What is your favorite photo editing software ??

iceman55

Senior Member
Just curious since I would like to purchase something to enhance my photos and give me more creative control. What would you guys recommend ?? Thanks
 
I would not leave home without PhotoShop CS5 but that is expensive and has a very deep learning curve.

You have not filled out your profile so I don't know what camera you are using. What are you using now to edit with and what kind of computer do you have?
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I would not leave home without PhotoShop CS5 but that is expensive and has a very deep learning curve.

You have not filled out your profile so I don't know what camera you are using. What are you using now to edit with and what kind of computer do you have?
Well Photoshop is my first love, but it is expensive. Personally I didn't find the learning curve all THAT steep; it's an amazingly powerful program but learning basic correction to exposure, color correcting and the like isn't so bad. Adobe Lightroom would be a good choice for a fraction of the cost. If you want something free there's an application called GIMP for Windows you could try. It's sort of an open-source version of Photoshop... Sort of.

If you want something really easy to learn AND free, I can suggest IRFanview. It's very limited in scope compared to any of the above but for quick and dirty crops, and minor corrections it's fast and easy. Be sure to install the "plugins" (available from the home page) if you plan on working with RAW files with IRFanview.
 
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Well Photoshop is my first love, but it is expensive. Personally I didn't find the learning curve all THAT steep; it's an amazingly powerful program but learning basic correction to exposure, color correcting and the like isn't so bad. Adobe Lightroom would be a good choice for a fraction of the cost. If you want something free there's an application called GIMP for Windows you could try. It's sort of an open-source version of Photoshop... Sort of.

If you want something really easy to learn AND free, I can suggest IRFanview. It's very limited in scope compared to any of the above but for quick and dirty crops, and minor corrections it's fast and easy. Be sure to install the "plugins" (available from the home page) if you plan on working with RAW files with IRFanview.

If you only use the basics it is very easy but if that is all you want then use the software that came with you Nikon. http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Products/Product/Imaging-Software/NVNX2/ViewNX-2.html
 

WhiteLight

Senior Member
Light room hands down. I don't know how to use Photoshop but so far I haven't felt a need for it.
LR will do most of what you would need and there are a lot of free programs that will help for anything extra that you may feel lightroom can't do...

Sent from my HTC Incredible S using Tapatalk 2
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Start with Lightroom and then figure out what else you need to do. You can do 80% of what you need Photoshop for in Photoshop Elements for about 20% of the price. From there you can look to add various plugins, like the Nik tools. But like I said, start with Lightroom. ViewNX is OK, but Google bought CaptureNX2, which is its big, powerful, and no longer supported brother, so you're better off getting used to something else.
 

RockyNH_RIP

Senior Member
Light room hands down. I don't know how to use Photoshop but so far I haven't felt a need for it.
LR will do most of what you would need and there are a lot of free programs that will help for anything extra that you may feel lightroom can't do...

I agree with Whitelight... I wanted something more and could not afford PS. After seeing some reviews and talking to those here, it was a a reasonable price to get started.

I have added CS2 when Adobe was giving away the old version and have learned a few things but LR is still my Goto and does 90% of what I need. I recently picked up the NIK collection by Google which are plugins to PS or LR... so basically, I am still in LR!!

Gimp is a free package similar (sort of) to PS if you want to stay on the cheap for a bit.

Good Luck!! LR has a freel trial I think...

Pat in NH
 

crashton

Senior Member
I use ACDsee Pro6. For me Photoshop was pretty tough to learn. Many folks love it & it does wonderful things. Too tough for me. ACDsee does everything I need done & for this old guy with dyslexia it works.

I've been tempted by lightroom, but have yet to jump to it.
 

iceman55

Senior Member
I would not leave home without PhotoShop CS5 but that is expensive and has a very deep learning curve.

You have not filled out your profile so I don't know what camera you are using. What are you using now to edit with and what kind of computer do you have?

Im sorry...Im using a D7000 and usually edit (not very much) with Picasa 3 and Corel paintshop.My laptop is a Samsung with windows 7 & IE 9
 

Deezey

Senior Member
Lightroom 4. Hands down it was my favorite out of all the one's I had a free trial on.

Sent from my SCH-I405 using Tapatalk 2
 

LensWork

Senior Member
Nikon Capture NX2. View NX2 that ships with the camera has many editing capabilities, but the options and functions of Capture NX2 are much greater. Nikon software is the only software that fully duplicates and utilizes the many in-camera menu options, i.e. Picture Control, Auto Distortion Correction, etc. If you shoot in raw I highly recommend that you open the images first in Nikon software then transfer them to PS, LR, etc. if these are programs that you normally use. I have compared raw files processed by Nikon software versus 3rd-party products and the image quality is noticeably better using the Nikon software. Each Nikon camera uses a specific NEF file structure that Nikon does not share with other software developers. The software engineers at other companies, i.e. Adobe and Apple, are obviously quite talented, but they are incapable of fully reverse engineering each NEF file type to maximize your camera's true potential.

This was probably best stated by a Nikon Pro who regularly teaches at the Nikon School: "If you need to batch process hundreds of files, then LightRoom is faster, but for maximum image quality Nikon Capture NX2 is the best choice".
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Nikon Capture NX2. View NX2 that ships with the camera has many editing capabilities, but the options and functions of Capture NX2 are much greater. Nikon software is the only software that fully duplicates and utilizes the many in-camera menu options, i.e. Picture Control, Auto Distortion Correction, etc. If you shoot in raw I highly recommend that you open the images first in Nikon software then transfer them to PS, LR, etc. if these are programs that you normally use. I have compared raw files processed by Nikon software versus 3rd-party products and the image quality is noticeably better using the Nikon software. Each Nikon camera uses a specific NEF file structure that Nikon does not share with other software developers. The software engineers at other companies, i.e. Adobe and Apple, are obviously quite talented, but they are incapable of fully reverse engineering each NEF file type to maximize your camera's true potential.

This was probably best stated by a Nikon Pro who regularly teaches at the Nikon School: "If you need to batch process hundreds of files, then LightRoom is faster, but for maximum image quality Nikon Capture NX2 is the best choice".

Just for the record, the Adobe Camera RAW module in Lightroom is capable of applying the same Nikon specific in-camera options. And I suspect that with Google discontinuing support of CaptureNX2 (i.e. no updates for future NEF formats on new cameras) I suspect that the Nikon Pro will soon be updating his quote.
 

LensWork

Senior Member
Just for the record, the Adobe Camera RAW module in Lightroom is capable of applying the same Nikon specific in-camera options. And I suspect that with Google discontinuing support of CaptureNX2 (i.e. no updates for future NEF formats on new cameras) I suspect that the Nikon Pro will soon be updating his quote.

I am sorry, but ACR & LR cannot apply all of the same Nikon in-camera settings; if so, why if you have the camera's picture control set to Monochrome at the time of exposure does LR open the image in color? Where is the Auto Dust Off Reference feature and why do raw images shot using different Auto D-Lighting settings in the camera all appear the same in LR but different in Capture NX2? Where is the "Show Focus Point" feature. These are just a few of the differences.

Nik Software, which was purchased by Google late last year, was a partner of Nikon in certain features of Capture (Color Control Point technology). Nik was not the sole developer of Capture, and while Google will not be offering updates of Nik plug-ins for Nikon NEF files from new Nikon cameras, that does not mean that future versions of Capture will lack the same features that Nik developed in concert with Nikon.

When the D800 was initially released about this time in 2012, many new owners complained that the performance was far from what they expected from a 36MP camera when shooting in raw. These same owners stated that JPEG files actually looked better than the NEF images. This issue was found to be directly linked to the owners using 3rd party software to open the raw files. The early releases of ACR, Bridge, Aperture, etc. developed by these 3rd party software companies designed for the D800 failed to fully resolve all 36MP from the D800 NEF files. This issue has since been mostly corrected by updates to the 3rd party programs, but I still contend that maximum image quality of NEF files can only be realized by opening these images in Nikon software. I have looked at NEF files opened side-by-side in both Nikon and other software, and the files opened in NX2 show a noticeable image quality improvement over ACR or any other software.

By my statements you may be thinking that I must work for Nikon; I do not. These are just my personal and professional observations.
 

Dave_W

The Dude
I'm going to have to disagree with pretty much everything you've written. These items you list that exist in NX also exist in LR but are either named differently or are a preference (like opening a monochrome image in color). I contend that PS and/or LR can do everything the NX does and do it better (more efficiently) as well as doing a ton of other things that NX cannot do. Just as I believe Adobe would make an inferior camera compared to Nikon, I do not believe Nikon can write code better than Adobe. Nikon engineers can design an awesome camera or optical lens, computer programmers they are not. Take for instance their NEF codec for Windows, it's huge and unwieldy compared to the DNG codec designed by Adobe. I think it's simply a case of expertise, Adobe is the best in their field when it comes to image software and Nikon is the best in their field (IMO) when it comes to cameras and lenses and only average when it comes to computer programming. We've all heard the idiom - "If you make a better mousetrap the world will beat a path to your door" And the fact that CaptureNX continues to lose total market share to Adobe products is a reflection of this.

As for 3rd party software being unable to "resolve all 36 mp from D800 NEF files" it's a bit hard to understand and would like to know where you hear this. If anything it was a case of needing an example of a 36MP NEF file in order to write code that is compatible. As for "JPEG's looking better" is very subjective call and can be very deceiving because during the JPEG compression you can write in a variety of settings such as vibrance and saturation that would render the compressed JPEG a different "look" than what other compression software would render.. This seems like a negative to me because the whole point of shooting in RAW is to give the shooter total control over the look of an image and you would want the final JPEG to look exactly like the RAW file it came from (or as close as possible).

But don't get me wrong, I fully respect your opinion of CaptureNX and don't mean to poo-poo on it, I just have a very different opinion on the differences between CaptureNX and Adobe software. But then again, I'm an admitted Adobe fan-boy. :D
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
What Dave said.

As for Monochrome, if you're shooting RAW you're only previewing in Monochrome - swap to the black and white side in Lightroom/Camera RAW. It's right there. Monochrome and the other filters are meant for JPEG application and Adobe allows you to choose any of them - including the ones you didn't use.

Auto-D Lighting? Again it's meant for jpeg application, not RAW file. If you shoot in RAW then Adobe gives you full control over lighting profiles and I'd imagine you could find a preset that would do something similar for you - but if you're shooting RAW and not JPEG then worrying about D-Lighting presets is being insanely anal.

Dust removal? OK, that one I'll give you.

As for whether or not anyone picks up CaptureNX now that Nik has left it behind, that remains to be seen. It will be interesting since the control points that make the software so powerful are a Nik patent, and I suspect that future versions may not have them, or there'll be a nice price to cover the licensing.

I'm not saying that it isn't good software, and that it doesn't play well with Nikon. It works extremely well and produces great images. I'm just saying that I'd be incredibly hesitant to plop money down on it right now, particularly when there are other tools that do almost everything CaptureNX2 does and then some.
 

LensWork

Senior Member
I contend that PS and/or LR can do everything the NX does and do it better (more efficiently)

Just one example of how PS and/or LR does not have all of the features of NX2 (there are others):

Where is the ability to auto-remove dust spots in an image from a dirty sensor?

Nikon cameras have a "Dust off reference photo" tool in the set-up menu that allows you to photograph a blank white object and the camera saves this "image" as an .ndf file to the memory card. This file is then used by Capture NX2 to "map" any dust spots on the sensor and automatically remove them. This function can be used in a batch process to remove the spot(s) from multiple images at once. Imagine that you have taken hundreds of vacation pictures with your D600 only to find pesky spots in every photo (a well documented issue with the D600). Sure, you can use the spot removal tool in LR to MANUALLY remove each spot(s) from each image, however the Dust Off feature in NX2 is far better and more efficient.

As for 3rd party software being unable to "resolve all 36 mp from D800 NEF files" it's a bit hard to understand and would like to know where you hear this.

I did not hear this, I saw it first-hand. A Florida pro photographer purchased one of the first D800s and then returned the camera after her initial shoot citing that while JPEG images look good, raw files were "soft". She was using Adobe Bridge to open the NEF files and at that time Bridge was only reading 1/3 of the pixels making her 14-bit uncompressed D800 raw files to be rendered at only 12MP resolution (~24MB file size) Properly rendered D800 14-bit uncompressed raw files are ~74MB. Adobe engineers had not yet "cracked" the code for properly rendering D800 raw files. As JPEG files are a universal file format, Adobe software was able to open those files at full resolution as processed in the camera (albeit with the obvious limitation of a JPEG file vs. a raw file). As Adobe has continued their efforts to reverse engineer NEF files from the D800 (as previously stated, Nikon does not share their NEF technology with 3rd-party software developers), the image quality of D800 raw files opened with Adobe software has improved. I still contend that the best image quality of any NEF file is obtained when the file is initially opened in Nikon software. The most pronounced difference that I have noticed is in the area of shadow detail with those images opened in NX2 offering significantly better tonal range and texture detail in dark areas of the image. This can be said not only of D800 NEF files, but of any Nikon shooting in raw as each model has it's own unique NEF file structure optimized to that particular model.

Photoshop and Lightroom certainly have features/functions that are not present in NX2, this is why I have all three installed on my computers. I have however found that by first opening NEF files in NX2, performing initial editing there and then transferring them to Adobe to do any additional necessary editing (if needed) I have maximized my images/camera's full potential. Certainly not the fastest workflow, but when quality is the priority over speed, this system works best for me.
 

Dave_W

The Dude
Yes, LR has the ability to remove dust spots. Here is a quick tutorial on how to do it and how to save the settings so that you can just press a button on new photos - How to Remove Sensor Dust With Lightroom

As for your Florida friend, it's just so subjective as to the look but I can guarantee you 100% that Adobe has "cracked" the D800 NEF files completely and at no time were they stuck on it.
 
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