I have a feeling this question has been asked more than once, and I apologize if it has. I'm looking to take my skills to the next level now that I'm retired. I'll be taking some classes and looking to up my post photo processing beyond the windows software on my computer. I've recently upgraded from my D40 Auto setting world to a D7000 that was too good of a price to pass up. I had started to experiment with the D40's aperture, shutter, manual, iso settings etc. and will continue with the D7000. I know people talk Photoshop, Lightroom, but I know they have multiple softwares and prices. What would you recommend for someone getting into photo editing? My main interest is outdoor/landscape photography. I don't want to break the bank and also I don't want to cut myself short on software that I'll want a new program in a year. Thanks
best photo processing software for newbie
- Thread starter gary135r
- Start date
I use PS Elements 13. I wasn't sure if I wanted this or the full blown PS. I googled PS Elements vs. PS and there was this nice comparison chart between the 2. Turns out, I will never know all the things I can do with PSE and it also has an Organizer. I think it was 90 bucks
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
Lightroom and Photoshop CC offering. $10/month doesn't break the bank off the bat. Start with Lightroom and understand the basic principles of the digital darkroom. Once you're comfortable move on to Photoshop. If you decide it's too much or that you want something else you still get to keep the Lightroom with the Library module, which is in my experience the best workflow management tool out there for photographers.
Sure there are others, but it's not like Lightroom is "hard" and lacks a plethora of educational sites supporting it, so why get something "beginner" only to grow out of it?
Sure there are others, but it's not like Lightroom is "hard" and lacks a plethora of educational sites supporting it, so why get something "beginner" only to grow out of it?
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I am installing NX2 as we speak. Lightroom seems to be winning by a small margin here. I like the organizing point that was mentioned. I’ve had the camera since before the holidays, but with that and my anniversary on New Year’s eve, (plus a medical procedure yesterday), I promised my wife I wouldn’t start my learning curve till now. Today’s the day. Yeah! I tend to go all in when I dedicate to a project. It was tough though leaving all my shiny new toys in their boxes till now. Thanks for the suggestions.
Would that be Lightroom 5 you're talking about, or is there a basic version?
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
The Creative Cloud solution will always give you the latest version, which is currently based on LR 5.
So what your saying is, that it is a better to get the monthly fee cloud service than a one time fee for the software say from Amazon?
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
In the long term, assuming that you will continue to grow as a photographer, yes. A lot of people don't agree with me, but I look at it this way...
- Lightroom 5 has been around for 2 years now, and is due for a new version (which may include layer functions like Photoshop), so if you buy LR5 now, it will likely be outdated in the next 6-8 months (my guess - no inside info). This should also be purchasable, but if you buy LR5 then it will be an upgrade, which tends to run $75-99.
- LR5 currently has a retail price of around $140, with discounts available with camera purchases and educational editions, so figure purchasing it will run $75-140.
- The Creative Cloud subscription of $10/month means that you will only stand the chance to "lose money" if you use LR5 for more than purchase price / 10 months without using Photoshop, and without any new release of Lightroom coming out.
OK, so if you move on to Photoshop, which is no longer available for purchase and has gone through 2 significant feature upgrades since CS6 (the last purchasable version - now very expensive, if you can find it), or if a new version of Lightroom is released, you're guaranteed to be ahead of the game financially with the subscription program for 8 to potentially 30 months (the minimum number of months you'd need to justify the purchase price of LR5 and the Student/Teacher edition of CS6). But in that time you'll get every new feature and function, and every incremental release at no additional cost.
The only way I can see you ever losing out is if you decide that all current functionality is all you'll ever need, but you can't cancel and just retain that functionality because when you stop paying it stops working, which is really only an issue (in my mind) if you decide that your life as a photographer isn't what you thought, but you'd still like to have something around for the occasional photo. If you see this having a very high probability then by all means buy a retail version of Lightroom, because it'll always be with you. But buy it as cheap as possible, and don't upgrade when the next version comes out, simply start the Creative Cloud subscription with the next major LR release, because you can always fall back to LR5 when you quit (or some other version of free software available at that time), and you'll always have the catalog management functions.
Englischdude
Senior Member
ringing the free open-source bell here...... I use GIMP and Darktable. Great to learn, well established community and totally free 
Are they two different progams?ringing the free open-source bell here...... I use GIMP and Darktable. Great to learn, well established community and totally free
Englischdude
Senior Member
Yup, GIMP is the opensource equivalent of Photoshop, whilst Darktable is equivalent to Lightroom.
SkvLTD
Senior Member
There's also Capture NX-D that's still free and slightly more robust than NX View.
On organizing everything, I will always encourage the good old folders-by-hand method since it stays absolute regardless of what you use to work with all the files. [Year-Month-Date name of the shoot] and then perhaps even moving your keepers into a sub folder of sorts for quicker access.
On organizing everything, I will always encourage the good old folders-by-hand method since it stays absolute regardless of what you use to work with all the files. [Year-Month-Date name of the shoot] and then perhaps even moving your keepers into a sub folder of sorts for quicker access.
Done. Thanks. I'll will back burner this, but might as well grab it while still free
SkvLTD
Senior Member
Definitely. To me its as #$%^ing awkward as Lightroom, but legitimately free and very capable.
Braineack
Senior Member
PS is photo editing software, not photo processing software. Big difference. I'm been using PS since 1994 or so, I'd never use it to process photos. I'll bring processed photos into PS for final edits--if they require it.
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
Organizing starts but does not end with good folder organization and naming conventions. If you're sharing online, particularly with an interest in generating interest and getting people to actually see your photos, comprehensive metadata management and image tagging (and geo-tagging) are incredibly important. From a commercial point of view, maintaining lists (i.e. collections) of what photos have been published, which are available commercially, which have usage rights agreements currently active, potential contest shots, etc., is not just more than practical but downright essential. Moving files around, IMO, is dangerous because, well, stuff gets lost or broken in a move, no matter how careful you are. Lightroom allows me to put them somewhere and access that one copy from a bunch of different places without ever having to make a copy or move it around. That's something you just can't do with folders and naming conventions.
I am ignorant to the differences between Photo Editing and Photo Processing, If anyone can enlighten me I would appreciate it.