photoduke

i don't have any software on my computor and will be purchasing some type of photoshop soon. $225.00 limit which is best to buy? i know this is an age old question but i'm leaving point and shoot modes and want more

travlnman46 Loc: Yakima WA

Hi photoduke: First off let me welcome you to the forum. Now as to what type photoshop product to buy You can purchase Photo Shop Elements 10 for around $50 if you shop around. I was able to buy Photoshop Lightroom 3.6 a while back for $40. (Now Lightroom 4 is out). You can also purchase Photoshop cs5 student version for around $200 of course there is also the full blown version of CS5 for around $575 then you could also invest in the new cs6 version. Now having said all that, the amount you plan on spending should be determined by what you need the product to do for you. Most folks here get by with Elements 10 or even the freebies like GIMP or Picassa there are any number of other great post processing softwares out there. Lightroom's greatest feature is it's ability to batch process pictures and never changes the original photograph it just stors the information on changes you make and is used mainly by some one who needs to move volumes of pictures and keep every thing well organized. Hope this helps some. I know there are many other great programs out there and lots of the forum members will weigh in on your question... Have fun... No matter which program you select expect a learning curve. There are also plenty of great tutorials on any of Adobe's programs.

photoduke

Staples has lightroom 4 priced $60.00 student and teacher edition. CS6 student and teacher edition $230.00. Do u know what the defference is between student and teacher edition and regular. i'm not rich but i don't mined paying for a good product however $230. is my limit. thanks for the quick reply and info.

Wahawk Loc: NE IA

You have to have a Student or Teacher ID from an educational institution in order to purchase and register those editions. The license also indicates (in most cases anyway) that the software may not be used for any commercial purpose, only for educational or home type use.

I would suggest considering PaintShop Pro x4 with the Ultimate edition usually available for $70 or less. This can do most everything that PS can do and will also accept most plug-ins that work with PS.

berchman Loc: South Central PA

On the internet it says that Staples Lightroom 4 for students is $79.99.

Cotondog Loc: Saskatchewan, Canada

If you are just starting to use pp software, you may want to start with a free program, like Picassa. If you purchase, PS10 is probably the way to go. Lots of tips and tutorials on it, everyone is familiar with it, and probably the best overall program for your dollar.

GDRoth Loc: Southeast Michigan USA

I'd recommend PS Elements 10 and Lightroom 4.1..........you might as well start learning these tools.........it's an easy move from PSE 10 to full Photoshop CS6 when you are ready

HEART Loc: God's Country - COLORADO

Photoduke - the following Hog threads should be able to provide many options. Good luck!

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/search.jsp?q=photo+software&u=&s=0

smsouthers Loc: Jacksonville, Florida

If you want something free until you get what you are looking for, Picasa 3 has a nice program!

john vance Loc: Granbury,Texas

Corel paintshop x4 is the one I like it is easy and I can find all my photos easy The others to me are a pain I do have light room 3,and elements 10 have a heck of a time finding photos I want to work with, not so with Corel and it does everything that others will do easier at least for me. cost is around $60.00

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Choose one and stick with it. I had several different programs on my computer for a long time and could never get a handle on any of them because they all worked so different. I finally choose to put an effort into Photoshop Elements 6 becasue it seemed simple and easy to use. I liked it so much I upgraded to PSE9 and learned about half the features when I got the Student/Teachers Edition of CS5 Extended for $175. Then I got Lightroom 3 for a reduced price about the time LR4 was about to come out. It was quite a bit different than any other program as it doesn't have the 'save-as' menu choice - instead you must learn to grasp the 'Export' way of thinking to save your images in a different format. After learning some of the differences I've settled on CS and LR and very seldom use my PSE9. I think the only use I have for PSE9 is when someone here has a question about it I can open and test so as to explain something about it to the OP.

Photo One Loc: Clearwater Florida

I recommend PS Elements 10. I have used Elements for several years. Good software!!

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

Corel PaintShop Pro X4 for $39. You'll run out of desire and persistence to learn post-editing long before you run out of its flexibility, features, effects, and power in this software. It's highly recommended as being THE alternative to Photoshop.

By the way, you're not buying some type of photoshop, Photoshop is an Adobe brand name...

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Questions like this normally lead to voting for the software each user knows. The goal is not buying software as much as having fun making better pictures.

If you care about results and are starting from scratch, my view is to pick a well known and prominent product. Then learn how to use it. The enemy is wasting time trying out various things (that may be free) only to find them lacking in some way.

You should buy:

1. Photoshop Elements 10 that includes Organizer (About $60)

2. A month or two at lynda.com for the PE10 training course. It starts at the beginning, shows how to get organized, teaches the quick an easy and finishes up with the amazing stuff. (About $50, or as an alternative, you might consider buying their DVD so you can continue using the lessons.)

3. The book "The Photoshop Elements 10 Book for Digital Photographers" by Matt Kloskowski and Scott Kelby. It will teach you, but most important, it is a quick step by step reference for remembering the techiques you learned in the video training. (about $25)

So for about $135 you will have fun becoming skilled at photo editing using a well known and respected digital editing system that runs on both Macs and PCs.

Bill

Ronny Loc: Netherlands

Try TopazLabs. You can do it for one month for free.
They have also a stand alone that is called photoFXlabs to upload all the plugins. And the price is only $29.99
If you follows one of their webinars you can buy the whole package with a 30% discount, which is $209.99
The use is also a lot easier than photoshop.