Picture editing software for beginners

[RB Will]

Hi all
The other half wants to get hold of some photo editing software as she likes her pics and would just like to be able to tidy them up a bit.
What software would you suggest for a person new to it all?
Cheers

[beano500]

Bite the bullet and go for Adobe Photoshop Elements (v.-whatever-the-latest-number-is....)

It does just about all the things a Photographer will want (with the possible exception of some fancy HDR stuff and filters - but I wouldn't get excited about that too soon).

It's a great industry standard to get to learn.

There's plenty of support for learning.

It's easy for simple stuff, but will allow you to get more advanced.

(Unlike "full" PS) It doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

If shooting a lot of RAW, I'd be tempted to recommend Adobe Lightroom as well - does some sorting, cataloguing, great developing and produces slideshows (in pdf).

[Lucas CAV]

GIMP

It's free.


UFRaw for the RAW files.

It's free.

[theaxe]

Mac or PC?

[cs02rm0]

Lucas CAV said:

GIMP

It's free.


UFRaw for the RAW files.

It's free.

Agreed. Used to be a little awkward to use but it's a doddle these days and very powerful. And free.

[mcflurry]

Paint Shop Pro x2 is £33 on amazon and comes with a tutorial screen too.
If you have a wide screen monitor then the tutorials can sit on one side as you edit on the other

The pro version has a 2gb card and raw support, plus some other goodies. The standard X2 can be found for £15-25 if you shop about.

Elements 8 is another great package with lots of support and tutorials on youtube etc. However, it seems to have gone up in price since Christmas, and not just £1 of extra VAT...

I have both, and use PSP for stuff like "teeth whitening" on portraits or adding a frame, and use PSE8 for colour balancing and suchlike

[pano amo]

Picassa from Google. Free and easy. Nice for viewing photos too. I use for all photo display and editing.