digital photography software for beginners

heywoodheywood Posts: 1Member
edited May 2014 in General Discussions
what is the most sensible software for a beginner of photo manipulation
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  • PhotobugPhotobug Posts: 5,751Member
    Nikon NX2.
    D750 & D7100 | 24-70 F2.8 G AF-S ED, 70-200 F2.8 AF VR, TC-14E III, TC-1.7EII, 35 F2 AF D, 50mm F1.8G, 105mm G AF-S VR | Backup & Wife's Gear: D5500 & Sony HX50V | 18-140 AF-S ED VR DX, 55-300 AF-S G VR DX |
    |SB-800, Amaran Halo LED Ring light | MB-D16 grip| Gitzo GT3541 + RRS BH-55LR, Gitzo GM2942 + Sirui L-10 | RRS gear | Lowepro, ThinkTank, & Hoodman gear | BosStrap | Vello Freewave Plus wireless Remote, Leica Lens Cleaning Cloth |
  • WestEndBoyWestEndBoy Posts: 1,456Member
    Just bite the bullet and get Lightroom. It is not that hard.
  • PB_PMPB_PM Posts: 4,494Member
    Nikon NX2.
    No point in suggesting dead end software that will not be supported beyond this summer.
    If I take a good photo it's not my camera's fault.
  • sevencrossingsevencrossing Posts: 2,800Member
    edited May 2014
    what is the most sensible software for a beginner of photo manipulation
    Can you define photo manipulation

    for general editing post production and doing all the things you did in the Darkroom, try a 30 day free, sample of Adobe Lightroom
    but for true "photo manipulation" you need something with layers eg Photoshop CS6


    Post edited by sevencrossing on
  • blandbland Posts: 812Member
    I'd suggest Photoshop Elements.
  • Golf007sdGolf007sd Posts: 2,840Moderator
    What operating system...Windows or OS X?
    D4 & D7000 | Nikon Holy Trinity Set + 105 2.8 Mico + 200 F2 VR II | 300 2.8G VR II, 10.5 Fish-eye, 24 & 50 1.4G, 35 & 85 1.8G, 18-200 3.5-5.6 VR I SB-400 & 700 | TC 1.4E III, 1.7 & 2.0E III, 1.7 | Sigma 35 & 50 1.4 DG HSM | RRS Ballhead & Tripods Gear | Gitzo Monopod | Lowepro Gear | HDR via Promote Control System |
  • dissentdissent Posts: 1,329Member
    Before I got into DSLR, I was using an (admittedly very dated) early version of PaintShop Pro. I can't tell you how happy I was when I got Lightroom and started to learn how to use it (still learning). Makes basic photo manipulation and editing (and output and organization) a snap.

    What WestEndBoy said. Well worth the dough. (Even though I'm sure PSP is much more capable now).
    - Ian . . . [D7000, D7100; Nikon glass: 35 f1.8, 85 f1.8, 70-300 VR, 105 f2.8 VR, 12-24 f4; 16-85 VR, 300 f4D, 14E-II TC, SB-400, SB-700 . . . and still plenty of ignorance]
  • paulrpaulr Posts: 1,176Member
    edited May 2014
    Just enrole in Adobe CC plus you get Lighroom free, Adobe have made them accessible to everyone with their monthly payment scheme, Adobe are the industry standard and you can use as much or as little of Adobe as you want, if your PP skills are not great plus there are 100's if not 1000's of free education videos on how to use Adobe CS6/CC, It's a total none Brainer. Welcome to the learning curve.
    Post edited by paulr on
    Camera, Lens and Tripod and a few other Bits
  • MsmotoMsmoto Posts: 5,398Moderator
    edited May 2014
    For Apple folks, Aperture is quick and easy, but Lightroom is pretty easy and can be mastered in a few days for general work.

    In simple terms, if an old person can learn it, most likely anyone can….. LOL
    Post edited by Msmoto on
    Msmoto, mod
  • MikeGunterMikeGunter Posts: 543Member
    Hi all,

    PaintShopPro is a terrific app. Another good app is Cyberlink's Photo Director. I prefer Adobe Creative Suite CC.

    Lightroom allows for most users the opportunity to get a good experience and get what they need to do for their photography.

    Lynda and Kelby offers training as does other companies. Free tutorials are available, too. Resident training is available at Adobe Training Centers (ATCs) in countries world wide. (Full disclosure - until I retired a couple of years ago, we had one here.)

    You can teach yourself a lot, but you'll get a magnitude more out of the training if you are professionally taught. Of course, so many here are not professionals and that need doesn't bear the cost.

    It's the same as the dilemma in the 'free' verses 'cost' topic in payment of services for photographer services discussion.

    That's when the "I can do what I need to do" generally is voiced. :-)

    IOW, no one has asked them to do them much.

    My very best,

    Mike
  • MininMissionMininMission Posts: 5Member
    I've downloaded the "capture NX2" free trial.
    Haven't tried anything with it, got to take a few pictures first!!!!!
  • MininMissionMininMission Posts: 5Member
    I am considering purchasing CS6. Standalone, if I can.

    I am often "out of range" for WiFi and would like to be able to continue "playing" without depending on a connection.
  • AdeAde Posts: 1,071Member
    edited May 2014
    If you do subscribe to Adobe CC, you don't need to be "online" or in WiFi range to use it.

    In fact you can be "offline" for up to four months (one calendar month + 99 days grace period) before you must re-verify your license with Adobe servers. If you don't have an annual commitment, you still have a 30-day grace period where you can be offline before mandatory re-verification.
    Post edited by Ade on
  • MininMissionMininMission Posts: 5Member
    Thanks Ade.
    I will investigate that.
  • spraynprayspraynpray Posts: 6,545Moderator
    @heywood: What is your actual experience? If zero. take a look at the editing tools available on the average on-line site like flickr. Really basic, but they may give you the confidence to give one of the others above a try. There are so many free training tips on Youtube, that you can get going again easily if you get confused.
    Always learning.
  • IronheartIronheart Posts: 3,017Moderator
    I'm trying to go tablet as much as possible, things like snapseed, camera+, and filterstorm have 90% of what you need and are cheap cheap cheap. There are now mobile versions of some of the adobe apps, but I haven't tried them yet.
  • MikeGunterMikeGunter Posts: 543Member
    Hi all,

    @Ironheart - Photoshop Touch is quite nice. I is $10, pricey for a tablet/phone app, but really full-featured. It syncs with your Adobe Cloud account (depending if that's what you want to do ;-) ), and offers layers and host of Photoshop features.

    Most tablets have a means - I use a Samsung Note 10.3, but a current iPad works - by using a USB card adapter to either plug the card in for reading or the cable into the camera, assuming jpg or jpg+RAW (I don't want use space for RAW on the tablet for RAW or RAW conversion).

    End results, can be saved as PNG or JPG.

    My best,

    Mike
  • HipShotHipShot Posts: 528Member
    I've never edited photos via an iPad. Is that even practical?
  • sevencrossingsevencrossing Posts: 2,800Member
    edited May 2014
    The OP might just as well have asked
    "what is the most sensible camera for a beginner"
    To be of help we really need a lot more information
    Post edited by sevencrossing on
  • IronheartIronheart Posts: 3,017Moderator
    @hipshot, in a word, yes. There are tons of things you can do on a tablet that are easy, fast and cheap. Depends on your needs.
  • MikeGunterMikeGunter Posts: 543Member
    Hi all,
    I've never edited photos via an iPad. Is that even practical?
    7C has the right idea - it really depends.

    The OP is asked about beginning software, which is really about downloading images, and, perhaps, making the basic levels and curves and white balance and exposure adjustments.

    That would be all I would suggest the beginner jump into.

    First.

    There is a lot more to do afterwards. A lot more.

    Photoshop Touch is a robust app that can really satisfy some uses for quality images. But its practicality for everyday use is well, ah... If you shoot a lot of pictures - a lot - filling a 32GB card, you'd be hard pressed to find a place to download them on a 64GB iPad. Much less a 16GB Android tablet. :-)

    If, OTOH, you shoot JPG and limit that shooting to the space you have available and have little adjustment needs, it might not be taxing.

    Touch is intended to appeal to a user that is going to plug in a camera or an SD card and choose a few images to download and work and share.

    It could also be something to work on as a project on site, perhaps with other materials to composite for a client or collaborate with colleagues using the Cloud or to save in the PDSX format and retrieve to desktop.

    My best,

    Mike
  • sevencrossingsevencrossing Posts: 2,800Member
    edited May 2014
    One thing I would strongly recommend any beginner doing is to stop and think about how he intends to file and catalog all the images, they are likely to take over the coming years
    Particularly if they take several hundred shots a day and keep all of them
    Post edited by sevencrossing on
  • mikepmikep Posts: 280Member
    nothing beats lightroom + photoshop

    lightroom is really easy to pick up, and is great just on its own.

    if you want to really takes your pictures as far as they can go, then photoshop is the tool. photoshop takes a little longer to learn, but there are plenty of courses available online, both free and paid, that will give you the photoshop you need in just a few days. really worth the effort imo.

    lightroom to organise and catalogue your pictures, and photoshop to edit them = win

  • spraynprayspraynpray Posts: 6,545Moderator
    The key word is 'Beginner' folks.
    Always learning.
  • kenadamskenadams Posts: 222Member
    ... and before you spend thousands of $currency without even knowing whether you like it or not, try gimp. It's free and it's pretty great, like a freeware photoshop. Not as powerful obviously though, but it will give you an insight.

    Other than that, you can't possibly go wrong with Lightroom, maybe additionally the Nik Software tools.
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