Photogal42

Do I need original photoshop and light room soft wear? Installed on my computer to take advantages of all these presets that people are selling? I take lots of photos and I want to fix or enhance the photos. Wish one should i purchase.?

Cwilson341 Loc: Central Florida

Photoshop plug-ins work in Affinity as well and probably others. I'm not sure about presets. All the topaz programs will work as plug-ins and the NIK collection as well.

By the way, welcome to UHH. It's a good place to learn.

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

Welcome. On1 will use them, too. Have fun.

gsmith051 Loc: Fairfield Glade, TN

Welcome to the forum and take it slow. Spend time with your camera.

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

Welcome to the HOG!
We all have our preferences for post processing, I suggest you try a couple, my preferred is Paint Shop Pro, easy to use, reasonable cost, does everything I've needed. I do use Canon's DPP ( free with camera)for raw conversion.

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

Welcome!

Suggest you start simply with the software that came with your camera. Focus on fixing your technique rather than in post. Photoshop and Lightroom can be difficult to learn without some prior experience.

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

Welcome. You didn’t say what experience you have with editing photos. If you are a beginner then the cheapest way would be to download free software from the camera manufacturer’s website. Then when you get familiar with what you can do, look into free 30 day trials of other software. Do only one 30 day trial at a time because there is a lot to try and (I assume) you will not be spending full time on it.

lhardister Loc: Brownsville, TN

Hi, Photogal, welcome to UHH.

In order to get a meaningful answer to your inquiry, I think you may need to be more specific about what you are referring to by the term "presets". I suspect that you may have in mind specialized editing software such as Topaz Sharpen, Topaz Denoise, or any of several other packages sold by Topaz. So far as I know, these are not generally thought of as presets. I think of presets as one or more editing steps which have been established and "saved" within an editing program (such as Lightroom) and that can be applied quickly, perhaps in a single step, to subsequent photo files or batches of photo files.

If it is software such as Topaz, etc. that you are referring to, you would need to research the specific item(s) that you are interested in to determine compatibility with whatever general editing software you may use or plan to use.

If you are seeking advice about "broad" or general editing programs, Lightroom is so widely used that it is the one that usually first comes to mind. I use it and, frankly, I would want it for its file management and organization capabilities, even if it should not happen to be the best available for editing. And since Adobe offers both Photoshop and Lightroom in a "bundle" that typically would cost no more than either alone (if you can even get them separately these days), most people purchase the "bundle".

As others have suggested, take it slow. Learn your camera and its capabilities. Ease into basic editing. Then you can use that knowledge foundation upon which to build more advanced editing techniques.

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

Welcome Aboard!!!

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

I don’t know why you would assume she was asking about stand alone programs or plug ins when she asked about presets. “Mansplaining” is bad enough, even worse when you don’t understand the question. I would assume she was asking about presets, especially since she asked if she would need LR/PS to use those presets. The short answer is yes, but apparently LR presets can be used by other editing programs. I’ll let those familiar with those programs handle that.

Earnest Botello Loc: Hockley, Texas

Welcome to the Hog, this a great place for help, enjoy your stay.

47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range

Welcome!! Don't forget most software, from Adobe to Infinity to ON1, etc all provide a complementary trial period. Take advantage of that before spending cash that you later regret.

Vince68 Loc: Wappingers Falls, NY

Welcome to UHH photogal42.

If your question is "do you need to have Lightroom installed on your computer to use a Lightroom preset that someone is selling," then the answer to that question is yes, you need Lightroom installed on your computer. You cannot buy presets, install them, and process a photo without having processing software installed. A preset will not work all by itself.

If you have Lightroom, and purchase presets, they will work with other software. You may have to convert the preset to a LUT for it to work with another brand of software such as Luminar though, if what I have read and understand is correct. If you have another brand of software installed as a plugin in Lightroom, then the preset should work with that software.

Photogal42

Thanks for your advice. I have no expirence in editing photos. I shoot with Canon 60D Mark. Some times I need to edit the photo and every one said I need photoshop and light room on my computer. I have been shooting for years but I really dont know how to edit, so any information you can give me will be helpful. Pat (photogal).

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

They're right, but not yet.

Lightroom and Photoshop ($10/month + sales tax) are (in my opinion*) the best overall editing system out there, but there's a learning curve.

Start with something free such as the manufacturer's program (you can find it on the manufacturer's website). Learn what is possible, then start investigating other programs.

* you will soon learn that others have different opinions and they are not afraid to state them boldly.

PS: I'm a Nikon guy so I'm not familiar with Canon software but there are a lot of Canon shooters here.