What is a good photo editor?...I have a Windows computer...
Good online editor?
interesting in making my photos interesting and unique after making some Powerpoint Presentations for college classes
Starting from basic scratch in knowledge
Thanks!
Alicia
I love www.befunky.com It's free and it's got some gorgeous filters to use. I've used it on my latest pic if you want to get an impression of what it can do.
I've also got Photoshop Elements but to be honest I'm still struggling with that as it doesn't seem intuitive at all. I've done some of the floating fruit shots with it but for anything that doesn't need 'trickery' as such I stick with Befunky.
I am specifically looking for one where i can incorporate thee images from three different photos into one photo.. thanks for suggestions! i love filters too and will def check out your suggestions!
My students use befunky.com and love it. I've looked at Pixlr but have never used it. It seems really good though - very similar to Photoshop Elements. If I didn't have Photoshop, that's the one I'd try.
Photoscape from http://www.photoscape.org/ps/main/index.php is quite a reasonable, full functioned, free picture editor (be careful with the install or you get loads of unwanted programs or so called "bloatware" that comes with it). There are also a variety of Youtube videos of varying quality on how to do various Photoscape tasks. Failing that, people seem to like Picasa for some reason.
I have Photoshop Elements for the heavy editing. But for quick edits, I downloaded Picasa, it's free and does a pretty good job. Faster than uploading them to the internet.
I have elements but don't particularly like it - fotoflexer, pixlr and lunapic all have good effects. Gimp is very much like photoshop if you are prepared to put the effort in
I used pixlr for the following photo where I needed to combine two pics and it worked great. You can do layers just like in Photoshop Elements but its free.
You might pull out all the stops and go for Photoshop. Through March 31st, you can get a subscription that includes Photoshop and Lightroom CC (Creative Cloud) for $9.99 US per month. The possibilities are endless with PS; you are only limited by your imagination. I use CS6, but I've heard that CC has some very cool new bells and whistles. It is a terrifically complex program, but you can be up and editing in fifteen minutes. There are literally thousands of YouTube tutorials to help you get started. If you get really serious, lynda.com has comprehensive courses that will open doors to amazing information. You might look at GIMP, too. Again, very complex, and less intuitive than PS, but it's free. Just for fun, take a look at www.worth1000.com. It's a PS competition site that can consume every free moment of your life. Have fun!
I have to give a shout out to Lightroom. Almost all if the images in my albums were edited in Lightroom. It's a powerful editing tool and much more intuitive than Photoshop. There are many resources online and if you like presets, there are tons of free ones out there to get you started.
Starting from scratch with Photoshop would be akin to trying to fly a jet fighter the first time you take the controls. It is the Cadillac, but for most all develop tasks in the editor, Lightroom from Adobe can't be beaten. As Ryan pointed out, $10 a month subscription from Adobe gets you Lightroom and Photoshop CC, an incredible bargain.
Why don't you take out an ACE membership here and get your editing feet wet with PicMonkey to start? You'd get all the other benefits too. Albums, statistics, tending page... US$20 I think. Can't go wrong with that.
I use several on-line sites that are free. BeFunky has already been mentioned, but it's one of my favorites too. Ribbet is another site that's easy to use and has some nice special effects. I find the best site for merging photos as you mentioned is iPiccy. And as Frank mentioned if you're an Ace member you get the full benefits on 365 and can edit in PicMonkey. PicMonkey is very similar to Ribbet- and both were started by folks who ran the now defunct Picnik. I think you can do basic editing in Picmonkey without the Ace membership, but with it you get all their premium features too. I've never done a powerpoint in any of these so I don't know if they have that capability. But I'm all for free and easy!
I've been using PicMonkey since I started this project over a year ago, and I love it. It's super-easy to use, and they're always adding new features. It's free, but you can buy a "Royale" membership for around $20/year. Well worth it! Someday I want to get Lightroom, but for now I'll stick with the monkey. :)
I have used photoshop elements and it does nothing amazing, see if you can get an older version of photoshop, CS4 is the version I currently use. However, I LOVE pixlr express (autodesk), it's a free app, it has everything from effects, filters, overlays, selective focus, vignettes, frames. You will learn a lot from the variety it offers. Avoid photoshop elements, it will only frustrate you!
Sorry to jump in here, but does anyone know of any online photo editors that can handle RAW? I want to start exploring that on my camera but my student budget cannot afford Photoshop at the moment :P
@steviemichelle I use Lightroom 4 which I have found perfect for my needs and you get a discount if you are a student, they offer a try before you buy trial period, about 30 days I think, well worth taking a look. Good luck.
played around with the BeFunky for awhile and what I came out with with very rough draft. Looking forward to spending more time with this particular program and exploring the others!
@robrazer I was playing around w/ the pixlr and there seemed to be three different versions. I did like what I discovered so far, and plan on exploring more, so fun!
@frankhymus thx for the ace suggestion. I wanted to see if I could remember to take my daily photo and have time allotted and set aside for photography to upgrade since I am full time student and mommy! Thanks for letting me know what some of the membership entails, If I can stick with it I will definitely look into ace. Thx!
Try PicMonkey, its fun and easy to use also its free. i have recently started a new account on 365, but on my old one i used it for most of my photos, have fun
I really like using Lightroom 5. It takes some time to get used to all the options, but googling a video called Lightroom 5 basics tutorial will get you started REALLY quick.
I also use GIMP. You were saying you wanted to combine layers? Couldn't be easier than with GIMP. It's free. Naydeen is right, it is comparable to photoshop altough not as intuitive. You have to put some effort into watching GIMP turtorials online. But there are thousands. You just google "How do you combine different layers into one image in GIMP" and POOF... there is a video or 10.
Specifically what did you want to do with layers?
Check out my photo from yesterday That is two separate layers. I changed layer mode on the top layer to overlay (or screen), can't remember.. and then you get this kind of image.
If you wanted to delete out of one layer to see the layer beneath, that's easy too. You just right click and add alpha layer to the top layer. Then you use the eraser button to erase the top layer and let the bottom shine through.
Hey, give it a try. If you have GIMP questions let me know. It took me some time to learn it, but for free, it's powerful and easy.
For cataloguing and simple editing, Microsoft Photo Gallery is free and good.
If you want lots of fancy effects - filter - then some of the programs above will do that.
If you reach the point of wanting to shot & edit raw files, and strive for really good quality images that look great printed A4, I think you are getting into Lightroom or maybe Photoshop country.
In my view an online editor is one of the things in hell...
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I've also got Photoshop Elements but to be honest I'm still struggling with that as it doesn't seem intuitive at all. I've done some of the floating fruit shots with it but for anything that doesn't need 'trickery' as such I stick with Befunky.
Anyone...?
Why don't you take out an ACE membership here and get your editing feet wet with PicMonkey to start? You'd get all the other benefits too. Albums, statistics, tending page... US$20 I think. Can't go wrong with that.
I also use GIMP. You were saying you wanted to combine layers? Couldn't be easier than with GIMP. It's free. Naydeen is right, it is comparable to photoshop altough not as intuitive. You have to put some effort into watching GIMP turtorials online. But there are thousands. You just google "How do you combine different layers into one image in GIMP" and POOF... there is a video or 10.
Specifically what did you want to do with layers?
Check out my photo from yesterday
If you wanted to delete out of one layer to see the layer beneath, that's easy too. You just right click and add alpha layer to the top layer. Then you use the eraser button to erase the top layer and let the bottom shine through.
Hey, give it a try. If you have GIMP questions let me know. It took me some time to learn it, but for free, it's powerful and easy.
If you want lots of fancy effects - filter - then some of the programs above will do that.
If you reach the point of wanting to shot & edit raw files, and strive for really good quality images that look great printed A4, I think you are getting into Lightroom or maybe Photoshop country.
In my view an online editor is one of the things in hell...