Now that digital photography is the standard way we take pictures, having the ability to edit pictures on your computer is a must. Consequently, the market is flooded with software for photo editing. You may think you should choose the best-rated, most expensive program around, however that may not be the best choice for you.
Adobe graphic design programs have been the gold standard for years. Adobe Photoshop Creative Suite (CS) is the company's flagship photo editing software program series. Currently on version number 5, this program is built for the pro photographer or serious hobbyist, as its $700-range price tag suggests. For more down-to-earth editing needs, you should check out Adobe Photoshop Elements. As the name indicates, it's a stripped-down program aimed at consumers who want to make their pictures look like the work of a pro. What is a complicated process in CS5 becomes a button click in Elements.
Corel's PaintShop Pro software has been Adobe's rival in digital editing for years. For professionals, there has been no contest, but for consumer-level users, PaintShop Pro is a good choice. It has more editing options than Elements and is far less expensive than Photoshop. Also, the program can act as your digital darkroom with a tool called Organizer, which can batch edit and organize your picture collection. Several software reviewers and users have found PaintShop Pro to be less stable and slower than other programs, especially when working with huge files or in a low RAM environment. Still, the image quality is better than other consumer-range software.
It's likely the camera you purchased or the computer you bought came with photo editing/organizing software. These options may be enough for you. If not, and if you'd like to avoid buying expensive software, there are good options available.
GIMP is a freely distributed photo editing program with tools and performance that makes it competitive with top-of-the-line software. However, the learning curve is steep and the design and user interface are a bit peculiar. If you don't have time or patience you may want to skip GIMP, although it's a great program that allows you to edit and create effects like the pros do.
Paint.Net is a less advanced free program than GIMP, but it is more intuitive to use. It's like a more advanced version of the Paint program that comes installed with Windows, and only works with Windows OS installed.
Google's Picassa, Windows Live Photo Gallery, and Apple's iPhoto take picture editing and organizing into the social networking age with many options for importing and sharing your pictures. While all three are strong on organizing and sharing pictures, none of these programs have extensive editing options. Picassa has more options for retouching that the other two, but the end results don't show much of a difference. If all you wish to do is take out the red-eye before putting your pictures on Facebook, these options may work well for you.
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