hosh Loc: Hollywood FL

I have never done any post processing except occasionally minor cropping. After browsing this sight for a few weeks I'm beginning to think I'm missing out on something that can take my images to the next level. I'm a bit nervous as I am not the most computer tech savvy person but I am willing to give it a try. I have a PC not a MAC. I have been learning about shooting RAW instead of JPEG.

1. What do you recommend as a good starter program for post processing?

2. Within that program what tools do you recommend starting out with?

Thank you so much for your feedback. I have learned so much already since finding this forum.

jim quist Loc: Missouri

Lightroom is a great program. Scott Kelby has written an easy to use/learn book on using lightroom.

Bill Houghton Loc: New York area

I think you might find Light Zone (A free program) a start. As you get comfortable with it, you can then begin to look into some of the more sophisticated programs, Light room is a good example, I be-leave the stand a lone is a $100.00 dollar investment. Picasa ( a free program) is also an option that will allow you make none destructive alterations to you photos.

And your right thinking you are missing out.

http://lightzoneproject.org/

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

Before I would buy anything I would try one of the free PP programs such as Picasa or Gimp and give them a try. After a while you will much more comfortable in buying any one of the PP programs. while using the free program you can research the others and perhaps find the one which suits your preferences the best. BTW you can check out the PP section on the hog. A great place to start.

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

Congratulations on your decision! You are going to get all sorts of recommendations that may confuse you. I would encourage you to remain resolute in your decision. It isn't for the feint of heart, but once you get the ball rolling, and you see the difference you can make in your images, that will be encouragement enough.

I'm going to recommend Lightroom, for a number of reasons, but the number one reason is that there is tons and tons of instruction on the tool available from so many sources. Additionally, Adobe is in the business of providing these tools, and have been for many years. This isn't to say that the other tools are no good!! Many of them are very, very capable, but instruction just isn't as plentiful for them as it is for Lightroom.

My best recommendation is Lightroom and purchase a copy of the book "Adobe Lightroom Classroom in a Book". The book is very easy to follow, it's intuitive to read and most importantly, will have you productive in Lightroom in no time. Additionally, you can download and use Lightroom for free for 30 days.

Good luck in your endeavor!!

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

You will find Lightroom intuitive and easy. Everything is done with simple sliders. There are more advanced things it can do, but those can wait until you master the simple things.

NormanHarley Loc: Colorado

I am still fairly new to post processing. I started out with a free program called PhotoScape that I downloaded off of the internet. It only does Jpegs but it was a good, free learning tool as I experimented. Since I shoot with a Nikon, I downloaded the ViewNX 2 and CaptureNX D to start processing NEF files. Not sure what camera you use, so that may not be applicable. I have downloaded GIMP but it is still kind of confusing to me. I may go with Lightroom some day, but these other free programs have taught me a lot, and I like free.

Photocraig

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

For $10 a month you can get Lightroom and Photoshop. These are widely considered the best in the world. There is no doubt that you can get tons and tons of "free" tutorials regarding these programs. You can get complete courses (from beginner level to expert) on Lynda.com or Kelbyone.com. These are subscription services and well worth the money. Good luck.

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

While Light Zone is a good and free program, I'm not sure I concur with the recommendation to try the free approach, then switch. If you shoot in raw and later switch, you'll lose those edits. If you edit jpegs and later switch, you'll have altered them and be unable to edit them from scratch in Lightroom. Of course, you could experiment on copies, but you'll have wasted a lot of time learn a program you'll switch from, and you'll go through the learning curve twice.

Bill Houghton Loc: New York area

Light Zone will open a TIF but only save a JPEG with lz extention on end so not of over right the orgingal. Or it can be renamed.

Gimp has a real steep learning curve. and the cross over from Gimp to PS is not an easy one. I recommend starting with the Free'bees to give the OP the opportunity to see if he is so inclined to do PP. Some folks just don't, to invest the monies into PP might just be a waste of time. Light Zone will show him what can be done including cloning and it's a pretty straight forward program. I will often sit with some interested in PP. They have all shown a great interest in Light Room. When I go back a few months later, it's been untouched. There excuse is generally they don't have time. Light Zone is getting there foot in door and hopefully it will give them GAS to move up.

NormanHarley Loc: Colorado

Not knowing how much I would use Lightroom has kept me from paying the ten dollars a month. I am a hobbyist and I only lightly process and crop around 200 pictures a month. The free programs have been good enough for my uses. If I ever move to the next level in my photography, I would probably purchase a more powerful program. I know the serious photographers need and use Lightroom. I am just not there yet, and I may never be. OP might want to consider the free trial of Lightroom. I haven't tried it yet...

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

If you want to download the free Picasa, go direct to Google:

http://picasa.google.com

I started getting more serious about post processing about a year and a half ago. I purchased Photoshop Elements 12 and loved it right away. Different tabs for quick, guided and advanced help keep stuff out of sight that you aren't using or not ready to learn yet.

Plenty of books available to help learn the software. Also has a "stripped down" version of Adobe camera raw for initial edits of raw images.

Bill Houghton Loc: New York area

Thank you for reaffirming my feelings. You have to start somewhere. And to start off with big boys will properly turn them away from PP.

I started with a simple, No layers program called Microghapics. I tried Adobe 7 but found it to much to soon. Later Microghapics wouldn't run on Windows 7 so I was forced to learn PS7 I used Gimp in the interim. Gimp has advanced so far that it not an easy program to gasp esp when first starting out. Another story of bring a horse to water. The game is to get your feet wet and see if you find pleasure in Post Production or it's not worth the head ache. I'm sure Linda has spent many hours or days learning what she has. I know I have spent months and still am learning, and I grade myself as above average but no where near the top.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Have you done any post processing in Photo Gallery? I know, it's not Photoshop or Lightroom, but it contains some of the basic post processing elements such as leveling, cropping, brightness adjustment, color adjustment, etc. Once you've used the tools in Photo Gallery, the other software won't seem so alien.