crazeedayz

I'm new to post-processing.Looking for advice for plans for editing package. I.e. $9.99/ mo for adobe ps, etc. All suggestions are appreciated. Thx!!

PhotoKurtz Loc: Carterville, IL

Yes to Adobe CC! Then get to CreativeLive.com for a bunch of training. Ben Willmore is good at instructing. Just learn a few steps at a time... and stick with it! Have fun!

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

Consider Corel PSP, frequently on sale, no monthly fee, does most everything, easier to learn, looked at Adobe products, tried them, never went back, Bob.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Well, that's what most pros use, Photoshop and Lightroom together. All programs take some time to learn. What ever you choose you should look at some instructional videos first. If you jump in to Adobe's offerings, classes might be advised!

Jakebrake Loc: Broomfield, Colorado

For me, being an advanced amateur the Adobe monthly plan was much more than I needed. Therefore I opted for Photoshop Elements, and it has served me wonderfully. If you are a pro, or wannabe pro the subscription plan will probably be right for you.

crazeedayz

Thanks much for all ur responses!!!

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

learn LR Classic CC and Photoshop CC lot of help on the web both free and for a price

drklrd Loc: Cincinnati Ohio

try Adobe Photoshop Elements 18. Find it on sale at B&H.I have Elements 15. !5 came with Adobe premier for video editing. They mat still have a copy of 15 at B&H. No monthly contract for either of them. They get registered but no contract monthly.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

While there is certainly nothing wrong with using Elements which is an excellent feature rich program, using LR and Photoshop is not just for pros and wannabee's. The significant addtional raw file functionality alone is a game changer over Elements.

For those who are shooting jpeg only and don't require the additional refinements of Lightroom and Photoshop then PE Elements may be a better choice as a result of its one-time cost and less intense learning curve.

With regard to cost though, if you upgrade Elements every year as some do to get the latest features and the latest camera support, you're not saving all that much over the LR/PS subscription, making those far superior products a much better value.

In case you think I'm just being a fanboy, I no longer use Adobe products and much prefer my current raw editor DXO Photolab Elite. But that's a completely different discussion.

wds0410 Loc: Nunya

Queue the Adobe cheerleaders!

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

In my opinion, LR/PS is the most useful program, amateur or pro alike. If you're just getting started, LR offers the basic postprocessing package. PS offers all the bells and whistles of postprocessing.

In addition to basic PP, LR offers a tool to organize your photos. If you just take a few snapshots here and there, that may not be important to you, but I found it essential once I got about 10,000 images on my hard drive. It was getting difficult to find things, to remember the file names, to remember even what I had taken photos of. LR allowed me to add keywords to all the images and do searches on them. So now if I want to find something I type in a keyword and LR can show me all the photos with that keyword attached.

Since both LR and PS have a lot of capabilities beyond basic PP, most people will benefit from online tutorials. There are lots of them, some free, some not. Of course I would advise to start with the free ones.

You will see in the responses to this thread advice to try many different programs. Pretty much all of them have some features that are good. Some of them probably have features that are better than LR/PS ("better" being subjective, and includes "easier", "more effective", and just plain "different"). Most of them offer 30 day trials so you can see for yourself. The problem with a 30 day trial is that you have to do everything you plan to do (and probably more) within those 30 days and compare the results to all the other 30 day trial programs. I find it rare that I have 30 days free to do the research.

The $9.99/month (plus sales tax) is an issue for some people. I find it less than what I spend on impulse purchases, and I get more value from LR/PS than from most of my impulse purchases. YMMV.

I have been tagged as an "Adobe Cheerleader" by some people. It's true that I like Adobe products. They work for me. But if they don't work for you, then try something else.

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

Lightroom Classic Video Tutorials

This lady is easy too follow

Lightroom
http://blogs.adobe.com/jkost/lightroom-training-videos
Photoshop
http://blogs.adobe.com/jkost/photoshop-training-videos

An it is free.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

I am not an Adobe cheerleader. I don't even use Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop anymore. These days I do most of my post processing in DXO Photolab Elite which has a tool set that meets my specific needs.

Having said that, the combination of Lightroom and Photoshop is still the most complete, professional-level, post-processing solution available. It doesn't take being a fanboy to know that. Anyone with a good working knowledge of all the currently available post processing applications understand that even if they've decided to use something else.

The only other full-featured and professional-level raw and pixel editor that you can compare to LR/PS is Capture One. For many people, though, other software may fill their specific requirements better with regard to things like computer requirements, cost, speed, ease-of-use, and the amount of training required. But, at the end of the day, regardless of how many people criticize Adobe or prefer alternatives to it, Adobe and Capture One are still on the top rung.

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

Like MWSilvers, I am not a fanboy nor do I have any brand loyalty. I am purely pragmatic when it comes to using software. Being in the IT business for many years, I must have learned over 500 different software titles, ranging from word processing to finite element analysis, 3D Studio Animation, Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere for video production etc. But I do continue to use PS/LR on a daily basis to do my photo editing. When something better comes along, I will use it and abandon it in a heartbeat. But for now, it's the best out there, without compromise.

You don't have to be a pro (whatever that means) to use Photoshop and Lightroom. it is almost universally taught in the academic world - most corporate graphics departments use it, and it If you are a discerning photographer who cares about image quality and wants to extract the best possible images from your camera gear, It's hard to find a better combination than Photoshop and Lightroom. Doing "most of what these two applications can do" as is the case with other applications, is not nearly as good as doing it all. I have yet to find one - or even a group of applications - that does it all as well as PS/LR.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Its quite possibly the best deal out there!