Good beginners photo editing software

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xphantg0d

Gawd
Joined
Jun 9, 2004
Messages
633
My mom wants a program to edit her pictures. She doesnt need anything fancy (actually the simpler the better). She just wants to fix redeye, maybe crop some stuff and that is pretty much it.
Thanks in advance,
-XPhantG0d
 
Jasc PS-PRO-8.1
Where I live this program is so cheap, I cannot suggest anything else......It will open a new world of playing with photos for her.......My wife managed to use it relatively easely.
It is relatively easy, but can be difficult also, but does not bind you to it, so you can chose your level and get on with it..

I also got PhotoBase with a camera, but only use it to capture photos from camera.
This has less options, but I rarely use these after PSP.
 
For free software, many people use the Gimp, but I found it rather complicated to do the same things versus my current favorite which is Paint Shop Pro by JASC software. PSP is kind of like a ripoff of Photoshop without the extra bloat that no one needs, so it has nearly all of the functionality while being simpler and more efficient. However, it is commercial and still not ultra-cheap (though boatloads cheaper than Photoshop...) My dad is obsessing over Adobe's Elements software lately too. Personally, I just never found anything I liked mroe than PSP, so maybe I'm biased.

EDIT: Lol, you snuck that in too fast Moto!
 
Nazo,

This was close, but at least we agree on PSP, and I can't tell you how happy I am with it. For starters, the program works like a charm, no nonsence with XP-PRO.

I think PSP must be one of the most successful programs I bought so far.

I have heard and read up on Gimp, but theres no guarantee it will work faltlessly with XP, so I skipped.
 
"She just wants to fix redeye, maybe crop some stuff and that is pretty much it."


Help and tell your mum just to get over the 1rst week, and she'll never look back.
>Wait till she discover what she can do later.......Just her imagination limits her.
>You will soon make your own suppers.
 
catcando said:
Try Adobe Photoshop Elements. It gets good reviews and is not expensive.
Click to expand...

I run that, it is pretty good, but after I ot used to Using photoshop 7 at school, I know why it is $99 and PS7 is several hundred dollars.
 
I just looked up prices. Paint Shop Pro 8 is $99, equal to elements, but 7.0 is $49. I can see no reason not to choose PSP7 here. PSP7 does almost everything 8 does (the only REALLY noticable difference I was able to find was that 8 has some vague support for plugins, though good luck in finding one... At least it has future potential.) Personally, if I had to choose, I would pick either PSP over Elements any day. PSP is at least every bit as capable as Elements, if not more so. Elements sounds like it is too simplistic to me. (My dad got PSP for us all, but since we are so happy with it, didn't bother to buy Elements for everyone when he decided he would only use it. I played around a little, but still found PSP's interface more convenient by far. I didn't get into complex image editing with it.)
 
Photoshop/PSP can be a bit daunting for a beginner who just wants to do basic things. Both are great programs but carry a fairly steep learning curve to get maximum benefit from your investment.

I'd second Photoshop Elements. Heck, maybe even have her start with IrfanView. It's totally free and will let her get her feet wet so to speak, and see if she ends up wanting to do more with editing before shelling out any bucks.
 
PSP has a learning curve?!?! Geez, my mother and grandmother both use it! I cannot begin to tell you just how easily my mother gives up the moment something becomes even just the tiniest amount hard... If she can do simple stuff like that, anyone can... My grandmother doesn't give up so easily, but, and this is the important part, she can use it on her own without me telling her how to do simple things every time.

Now, I will agree to PhotoShop having a learning curve. Not that anyone even suggested using such an incredibly expensive thing. They have whole classes on that thing...
 
Nazo, I tend to agree with you.....My wife used othe programs coming with the camera, but after she mastered PSP very basicly, she haven't turned back to the others. The others were initially simpler, but then soon even she runned out of steem with them. My experience of PSP is you can find your level in it, and happily continue at your pace, completing your stuff.

When I bought PSP-8.1, it was just down on a special for 66% of original price. Two months later I could have bought it for 50% of the 66% special, and it's currently still that price.

I can get stuck hours with it trying various options to change pictures and create stuff.

My wife mastered working with up to 10x layers not that difficult.

If 100 people are given the same photo and told to do something with it, they all end up different.
 
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