What photo editing program should I buy? I am looking for a new editing program. I currently have Corel and I'm not sure if I should buy LR or adobe something or other? I am an amateur...

mckinneylove Loc: San Diego

I am looking for a new editing program. I currently have Corel and I'm not sure if I should buy LR or adobe something or other? I am an amateur photographer and hope to build a business someday. I'm just not sure if I need to spend a lot of money for an editing program. I will appreciate all the advice and point of views. Thank you!

wtompkins Loc: Northern Michigan

Photoshop Elements from 9 up are very good programs, and very reasonably priced.

mckinneylove Loc: San Diego

Thank you!

skidooman Loc: Minnesota

mckinneylove wrote:

I am looking for a new editing program. I currently have Corel and I'm not sure if I should buy LR or adobe something or other? I am an amateur photographer and hope to build a business someday. I'm just not sure if I need to spend a lot of money for an editing program. I will appreciate all the advice and point of views. Thank you!

Download the trial versions, and see what you like. There are many,,,but Lightroom and Photoshop (CS) get my vote.

warrior Loc: Paso Robles CA

mckinneylove wrote:

I am looking for a new editing program. I currently have Corel and I'm not sure if I should buy LR or adobe something or other? I am an amateur photographer and hope to build a business someday. I'm just not sure if I need to spend a lot of money for an editing program. I will appreciate all the advice and point of views. Thank you!

I would use Photoshop Elements

sportyman140 Loc: Juliette, GA

LR 4 with PSE 11 works fantastic, I am an amateur myself still learning. Lots of great things to learning about these programs. I have taking Continuing Ed Classes that helped greatly too. If you are gonna one day try to be a pro I would go this route because it will lead into full blown PS and a great stepping stone there.

digiman Loc: Brooklyn, NY/Greenville, SC

mckinneylove wrote:

I am looking for a new editing program. I currently have Corel and I'm not sure if I should buy LR or adobe something or other? I am an amateur photographer and hope to build a business someday. I'm just not sure if I need to spend a lot of money for an editing program. I will appreciate all the advice and point of views. Thank you!

There are plenty of free programs out there. I use Gimp which is very similar to photoshop.

Al Beatty Loc: Boise, Idaho

Hi mckinneylove,

I echo those UHH'ers who recommend PSE 9 to 11. I have them all and they are great. I just got PSE 11 on Amazon for $49.00. Take care & ...

DaveMM Loc: Port Elizabeth, South Africa

I would support Elements - after using the trial of Ver 11, I have just upgraded from 9 (which I liked a lot) to 11.

coastlawyer Loc: Coastal Mississippi

mckinneylove wrote:

I am looking for a new editing program. I currently have Corel and I'm not sure if I should buy LR or adobe something or other? I am an amateur photographer and hope to build a business someday. I'm just not sure if I need to spend a lot of money for an editing program. I will appreciate all the advice and point of views. Thank you!

Abobe. Elements, then when ready, transition to PhotoShop. Learning curve is steep.

russelray Loc: La Mesa CA

mckinneylove wrote:

I am looking for a new editing program. I currently have Corel and I'm not sure if I should buy LR or adobe something or other? I am an amateur photographer and hope to build a business someday. I'm just not sure if I need to spend a lot of money for an editing program. I will appreciate all the advice and point of views. Thank you!

If you already have Corel, you're all set. Upgrade to Corel PaintShop Pro X5 and you can do virtually anything your heart desires and your brain can imagine.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

mckinneylove wrote:

I am looking for a new editing program. I currently have Corel and I'm not sure if I should buy LR or adobe something or other? I am an amateur photographer and hope to build a business someday. I'm just not sure if I need to spend a lot of money for an editing program. I will appreciate all the advice and point of views. Thank you!

One of our members, dpullam, uses the Corel program, and is its staunchest defender. If he doesn't add his opinion here, you can send him a message and ask him about it. Click on "Send PM."

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/user_profile.jsp?usernum=822

Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

If cash is short, GIMP is a very good, free editing program. If you can catch Photoshop Elements on sale, (usually on Amazon.com), it sells for around $50.00 there), THAT is the program I would suggest. Main reason: there are tons of help sites out there to get you working into and through Elements including tutorials, videos, etc. http://www.essential-photoshop-elements.com/

Mickey88 Loc: Central Florida

I've used paint shop pro for years, it will do anything adobe elements will do, and even photo shop for that matter,
last year I added LighRoom to my workflow, best thing I ever did.
I can open my raws in LR, make quick batch adjustments, then go to PSP if neccessary.

if you are used to PSP, I wouldn't switch to adobe,, but if you shoot raw, Lightroom would be a great addition

I would upgrade to the latest PSP. also

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

mckinneylove wrote:

I am looking for a new editing program. I currently have Corel and I'm not sure if I should buy LR or adobe something or other? I am an amateur photographer and hope to build a business someday. I'm just not sure if I need to spend a lot of money for an editing program. I will appreciate all the advice and point of views. Thank you!

This isn't exactly what you're looking for, but take a look at Irfanview. It's a free editing program that doesn't pose any threat to Photoshop, but it does have it's advantages. It loads in about a second, it's great for leveling a picture, and spot removal is fast and easy.

It can also do all sorts of batch changes and make corrections to brightness, tint, and contrast. Cropping can be done quickly and accurately.