Tonylum

I'm new to this group and was wondering if someone could recommend post production software that I can fully purchase or get for free. I'm not interested in paying monthly or free trials ECT...
Is there anything worthwhile.
Thanks Tony

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Tony, it's not what you're seeking but the Ps/Lr package is well worth the price. It's a really great deal.

Oh, and like the other processing applications, it comes with a free learning curve.
--Bob

bleirer

Adobe Photoshop elements is a good one. $99 no subscription.

https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-elements.html

Bob Locher Loc: Southwest Oregon

Affinity is an incredible bargain at $50 and is often on sales for less. Luminar is in its own way very powerful, and offers a fairly good library organization.
Suggest you go to YouTube and look for JCristina, then look for his series "Cutting the Cord" in which he evaluates all the various software packages that replace Photoshop and Lightroom, either for free or for a fraction of the cost, and without monthly payments.

Bob Mevis Loc: Plymouth, Indiana

Welcome to UHH Tony. Photoshop Elements or Affinity.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Welcome aboard Tony. Consider Lightroom as a filing system and minor corrections and Photoshop to learn new techniques. They are bundeled by Adobe as a package.

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

The only free really good one is GIMP. No photo organizer and not easy to learn but is very good and, again, it's free. For a paid program you might want to look at On1.

gsmith051 Loc: Fairfield Glade, TN

Welcome to the forum Tony.

Bill Munny Loc: Aurora, Colorado

You will always get the people who will tell you that Photoshop/Lightroom are the only real post processing softwares and a great deal (not, a forever cost per month). You have to muddle thru this mentality and experiment with the 30 day trials of some very capable software and at nothing close to the cost of PS. Affinity, Capture 1,On1, etc. Do a search on this site, tons of suggestions. Most people use 20% of the PS/LR apps capabilities (and it has many), so why pay for most of what you are not using. And it is not that easy to learn. Good luck. Now I will get a lot of hate messages but so many people are resistant to change.

tramsey Loc: Texas

Agree on Gimp is a very good one but it does have a learning curve. But there is plenty of help here and on You Tube

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

If you aim to purchase, you can still get free trials of most post-production software. Time frames range from 7 to 30 days.

Apple MacOS users should look seriously at adding Affinity Photo from Serif. At 50 bucks, it's the closest thing you'll find to Photoshop and it integrates well with Apple Photos.

A GREAT plug-in for Apple Photos is RAW Power. It's written by the folks who wrote the now defunct Apple Aperture. $40.00.

Another great MacOS app is my favorite "Swiss Army Knife of file formats" since 1993, Thorsten Lemke's GraphicConverter. $40 shareware... try with a nag screen startup delay, or buy a license code to start it instantly.

If Windows 10 is your OS, Affinity Photo is available there, too, as well as for iPads and Android tablets.

Photoshop Elements ($100) is another choice available on both Mac OS and Windows 10.

There are many other choices, but these are the ones I've used at least briefly.

Don't overlook any software offered by your camera manufacturer. Chances are, it does the very best color image development from raw files that you can get from any software that supports your camera. The camera manufacturers' secret sauce is only in that! Everyone else has to reverse engineer a "best look."

I currently subscribe to the Adobe Photography Plan at $9.99/month, which includes Photoshop CC 2020, the desktop powerhouse Lightroom CLASSIC CC, the new cloud-connected Lightroom CC that runs on all your computers and tablets, plus Adobe Bridge, Adobe Camera Raw (used by Bridge, Photoshop, and both Lightrooms), and some other stuff I don't use. As an Adobe software user since the mid-1980s, I had mixed feelings about the transition from a package license to a subscription license, but after carefully weighing pros and cons, I'm a happy convert.

If you're just getting started in post-processing, DO NOT overlook the need for a decent, photography and graphics grade color monitor. Then, DO NOT overlook the need to calibrate and custom-profile that monitor on a monthly basis! The color calibration kit you buy from Datacolor or X-Rite will be the secret to getting color on your prints that closely matches the color on your monitor.

srt101fan

But you'll also get some support! 😊

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

Free, Free, If you use a widows 10 computer, there is a free simple editing program already in your computer. If you use an Apple product , there is also a fee editing program on it too. They are both called photos. The apple program is fairly sophisticated but very easy to use. If you have a apple I-phone and use it's editing photo program you already have a head start. I use the Apple Photos editing program for 90% of my editing. The Windows editing program is very simple and easy to use. In My photography classes I teach my students to use either the windows 10 or the apple program. Your camera manufacture most likely included some editing program with you camera. UHH's have good recommendations. I prefer Free first.

11bravo

Freeware: GIMP.

Just remember, ANY good program has a learning curve.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Payment plan should not be a criterion for judging the effectiveness or quality of a postprocessing solution. PS/LR is the most complete solution and it costs $120/yr - a real bargain.