campkl Loc: Wyoming

What is the best and/or easiest to use product to edit photos with?

gizzy.whicker Loc: Cumberland Co., Illinois

personal opinion...? Mine is Adobe PhotoShop Elements, latest version is probably v9, anywhere from $70 to $100. I'm using v8. I've been using Adobe products since they first began, way back in the last century, and doubt you'll find anything easier to use. There's a bunch of us who'd be happy to assist you with your PhotoShop editing questions. You just need to ask.

photoninja1 Loc: Tampa Florida

Lightroom is by far the easiest and fastest program I've used. The learning curve is short and the work flow is fast. The results are superb. I've used Picasa, Photoshop Elements, Corel Paint Shop, Photo Shop CS2 thru 5 and at least half a dozen more that I don't remember at the moment. A major plus is that Light Room is by Adobe so it can port to Photo Shop when you need the masterwork of photo editing. (PS is the only software that really does it all.) Another plus is that, since it is Adobe, there is a ton of Light Room how-to information available. Enjoy!

dongrant Loc: Earth, I think!

That depends on how much and what kind of editing, how powerful your computer is what do you intend to do with your images. Print small format, large format, internet, sell as stock, etc... If you are doing production work in large volume with a higher end client base then Adobe CS5 is the only thing that your not so knowledgeable customers will except. If you think more like a old film photographer and do quality work for galleries then add Picture Window Pro and Corel PaintShop Pro to that. Highly custom one of a kind stuff may be better done with GIMP (If you can work with the Plug-ins and write scrip). Good but not always great results on a zero budget, look at Paint.net. The list goes on. HDR is a wholly different ball game altogether. But starting out you may want to look at Paint.net it is free and you can get you feet wet while trying to see where you want to go.

jb

I use Lightroom, Photo Perfect and Paintshop Pro.
All can be tried for free through cnet.com
I use lightroom for raw files. Photo perfect gives you 4 processed looks of your image in one screen and lets you then fine-tune them if needed.
Corel Paintshop Pro is the poor-mans Photoshop and i use it mostly for cloning.

Hope this helps.
jb

arphot Loc: Massachusetts

What Don said . . . if you're just going to have fun and post pictures on the internet, then some of the lower end editors like Zoner Photo Studio (many beels and whistles and there is a free version you can use without limitation). And of course, Google's Picasa is a free editor with many user friendly features. Get your feet wet with these. Try out the trials of PS Elements (for which version 10 is right around the corner) and other editors as most if not all have free trials.

photocat Loc: Atlanta, Ga

What a can of worms :)

Why not start with the software that came with your camera. It is very basic and simple. THen when you out grow that you might test several free programs as some are very powerful and may cover all your needs. Try Photoscape for one.

You mention easy, they all have a learning curve and will depend on how much time you wish to spend at the computer and just how much manilupating you wish to do.

As has been mentioned, download several and run the trial versions which is going to be of more benefit than anything we might recommend.

Picasa and Lightroom are basically catalog programs which have features for some basic changes,but they aren't meant to be a stand alone program for creative manipulation.

dongrant Loc: Earth, I think!

I must say that I agree with Photocat. Take the time and enjoy photography.

Philipschmitten Loc: Texas

I have been using Picasa and find it very powerful, with the new addition of PicNic. It is very user-friendly and super-easy to learn.

gizzy.whicker Loc: Cumberland Co., Illinois

Well, actually, and of course you understand I hate bragging on myself, but I've gotten so good at photography that I don't need photo editing programs anymore. Right out of the camera they're all perfectly composed and adjusted and brilliantly perfect. Even my RAW shots don't need further work... they're all just perfect. What's that? Oh, my wife just hollered in reminding me that I'm 12 years overdue for an eye exam to have the one lens of my glasses replaced I lost a couple of years ago. My other eye is a glass orb that matches pretty well, but, hey, hardly anyone can tell the difference.

user2071 Loc: New England

By "tried" he is telling you that you get a free 30 day trial ... after that, you have to buy them. But the trial is a great thing and gives you a chance to see if this is something you can work with. Just remember to DELETE any trials you've downloaded for which you are not intending to buy the license. They use up the same amount of drive space as full versions, but after their trial periods are up, they just take up space and are useless.

user2071 Loc: New England

I had a whole bunch of pictures that came out fuzzy and I was really upset about what must be wrong with my camera ... until I realized I'd shot the entire batch wearing my computer glasses and not my "seeing" glasses. Sigh. Too many pairs of glasses!

user2071 Loc: New England

There is no "one size fits all." It depends on your previous computer experience, your budget, and what you want to do. Photoshop is great if you can afford it and have the time and wherewithal to actually learn it (I've had it for YEARS and still know only small pieces of it). Paint Shop Pro (the X4 version of which I have sitting next to me, waiting to be installed) is much cheaper and offers many of the same functions and a few others, too and is certainly (in my opinion) a really big bang for the bucks you pay. But. Pro is no longer a simple program and like Photoshop now has a significant learning curve.

Maybe all the good applications have serious learning curves now.

Take advantage of free trials periods and try them out. You may find one that "feels" right for you and that will be your deciding factor.

There is also the option to give up wearing glasses and just love every picture however it comes out of your camera, even if it's sideways. That would save you a LOT of time and money and I personally am thinking of going that route. It's all getting too complicated for me and I LOVE software. Or I used it, anyway.

billybob40

Adobe PhotoShop Elements 10 is out now at $99. When
i got in this 3 years ago I tryed about everthing out there and go to Photoshop. What we are into is snaping pictures get the best to show your best.

dongrant Loc: Earth, I think!

I will agree that Elements is a good product, but best is always a matter of opinion and it is usually best to take the car out for a test drive before putting your money down. I would suggest looking around and trying trail version before spending cash.