Photography Software

Hi Guys,

can i ask what kind of software is good for download to do post processing?

would like to add some silhoulette or shadows at the corner of the pictures.

please advise.

thank you

Darren

lightroom

There is a vast amount of software available, starting from free stuff like GIMP and Picassa, via Elements and Lightroom to the big Daddy of them all Photoshop.

Pretty well of them all will allow you a free months trial.

It very much depends on your personal needs. We are all different, with very different priorities. Photoshop, currently in version CS4 and soon to be CS5, does everything and is the market leader, but is very expensive. Elements is much cheaper and is often considered a slimmed down Photoshop.

Lightroom sits by itself rather oddly, some love it with a passion and equally others hate it with the same passion. Try it out for yourself, don't be swayed by others.

At the free end, GIMP and Picassa have a very loyal following and these might be good choices to start with, until you know better what you might want from a post processing programme.

You could try Canon's DPP its a good starting point.
Bibble,Photoshop,Light​room

DigitalBoy wrote in post #8753642
You could try Canon's DPP its a good starting point.
Bibble,Photoshop,Light​room

hi, i'm actually using light room, but seems very complicated.

do you know how i can achieve an effect with shadows around the border?

and also the DIANA Camera effect, something that looks old school.

I'm not a Lightroom user, but I'm sure you can perform a lomo effect [LIke a Diana camera] using Lightroom. If you Google "lomo effect" you should get some pointers; I've done it in Elements so I'm sure Lightroom can do it.

Lightroom is about as simple as it comes with the way it handles presets and a great deal of effects can be done with one click.

I would suggest that you should spend some time online watching some tutorials which can be found with your favorite search engine.

I personally use CS4 as my primary software and use Lightroom very sparingly. If you learn how to import and use presets you will be well on your way. The is no shortage of free presets that you can download.

Question is Elements a good starter and then move to CS4 later? I am hoping that I can learn on Elements and hope that it will prepare me for CS4..

Elements is good. In fact, quite a lot of people never need PSCS4...

darrenis wrote in post #8762547
hi, i'm actually using light room, but seems very complicated.

do you know how i can achieve an effect with shadows around the border?

and also the DIANA Camera effect, something that looks old school.

Shadows around the border...AKA vignetting