Grimm74 Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 Going to get my wife photo editing software for Xmas. She has a very very nice Nikon camera her father got for her. She mainly photos the kids and stuff like that. I am sure this would be expanded with the right software. Any of you guys have suggestions. I really have no clue. I would like it to be user friendly but not so much so it limits features. Thanks a ton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furd Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 What are you looking to do? I'm no expert, but there is some pretty good stuff out there that covers the basics. Google Picasa for instance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliaz Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 Get her Photoshop. While it may be a dramatic overkill for the purposes you are asking for, she will pick it up really fast and may find out that she has a knack for graphic art. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electricrelish Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 I have a friend that is professional photographer, and he loves Adobe Lightroom to automate settings for a large amount of photos. The Apple equivalent is Aperture. Of course, he uses Adobe Photoshop as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montster Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 Get her Photoshop. While it may be a dramatic overkill for the purposes you are asking for, she will pick it up really fast and may find out that she has a knack for graphic art. You can get Adobe Photoshop Elements for under $100. I've used both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. Elements is more stripped-down but is plenty useful for enthusiasts who are just tinkering with their photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delusions of grandeur Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 Yes Photoshop is great, but don't think you have to get one of the professional CS versions. Just Photoshop Elements 9 should have everything that most amateur to semi-professionals should need. There's a pretty good long description of it here on Amazon, but I couldn't imagine it won't have everything your wife would need to repair, crop, size, combine photos or whatever she's trying to do... Actually, after looking at the description for it, just the Elements version would probably even be enough for my limited professional use of the program, including spot-healing brush, which is an amazing tool to literally make small objects disappear! Though I'm sure there's plenty more advantages to having the CS5 version, but for a program that would cost you around $500 by itself, the Elements version doesn't seem to be much of a downgrade at less than $100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 I have only played around with my Elements a little but I can tell you that it is plenty powerful. I don't know that I will outgrow it or not but at this point it does not seem likely. Also just to show that there is plenty to Elements, my local community college offers courses to teach how to use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keggerz Posted December 18, 2010 Share Posted December 18, 2010 I have a friend that is professional photographer, and he loves Adobe Lightroom to automate settings for a large amount of photos. The Apple equivalent is Aperture. Of course, he uses Adobe Photoshop as well. Photoshop is the top dog but for the money Lightroom will do everything and then some that she needs (I have it, use it and love it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keggerz Posted December 18, 2010 Share Posted December 18, 2010 Going to get my wife photo editing software for Xmas. She has a very very nice Nikon camera her father got for her. She mainly photos the kids and stuff like that. I am sure this would be expanded with the right software. Any of you guys have suggestions. I really have no clue. I would like it to be user friendly but not so much so it limits features. Thanks a ton That is another plus for Lightroom...oh and you might want to check out the Photography forum as we have some info on editing software. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twiley Posted December 18, 2010 Share Posted December 18, 2010 (edited) While there are some quick automated tasks in Photoshop that are easy to pick up on, the rest of the program will be way over her head. Stick with Elements and you'll be fine - it's cheaper and more user friendly. ETA: Unless you're a professional photographer or in the Ad business I highly recommend not getting CS5 or any of the other suites. They're robust and powerful programs but if you don't want to put extensive time and money into learning them then it's like buying a Ferrari and only knowing how to turn the lights on. And if anyone begs to differ I'll gladly show you samples of people that don't know how to use these programs vs. the professionals. Edited December 18, 2010 by twiley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keggerz Posted December 18, 2010 Share Posted December 18, 2010 Free 30 day trials for Adobe products: http://www.adobe.com/downloads/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted December 18, 2010 Share Posted December 18, 2010 depending on your price range, either photoshop elements or lightroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimm74 Posted December 19, 2010 Author Share Posted December 19, 2010 i really appreciate all the input.... not sure if my situation is any clearer though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twiley Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 i really appreciate all the input.... not sure if my situation is any clearer though... Elements all the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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