Beginner Software?

T

TontoC

Messages
11
Name
Tony
Edit My Images
Yes
New to photography and the processing aspects and wondering what is a good, simple, cheap way to start?
I was wondering if a older version of light room would be a good way to start as I see I can purchase older versions for around 30 pounds. Also I can get coral paint shop on offer as I use pinnacle for video editing? Thanks in advance
 
Older Lightroom versions are still okay - I used LR5 up until last summer! The main issue is you might find they don't recognise your RAW files if your camera is too new.

Otherwise for individual image editing (ie not catalogue based) Affinity is a very good alternative to Photoshop and certainly worth the £50 - ish cost imo.
 
LeeRatters said:
Older Lightroom versions are still okay - I used LR5 up until last summer! The main issue is you might find they don't recognise your RAW files if your camera is too new.

Otherwise for individual image editing (ie not catalogue based) Affinity is a very good alternative to Photoshop and certainly worth the £50 - ish cost imo.
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Thanks for that I'll take a look. Don't fancy the subscription based ones I keep seeing now!
 
TontoC said:
Thanks for that I'll take a look. Don't fancy the subscription based ones I keep seeing now!
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The subscription model is something that works for some people, and not for others.
I do subscribe - I looked at the annual cost, and compared it to how much I would have spent on 'buying' LR, and then upgrading as each new version came out - the cost was not that different, and the subscription also gave me Photoshop - which I don't use much, but is nice to have when I do want it.
Then I discovered that Amazon sell 1yr subscription bundles - or more importantly, that they discount these bundles 3 or 4 times a year, typically down to £70-£80 for 1 years subscription.
Buy the relevant bundle, you get a code, enter it in your Adobe account, and it gives 12 months credit, with any monthly payments suspended until the credit runs out - and before it does, buy another bundle, which extends your credit by 12 months - so you never need pay the full price.
£80/yr for the latest LR and Photoshop, automatically updated whenever an update appears, is pretty good value, compared to the cost of anything else you might buy related to photography!
 
Photoshop Elements is a pretty good basic package and not subscription.
 
I’m still using Lightroom 5 and Elements 15. Both a bit long in the tooth now, but still pretty much do what I need. Did try to upgrade Elements, but my iMac can’t be updated past Catalina (the last version of OSX), so until/unless I upgrade my computer, I’m kind of stuck.

A couple of things to note about Lightroom 5:
- it can no longer be upgraded to 5.7, which was the last increment for version 5
- Adobe disabled support for being able to select images based on location via the embedded link to google maps
 
On1 photo RAW and ACDSEE photo professional are possible non subscription alternative.
 
Another vote for Gimp.
Even if you don't like it, you will learn loads from using it.
 
There are free options and you can often download the pay for software to trial before you buy.

My advice is to go for the best you can afford as IMO good software can help you get the results you want easier.
 
TontoC said:
Thanks for that. Had a look and think that's a great starting point for me. Does everything I think I would need starting out
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There are a few videos online to help. Color control points are very good.
Once you have edited for a bit you will get to know what is lacking in NX Studio and have a better idea of what you want from paid software.
 
Just to add that most of the paid software packages do a months free trial, so you can always download a copy of them and have a play to see which feels most intuitive for you.
 
I started with gimp and now I use Affinity
 
Paintshop Pro lets you download and try it for 30 days for free. I use Paintshop Pro (picked it because it's pretty inexpensive, with a one-time license fee). I upgraded to the 2023 version for a few bucks because it added some features I wanted. It's pretty easy to use, and there are enough video tutorials on-line to get you going.

I find it does pretty much everything I need. The only thing I've found it doesn't do easily is stitching together panoramas.
 
Faldrax said:
The subscription model is something that works for some people, and not for others.
I do subscribe - I looked at the annual cost, and compared it to how much I would have spent on 'buying' LR, and then upgrading as each new version came out - the cost was not that different, and the subscription also gave me Photoshop - which I don't use much, but is nice to have when I do want it.
Then I discovered that Amazon sell 1yr subscription bundles - or more importantly, that they discount these bundles 3 or 4 times a year, typically down to £70-£80 for 1 years subscription.
Buy the relevant bundle, you get a code, enter it in your Adobe account, and it gives 12 months credit, with any monthly payments suspended until the credit runs out - and before it does, buy another bundle, which extends your credit by 12 months - so you never need pay the full price.
£80/yr for the latest LR and Photoshop, automatically updated whenever an update appears, is pretty good value, compared to the cost of anything else you might buy related to photography!
Click to expand...
Don’t forget you also get a website thrown in too. My website is created via Adobe portfolio that’s part of the Adobe photography plan subscription. When you add everything in it works out to be good value especially when bought on offer via Amazon.
 
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