Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

What's your favorite photo editor and why?

Aug 29, 2006 7:19AM PDT

What's your favorite photo editor and why?

ACDSee Photo Editor
Adobe PhotoShop
Adobe Photoshop Elements
Corel Paint Shop Pro
FastStone Image Viewer
The GIMP
IrfanView
Picasa
Ulead PhotoImpact
Other (what is it?)

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Microsoft Digital Image Pro
Aug 30, 2006 12:00AM PDT

I have been using Digital Image Pro which has most of the features of Adobe Photoshop (all the features I need) and is much cheaper and much less expensive.

- Collapse -
I also use this but.....
Aug 30, 2006 12:33AM PDT

I agree that this is a good overall program but it seems to come up short with its ability to erase and brush over / fill in items. As a real estate photographer I have to remove a lot of clutter and I would really like a program that has tighter controls for these functions.

- Collapse -
DI10 Cloning tool
Aug 30, 2006 1:45AM PDT

I use the cloning tool a lot to fix photos with material I would like to correct. It is very versatile.

Dave

- Collapse -
Irfan
Aug 30, 2006 12:23AM PDT

No it's not a great editor, it just crops, but how easy can something get? Marvelous program with lots of extras hidden away, but still very simple.

When I need more editing and manipulation capability, I can use Paint Shop Photo Album or Adobe Photo Elements 4.0.

Forget Adobe Photoshop. Anything with a learning curve the length of the Mississippi does not deserve consideration except among professionals.

Hey guys what about simple human interfaces???

Ben from LA

- Collapse -
Photoshop CS2 & FastStone Image Viewer
Aug 30, 2006 12:30AM PDT

I like them both very much!

FastStone Image Viewer is a fast browser with tons of features. The software is free and it is really a great piece of software!! I don?t understand why a company has not purchased them.

Photoshop is part of my workflow so it?s much easier to use. I am not bouncing from one software package to another. Photoshop costs a lot but I think it is worth it!

- Collapse -
Two Versions of ArcSoft PhotoStudio - 2000 & 5,5
Aug 30, 2006 12:33AM PDT

I actually have three versions of ArcSoft PhotoStudio. 2.2, 2000, and 5.5. I rarely if ever use 2.2 any more. It came free with my first digital camera. I liked it so much, I bought 2000. I have since also bought 5.5. I alternate between 2000 and 5.5. 2000 is better for images I create whole. 5.5 is better working with images from my digital camera. Only 5.5 works with GIFs.

I have used every other program out there. On my Linux machines I use The GIMP. For some things I would be lost without IrfanView. PhotoShop has far too high a learning curve. I have v. 7, but no longer bother to install it. The same for JASC PaintShopPro. Oh, how could I forget Paint.NET ! An excellent program, what Microsoft 'meant to do'.

One thing else I could not live without is DCE 1.3 Automatic Digital Camera Enhancer. It's free, and has saved many of my too dark digital images. It is phenomenal, and it's free ! Another extremely useful, free, tool is AllGraphicsTools html color picker. Just place cursor over any color you want, and it gives you the code to get the perfect color match !

I've also played around a little with Google's SketchUp. It's fun.

- Collapse -
Photo Editor
Aug 30, 2006 12:36AM PDT

Fx Photo

- Collapse -
Microsoft's Photo Story
Aug 30, 2006 1:13AM PDT

This program is amazing. First of all, it's free, just download it from Microsoft's website. With it, you can create a movie from digital slide pictures in less than five minutes. The program allows you to crop, edit, adjust colors and contrast with just a few clicks. You can add music and titles to your movies. You can even dictate a narration.

The slide views default to a slide scan, but there are several different types of scans.

It is my favorite photo program.

Barry Weintraub

- Collapse -
Photo Editor
Aug 30, 2006 1:17AM PDT

I like Adobe PhotoShop,because it's easy to use and fast

- Collapse -
Elements 4.0
Aug 30, 2006 1:37AM PDT

I like adobe elements. I've had 2, then 3 and now I'm using 4.0 I like it because you get 90% of the perks you would with the full blown adobe photoshop cs2 at 1 sixth of the price. Sooner or later though I will expand into cs2 or the next generation though. It should be said out loud though that every tutorial I've read is directed to cs2 and NOT elements. I'm a bit of a computer moron and could never be sure if something worked in cs2, would it also work in elements? Once you get a solid knowledge base to build off of, elements works just fine. I might have been intimidated by cs2 to start off with. See some examples of my work at www.angelstudio.ca

- Collapse -
Re. Elements 4.0
Aug 30, 2006 3:40AM PDT

There are several good instruction books on Elements 4.0 out there. Scott Kelby, president of NAPP, and others have written some very good down to earth, easy to understand books with lots of illustrations for Elements 4.0. Many of the online book stores, such as Amazon, have them listed for a very good price. Check out Scott's website www.scottelbybooks.com and you can get an idea about them. Keep working with this and if you have a desire to move up to Photoshop you will already have a lot of the basics learned.

- Collapse -
Photoshop Elements 4.0
Aug 30, 2006 1:05PM PDT

I also have used Elements 2.0 and 3.0, and now 4.0 and love it! The sheer ease and depth are incredible. I highly recommend it!

- Collapse -
Adobe Photoshop 2.0 and 3.0
Aug 30, 2006 1:19PM PDT

I used 2.0 and loved it. Bought Dell Dimension 9100 and bought Photoshop Elements 3.0. Like it but it is hard to learn. Could I reinstall 2.0 on this computer and use it for simple stuff. Can I have 2.0 and 3.0 on same computer? Or would it screw things up? Appreciate advice.

- Collapse -
Re.Photoshop 2.0 & 3.0
Aug 31, 2006 12:10AM PDT

Photoshop v. 2.0 and 3.0 are very old issues of the program and may not even work with many of the newer computer systems. Now just a short note on Elements - there are many good instruction books on Photshop Elements, especially by Scott Kelby and others which will help you increase your working knowledge very easily. They are so much better thatn the instruction book which comes with the program. Check out Scott Kelby's website at www.scottkelbybooks.com/ or even look an online book store such as www.Amazon.com and I'm sure you will see what I mean. Now, back to Photoshop. I'm not even sure if your PS programs would work on your computer as if my memory serves me correctly most of them were written for the Apple Macintosh. I would not recommend that you install both as each does the same elementry things, but v.3 is more advanced than v.2 and would take up a lot of extra room on your hard drive. Yes, they were very easy to learn, but have a very limited capability as compared to the newer versions and operating systems of today. I learned Photshop on a v. 2 and have now gone full circle to version CS2. Before I even tried to do what you propose I would contact an representtive of the computer which you have to check and see if they would even work on your system. I would heartily recommend that, if possible, that you purchase one of the newer versions of Photoshop, either CS or CS2 or even version 7 (which might even be found as a bargain on ebay, etc.) as they work equally well on either a Mac or a PC. By the way, if you purchase an older version be sure that you are not purchasing an upgrade, because you have to have at least one full version just before the upgrade for it to install on your computer. You do not have to purchase the entire Creative Suite package which includes not only Photoshop but 4 other interacting programs which will run around $1,000 or more. A new new version of Photoshop by it self runs around $600 but the great thing is that the upgrades are only about $225. I know that this sound high, but the advancement in the programs has been so much more than was ever thought possible back in the days of PS v. 2 or 3! Sorry that this was so long, but I wanted you to have as much information as I could give in this short space. Good luck!!

- Collapse -
Photoshop Elements 3.0
Aug 30, 2006 1:52AM PDT

I prefer to use Photoshop Elements most of the time. Various plugins such as NeatImage enhance my editing - the only thing I don't use it for is fixing the barrel effect of some photos -- Nerophotosnap does that well.
Picasa's easy but messes with my filing system and doesn't include as many tools as I normally use.

- Collapse -
Photoshop is for Geeks!.....No editing package is a good one
Aug 30, 2006 1:58AM PDT

Let's face it.....There isn't one good photo editing package on the market. In fact, 99% of the digital camera users don't even want to have to take the middle step to edit their photos.

The ideal photo editor would AUTOMATICALLY:
a) color correct for my "desired" tastes (Kodak film pushes reds, while Fuji pushes greens)
b) Auto rotate, not by "degrees" which is for geeks, but by visually lining-up the horizon like Microsoft's Digital Image Pro
c) Auto line-up using rule of thirds to make the composition more appealing. Again, many photo editors don't use customer-intuitive terms such as 4"x6" landscape, nor do they overlay a tic-tac-toe graphic to help me compose with rule of thirds.
d) NOW.....how about any piece of software or kiosk or web service that could do an AUTO CROP.....Nobody can take typical snapshots and sense where a good tight crop should be.

All in all, doing manualy photo editing is a real pain. So, no photo editing or "auto" editing is better than manual edits....except for us geeks, ad agencies, and "artists"....How about something for mainstream users?

- Collapse -
Re. Photoshop is for Geeks ---
Aug 30, 2006 3:24AM PDT

If I read your statement correctly, most main stream picture takers ( I won't even call them Photographs) just take them, look at them, and then forget them BECAUSE they couldn't operate any of the photo editing programs out there, OR don't want to do so! If that is correct you are right. However, just suppose that they would like to get some ''editing'' done to their photos, where would they take them? They are wanting to get some enlarements or prints made form their digital or film negatives and they HAVE TO take them somepace which does edit photos, believe it or not. I have never seen a digital negative which didn't need something done to it - a little color balancing, some sharpening, etc. to produce a PLEASING photograph, be it a ''One Hour'' Lab or someplace else. On the envelope which they turn in is an instruction sheet asking what their choice would be for all or only a few photos would be - 4x5 prints, 5x7 , or maybe an 8x10. The printer makes a choice as to how the balance of the color is to be before it is even printed because of the diferences in some films. So instead of the ''average picture taker'' making the choices, they leave it up to someone else, and that someone just happend to be someone like you and me - a Photopshop or similar type program user. Now those who happen to want to learn how to do this is going to have to spend some time and learn the Basics, aren't they?. They can eitherr be a ''PICTURE TAKER' or they can become a ''TAKER OF PHOTOGRAPHS!''

- Collapse -
Picasa works for me
Aug 30, 2006 2:27AM PDT

I found it attached to a disk of my pix recieved from Pro-ex and when the up-dated (Picasa-2 ) version was released I got a good amount of enjoyment out of the fact it was quite simple to use, it was free, and I took good enough pictures in-camera (for the most part, at least they weren't too far from my vision of a good shot)that I usually did not need to modify very much at all! The program does what it can quite well and fast, of course there is nowhere near the range of modifications you can utilize via Photoshop/ACDsee/or any other (COSTLY) program, but when I tried using these other Photoshoppy kinds of things I got so bogged down with options (levels / curves / dodge&burn and all the rest ) that it actually made me want to give up trying (too confusing)due to taking up too much of my time to do even the first step!

- Collapse -
Ifranview - FAST. FREE.
Aug 30, 2006 2:37AM PDT

i would say photoshop if I had the cash to buy it.

Ifranview is fast and it's free. I'm a newbie to photo editing. I just wanna do quick edits for banners for my blog, things like that.

- Collapse -
Missing some choices!
Aug 30, 2006 2:40AM PDT

I do use Photoshop CS2 for a good deal of editing, but the poll neglects to consider the other main programs I use including Apple Aperture, Nikon Capture and Bibble pro.

- Collapse -
(NT) (NT) Fireworks. I haven't tried anything else yet.
Aug 30, 2006 3:21AM PDT
- Collapse -
iPhoto
Aug 30, 2006 3:23AM PDT

Has most features of Photoshop Elements.

- Collapse -
PhotoShop?
Aug 30, 2006 4:11AM PDT

...

It's Photoshop, come on now... Happy

- Collapse -
Serif PhotoPlus For me
Aug 30, 2006 4:12AM PDT

Serif PhotoPlus does most of what the more expensive programs do. And the tutorials are very good.

- Collapse -
Photoshop and EZThumbs
Aug 30, 2006 4:15AM PDT

I love Photoshop and rarely use anything else. I did take an online college class to learn it though!

For making thumbnail images for my websites I LOVE EZThumbs. What a time saving program! After editing the photos in Photoshop I use EZThumbs to make thumbnails of all images at once. It also renames all of them at the same time by adding a suffix or prefix of your choice. Great program!

SVV

- Collapse -
favourite photo editor
Aug 30, 2006 4:28AM PDT

Threr is no alternative of this product. Only one thing i.e.the text format is not bold though it can be managed.

- Collapse -
PhotoSuite 4
Aug 30, 2006 4:51AM PDT

I use a discontinued $30 photo editor called MGI PhotoSuite 4. MGI was bought by Roxio, who cut out all the features that made this an outstanding editor.

If you aren't a professional design artist, why spend $500 on PhotoShop, when there are photo editors that will accomplish much of what PhotoShop does, for under $50? Check out my website. All the restorative color work - even our logo - was done using MGI PhotoSuite 4.

http://www.americanfamilyphoto.com

- Collapse -
Cam2PC Best Photo Browser and Best Basic Editor
Aug 30, 2006 6:14AM PDT

Cam2PC is the best photo browser for me and provides very useful editing/touchup functionality. It is easy to use and the application performance is FAST.

1) Two clicks to download pictures from camera or SD card into date-named folders.

2) Very very fast thumbnails for both pictures and video. Works using folders so no need to perform a slow import into libraries.

3) Resizable thumbnails from very very small size and upwards.

4) Very very fast preview with one click needed on either a picture or a video to preview it immediately in the same window. Resizable preview size within workspace. (Other photo browsers don't offer single click to preview and open up new windows instead. And some can't even preview video clips.)

5) Easy to use Enhance functions to quickly Remove Shadows, Auto Levels, Auto Colors, Auto Contrast, Sharpen, Crop keeping aspect etc. BEFORE and AFTER views displayed alongside to help you judge improvements.

6) Batch Convert, Batch Resize, Batch Rename...

For more advanced editing you can simply configure the right-click ''Edit With'' menu in Cam2PC to immediately launch other editors. I use Microsoft Digital Image Suite 2006 for the powerful Smart Erase, magic selection and cloning functions.

So I can highly recommend Cam2PC and at $30 it is good value.

- Collapse -
Easily Photoshop Elements
Aug 30, 2006 6:54AM PDT

I go with Photoshop for very selfish reasons. My wife is quite proficient in its use and she usually (almost always!) likes to manually 'tweak' her photos. Second reason is that my kids use it at school & Uni. Third reason is I can support it no problem, so can happily resolve any issues they have in trying to do something - so Photoshop but for my selfish reasoning only. Purely from my own perspective I've sadly never tried any others

- Collapse -
Made for dummies
Aug 30, 2006 8:45AM PDT

I only use a photo editor once or twice a month to put a variety of pics together to tell a story. You would be surprised the little thing that you tend to overlook in that time using any software. I like Adobe Photoshop because it was made for dummies who forget. This is the third one that I tried over the years and I find the Help section is written for me to understand and not just to get something done. I used Corel for a while and had a hard time with small things like the spaceing for captions, incerts into text and small things like that.