for yrs I've used very little post (its what I wish to do). I have a simple program from Picasa that allows me to crop and make small adjustments. I've never shot RAW and up to now I am ok with that as well. I recently shot a wedding for a friend and I shot Raw as well as Jpeg for them. I would like to see what I can do with a raw file (been hearing for years that I should). Picasa wont work with raw. Wondering what affordable programs you use that are easy to get to know and not like landing the space shuttle. Please try to avoid responding outside of those guidelines and please don't correct or comment on others post. I just want a few suggestions as a reason why you like or don't like. thank you in advance.

for yrs I've used very little post (its what I wish to do). I have a simple program from Picasa that allows me to crop and make small adjustments. I've never shot RAW and up to now I am ok with that as well. I recently shot a wedding for a friend and I shot Raw as well as Jpeg for them. I would like to see what I can do with a raw file (been hearing for years that I should). Picasa wont work with raw. Wondering what affordable programs you use that are easy to get to know and not like landing the space shuttle. Please try to avoid responding outside of those guidelines and please don't correct or comment on others post. I just want a few suggestions as a reason why you like or don't like. thank you in advance.

The most affordable program is the Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom subscription. Many may try to steer you away from this for a variety of reasons - too long a learning curve, too expensive (by those who are bad at math), don't want to be held hostage by Big Bad Adobe, etc. None of these naysayers have tried it.

But one fact remains - no one who has tried the subscription has posted that they didn't like it and went back to PSE, CS6 etc etc etc.

Yes, there is a learning curve. But you can learn what you need to do what you want to do now, and still have lots of capability for future expansion.

I suggest you start with Lightroom simply because it has the shortest learning curve. The only thing that most have issues with is the catalog system, which I can explain to you in about 15 minutes. Once you "get it" it will make sense. The editor is the same found in Photoshop, but the user interface is easier and faster to use. If you did a wedding, as I do on occasion, you will be amazed how quickly you can make proofs from 1100 images just using Lighroom - on average, it takes me a little over 2 hours, plus another 30 mins to upload to the client side of my website. The results are consistent, even illumination, and provided I did not overexpose any images, nice highlights and shadow detail.

Another excellent alternative is Capture One from PhaseOne - if I were primarily a portrait and human subject shooter, this would be my go to software, together with PS. Colors and skin tones are its primary strengths.

DXO Optics Pro 10 - another excellent raw converter. The best noise reduction, sharpening and lens profiles in the industry. And it can do something no other program can do - repair volume anamorphosis - the elongation and distortion that occurs when you use an ultrawideangle lens and you have subjects near the edges that become stretched and weird looking.

The most affordable is free, and while lightroom and photoshop do have one of the best raw processors around (you mention others in your post and I respect your judgement on these). Chances are at some point if you process raw you will end up buying/ renting one or more of these programs.

That being said, the brief wasn't to buy the best but for a relatively simple and cheap raw processing program.

As a simple analogy lets say your daughter wants a pony, she probably hasn't been on one yet but girls do seem to have a thing about ponies. Do you buy her a pony? Maybe you will at some point but wouldn't you consider enrolling at a riding school first.

perhaps your feeling a bit bloated after the Christmas festivity's (and happy new year to you too) would you get a gym membership or perhaps start with a few individual sessions first?

Do you get my point? Lightroom and Photoshop are not going away anytime soon. In 6 months or a year you can still get them for $9.99 a month.

I could have been subscribing for the last 12 months, and recently I was considering subscribing until I found that I would be paying more for it than you would. Which is why i'm still looking at alternatives. Adobes DNG converter which is free can convert raw files to a supported DNG version if need be.

As a professional making your living from selling your images, get the best, it's a business expense- and probably tax deductible. For an amateur who takes photographs for the love of it, its an additional cost.

for yrs I've used very little post (its what I wish to do). I have a simple program from Picasa that allows me to crop and make small adjustments. I've never shot RAW and up to now I am ok with that as well. I recently shot a wedding for a friend and I shot Raw as well as Jpeg for them. I would like to see what I can do with a raw file (been hearing for years that I should). Picasa wont work with raw. Wondering what affordable programs you use that are easy to get to know and not like landing the space shuttle. Please try to avoid responding outside of those guidelines and please don't correct or comment on others post. I just want a few suggestions as a reason why you like or don't like. thank you in advance.

for yrs I've used very little post (its what I wish to do). I have a simple program from Picasa that allows me to crop and make small adjustments. I've never shot RAW and up to now I am ok with that as well. I recently shot a wedding for a friend and I shot Raw as well as Jpeg for them. I would like to see what I can do with a raw file (been hearing for years that I should). Picasa wont work with raw. Wondering what affordable programs you use that are easy to get to know and not like landing the space shuttle. Please try to avoid responding outside of those guidelines and please don't correct or comment on others post. I just want a few suggestions as a reason why you like or don't like. thank you in advance.

for yrs I've used very little post (its what I wish to do). I have a simple program from Picasa that allows me to crop and make small adjustments. I've never shot RAW and up to now I am ok with that as well. I recently shot a wedding for a friend and I shot Raw as well as Jpeg for them. I would like to see what I can do with a raw file (been hearing for years that I should). Picasa wont work with raw. Wondering what affordable programs you use that are easy to get to know and not like landing the space shuttle. Please try to avoid responding outside of those guidelines and please don't correct or comment on others post. I just want a few suggestions as a reason why you like or don't like. thank you in advance.