Best photo editing software? (Canon, Nikon, 2009, d40)

[Lillibelle]

Hi all-
I just recently got a Canon Rebel XSi and will mostly be doing family photos, at least initially, although I'm excited to learn more.
We're a Mac family. What photo editing software do people recommend?
Photoshop? Photoshop Elements? Lightroom? Something else?
I'm thinking Elements is probably all I'd need but people tell me Lightroom is fantastic.
Thanks and feel free to direct me to an existing thread if this has been asked before.

[Skyliner]

It depends on how far you plan to take your photo editing. Photoshop is pricier than other programs, but is the industry standard among professionals. If you haven't used it before, plan on spending plenty of time to get familiar with its many powerful tools. Photoshop Elements would be a better starter to learn the system. That would be my suggestion.

[ShepsMom]

I personally use phtoshop, but elements or lightroom as good as you need to start with. Both are great and whole lot cheaper.

Good luck!

[Matt Angry]

Here is my progression from when I started shooting digital:

1) The software that came with my Gateway
2) HP Software that came with new PC
3) Picasa (Free and great for begginers)
4) Trial version of ACD (I think thats what it was called)
5) DDP, or whatever the software is called that comes with Canon cameras
6) Trial of Lightroom
7) Upgraded to full verison of Lightroom
8) Purchased Photoshop CS3 shortly after getting LR
9) Now using Lightroom 2.0 along with CS3 and don't plan on changing any time soon!!

Thats about 7 years of programs, I've been stuck on LR and CS3 since they became available.

The point, my suggestion is to abuse the trial versions of any product that you can get your PC on (sorry, Mac if you use the fruit) I was dead set on purchasing ACD from a review I read in Outdoor Photographer, and absolutely hated the trial, saved me some cash!!! Almost all the photo editing programs come with some kind of trial. I'd just play around with them until you find one you like!

[visualevo]

This should help out a bit:
Photo Editing Software Review 2009 - TopTenREVIEWS

[Robert A]

There's Lightroom & Photoshop...and then everything else. Lightroom may be your best bet if you intend to only process RAW files. It's simple and powerful. Photoshop has a lot more features, but you might not use any of them.

As an alternative, I used CaptureOne Pro for a time and thought it was an excellent RAW converter. I eventually came back to Photoshop, though.

[WyoNewk]

I use Photoshop and, as a professional, I wouldn't use anything else; however, for amateur use I recommend Elements. It'll do about everything you'll need at a much lower price and still give you access to tons of actions.

I haven't tried Lightroom.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Lillibelle

Hi all-
I just recently got a Canon Rebel XSi and will mostly be doing family photos, at least initially, although I'm excited to learn more.
We're a Mac family. What photo editing software do people recommend?
Photoshop? Photoshop Elements? Lightroom? Something else?
I'm thinking Elements is probably all I'd need but people tell me Lightroom is fantastic.
Thanks and feel free to direct me to an existing thread if this has been asked before.

Lightroom is fantastic, but the relatively low-priced Elements is an outstanding application. It does a wonderful job PP RAW images. PSE7 is not available for the Mac at the moment (should be very soon), so I use PSE6, and Graphic Converter.

[Korel]

If I may suggest the Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 which I use. I've always enjoyed using the earlier versions of PSP to edit graphic images (not photographs) for web sites. I've never used Photo Shop so I can't compare to it other than how pricey it is. I really enjoy PSPX2 for editing and enhancing the photographs I take. I like to use it to enhance the shadows of a photo and to correct the perspective of a photograph of a house. If I were a rich man or maybe a full-time professional, maybe I would spring for the Photo Shop. But for now, PSPX2 does more than I could ever imagine. A friend calls it, "The Poor Man's Photo Shop". Here is an example of perspective correction using PSPX2. I just corrected it enough to appear more natural and not have the vertical lines straight up and down, which really looks weird.



And this is after:



Camera was my little D40 and Nikon 12-28mm wide zoom set at 12mm.

[ReturningWest]

I have a Canon Rebel XTI and use Photoshop Elements I'm currently on version 6 and have 7 but haven't loaded it as it takes too much memory.

The upgrate from 5 to 6 was pretty spectacular and I'm still learning all the new features.

Before you make a decision decide what you want to do with your photos, I really only share online as it's just too expensive to print.