Easy photo editing software

[Renegade7369]

I am looking for a decent photo editing software for my wife that also has a super simple/easy UI. She takes a lot of pictures for family and friends and has a pretty decent DSLR camera, but she has been using the regular photo viewer in Windows 7/8/10 over the years to do minor editing/touchups. She isn't very computer savvy so complicated UIs like Adobe Photoshop and/or Lightroom would be way too complex for her.

 

Any suggestions.

 

I have downloaded Picasa that seems to be pretty easy but I am looking to see if there is anything else I can try too.

 

Thanks All.

[ALwin]

If she only captures JPEG photos, and Lightroom is too complex for her then Picasa is a good choice.  What kind of editing does she want to do, just simple crop, resizing and photo management?

 

If she captures RAW, I consider Lightroom to be the most user friendly photo editor and management tool. There are other software like DxO Optics Pro and Capture One, but they aren't as user friendly for a non-serious photographer.

[techguru]

I am looking for a decent photo editing software for my wife that also has a super simple/easy UI. She takes a lot of pictures for family and friends and has a pretty decent DSLR camera, but she has been using the regular photo viewer in Windows 7/8/10 over the years to do minor editing/touchups. She isn't very computer savvy so complicated UIs like Adobe Photoshop and/or Lightroom would be way too complex for her.

 

Any suggestions.

 

I have downloaded Picasa that seems to be pretty easy but I am looking to see if there is anything else I can try too.

 

Thanks All.

picasa

or maybe gimp

[Swndlr]

I would still go out on a limb and say get Lightroom. I was so lost when I first got it and I learned it very quickly.

[ALwin]

snip

 

snip

 

Picasa is free and more than enough to crop, resize JPEG photos.  It also has the added benefit of helping you organize and tag photos.

 

But if the OP's wife shoots RAW, I would recommend Lightroom first because it helps you get the most out of RAW files.

[Renegade7369]

Yes, just like simple color enhancement and sharpening and she also takes her photos and does B/W and Sepia versions of everything incase someone wants stuff like that. She usually takes anywhere between 50-100 pictures when she is shooting for someone and usually throws away about 25ish for poor quality/lighting or just doesn't like them then does her general sharpness touches and color enhancement and then will do the B/W and Sepia and i think there are a couple other things she does.

 

Ultimately, she starts with anywhere between 50-100 after throwing away bad shots and after editing she ends up with like 200+ because she will include the original, the touched up/enhanced version/B-W/Sepia/etc. So she ends up with anywhere from 4-6 versions of the same image.

 

She usually just captures JPEG, but recently Ive set up her camera to capture JPEG+RAW of every shot because I heard RAW are better for editing but I have been looking for a good program to experiment.

[SIGSEGV]

GIMP:

http://www.gimp.org/

[Renegade7369]

Picasa is free and more than enough to crop, resize JPEG photos.  It also has the added benefit of helping you organize and tag photos.

 

But if the OP's wife shoots RAW, I would recommend Lightroom first because it helps you get the most out of RAW files.

I downloaded a free trial of Lightroom for her last night and she said it was way too complex and confusing for her. I told her to look up some youtube videos of basically "Lightroom for dummies" but she is stubborn sometimes. Haha

[ALwin]

Yes, just like simple color enhancement and sharpening and she also takes her photos and does B/W and Sepia versions of everything incase someone wants stuff like that. She usually takes anywhere between 50-100 pictures when she is shooting for someone and usually throws away about 25ish for poor quality/lighting or just doesn't like them then does her general sharpness touches and color enhancement and then will do the B/W and Sepia and i think there are a couple other things she does.

 

Ultimately, she starts with anywhere between 50-100 after throwing away bad shots and after editing she ends up with like 200+ because she will include the original, the touched up/enhanced version/B-W/Sepia/etc. So she ends up with anywhere from 4-6 versions of the same image.

 

She usually just captures JPEG, but recently Ive set up her camera to capture JPEG+RAW of every shot because I heard RAW are better for editing but I have been looking for a good program to experiment.

 

In this case, get Lightroom.  It's worth the investment and unlike the CC suite of Adobe products you can buy a standalone license.

[Renegade7369]

In this case, get Lightroom.  It's worth the investment and unlike the CC suite of Adobe products you can buy a standalone license.

Lightroom 6 or CC Lightroom? Or is there a difference besides the one-time or monthly license?

[ALwin]

I downloaded a free trial of Lightroom for her last night and she said it was way too complex and confusing for her. I told her to look up some youtube videos of basically "Lightroom for dummies" but she is stubborn sometimes. Haha

 

I had the same feeling as her when I first used it, but after giving it a try I am hooked for life.  It's very straight forward, the image editing tools are well organized and it will definitely help her achieve the most out of her RAW files.

 

She just has to give it a chance.

[techguru]

I downloaded a free trial of Lightroom for her last night and she said it was way too complex and confusing for her. I told her to look up some youtube videos of basically "Lightroom for dummies" but she is stubborn sometimes. Haha

picasa then

 

should also mention ACDSEE

http://www.acdsee.com/en/products/acdsee-19

not free tho

[ALwin]

Lightroom 6 or CC Lightroom? Or is there a difference besides the one-time or monthly license?

 

The standalone version you don't have to pay any additional fees, though some tiny features might take a while to get added to the standalone version versus the CC version, when Adobe releases updates.

 

Additionally you can get the Photographer package of Photoshop and Lightroom CC for a good monthly price, depending where you live in the world.

[Renegade7369]

I had the same feeling as her when I first used it, but after giving it a try I am hooked for life.  It's very straight forward, the image editing tools are well organized and it will definitely help her achieve the most out of her RAW files.

 

She just has to give it a chance.

This is my wife were talking about here...Haha.

 

Joking aside. I think Lightroom would probably be best for her if she would look up some videos about how to use it instead of looking at buttons and sliders for 5 minutes and saying.."no im good with the basic thing"

[Renegade7369]

Does Picasa support RAW files? I forgot to look for it in the settings.

 

And

 

Are RAW files more "edit-able" or something? Is it better to always use the RAW file to edit instead of the JPEG file or something, and why?

[Renegade7369]

picasa then

 

should also mention ACDSEE

http://www.acdsee.com/en/products/acdsee-19

not free tho

Is ACDSEE pretty user friendly?  I cant seem to find any good pictures of the UI.

[ALwin]

This is my wife were talking about here...Haha.

 

Joking aside. I think Lightroom would probably be best for her if she would look up some videos about how to use it instead of looking at buttons and sliders for 5 minutes and saying.."no im good with the basic thing"

 

If it were the other way round and it was your wife asking the question and you were the stubborn tog, I'd advise her to make you sleep on the couch if you don't want to learn how to use Lightroom.  :lol:

 

Can't help you here buddy.  You're on your own.  But really, Lightroom is easy to learn, just ask her to give it a week or two.  If she doesn't want to watch videos, she can read a book on how to use it.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_n_4?fst=as%3Aoff&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3AAdobe+Lightroom&keywords=Adobe+Lightroom&ie=UTF8&qid=1449090924&rnid=2941120011

[Renegade7369]

If it were the other way round and it was your wife asking the question and you were the stubborn tog, I'd advise her to make you sleep on the couch if you don't want to learn how to use Lightroom.  :lol:

 

Can't help you here buddy.  You're on your own.  But really, Lightroom is easy to learn, just ask her to give it a week or two.  If she doesn't want to watch videos, she can read a book on how to use it.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_n_4?fst=as%3Aoff&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3AAdobe+Lightroom&keywords=Adobe+Lightroom&ie=UTF8&qid=1449090924&rnid=2941120011

Haha. Thanks.

[techguru]

Is ACDSEE pretty user friendly?  I cant seem to find any good pictures of the UI.

[techguru]

[ALwin]

snip

 

RAW files are basically image data straight from the camera's sensor into the memory card without any or with minimal processing done by the in-camera image processor.  The file retains more image data so that it is better for editing in post processing.  Whereas JPEG files are image from the sensor processed by the in-camera image processor before getting stored on the memory card.

 

Think of it this way,

RAW files = getting a package of all the separate ingredients needed to bake a cake

JPEG files = all the ingredients pre-mixed for you as someone else has already decided the ingredients has to be mixed this way

[Renegade7369]

RAW files are basically image data straight from the camera's sensor into the memory card without any or with minimal processing done by the in-camera image processor.  The file retains more image data so that it is better for editing in post processing.  Whereas JPEG files are image from the sensor processed by the in-camera image processor before getting stored on the memory card.

 

Think of it this way,

RAW files = getting a package of all the separate ingredients needed to bake a cake

JPEG files = all the ingredients pre-mixed for you as someone else has already decided the ingredients has to be mixed this way

Awesome description. Thanks. Thats what I thought but I wasn't 100% sure.

 So basically, always try to use the RAW file if you want the best editing result?

[ALwin]

snip

 

I wouldn't touch ACDSee with a 100m stick, Adobe Camera RAW is superior and supports more cameras than ACDSee.

[techguru]

I wouldn't touch ACDSee with a 100m stick, Adobe Camera RAW is superior and supports more cameras than ACDSee.

http://www.acdsee.com/ca/support/raw-formats

[ALwin]

Awesome description. Thanks. Thats what I thought but I wasn't 100% sure.

 So basically, always try to use the RAW file if you want the best editing result?

 

Yes, if you always plan to post process your images, retouch them, etc. RAW is always a better choice.  JPEG is for when you need to take photos and send them out to the audience quickly, so the photographer has to know how to set up the in-camera settings correctly to capture the style they want.

 

Additionally RAW gives leeway in any errors a photographer makes, it can help mitigate issues if your wife forgets to check that she has the correct exposure values (shutter, aperture, ISO, white balance) while with JPEGs it's hard to fix those mistakes in post.  With a JPEG file, if a photo was 2-stops over or under exposed it might make things difficult to correct in post, but with RAW because it retains a lot of data captured by the sensor (some invisible to the eye) you can correct for those mistakes.

 

However shooting RAW is no excuse for trying to get things right in-camera first. Don't become lazy or complacent just because you shoot RAW.