EkingbirdRI Loc: Warren, RI

I am a birder and because of this hobby I picked up on photography as I'm sure many do or have. I don't have major computer knowledge, I'm old school at 66 years but can get by (better than my husband). I have been printing some of my bird/landscape pictures and selling them at craft shows. I don't have the $$ to buy a professional photo editing program and I doubt I could teach myself, and don't have that much time, even if I did. So my question is, if anyone has tried, the free software (Gimp, Paint.net, etc.) available which would be the easiest to learn to do things like removing unwanted items, or changing a background. I search online but it is hard to tell without actually trying it, so I figured it would be more helpful to myself to ask experts. I like asking experienced people as I find you usually can learn just as much if not more. I don't really post alot here but I do read alot of the info everyone shares, and I appreciate it all. Just for an example the photo here I would like to remove the chain. TIA

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

I know you're asking about free programs, but consider whether you could afford the $10/month Adobe Photographer's plan. For that you get Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, and Photoshop, as well as a free web site to display your photos. If you go the Adobe route, I'd suggest you start with Lightroom or Lightroom Classic (I use the latter). If you later decide you really like photo editing, you can explore the much more complex Photoshop in the future. It's pretty easy to get to the level of basic competence with Lightroom Classic. I've looked at Gimp, and found it nearly as complex as Photoshop.

steinr98

The Adobe Programs are way above your head- You might try Gimp- still a learning curve - You can go to U-tube for learning. I don't know about the paint program. You are "not" going to change or do much with background changes etc- that is a PhotoShop or more program and one BIG learning curve!!- You will find you cannot learn a photo program and have little time- doesn't work!!! Good Luck

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

GIMP has functionality similar to Adobe PhotoShop. It will present a complex learning curve similar to PS. If you don't like it / can't 'get' it in terms of effective usage, at least you didn't pay too. Recognize GIMP is freeware 'as is' software. There may be a community of users willing to help, but no one you can turn to directly for help such as you can obtain for commercial software.

As you consider any candidate software, consider the trial period offer for each candidate software. Use one-at-a-time for the entire trial period, including the available training, possibly always against the same set of 20 to 100 images. Make an informed decision that hopefully gets it right the first time. Consider the online documentation and free video training (u-tube) in the context of your trial-period comparisons.

Utube is a great source of information for any / all digital editing software. Don't waste money on training until you've exhausted all the free options, either from the vendor's site via your purchase (or subscription) or from Utube.

tramsey Loc: Texas

I've used GIMP for years and it does have a pretty steep learning curve. BUT there is plenty of help in both tutorials and U Tube. I don't like someone talking to me on a video telling me how to operate something mainly because I am on hands learner and can't keep up to the videos. I prefer the tutorials where I can go back and forth between the written word and what is happening on the monitor - Just my opinion Good luck

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

GIMP is nice but has a pretty steep learning curve. For simple edits try Faststone. It doesn't support local adjustments but does a good job with global adjustments. (Those that affect the entire image and not just a designated/chosen area).

EkingbirdRI Loc: Warren, RI

Wow DWU2 I never knew about this. For $10 a month it sounds like a pretty good deal. I will definitely look into it. Thank you so, so much.

EkingbirdRI Loc: Warren, RI

I wasn't sure just how detailed Gimp was. I played around with Paint.net but it still is a learning curve also. Thanks.

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

If you want to add or remove elements of an image, it's much easier to do if you have software that uses masks and layers. I don't believe Paint has that capability. However GIMP does, as does Photoshop (which comes with the Photography package at $10/month). Both GIMP and Photoshop have learning curves and there will be an additional learning curve to switch from one to the other because the User Interfaces are different.

I believe the Photography package has a trial period so that although you pay $10/month, you can turn it off before 6 months (or some such time) and be done with it if you don't like it. If you pass the 6 month point you are on the hook for one year. Still not a big hook, but you do have a limited time to try it out before you commit long term.

Note that Adobe has several plans for photographers. The Lightroom plan is just LR plus 1TByte of cloud storage for $9.99. The Photography plan is LR and PS plus 20 GBytes of cloud storage for $9.99. There is another plan with LR plus PS plus 1TByte of cloud storage for $19.99/month. Lightroom comes in two flavors: LrC (Lightroom Classic) which is the old style Lightroom, which resides on your computer and all your data stays with your computer (except for a few previews you can store in the cloud if you have room). LR (the modern version is cloud based so a lot of your work is done in the cloud. That's great for groups and people who are away from home for long periods of time, but is more expensive and probably not as convenient if you do your work at home.

EkingbirdRI Loc: Warren, RI

CHG_CANON I have looked at some of the Utube videos but without downloading each program as you're saying, and trying each, would be really time consuming. I don't know that it would be the way to go. Thanks

EkingbirdRI Loc: Warren, RI

Thanks for your comments.

Drip Dry McFleye

Consider Adobe Photoshop Elements. It is the software I started out with back in 2014. I had no experience what so ever other than a brief use of Picasa (free on line at the time but now defunct). Elements will do everything you mentioned and a lot more. A whole lot more. It can be purchased for around $49-$59 when it is on sale. You own it. There are no monthly fees. The downside is that there are never any updates for new cameras, etc. Lack of updates have never been an issue for me. I did purchase Elements 2021 when it came out just to get the latest improvements. The name "Elements" seems to give people the idea that it's not all that powerful of an editor but it is, in fact, very robustly capable. There are plenty of good books and tutorial videos on line to help in learning to use it and you can get your original image back if you don't like what you've done. It's worth looking into.

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

You're welcome. I'm assuming you're shooting with a digital camera, as opposed to a cell phone. If you decide not to go with Adobe, have you looked into the editing software that came with your camera, or is available to download from the manufacturer for free?

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

The commercial software can run 'cheap' ish in the $50 range to 'expensive', in say the $300 range, with subscriptions maybe around $120 per year. Some software advertises 'purchase', but it really is an initial purchase with yearly for-fee updates, getting very close to the same $120 / year 'subscription'.

My point is: don't fall into the typical trap of the UHH community where they buy a $50 title, then buy $80 software, then subscribe $120 for a few years, then upgrade the $80 software with a new $85 release, all the while never learning how to effectively use any of these titles, sometimes not even installing one of the paid-for titles.

A few replies above have suggested trying to define 'what' you want to accomplish in digital editing. Your bird example looks nice, but those of us that edit our images might think it needs a minimum of the following:

1. Noise Processing
2. Sharpening
3. Better contrast

The three ideas above might run as easy as pressing the <auto> option from any candidate title. My suggestion for at least one test image, say this bird, would help you assess how each tool works to perform pretty much the same edit ideas in the title's own unique way.

You can approach selecting your software anyway that best fits your style and discretionary funds. As noted, GIMP is free. Maybe that's the best way to start, learning some of the basics that are common to all software, even if the menu options are slightly different in each title. Even if you don't use / keep GIMP, what you learn there will help you better decide the next title to try.

The free software available for download from your camera vendor is another idea. Alas, that camera software will tend to be more focused on processing RAW as RAW files are unique to each camera model. If you shoot in JPEG, the camera vendor software may be next to useless.

TonyP Loc: New Zealand

Totally agree
Like the 'poster' my computer editing skills are pretty basic but with the way Elements is presented, if I get stuck, with just one click I can go to the simple way of achieving (usually) what I want to do. Including removing items in a photo.