.
Definitely true, almost all pro photographers shoot RAW! You obviously haven't explored RAW enough to appreciate it. Someone else can take the baton need it be explained in depth, but they don't refer it as a Digital Negative for nothing.
Everyday shots, yeah RAW can be overkill. But if your goal is to take it seriously, my recommendation is to turn JPEG Shooting Mode off now.
Rouxenator said:
However sometimes you need to adjust the levels (gamma/contrast/hue/etc...) or do a little cropping and for this I find ACDsee the best. I have been using it for more than a decade now and I can highly recommend it to anyone - especially beginners.
Click to expand...
Picasa also is an option, free, easy to use, excellent for image organising.

But if you want to get really creative, becoming competent on complex editing software like GIMP or PS is a great skill have. Whichever you chose to learn on, they are functionally complimentary to each other.
So just start doing those online beginner tut's and you'll be getting your head around it in no time.
 
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