Which Software?

H

hazmo

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Edit My Images
Yes
Just started my latest hobby and invested in a Canon 40D + EF-S 17-85 IS USM lens. Would like to shoot in RAW and need to purchase some software. I have an Apple Mac at home and would welcome some advice on recommended software. Options are Adobe Photoshop or Elements for Mac or Apple Aperture 2 or anything you would care to recommend. I have a reasonable level of PC competency but no experience of editing software. Your advice greatly appreciated.
 
You could use the RAW processing software that comes free with the camera - Canon Digital Photo Professional. Then you could use Elements for final tweaking.

Otherwise download demos of Aperture 2, Lightroom 2 and/or Photoshop CS3/Elements. They are designed to work alongside each other - there is a degree of overlap of features but one does not yet replace the other and vice versa.
 
There are four main choices for processing RAW files:

The program that came with your camera - free, will work the best with the files from your camera.
Lightroom - v2.0 should be as good as the Canon software, but with lots of extra features, get the 30 day trial, watch some tutorial videos online and see how you get on. This is my favourite.
Aperture - Pretty much the same as Lightroom, but just a different way of working, if you have used iPhoto before it should be easy to get to grips with. Again, there is a 30 day free trial. Personally I didn't get along with it, but had been using Lightroom for a year before trying it, so was more in the Lightroom mindset.
Adobe Camera RAW - Part of Photoshop, there is probably a lot more to get your head round, again there is a 30 day trial and lots of online turorials. If you buy this one it is very expensive.
 
I would use Lightroom. I have used it in the past as well as other similar software and found it to be the best. But it really depends on personal preference and what features you are exactly looking for. Try the demos is the best option.
 
Depends what you want to do really, if your just converting from RAW with white balance, exposure and a little contrast and saturation adjustment the you'll get the best results using the free with camera Canon DPP.

If you want to EDIT your photos then it's elements or photoshop.
 
As you have no real experience at photo editing ( and we all started at that point) I would suggest you use the DPP software that comes with the Canon, as it is in fact "free".

Once you have some experience you can look at other packages. For most people Elements is a good next step, in both learning skills and price. After that you will need to decide if progressing further, in terms of price and complexity is worthwhile.
 
Sorry for the delay in replying but been away for a few days. Thanks for the advice which I will heed and delay purchasing any software until I've actually taken a few pictures in RAW and used the free software.

Thanks
 
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