Tom47 Loc: Gettysburg, PA

I have purchased a new computer and am trying to decide which photo editing software to install. I have decided on either Nikon's View NX2 or the latest Adobe Photo Shop Elements. Most of the post processing will be for wildlife or landscapes.

RRS Loc: Not sure

If your shooting a Nikon and it looks like you are I'd use both the NX2 and Elements 13. I use PS5, DPP, DXO and Elements 13 with several Topaz units too. Why wouldn't you use both?

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

View NX 2 is very limited in what you can do as far as editing is concerned. You might want to look at several different editors before deciding on one.

Photoshop Elements is a good scaled down version of Photoshop, way more editing capabilities then VIEW NX2 for sure.

Capture NX-D from Nikon, free software that replaces Capture NX2, it seems a bit sluggish, but may get better in future versions.

Others:

Lightzone - free editor along the lines of Lightroom

Darktable - free editor along the lines of Lightroom

RawTherapee - free editor along the lines of Lightroom

Gimp - free editor along the lines of Photoshop

Picasa - free editor and image management software

Lightroom - editor and image management software

Photoshop - editor, pretty much top of the line.

You did not mention if you shot JPG or raw, so that will enter into your choice of an editor.

BTW - it never hurst to use several editors, depending on what you want to accomplish, my preference is Lightroom and Photoshop, but I have most of the editor packages above installed and have found uses for them.

GregWCIL Loc: Illinois

Personally, I do 99% of my editing in Lightroom. It is very intuitive to use, yet very powerful. The quality of the output is unbeatable IMO. My very first software was free Picasa. After I bought Lightroom a few years later, I went back and compared some photos that I ran through both programs. Picasa fell well short of what Lightroom produced.

Lightroom has two major advantages compared to any version of Photoshop. The biggest is that it doesn't touch or change the original so it is always there with all of its information. Second, Lightroom also organizes your photos on your computer. I'm a complete novice at using that feature but hopefully some others will chime in here with more information.

Lightroom can easily remove spots and do some variable editing (changing the sky with a lateral filter, for example.) But if you want to clone out entire areas or do more sophisticated photoshop type edits it may not be the program you want.

Reinaldokool Loc: San Rafael, CA

Don't forget the quite excellent Corel Photo Paintshop Pro.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

You will get your best results with a combination of a raw converter and pixel editor for landscapes. The best deal out there is Lightroom and Photoshop for $120/yr with free updates/upgrades. Anything else will give you good results, but will not be as well supported due to a smaller user base and slower development cycle.

ralphc4176 Loc: Conyers, GA

I'm not familiar with the Nikon product, but I suspect you'd be happier with PSE 13.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Between the two, the Nikon product will produce a better raw conversion. But PSE is also a basic 8 bit pixel editor. I never edit jpegs, which is what PSE is targeted at - the amateur or occasional user that doesn't want to invest in the time to learn PS. But there is no question that PS, and raw converters that handle 16 bit files, are going to provide better results.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

I found Nikon View NX clunky and prefer LR/PS to do my editing Adobe CC for 10/mo best deal out there

KTJohnson Loc: Northern Michigan

You don't actually pose a question, but I'm guessing you want some advice or opinions.

Here's mine: Lightroom

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

One way to not obliterate image changes in Photoshop is to do "Save-As" and give a new file name, like xxxx-fixed, at the end. The original image will not be altered. But if you "Save" your changes will overwrite the original. Another trick is to duplicate the original image and give it an altered name, like xxxx-PS, then work on the duped image only. One is as easy as the other, so take your pick.