Which software? (Page 3): Photoshop is like Apple - there are plenty of good - and much less expensive - alternates - but if you don't own one somehow you are a defective person and...

Bob Locher Loc: Southwest Oregon

Photoshop is like Apple - there are plenty of good - and much less expensive - alternates - but if you don't own one somehow you are a defective person and don't belong in polite society. You are not a member of the tribe.

I use Affinity, which does everything Photoshop does except some 3-D stuff no one else uses either. Also, a free program for Windows PC that has a lot of capability is Fastone Image Viewer. It looks pretty simplistic on its face - but it is the queen of right-click power.

Anyhow, welcome back to photography and have fun!

Bob Locher

charlienow Loc: Hershey, PA

I am very happy with photoshop elements. I now am on ver 2019

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

Lightroom comes with Photoshop for 10 bucks a month. Hardly unaffordable. Best of luck.

Sallysue

Hi, Corel Paintshop Photo Pro is a good easy to use software. Very reasonable in price. Use it all the time. Sometime you can catch it as low as $60.00.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

For less than two overpriced cups of coffee each month I recently subscribed to PS CC, which also comes with LR and 20gb of cloud storage. One thing I love is that I don’t have to wait until I’m back home at my computer. I can upload the raw files on my phone or iPad using an SD card dongle. (I used to use WiFi but it was slow with jpegs and raw would be problematic, but it can be done without the dongle). Once the files are uploaded I can move them into LR, (yes there’s an app, also for PS Express), and start editing. If it’s just simple stuff I can just export and post from there. If I want to do more work on it and get a closer look I can just log in when I get home and pick up where I left off.

Dennis833 Loc: Australia

OutdoorOldie wrote:

Hi...just getting back into photography,and am looking for some new software.
I have GIMP,and Lightroom so far.Cannot afford Photoshop.
I am especially liking HDR,and found a software program entitled "Photomatix." Anyone have any thoughts on its usefulness, quality,etc.
TIA!
Annie

Affinity Photo

Dale Evans - Amaetur Loc: Baton Rouge, La

Photoshop is the Gold Standard that everyone else tries to be.
Why not get a Photoshop for Photographers subscription and have full access to the best photo editing suite available for less than the cost of a good lunch per month?

wet3843

I originally used Photomatrix but have switched to Aurora, also have switched to Luminar and plan on dropping Lightroom in the near future.
I did not have a problem with Photomatrix but really like the Aurora and Luminar software.

johnmccarthy Loc: North Hampton NH

The Lightroom/Photoshop subscription for $9.99 per month is absolutely essential, even for the non-professional. Photomatix, although it is taking some hard hits on this thread, is a terrific software for HDR if you are careful with their presets. I use it for 95% of my real estate photography. Visit their website for some excellent examples: https://www.hdrsoft.com/ Lightroom does have an HDR feature, but it doesn't begin to measure up to Photomatix.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

johnmccarthy wrote:

The Lightroom/Photoshop subscription for $9.99 per month is absolutely essential, even for the non-professional. Photomatix, although it is taking some hard hits on this thread, is a terrific software for HDR if you are careful with their presets. I use it for 95% of my real estate photography. Visit their website for some excellent examples: https://www.hdrsoft.com/ Lightroom does have an HDR feature, but it doesn't begin to measure up to Photomatix.

Can't speak about Photomatix, but Lightroom does an excellent job with HDR. I shoot Real Estate and I use Lr to process my work. When I finish an image, which has been HDR'd, I want the final image to look 'normal'. Best of luck.

topcat Loc: Alameda, CA

If you have lightroom, how about Photoshop Elements.Elements can do a lot that the real photoshop can do, at least for photographers.

johnmccarthy Loc: North Hampton NH

cjc2 wrote:

Can't speak about Photomatix, but Lightroom does an excellent job with HDR. I shoot Real Estate and I use Lr to process my work. When I finish an image, which has been HDR'd, I want the final image to look 'normal'. Best of luck.

CJC2,
I used to use Lightroom for HDR processing years ago, but after seeing what Photomatix can do, I never looked back. They featured some of my work on their facebook page a while back. I think you can get a free trial if you go to their website. I created my own pre-set, based on their "Architectural" pre-set and use it all the time. Best wishes