Starter Photo-editing freeware!!!

[doogalman]

Hello guy's, i am looking for some advice with regard Photo-editing software. I have recently upgraded to a Canon DSLR setup from my trusty old Olympus point and shoot.
In the past i have just used the picture viewer within my windows package on the laptop for doing basic cropping etc. However i would like to make the step up to a proper dedicated photo-editing package. Now i am looking at a freeware direction as i am a tad strapped after getting buying the hardware. So, is there any good freeware packages out there that people could recommend as a good starting point. Or is it that photoshop really is the only option available.
I did a google search but i would appreciate any recomendations from peoples own experiance's if you can.
Thanks

[otolith]

http://www.gimp.org/

[covboy]

otolith said:

http://www.gimp.org/

+1

[CommanderJameson]

Don't forget you've got a CD full of really quite good software with the Canon camera.

Digital Photo Professional is definitely better than a kick in the goolies. (And I reckon it's better than GIMP for photo work)

[doogalman]

Thanks for the advice guys, i will have a look at the freeware one and also load the canon disc and see what that is all about.

[covboy]

[redacted]

[deeen]

I use Picassa 3 just for playing with snaps, in no way is it professional level though. How good is the stuff that comes with the Canon?

[Killwilly]

I have Gimp, Picasa and Faststone on my computer, but out of the three I find Faststone the easiest to operate and gives excellent results. All are free, so no great loss to give them a try.

http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDownload.htm

[jmorgan]

Still in the land of the learners my self and still find Gimp and the deeper parts of Elements awkward when I can across Pixlr, on line only. Does not deal with RAW though. Not played with it much yet.

http://pixlr.com/

[milner993]

[redacted]

[covboy]

milner993 said:

what is the diffrence between photoshop elements and cs6 apart from the massive diffrence in price would really love a responce as I want to buy one this month
thanks

CS6 is very much a full blown Pro piece of software - All singing all dancing.

Elements uses, probably, the most usefull bits that "amateurs" would need.

Couldn't justify the cost of CS personally (although I have used it)


If its Elements you're looking at, as I said the latest version (11) will probably be out in the next month or so

[Colin RedGriff]

It's not feee but have a look at Lightroom, the development tools in there are pretty good plus you get the cataloging and output modules as well

[milner993]

If its Elements you're looking at, as I said the latest version (11) will probably be out in the next month or so
[/quote]

does elements have the ability to create HDR/light room like cs6 this is one area I'm really interested in?

[CommanderJameson]

milner993 said:

does elements have the ability to create HDR/light room like cs6 this is one area I'm really interested in?

Well, it doesn't have any automatic method of doing it, but I suppose there's nothing to stop you creating layers with your differently-exposed images and merging them yourself.

I use Photomatix Pro for HDR work. It's about £60.

Edited by CommanderJameson on Saturday 18th August 14:06

[milner993]

I might just wait to see what the elements 11 looks like and try out the Photoshop trial version in the mean time.
Playing around with exposure levels I think is a nice way to make a HDR.
I'm certainly looking forward to using what ever software I go for.
I just need some inspiration now when I'm using the camera

[milner993]

well last night I downloaded Photoshop cs6 and as I have never used editing software before to say the least I could actually the
I did manage to create a nice picture for my first attempt however I cant find the HDR settings, neither do I fully understand the tools Help!!!

[CommanderJameson]

milner993 said:

well last night I downloaded Photoshop cs6 and as I have never used editing software before to say the least I could actually the
I did manage to create a nice picture for my first attempt however I cant find the HDR settings, neither do I fully understand the tools Help!!!

CS6 is massive overkill for a hobbyist photographer, IMO.

Elements is much more geared towards the beginning user.

[milner993]

yeah Im going to wait for elements 11 websites saying should be about the 24 september for the release date?

what sort of price are the elements software when released I know elements 10 is £60 from amazon will it be about the same price ??