rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

To get a useful answer, one would need to be proficient in every editor and have the same standards as the OP. Otherwise, the question becomes "What editor do you prefer, and why?"

Jim Bob

Exactly the point of my inquiry. People frequently say “the best” is coincidentally what they happen to be using while providing no empirical data to substantiate that claim. I can say the Sigma 35mm Art lens is the best 35 I have ever used. But I have no idea which 35 is “the best “.

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

Purely subjective. The best one is the one you learn to use and which does everything you need to do and does it easily.

Everyone will have their own "best" program. For me it's LR/PS/CC. There are some who won't touch it with a 3 meter pole. Some people like DxO. I tried it about 12 years ago and although it did some things well I couldn't get it to work consistently. To be fair, back then none of the programs I tried did everything well. They're getting closer today, so people are comparing them on smaller differences.

My suggestion is to start simple. A lot of people like FastStone. I don't use it (since my workflow is now pretty well set and I'm old enough that I don't want to jump around from one program to another and waste time learning a different procedure for each), but it's free (or at least donationware). And it's simple. Which means it doesn't do complex editing.

So try something simple. If simple doesn't quite hack it, you can also try the software that came with your camera (or at least is available from the manufacturer's website for free). If you grow out of that, most of the higher level programs offer a 30 day trial. The drawback to a 30 day trial is that you have to find 30 days in which you can spend a lot of time working with the program in order to evaluate it. A couple hours a day won't give you enough experience for a good evaluation.

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

The same way as everyone else. It's the best I have found.

Wanderer2 Loc: Colorado Rocky Mountains

I agree FastStone is an excellent photo editing program for a beginner. However I don't believe it's available for Macs (I don't believe the OP stated his computer platform, unless I missed it, which anyone asking this question should).

Chief_Warrant

You can hear over and over again about Lightroom and Photoshop, but honestly, do you wish to pay and pay, monthly. I doubt it! Take a look at Affinity Photo. It's $50 and will do just about everything the big boys can do, and you own it. Affinity is trying to compete, and has my support. I don't know about you, but I don't make money from photography, even though I'm a former news photog. As the saying goes...just saying.

Morning Star Loc: West coast, North of the 49th N.

No program will work well till you've put time and effort in to learning it, and even then, it is YOU that does the work and tell the program what to do and how to do it.

Having said that,there are differences in what you can do with different programs, but since we don't know you, or what you like, you're kind of on your own. But don't fear, most, if not all programs, have a 30-day trial for free, so you can "test" to your heart's content.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

The person operating it.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Lots of very good choices at very reasonable costs - or free.

Affinity
https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/software-review-affinity-photo-1-5-2
http://www.shutterbug.com/content/affinity-photo-software-review-has-photoshop-met-its-match#d1c5lY5EQ03QoLjh.97
http://www.diyphotography.net/affinity-photo-can-give-adobe-run-money/
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/affinity-photo-1.5,review-4257.htmlOthers
https://www.alienskin.com/exposure/
http://digital-photography-school.com/a-beginners-guide-to-choosing-the-right-post-production-software/
https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/photo-editing
https://www.reviews.com/photo-editing-software/
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-photo-editing-software,review-1972.html
http://www.redmondpie.com/best-adobe-photoshop-alternatives-for-windows-and-mac-list Affinity
http://www.shutterbug.com/content/affinity-photo-software-review-has-photoshop-met-its-match#d1c5lY5EQ03QoLjh.97
http://www.diyphotography.net/affinity-photo-can-give-adobe-run-money/

https://www.lightstalking.com/how-to-edit-rawtherapee/
https://www.lightstalking.com/free-photography-software/
http://www.techradar.com/news/the-best-free-photo-editor
http://fieldguide.gizmodo.com/the-best-photoshop-alternatives-that-are-totally-free-5974500
http://lightzoneproject.org/

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

To each his/her own.
I am willing to pay for value. It is my opinion that I get more value from LR/PS/CC than the other software I have tried in the past. To me, it is worth the cost. YMMV.

I will admit that the "other software" I tried in the past was a significant number of years ago and most software had made advances in that interval. However, part of the value of sticking with what I know is that I don't spend time continually evaluating different programs. At my age it takes me longer to make such decisions, and since I consider that what I have is working at what I consider a reasonable cost, I have no incentive to fix it.

All hobbies have a cost. Photography is no exception. Some people buy a camera and use it for 20 years. For those people $9.99 a month (plus sales tax) could be considered an excessive expenditure. For those who spend money on their photography habit, that expenditure could easily be down in the noise. To put it into perspective, you could spend $9.99 a month (plus tax) on a couple cups of fancy coffee and at the end of the month have nothing to show for it (except possibly a slight expansion of your waistline).

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

How do you define "best"?

I just saw that there have been 10,000,000 downloads for Lightroom Mobile. By sheer popularity that would be a contender. . .

Sassenach Loc: Tennessee

I like Snapseed, as well as Lightroom

MrGNY Loc: New York

Try Nikons editing software since it's free and you just got the camera. You didn't mention the operating system, but if you are on a Mac, Photo's is a good starting point for dabbling in editing. You may find that what you have is all you need. From there try try trial versions of software that appeal you if you feel you need more. Like said before the best is subjective, but Photoshop/Lightroom are at the top.

astacus

I use Lightroom as much for organising my files as I do for most basic editing tasks. This holiday break, I finally got around to reducing the 100,000 images (maybe 3 terabytes) I had accumulated, by selecting, editing the best (keepers) and then blithely deleting the rest. LR made this tolerable (not easy!) by quickly marking images as '5 start' or 'x'. I now have a sense of winning, and expect to reduce my database of images from the current 60,000 ish to around 20,000. I am learning the art of culling. Many of the best (best is a relative term, I mean best of mine) are at http://rjbwild.net.

It's not easy at first, but worth persevering. I have become comfortable with the Northups's YoiTube style and learn a lot from them.

Rob

sidpearce

Adobe Photoshop without a doubt. Have used it Since 1993 when I wrote magazine reviews and How To books until version CS6. I am still using CS6 as I have now stopped all writing and will not pay for cloud versions. There has been little change over the last few years except for more bells and whistles. It is still the best editing program if you are prepared to pay a monthly fee. If not Serif Affinity is the next best.