Recommendation: Editing software program for my old computer

Hi,
I just purchased a camera Canon 6D and a couple of lenses. I have no experience in photography or post/editing. I didn't expect or prepare to purchase a new computer to start my hobby. So can anyone recommend a free software editing program that might fit on my oldish computer and not reduce performance? I searched this forum and didn't see an answer to my question.

I'm shooting in RAW and JPEG.

Lightroom doesn't work.

Any suggestions?

thank you.

Depends on what you consider editing. Lightroom is not really an editor but a level adjuster. Photoshop is an editor. If you are looking for something that has the parameter modification capability as Lightroom, go no further than the free copy of Canon's DPP you got with the camera.

How old of a computer are you talking about?
If it's something like a (relatively)ancient Pentium 133MHz, then you don't have many options
aside from similarly-vintage software. Your operating system will play a role in options,
e.g. Windows vs MAC vs Linux, etc...

JJ's mention of the Digital Photo Professional software as provided by Canon with the camera
is a great choice and free, as noted. Many here use it to excellent results on Windows systems.

GIMP is a popular choice for free software, albeit maybe not as sophisticated as Canon's DPP.
There are many others as well, all with varying degrees of capability & sophistication.

RAW Therapee and darktable are feature-rich freebies, though much more "techy" in that
they assume you already have some experience with editing under your belt.

Perhaps some detail to describe your computer setup, shooting style, and what you want from
a processing/editing package will prompt better-targeted responses to your question.

As mentioned, use Canon's included free DPP software for RAW conversion.

Let us know what OS your PC is,. so we can recommend software that specifically runs on what this "old computer" has for an OS.

My go to for a raster editor is to recommend you dig up a now completely out of date, but still very capable version 2 of Photoshop CS. I still use it on my work PC and it remains a thoroughly capable tool.

Why won't Lightroom work? Which version? Describe oldish comp. I'm using an 8 years old iMac that still runs everything.

Canon would be a good choice. If I ever get rid of LR I might go back to DPP and pick up Affinity as a pixel editor. There are free ones as have been mentioned.

https://www.usa.canon.​com …nal-DPP-4-Tutorial-Videos

StarlingGirl wrote in post #18932589
Hi,
I just purchased a camera Canon 6D and a couple of lenses. I have no experience in photography or post/editing. I didn't expect or prepare to purchase a new computer to start my hobby. So can anyone recommend a free software editing program that might fit on my oldish computer and not reduce performance? I searched this forum and didn't see an answer to my question.

I'm shooting in RAW and JPEG.

Lightroom doesn't work.

Any suggestions?

thank you.

Hi StarlingGirl, we need some more info such as your PC specs but perhaps this link may help https://www.provideoco​alition.com …photo-editor-canon-users/

Wow, I'm overwhelmed with the amount of people willing to help. Thank you!

So these are the specs of my computer.

Acer Veriton x2631
Intel Core i5 4th Gen 4440 (3.10 GHz)
4 GB DDR3
500 GB HDD
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
details here: https://www.newegg.com …tations/p/N82E1​6883103966

You all have educated me that there are different types of software for photography: editors, level adjusters ?, etc and ask what I want to do with it. I'm not sure. I'm still trying to figure out what my camera is capable of and learning to use it. LOL. I guess I want the ability to brighten/darken and change the color (not too blue, not too orange). Like I said, I'm a beginner. I'm interested in shooting nature (birds) and macro.

I loaded Gimp, Lightroom - trial version, PeaZip, even Canon's DPP. When I insert my SanDisk and open the software to look at my photos thats when the computer lags/performance crashes, basically unusable. I watched a video that allows certain features in lightroom to be changed/turned off to improve performance. Maybe something like that will help. I don't know. Forgive my ignorance, I was told to use RAW and JPEG, so that's what I am using.

I hope this information helps.

Thank you so very much. I appreciate your help.

StarlingGirl wrote in post #18932739
Wow, I'm overwhelmed with the amount of people willing to help. Thank you!

So these are the specs of my computer.

Acer Veriton x2631
Intel Core i5 4th Gen 4440 (3.10 GHz)
4 GB DDR3
500 GB HDD
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
details here: https://www.newegg.com …tations/p/N82E1​6883103966

You all have educated me that there are different types of software for photography: editors, level adjusters ?, etc and ask what I want to do with it. I'm not sure. I'm still trying to figure out what my camera is capable of and learning to use it. LOL. I guess I want the ability to brighten/darken and change the color (not too blue, not too orange). Like I said, I'm a beginner. I'm interested in shooting nature (birds) and macro.

I loaded Gimp, Lightroom - trial version, PeaZip, even Canon's DPP. When I insert my SanDisk and open the software to look at my photos thats when the computer lags/performance crashes, basically unusable. I watched a video that allows certain features in lightroom to be changed/turned off to improve performance. Maybe something like that will help. I don't know. Forgive my ignorance, I was told to use RAW and JPEG, so that's what I am using.

I hope this information helps.


Thank you so very much. I appreciate your help.

I'm by no means a computer geek but it looks like it an older version of a PC that may not be able to handle RAW files and the additional load of the software that you have downloaded.
Shooting in RAW is probably the best advise but only if your computer can handle it. I'm sure other POTN member will chime in.

What exactly crashes? "The software", which one? You listed 4 different ones. Does it happen when taking the USB drive out of the equation? Does it do it for every image, even a 1x1 image? What does unusable mean? Keyboard doesn't work, mouse doesn't respond? Program is unresponsive or Windows? etc. Maybe your card reader is not working well.

Please elaborate and be more specific and describe what happens exactly so that we can help you. Maybe some screenshot would help.
And perhaps you could go to your computer, click on it and hit properties and do a screenshot by hitting PRINT SCREEN PRT SC, one of the keys on far right of your keyboard and open any software, even Word and simply hit CTRL V which si Paste to get the screenshot, save it and poost it as an image.
I have attached a screenshot of my PC properties with all the additional drives etc but we really want to see the main drive, typically called Local Disk )C)

Transfer the files from your SanDisk to your computer's hard drive. Working from the HD is faster than the external SanDisk media.

https://www.getpaint.n​et/

http://www.photofiltre​-studio.com/news-en.htm

... Both for Windows

Of course you could switch from Windows 7 to Linux. Support for Windows 7 will soon end, so you might want to research this option. I understand that the thought of this might freak you out, but there's a lot of guidance online both written and YouTube. Your older computer would perform quite well because Linux is not as resource hungry. GIMP, Digikam, Shotwell, and many other programs are all free. Once again, YouTube is your friend with these and other programs.

https://www.linuxmint.​com/
... Many different Linux varieties (distributions) exist, but Mint is an excellent choice.

You have a 500GB HDD drive. Where do you store your files? Not the LR catalogue which doesn't take up much space but your actual RAW files. On the HDD? What else is on there? Adobe recommends 20% of free hard drive space which in your case is 100GB. I keep all my RAW files on a powered external drive which is getting close to 3TB. My 8 year old computer also has a 500GB drive which has about 200GB left - because of external file storage.

I pretty much follow all these recommendations.

https://helpx.adobe.co​m …erformance-lightroom.html

FWIW, I think you can still get the free Adobe Photoshop CS2.
http://www.techspot.co​m …-adobe-photoshop-cs2.html

I’m not a professional in the sense I don’t make a living from photography. Having said that I also shoot RAW & JPEG and find the 4.x versions of DPP more than adequate. Just make sure you also download the manual and use it initially so you get a good feel for the capabilities. Some tutorials are at https://www.usa.canon.​com …nal-DPP-4-Tutorial-Videos and the PDF manual can be found on the Canon page specific to your camera.

At some point in time, and not too far off, you should consider updating the Win 7 to Win 10. The upgrade still remains free (see https://photography-on-the.net …read.php?t=1506​562&page=1, specifically my reply #9) I would also consider at some time changing out that HDD to an SSD.

IMO DPP's highlight recovery and a few other sliders in that area are a little on the weak side compared to the other major competitors. Does that really matter that much for a hobbyist? Probably not much. While it exports good looking files I think it is missing export sharpening. When DPP was my main editor I always exported to PS for export sharpening. Since you can only get PS with the subscription plan it seems people like to use Affinity as a substitute.

Again not that critical for a hobbyist. I don't know, even Pro's my use it exclusivly. As long as the results are pleasing. There may be free solutions if someone wants to pursue that further.

https://www.cambridgei​ncolour.com …ials/image-sharpening.htm

What DPP has and I wish other developers would incorporate is true digital lens corrections.

https://global.canon/e​n/imaging/dlo/

I still use DPP to cull all my files using Quick Check - Full Screen before importing to my current editor. DPP's downsizing algorithm for 'fit to screen' display is very good - contrasty which creates the illusion of sharpness. It makes the RAW files look like a final edited Jpeg. I find it easier to get to get rid of the non keepers. As I scroll through I press X for files I want to reject and then get out of Quick Check. Then Edit - Rating - Select rejected rejected images only, followed by File - Move to trash.

In a nutshell DPP is a very capable developer, Canon Colours are very pleasing and it is free.

digital paradise wrote in post #18932703
https://www.usa.canon.​com …nal-DPP-4-Tutorial-Videos

Canon Europe also has DPP videos. Not sure how they compare to the US version, but here they are.

https://cpn.canon-europe.com …re/dpp_video_tu​torials.do

Perfectly Frank wrote in post #18933057
Canon Europe also has DPP videos. Not sure how they compare to the US version, but here they are.

https://cpn.canon-europe.com …re/dpp_video_tu​torials.do

I'd probably watch both.