PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

Out of curiosity, what editor have you been using?

Novice62

Thanks Andy

Novice62

PH Rubin, I use Apple systems and IOS. On my iMac the operating system has "Photos" which allows you to organize your photos and it allows you to edit them. This is only editing program I have used. But in discussions and reading about others, I consider this one a very basic program. It probably does some of what others do, but I think many others do much more.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

If you are switching to RAW, you probably want Lightroom rather than PS Elements. LR edits in 16 bit verses PSE in 8 bit. LR is non-destructive. If you do not want Adobe, still look for 16 bit non-destructive editing.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

IMO, you need to get a decent editing program and work on your JPEGS - FIRST - and get comfortable - before troubling yourself with raw.
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mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

I would start with Canon's free Digital Photo Professional (DPP) program. It will give you a start without any expense. Eventually you may outgrow it or want features it doesn't have. But, in the meantime its a good free program that shouldn't be too overwhelming.

a6k Loc: Detroit & Sanibel

I don't want to nitpick, but you may cause confusion by referring to your Mac's operating system as "IOS". The system on the Mac computer is OS X or just "MacOS" but NOT iOS. iOS (note odd capitalization) is the operating system for the iPhone and the iPad only. Both are Apple but they are otherwise quite different and run on different hardware.

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

I am an amateur, but I disagree. Playing with JPEGS is waste of time that would be better spent by diving into RAW processing.
It is not rocket science.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Before dismissing JPEGS, you should master them ... - THEN, move on if you think you need to - only then you may see what differences there are - if any - for YOU.

rebride

I agree. Editing in jpeg is much like remodeling where as building from scratch (RAW) is simpler and better quality.
Don't understand why Raw is such a big deal. In editing programs I use it is the same tools for jpeg as raw. Maybe it's Photoshop???

Novice62

a6k, you're correct, I apologize for any confusion. I have an older Mac so I'm using macOS High Sierra, that is the highest os my system can take. Thanks for the clarification.

Novice62

Do you have any recommended jpeg editing programs?

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

I think , sooner or later you will/should be using something Adobe. Many, myself included, use Elements. And, of course LR and PS are also Adobe.
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a6k Loc: Detroit & Sanibel

Since this one was immediately following the one addressed to me I will be presumptuous and assume this was for me. Many others have already commented with their knowledge and wisdom. Reasonable people may disagree. Many have already done that on this thread.

While it is certainly feasible to edit JPG's, in my own view it is not a good starting point and, again only in my view, it is unnecessarily limiting at a time when you want to learn how to edit your photos. In other words, I would not advise choosing a program for its ability to edit JPG's. Any program that can edit raw well can probably do well with JPG's to the extent that the JPG version allows. In other words, I advise choosing a raw developer/editor as the primary criterion.

Your camera can probably create a raw version and a JPG version of the exact same exposure. You may want to start there. It would be good practice to work with the raw version to get it to closely resemble the out-of-camera JPG. But notwithstanding the excellent results some individuals get with just and only JPG, the fact remains that a JPG image is only one of perhaps hundreds of versions of the original exposure (raw) that the camera captured first. There are may good programs that can work with both your raw and your JPG and what is best for me may not be best for you.

Your Mac does have Preview and Photos or iPhoto already and they are good. There are some excellent free programs but they may be harder to learn. If you spend some time reading reviews and trying the many free trial versions you will probably find one or more that you like.

Here is where I depart from a number of others. My preference when copying a picture from the SD card to the computer is to do it with just Finder. Finder is, as you likely know, the file manager that is part of macOS. Once you have the picture files, raw, JPG or both, in a folder of your choice, then you can open and work with them using any program that you want to. But if you use a program, Photos or LightRoom or some other, to "import" the files then you may find it difficult to freely use other programs. In part, that will depend on how you do the import, of course. That's an involved subject and it varies between programs, too.

I don't know if anyone above mentioned this, but there is one program that is unique and valuable and costs very little. It is only a viewer. It cannot edit a file. But it can show you very quickly and easily what your raw file contains and can also view JPG's. You can invoke almost any editor to work with a given picture without even leaving the first program. The program is FastRawViewer and it has the same underlying technology as RawDigger. It can fit into your workflow very well and I recommend that you try it.

Above all, work hard, be patient and have fun.