Shooting RAW + Jpeg and learning about post processing

I have used PhotoFiltre for a long time. It's a free (for personal use) graphics editor and is surprisingly powerful. Enter RAW/NEF files.......fugetaboutit! So I scrambled around last night trying to find a program that could edit these types of files. As you all know, most of the popular ones are kinda pricey, especially when I'm completely in the dark here. Turns out PhotoFiltre has a paid program called PhotoFiltre Studio X that will edit RAW/NEF files. I don't know how much the paid version is but I have 29 more days to see if I can make sense of these new to me files.



Some first tries.

If you want to try something else for free after that photoshop elements can be had on a trial,there are some good free ones but i cant remember there names

adot45 said:

I have used PhotoFiltre for a long time. It's a free (for personal use) graphics editor and is surprisingly powerful. Enter RAW/NEF files.......fugetaboutit! So I scrambled around last night trying to find a program that could edit these types of files. As you all know, most of the popular ones are kinda pricey, especially when I'm completely in the dark here. Turns out PhotoFiltre has a paid program called PhotoFiltre Studio X that will edit RAW/NEF files. I don't know how much the paid version is but I have 29 more days to see if I can make sense of these new to me files.

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Two of the most popular, FREE, full-featured RAW editors would be GIMP and/or RAW Therapee.
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I run Gimp in Ubuntu 14 but am not crazy about it, I haven't tried Therapee yet but I have seen it as available.

What is anyones opinion about running programs from the cloud vs. getting a standalone program and installing it on your own computer?

adot45 said:

I run Gimp in Ubuntu 14 but am not crazy about it, I haven't tried Therapee yet but I have seen it as available.

What is anyones opinion about running programs from the cloud vs. getting a standalone program and installing it on your own computer?

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If you're talking about Adobe's CC program for Lightroom and PS... They don't "run" from the cloud... They simply "install and update" from the cloud...they run on your computer...just like any other programs... You have the option of storing your images on either the cloud, and/or your local machine... (most folks store them locally) but the program runs from your local drive

adot45 said:

I run Gimp in Ubuntu 14 but am not crazy about it, I haven't tried Therapee yet but I have seen it as available.

What is anyones opinion about running programs from the cloud vs. getting a standalone program and installing it on your own computer?

Click to expand...

When you say running from the cloud do you have specific programs in mind?

Lightroom and Photoshop are available on a monthly subscription basis and they call it Creative Cloud but you still have to download them to your system before you can use them.
The cloud is only used to check that your subscription is up to date. The photography package is a bargain IMHO.

I have seen others that are web based but never tried them, don't think they are for serious post processing, but others may disagree.

adot45 said:

I run Gimp in Ubuntu 14 but am not crazy about it, I haven't tried Therapee yet but I have seen it as available.

What is anyones opinion about running programs from the cloud vs. getting a standalone program and installing it on your own computer?

Click to expand...

I'm no fan of pay per month. I started with the Lightroom standalone version and an old copy of Photoshop but after trying to get a new standalone copy of PS, and failing miserably, I decided to look for an alternative.

I tried several editors and fell in love with RAWtherapee. The versions I started with were good but the latest versions are beyond good. I deleted LR on my Mac and combined RAWTherapee with GIMP for quite some time but GIMP never was a jolly affair. I simply dislike GIMP; working with it feels wrong. After Affinity Photo was released I happily deleted GIMP and do all the fine-tuning and specials in that program.

I now do all my work for an investment of 40$. Once. That's how much Affinity costs (only Mac).


Basically it boils down to your expectations of a RAW editor (and image editor) and how much you are willing to pay and under what conditions.

I personally don't mind paying a 1000$ for a standalone but I'd rather drop dead than pay 10$ each month. Others find that strange and prefer the opposite.

adot45 said:

What is anyones opinion about running programs from the cloud vs. getting a standalone program and installing it on your own computer?

Click to expand...

As @FredKingston points out, Creative Cloud applications reside on your computer, and run from your hard drive, just like any other installed piece of software.

That being said, I've been on CC almost since it came out and I wouldn't have it any other way now. My only compliant is that sometimes a CC update will "break" installed plug-ins (of which I have a few) so that can be a bit of pain to correct.

It's a simple matter of reinstalling them to get back to normal, so not a huge deal. Bit of nitpick, really, but there you have it.
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This is what I was talking about.....just wondered what the popular choice was if I went this way. Thank for all the comments, I appreciate it.

Unless there's a specific program besides Lightroom & Photoshop that you need...The $9.99 would be your best option.

adot45 said:

This is what I was talking about.....just wondered what the popular choice was if I went this way. Thank for all the comments, I appreciate it.

Click to expand...

I have resisted Photoshop for more years than I can recall. but.......... I went the Photography package route last year and never regretted it. In terms of value its hard to beat. I have to agree just be aware of the issues with plug-ins they can break when you do an update. (minor issue in my opinion)