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Tab5crux
Aug 29, 2011, 3:22 PM
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What is the editing software that you use? Particularly what would you recommend that is fairly user friendly for post processing pictures? Any advise would be helpful!
Spanks!
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kennoyce
Aug 29, 2011, 3:53 PM
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It really depends on what you're trying to do. Personally, I use Photoshop CS5 because it has the features that I need. If you are new to photo editing, CS5 would probably just confuse you. A good starting software would be Photoshop Elements 9, but without knowing what you are trying to do, I can't tell you if it will be enough for you. If it isn't enough for you (i.e. you want more RAW editing power) go to Photoshop Lightroom 3.
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Tab5crux
Aug 29, 2011, 4:45 PM
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Personally I'm planning on just light touch up. Little adjustment just to fix a few things. Pretty basic changes and tweaks. I have had CS2 and was pretty familiar/proficient at it , but lost the software so I'm familiar with that platform. The standard editing software that came with my camera just doesn't come close to meeting what I need. So what is the difference between CS5 and Lightroom?
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kennoyce
Aug 29, 2011, 5:36 PM
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Tab5crux wrote: Personally I'm planning on just light touch up. Little adjustment just to fix a few things. Pretty basic changes and tweaks. I have had CS2 and was pretty familiar/proficient at it , but lost the software so I'm familiar with that platform. The standard editing software that came with my camera just doesn't come close to meeting what I need. So what is the difference between CS5 and Lightroom?
If you just need a few basic changes and tweaks then you should probably just go with photoshop elements. You could also try downloading GIMP (it's free and does a lot). As far as the difference between Elements, Lightroom, and CS5, Lightroom is mostly just a RAW processer so it doesn't have nearly the editing capabilities of CS5, and elements is a stripped down version of CS5 without the RAW capabilities (the RAW processing is so stripped down that it is practically useless).
So if you are talking basic editing of jpegs, go with elements, if you are talking about basic editing of RAW, go with Lightroom, if you want free, go with GIMP, and if you want the best capabilities, go with CS5.
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marc801
Aug 29, 2011, 5:52 PM
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kennoyce wrote: ...if you want free, go with GIMP,...
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styndall
Aug 29, 2011, 6:08 PM
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Tab5crux wrote: What is the editing software that you use? Particularly what would you recommend that is fairly user friendly for post processing pictures? Any advise would be helpful! Spanks!
For managing and post-processing, I use Lightroom. Less capable than photoshop, but with really nice batch processing and library management capabilities.
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Rudmin
Aug 29, 2011, 7:17 PM
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GIMP plus UFRAW is a pretty powerful combination. Mostly I use UFRAW alone 90% of the time with Nikon's RAW format.
I only open up GIMP these days to take multiple exposures from the same RAW file and send them to GIMP to mask together. Mask from greyscale copy is handy for separately exposing foreground and background in sharply divided photos (like a person silhouetted against the sky) . Just go to curves and ramp up the contrast till it's pretty much black and white and you have a perfect mask that took 10 seconds.
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FullertonImages
Dec 4, 2011, 7:52 AM
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I use Adobe Lightroom for about 95% of my work. It's so much more than just a RAW processor. It's a start to finish digital management and editing solution. I have Photoshop as well, which fully integrates into a Lightroom workflow, but I only go into PS about 5% of the time, and only when I need to do heavy editing, like lots of healing/cloning/ liquifying, or working in layers/masks. For most of the editing I need to do to completely finalize an image, I don't need to go anywhere near Photoshop. Lightroom was made specifically for photographers and their needs, Photoshop was made for graphic designers and got hijacked by photographers who didn't have anything bettre at the time. Not to say that there aren't tons of a great photo related features in PS, but there's also tons that a photographer will never need. Most of the things you will need to do editing photos can't be done faster, easier, and with beter results in Lightroom. If I could only own one, it would be Lightroom all day long...
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guangzhou
Dec 4, 2011, 1:29 PM
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My workflow starts in Aperture and ends in PS CS5. I could do 99.9% of what O do in Aperture, but over the years, I've learned to use Photoshop, so it's now more efficient for me.
With that said, I agree with all the post above.
FullertonImages, nice clean website with great images.
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photolessons
Dec 4, 2011, 2:27 PM
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kennoyce wrote: Tab5crux wrote: Personally I'm planning on just light touch up. Little adjustment just to fix a few things. Pretty basic changes and tweaks. I have had CS2 and was pretty familiar/proficient at it , but lost the software so I'm familiar with that platform. The standard editing software that came with my camera just doesn't come close to meeting what I need. So what is the difference between CS5 and Lightroom? If you just need a few basic changes and tweaks then you should probably just go with photoshop elements. You could also try downloading GIMP (it's free and does a lot). As far as the difference between Elements, Lightroom, and CS5, Lightroom is mostly just a RAW processer so it doesn't have nearly the editing capabilities of CS5, and elements is a stripped down version of CS5 without the RAW capabilities (the RAW processing is so stripped down that it is practically useless). So if you are talking basic editing of jpegs, go with elements, if you are talking about basic editing of RAW, go with Lightroom, if you want free, go with GIMP, and if you want the best capabilities, go with CS5.
Photoshop CS5 is the best way to go if you can get it. GIMP is very good for a free alternative.
If you are at all serious about your photography, you will want to shoot in RAW format. Here is a good little explanation about why it is much better then jpeg.
http://myphotographylessons.com/raw-format-basics/
(This post was edited by photolessons on Dec 4, 2011, 2:28 PM)
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FullertonImages
Dec 5, 2011, 12:37 AM
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guangzhou wrote: My workflow starts in Aperture and ends in PS CS5. I could do 99.9% of what O do in Aperture, but over the years, I've learned to use Photoshop, so it's now more efficient for me. With that said, I agree with all the post above. FullertonImages, nice clean website with great images.
Thanks, Guangzhou! The site is definitely due for a major updating. Nothing from the last 18 months is up there! Besides the blog that is...
Back to the topic, I'll add to my previous statement that as Guangzhou pointed out, Lightroom and Aperture are pretty close to interchangeable. They're have slightly different styles and slight differences in terms of strengths and weaknesses, but both are very good, very powerful and very affordable!
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guangzhou
Dec 5, 2011, 1:25 AM
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FullertonImages wrote: guangzhou wrote: My workflow starts in Aperture and ends in PS CS5. I could do 99.9% of what O do in Aperture, but over the years, I've learned to use Photoshop, so it's now more efficient for me. With that said, I agree with all the post above. FullertonImages, nice clean website with great images. Thanks, Guangzhou! The site is definitely due for a major updating. Nothing from the last 18 months is up there! Besides the blog that is... Back to the topic, I'll add to my previous statement that as Guangzhou pointed out, Lightroom and Aperture are pretty close to interchangeable. They're have slightly different styles and slight differences in terms of strengths and weaknesses, but both are very good, very powerful and very affordable!
Aperture is Mac only software I think. An issue for some people.
On websites, well, maintaining them seems to take a lot of time, that's for sure. Almost a full-time job in itself.
If you're ever on assignment in Asia, I can show you around Indonesia and offer you a guestroom with some local talent too.
Cheers
Eman
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FullertonImages
Dec 5, 2011, 1:34 AM
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guangzhou wrote: If you're ever on assignment in Asia, I can show you around Indonesia and offer you a guestroom with some local talent too. Cheers Eman
Thanks, Eman. I would love to take you up on that for any number of reasons!
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guangzhou
Dec 8, 2011, 1:01 AM
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FullertonImages wrote: guangzhou wrote: If you're ever on assignment in Asia, I can show you around Indonesia and offer you a guestroom with some local talent too. Cheers Eman Thanks, Eman. I would love to take you up on that for any number of reasons!
I understand. If you make it here, give me notice, I've become the un-official climber's spare bed in East Java. Of course, that would mean you would have climbers you can shoot while you're here.
Plenty of culture too.
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