brianscot Loc: clarkston,wa.

I know lightroom is the best but what the 2ed and 3th best program for photo and editing?

GTinSoCal Loc: Palmdale, CA

Organization:
#1 Lightroom
#2 Lightroom
#3 Lightroom
:lol:

Editing:
#1 Photoshop
#2 Photoshop
#3 Photoshop
:lol:

A little tongue in cheek here, but there are people that don't use either. So whatever they use will be #1.
Perhaps a poll on what is the preferred program for each?

GT

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

That Lightroom is the best is 'your' opinion, therefore how can anyone tell you what number two and three are?

And seriously, if you think Lightroom is the best whey do you care what number two and three are?

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

Best at what?

RicknJude Loc: Quebec, Canada

How long have you been using Lightroom?

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

We can probably agree that Lightroom and Photoshop are the standard, but there is Photoshop Elements, Printshop Pro, Gimp and some software that serve both as plug-ins to LR and OS but can be used as stand-alone programs. OnOne comes to mind, but there are others.

brianscot Loc: clarkston,wa.

about 2 years, I also use ACDsee.And by the way, I use to live in quebec

Bultaco Loc: Aiken, SC

Best I don't know about that. I have it but use elements most of the time as I like playing with layers. There are dozens of programs out their and each have their nich.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Actually Lightroom isn't "the best" or even close to being a complete photo editing program. It has only a modest selection of mostly global image adjustments available.

Lightroom is half of a photo post-processing suite. It's primarily the organizing, sorting, selecting, catalog maintaining, search capable side of PP. Yes, you can "finish" an image up to a point with LR... good enough for proofs. But you cannot do very selective work with it, cannot finish images to a high degree for more advanced purposes. It's designed for quick image processing, in order to handle high volume of images. (For example, I took 2700 RAW shots last Sunday, and had them sorted, selected, and batch processed into proofs to post online by Tuesday evening.)


For more advanced image finishing purposes, you have a couple choices. Elements is a "light" image optimization tool, only 8 bit capable... so think JPEGs primarily (which is fine for most peoples' uses). It also has "light" cataloging and organizing capabilities, so is more of a "stand-alone" program than either LR or PS.

Photoshop itself is the "mac daddy" of all image editing and optimization programs, the other half of the PP suite, complementing LR. Photoshop allows for highly selective and precise image adjustments and retouching. Yes, it has some light cataloging, sorting and organizing tools, but nowhere near as fast, complete and versatile as LR, for those purposes. (For example, I have some orders for prints that I need to process... I'll use LR to locate the images, do a little more quick adjustment to them there, then pass it off to Photoshop for all the final work needed, and finally send the finished product out to print for order fulfillment).

Many people use LR and PS together, for a complete post-processing suite. Some find LR and Elements serve them well. A few only need LR... they mostly need the organizational tools and only do light image editing and optimization. Other folks, perhaps who shoot a relatively small number of images or have some other organization and cataloging scheme, but work their images to a high degree of finishing will only need and use PS.

So in answer to your question, for my purposes...

Photoshop is "the best" s'ware for individual image editing including adjustments, optimization and image finishing for high purposes.

Lightroom is "the best" s'ware for high volume image catalog organization, selection, sorting, keywording, proofing.

But neither is necessarily "the best" for everyone. Some people find other softwares meet their particular needs better. Folks who are just getting started I generally recommend Elements as an easier to learnd and, within some limitations, more of a stand-alone s'ware than either LR or PS.

It's been many years since I've worked very much with other photo management and processing programs. (I use some Faststone products for a few specialized purposes. And I have some plug-ins within Photoshop.)

As I understand it, the current ACDsee is available in three build levels: Although not exactly the same, "18" appears to be similar to Elements, while "Pro 8" appears to be like Elements on steroids, and "Ultimate 8" comes closest to the LR/PS combination. Unlike LR/PS, all ACDsee versions are designed as stand-alones.

wjones8637 Loc: Burleson, TX

I believe that this is as subjunctive as camera choice. I have or have has iPhoto, Apple Photo, PSCS6, PSE12, LR and several others. Until the Big A.changed up iPhoto that was my primary editor for pp. Although Photos can be made to behave like iPhoto I found that it frequently reset my preferences for me. I am currently learning LR and like it better with each use. I know others like PS, Picassa, etc. I am currently of the opinion that the best pp program is much like the best camera, the one you have that you are most comfortable using.

Bill

brianscot Loc: clarkston,wa.

thank to all who reply.

JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore

I suspect you will get a lot of argument with the broad statement that "...lightroom is the best..."

jim quist Loc: Missouri

I like Lightroom but there are some things you just can't do in it. When I began using lightroom I was surprised at how fast I could select, edit and submit my best sports pictures for the newspaper.