Hi all,
I don't have any purchased photo editing software, just stuff that came on my laptop (e.g. Microsoft Office Picture Manager). I know some is available as free downloads (I think Picasa is one of these), and of course there is Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Paintshop Pro, etc. Piknik has also been mentioned on other posts. Is that a freebie or do you have to buy it. My question is, what do you people use? Have you tried some different ones and established a preference? Photoshop is mentioned a lot, but are others popular too?
Ideally I'd like to try some free stuff to start with (I'm not working at the moment so can't afford to buy) but would also like some ideas for the longer term when hopefully I will be earning again.
Any advice will be gratefully received.
I only use Picasa and Picnik (and Photomatix for HDR shots).
Picnik is free but you can also choose to pay for some of the "Premium Features" which I did without for many months. I have now got the Premium edition - it just gives you a little bit more to play with, but you can see all of these options even if you just use the free version (so you can judge yourself if you want to pay the extra or not). Either way, it wasn't much. About £15 I think. But like I said, you get all the basics for free in Picasa or the free version of Picnik, so you could start with that and see how you feel.
Gimp is similar to Photoshop, but free. But quite frankly they scare me(!) I just feel I've got too little time to learn how to use them, and that Picasa/Picnik do everything I need. Others will probably disagree.
I use Picnik, Gimp, and Photoscape. All of these are free.
My first choice would be Picnik because it's really easy to use. However, it doesn't offer as many options as the other two. Photoscape is a little more advanced, but still pretty easy to use. Gimp is the most advanced and therefore the hardest to use. There are some people (@Janmaki) who are EXCELLENT at Gimp usage, I'm just personally not that patient.
I would start with Picknik and then work your way up. Good Luck!
I use Picnik, in my opinion it's the best option for noobs like myself. It's quick easy and free. But it also produces quality edits. I'd start with Picnik and then progress to professional software such as Photoshop and Gimp, which is harder to use but has much more tools and gives great results if you know how to use it.
x
@lluniau@mej2011 i paid my ACE shortly after I paid for picnik premium last year, so I double paid. when my ACE expired, my premium access on picnik remained. is that not how it works for everyone? did i hit the jackpot? shabang!
@sdpace
You must have hit the jackpot. I only have the normal free access. The only special thing I have is that I can access the website right from my posted picture and can post right back.
I use paintshop pro and find it very user friendly but I am trying to convince the other half that I really do need photoshop and can justify the expense!
I have used lightroom and adobe photoshop, sliders (lightroom) are good , layers are better (photoshop) I would save for the biggie , photoshop does everything you want these days, lightroom 3 is great and I have seen it as low as $149 on amazon. But if i could only have one i would choose photoshop.
I use a couple free programs that i like because they are fast for viewing and can handle basic editing with some fancy extras - Fast Stone Viewer and Fast Stone Resizer. There is also Raw Therapee, but I find that when editing raw files you will loose quality just from using the program in the first place. Dont get me wrong it might be a look that suits your options, but i dont use it as much as the other free ones. Just google :) although I heard of them by word of mouth.
@emmar84 Hi, I'd be very interested to hear why you feel you really need photoshop if you already have paintshop pro? What are the features you feel you would want, that you don't already have (or maybe that you feel paintshop does better, even if you can already do them)?
I'm an Ace member and a newbie - became obsessed soo soon after joining up. I have a couple of Piknik questions - can you only access Piknik through this site once the photo has uploaded ? And how can you access the premium Piknik - as read here you get it free when you're an Ace member?? I have tried it out and liked it, but when I try and click thru on the site, I only see the free version. Thanks!
I use Photoshop CS4 for Real Estate work with PT Lens for verticals etc. Photomatix for HDR, rarely used. Picasa and Picnik for fun stuff, have great results for vintage looking shots of my boy...
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Picnik is free but you can also choose to pay for some of the "Premium Features" which I did without for many months. I have now got the Premium edition - it just gives you a little bit more to play with, but you can see all of these options even if you just use the free version (so you can judge yourself if you want to pay the extra or not). Either way, it wasn't much. About £15 I think. But like I said, you get all the basics for free in Picasa or the free version of Picnik, so you could start with that and see how you feel.
Gimp is similar to Photoshop, but free. But quite frankly they scare me(!) I just feel I've got too little time to learn how to use them, and that Picasa/Picnik do everything I need. Others will probably disagree.
My first choice would be Picnik because it's really easy to use. However, it doesn't offer as many options as the other two. Photoscape is a little more advanced, but still pretty easy to use. Gimp is the most advanced and therefore the hardest to use. There are some people (@Janmaki) who are EXCELLENT at Gimp usage, I'm just personally not that patient.
I would start with Picknik and then work your way up. Good Luck!
x
premium picnik is free? How so?
You must have hit the jackpot. I only have the normal free access. The only special thing I have is that I can access the website right from my posted picture and can post right back.
its a great program and I use it all the time.. free download from softonic, had no problems from that site ,
and the other program I use is http://www.photoscape.org/ps/main/index.php
again a free download and never had virus problems from that site
have fun
I use a couple free programs that i like because they are fast for viewing and can handle basic editing with some fancy extras - Fast Stone Viewer and Fast Stone Resizer. There is also Raw Therapee, but I find that when editing raw files you will loose quality just from using the program in the first place. Dont get me wrong it might be a look that suits your options, but i dont use it as much as the other free ones. Just google :) although I heard of them by word of mouth.