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- Name
- Jackie Townsend ne Veitch
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I've just upgraded to Macbook Pro, can anyone advise me for the best softwear for photo editing please. 
Jackie T
Jackie T
Last edited:
and please use their services
What is the best softwear for editing
- Thread starter LadyEssex1
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ancient_mariner
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- Toni
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Do you mean the best software for preparing raw files generally, or do you mean the best software for in depth image manipulation and modification? I'd say lightroom 5 for handling raw files.
It really depends on what you want to do.
You'll get iPhoto with the Mac I believe - that will provide basic editing and cataloging facilities (see https://www.apple.com/uk/mac/iphoto/)
Then you have iPhoto's big brother - Aperture (see https://www.apple.com/uk/aperture/) about £50.
Both of the above allow you to adjust the image as a whole, with some local adjustments via a system of brushes, Aperture giving you a lot more control, and more options for local adjustment (iPhoto is limited to blemish removal). iPhoto is a simpler interface, Aperture, by necessity, more complex. Both programs work together synergistically.
Then you have Adobe's offerings - there are a number of offerings each with different uses.
Lightroom (http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/photoshop-lightroom.html) £100 - this is roughly equivalent to Aperture in it's target market. A huge amount of control of the overall image and a healthy set of tools for local adjustment . It appears to be updated more frequently than Aperture, and is a very powerful tool. Like aperture, think of this as your digital darkroom - it's for developing and refining images.
Also from Adobe we have Photoshop Elements (http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/photoshop-elements.html) £60 and it's bigger brother Photoshop CC (http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/photoshop.html) approx £20/month - these are designed around 'editing' images - that's to say making structural changes to the contents of photos - moving elements around, combining the elements of multiple pictures into one etc. They are both very powerful tools, Photoshop CC being extremely powerful and somewhat more complex to learn, Elements being aimed more at the starter - but still powerful nonetheless.
Now, this is where is gets a little messy. In terms of editing an image, Photoshop CC can to EVERYTHING Lightroom can do and a lot more, however the interface / workflow within Lightroom is designed to make it easy for you to do the 'development' bit very easily, and for you to manage your photo libraries simply, whereas the interface within Photoshop is focussed more on the editing of a single image.
All of Adobe's offerings come with a 30 day trial - so make sure you download and test to see if they are for you!
Outside of these two there are a number of other tools available - From the 'free' Photoshop CC Equivalent GIMP (http://www.gimp.org), OnOneSoftware (http://www.ononesoftware.com) and others. There's a lot to choose from! Perhaps if you could have a play for free with the software above and narrow down what you expect to want to do with the software, someone might be able to give you some more targeted advice.
There's also the software that came with your camera.
On a personal level, I started many years ago with the original version of iPhoto, moving to Aperture when that came out a couple of years later. I moved over to Lightroom when that appeared, and today do probably 90% of the image manipulation within Lightroom. I use it to take my freshly shot images, organise them into folders, tidy up the colours, exposure, contrast, straighten wonky images and touch up minor blemishes or remove small elements from the photo - all of which is easily within Lightroom's capabilities. If I'm taking photos of buildings, I'll use it to straighten some of the verticals, on Landscapes, I might use it to reduce the exposure on the sky to balance the image. Sharpening, cropping, perhaps brightening the eyes etc - all Lightroom.
If I need to make a more drastic change - perhaps remove a distracting parked car in a landscape, combine two photo's to make sure everyone is smiling in a group shot etc, then it's over to Photoshop (elements initially, but I've recently upgraded to Photoshop CC) - but this is relatively infrequent. If I only had Lightroom, it would not be too limiting!
You'll get iPhoto with the Mac I believe - that will provide basic editing and cataloging facilities (see https://www.apple.com/uk/mac/iphoto/)
Then you have iPhoto's big brother - Aperture (see https://www.apple.com/uk/aperture/) about £50.
Both of the above allow you to adjust the image as a whole, with some local adjustments via a system of brushes, Aperture giving you a lot more control, and more options for local adjustment (iPhoto is limited to blemish removal). iPhoto is a simpler interface, Aperture, by necessity, more complex. Both programs work together synergistically.
Then you have Adobe's offerings - there are a number of offerings each with different uses.
Lightroom (http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/photoshop-lightroom.html) £100 - this is roughly equivalent to Aperture in it's target market. A huge amount of control of the overall image and a healthy set of tools for local adjustment . It appears to be updated more frequently than Aperture, and is a very powerful tool. Like aperture, think of this as your digital darkroom - it's for developing and refining images.
Also from Adobe we have Photoshop Elements (http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/photoshop-elements.html) £60 and it's bigger brother Photoshop CC (http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/photoshop.html) approx £20/month - these are designed around 'editing' images - that's to say making structural changes to the contents of photos - moving elements around, combining the elements of multiple pictures into one etc. They are both very powerful tools, Photoshop CC being extremely powerful and somewhat more complex to learn, Elements being aimed more at the starter - but still powerful nonetheless.
Now, this is where is gets a little messy. In terms of editing an image, Photoshop CC can to EVERYTHING Lightroom can do and a lot more, however the interface / workflow within Lightroom is designed to make it easy for you to do the 'development' bit very easily, and for you to manage your photo libraries simply, whereas the interface within Photoshop is focussed more on the editing of a single image.
All of Adobe's offerings come with a 30 day trial - so make sure you download and test to see if they are for you!
Outside of these two there are a number of other tools available - From the 'free' Photoshop CC Equivalent GIMP (http://www.gimp.org), OnOneSoftware (http://www.ononesoftware.com) and others. There's a lot to choose from! Perhaps if you could have a play for free with the software above and narrow down what you expect to want to do with the software, someone might be able to give you some more targeted advice.
There's also the software that came with your camera.
On a personal level, I started many years ago with the original version of iPhoto, moving to Aperture when that came out a couple of years later. I moved over to Lightroom when that appeared, and today do probably 90% of the image manipulation within Lightroom. I use it to take my freshly shot images, organise them into folders, tidy up the colours, exposure, contrast, straighten wonky images and touch up minor blemishes or remove small elements from the photo - all of which is easily within Lightroom's capabilities. If I'm taking photos of buildings, I'll use it to straighten some of the verticals, on Landscapes, I might use it to reduce the exposure on the sky to balance the image. Sharpening, cropping, perhaps brightening the eyes etc - all Lightroom.
If I need to make a more drastic change - perhaps remove a distracting parked car in a landscape, combine two photo's to make sure everyone is smiling in a group shot etc, then it's over to Photoshop (elements initially, but I've recently upgraded to Photoshop CC) - but this is relatively infrequent. If I only had Lightroom, it would not be too limiting!
- Messages
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- Name
- David
- Edit My Images
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You asked what is the best
RAW editing - Either Lightroom or Capture One Pro. Both are superb, and both widely used by industry, so you've got support, tutorials, and shed loads of help.
Actual retouching - Photoshop. It's been the industry standard for 26 years now - 'nuff said.
May as well end the thread right there.
RAW editing - Either Lightroom or Capture One Pro. Both are superb, and both widely used by industry, so you've got support, tutorials, and shed loads of help.
Actual retouching - Photoshop. It's been the industry standard for 26 years now - 'nuff said.
May as well end the thread right there.
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- Name
- John
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If you've never edited images before I would suggest that Photoshop may be a big leap. Plus it's not cheap even with the cloud option. It all depends on what you want to do. If it's simple colour correction, then you have a real choice. iPhoto may be all you need. Simple controls and fairly intuitive. As you get it free on the mac I'd start with that. Then if you find you want to do things that iPhoto can't do look at other packages. You will probably want to do bit of cloning. To get rid of that unwanted lamp post etc. In which case I'd opt for Photoshop Elements. Fairly inexpensive and again fairly easy to use with lots of "How To" books on the market.
Lightroom, Aperture, Capture One are all good programs but don't have the capacity to do serious pixel editing. They are very good at image adjustment, but getting rid of lamp post etc. are not there forte.
I'd start off with iPhoto. then when you find it's limitations , if at all, then look at some of the other packages available
Lightroom, Aperture, Capture One are all good programs but don't have the capacity to do serious pixel editing. They are very good at image adjustment, but getting rid of lamp post etc. are not there forte.
I'd start off with iPhoto. then when you find it's limitations , if at all, then look at some of the other packages available
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- Name
- Kevin
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Another +1 for Lightroom 5.
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- Name
- Sandy
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Been said already but Lightroom really is the mutts nuts. Even if you don't understand it all to start with you can get some pretty good results out of it just by playing around with the sliders (which I strongly encourage you to do, that's how you learn!). If you want to feel good about yourself quickly you can cheat and download some presets - just google free presets - and play with those. Now go look at what they did and play some more. You'll be an expert in no time
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- Steve
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Lightroom for me but takes a while to master
ancient_mariner
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Anthony Morganti has a series of lightroom training videos on youtube that are very worth watching as a way in to using it, explaining how different functions work.
Kerry Ashleigh
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- Name
- Kerry
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Photoshop CS6 or Elements 12