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Simple, 'cheap' yet effective photo editing software?

P

parajba

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 19, 2008
513
269
Hi everybody,

I just replaced my old MabBook with a new MBP and would need your opinion.
I'll have a baby soon :))) and will start making lots of photos, enlargments, printing, manipulations etc. iPhoto is a very good photo management software (does the job, very simple and fast), but it doesn't have good editing and special fx features. And then there's PhotoShop, comprehensive and complex, VERY expensive, and cannot justify it really (circa £500?)

What other photo software do you recommend? an old version of PhotoShop? It'd be very cheap? The latest version of PhotoShop Elements?

Thanks in advance for your kind replies!
 
Depending on what you're looking to do (and how much you're willing to spend) Lightroom or Aperture might be what you're looking for. You'll get more powerful adjustments, and both excel at cataloging. (Neither will allow you to work with layers, etc., but both will allow for local adjustments using brushes).

There are free demos of both, with Aperture 3 just having been released, and Lightroom 3 expected in the next month or so. It's just been revealed that Lightroom 3 will allow for lens distortion corrections (a big deal for some), and that'll be what I'm going with (the 2nd beta is available to download for free).

Both have their merits, so your best bet is to give them both a try.
 
Pixelmator seems pretty good. Thanks for the tip. How about Photoshop Elements? or the real Photoshop with student discount?
 
parajba said:
Pixelmator seems pretty good. Thanks for the tip. How about Photoshop Elements? or the real Photoshop with student discount?
Click to expand...

What exactly are you asking?

All of these applications are good at what they do, what is it that you want to do?
 
telecomm said:
What exactly are you asking?

All of these applications are good at what they do, what is it that you want to do?
Click to expand...

+1

I know that we have a nearly 3yo and we have been using iPhoto for 99.997% of our photo 'adjustments'. What are you intending to do with/to your photos that you feel you need to spend extra money for? iPhoto certainly isn't the end-all, be-all of image manipulators, but it gets the job done for all of our family photos.
 
mstrze said:
+1

I know that we have a nearly 3yo and we have been using iPhoto for 99.997% of our photo 'adjustments'. What are you intending to do with/to your photos that you feel you need to spend extra money for? iPhoto certainly isn't the end-all, be-all of image manipulators, but it gets the job done for all of our family photos.
Click to expand...

I guess the problem here is that I'm not too sure what I intend to do with the sw...I was thinking about things like applying special filters, nothing too fancy.

I guess I'll try Photoshop Elements and if I like it I'll buy it.
 
mstrze said:
Have you played around with the 'filtering' in iPhoto?
Click to expand...

Are you referring to the 'Effects'? They are very limited and basic I would say. Ages ago, but really ages ago (8 years) I used to have PhotoSshop on a PC and I remember playing with layers and really cool effects where I could adjust heaps of parameters...
 
parajba said:
Are you referring to the 'Effects'? They are very limited and basic I would say. Ages ago, but really ages ago (8 years) I used to have PhotoSshop on a PC and I remember playing with layers and really cool effects where I could adjust heaps of parameters...
Click to expand...

I am.

I guess what I am saying is that for just about all family/baby/kid photos, iPhoto will take care of all of your needs.

I wouldn't spend more than $50US on something for what you want to accomplish. Go with the free options out there.

If you don't mind...what kind of things are you thinking about doing?
 
I agree with everyone who said iPhoto. I've been using that since I got my first DSLR. If you own a Canon or Nikon you can do most of your editing in camera. If you're shooting RAW then I would go with the others suggestions Aperture 3 or Lightroom3. I like that LR3 you can tethered. Eventhough it's not out yet, I'm leaning towards LR3 only because I like the flow better than Aperture 3.



In Preview you can also adjust your photos. Its a quick fix just like iPhoto. But it doesn't edit RAW. :mad:
 
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