Beginner Photo Editing software

[FreeInChrist87]

Hi All,

My sister is 13 years old and loves to take pictures. My parents may be buying her a beginner DSLR camera for Christmas. Any recommendations on beginner photo editing software? Obviously, I would something that can do more than just crop and resize, but a full blow photoshop package might be a bit much. I am looking for something that has a good balance of features and price, and also has an easy to use interface. Thoughts?

 

[The Barbarian]

GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program) is free, and very powerful. Do a search and take a look at it. Good idea to download the manual, also.

 

[Boss_BlueAngels]

I have really enjoyed Corel Paintshop. There are a couple different versions available. It isn't free but it isn't as expensive as Photoshop and still has all the same features.

 

[contango]

Adobe Lightroom is also pretty good for touching up pictures, at least insofar as adjusting colour balance, brightness etc. Not sure what version 5 offers in terms of picture editing - I'm still using 2.7 - but each incarnation of it adds more bells and whistles. You can download a 30-day trial version from Adobe's web site and use it for free to see if you like it. If you do, I think it's about $100 for a full version.

 

[HorsieJuice]

Adobe Lightroom is also pretty good for touching up pictures, at least insofar as adjusting colour balance, brightness etc. Not sure what version 5 offers in terms of picture editing - I'm still using 2.7 - but each incarnation of it adds more bells and whistles. You can download a 30-day trial version from Adobe's web site and use it for free to see if you like it. If you do, I think it's about $100 for a full version.

Photoshop Elements is also $100

 

[beaverpond]

I am cheap and like some of the free programs and have been using this one for awhile on my Windows 7 machine. It is PhotoScape. Here is a link to check it out to see if it is something you might be looking for.

Photoscape : Free Photo Editing Software (Photo Editor) Download

I also have all the things that came with Microsoft Office 2007 and there is a simple Microsoft Office Picture Manager in it and for the most basic of basic uses, I will use this program. I use this for just cropping and resizing and printing if that is all I have to do.

 

[Godislove94]

IMHO, the best editing software for beginners is something called "Paint.net" that you can download for free (be careful of the sites that offer it though. The first time I downloaded it my laptop crashed and had to be set back to factory: I lost everything :'( ). It doesn't have as many features as Adobe or Gimpshop, but it's workable. Also try Picmonkey. It's online and free except for the Royale features which you have to have membership to the website to use.

 

[Adrianmaddox]

I typically use picmonkey.com or ipiccy.com both of which are free and do the trick for what I need. You can also try Picassa which is also good. It is also free.

 

[coveybed]

I currently have a Canon T3i which is my first DSLR, and I use Adobe Lightroom to edit the photos. But if you do not have that kind of money I suggest getting Picasa (picasa.google.com)

 

[Wandering Cat Lady]

If she is really serious about it and you're up for spending a bit, I highly suggest Photoshop Elements. I have used that and Adobe Lightroom for a long time. I recommend Photoshop Elements because she can learn to do a lot of basic photoshop editing within it and can move up to the full photoshop package fairly easily when the time is right. GIMP is a great free program (google it) also. I use Lightroom for most of my editing because I can crop and do lighting touchups which is basically what I want to do with my pictures. But for someone who is serious about becoming a pro, Elements is better. Good luck!

 

[Nickybobby]

Photoshop Elements all the way. It's a very powerful program, and relatively easy to use. Plus, if she's 13 and has a basic understanding of the internet, there are myriad tutorials/youtube video tutorials available to learn how to do almost anything you can imagine with it. At less than $100, it's a great value.