Software Help Please

I am getting into shooting in my little studio. I will be shooting still, pets,and some portrait. I currently have PS Elements 5. I find it has some limitations,
I need to know what software you would suggest for post processing that includes raw support.

Thanks,
Stefan

What do you find limiting in Elements. For what you say that you are shooting then you should be able to do everything just fine in Elements.

If you are looking for something beyond elements the next logical step is a full blown version of Photoshop CS3 which ships with ACR 4.1 for your RAW processing.

If you are only doing RAW conversion to get the images properly balanced, perhaps some cropping then you could have a look at Lightroom. I personally find that while Lightroom is an excellent program I still want to have photoshop to do things that are not possible from within Lightroom.

If you find Photoshop too expensive, which it is, there is a program called GIMP which is a photoshop look-a-like which has fairly solid reviews but I have not used it in awhile.

I second Lightroom for your RAW workflow. And If elements is to limiting for you move up to CS3. Powerful combination!

Greg

I agree with ssim and g-money, I'm using Lightroom for my RAW workflow and rarely move my pictures into Elements. If I have a special project that requires the use of layers, cloning, color replacement, etc. Lightroom will let you move your photo directly over to elements and then bring back the modified file as a new photo in Lightroom. The combination works great. When your ready for something more powerful than Elements you can move up to CS3.

Thanks to all for the feedback so far.....