Editing Software for PC

[Lynxo]

Hi,

 

If you could only afford one piece of software for editing, which would you choose?

 

Photo Ninja

On1 Photo 10

Lightroom

 

All 3 being under $150

 

My needs I think mainly towards editing jpgs, want something simple and fast to use

for sharpen, contrasts, making images pop for the most part, thats where On1 looks like

the way to go.

 

On other hand, reviews showing Photo Ninja is much better for Raw conversion with Fuji.

 

If you used both, which is has the simpler interface and quicker work flow?

Also any Auto feature? I know some of you will shake your head but its to spend least amount

of time behind the PC.

 

Does one have more feature set than the other?

 

Thanks

[perfis]

I use Acdsee, it's less complicated and cheaper than Lightroom and has support for Fuji's raw files .raf. Just mention it to indicate the choice is wider.

[Tom H.]

All my work is done in lightroom, it may not be the ultimate tool for fuji raw files, but unless you're a pixel peeper, it's more than good enough. I only use photoshop for skin editing on portraits. Everything else stays in lightroom. For the ease of workflow alone, it's worth the money.

Edited March 15, 2016 by Tom H.

[darknj]

Lightroom, for its cataloging capabilities.

 

Even if you decide to never ever do any kind of editing, the cataloging is going to be handy if you shoot a lot and need ways to find back what you did at what time.

 

I know some colleagues who works only in CaptureOne and DxO but all them use Lightroom for cataloging the shots.

 

Now, if you don't shoot raw, none of them really matter, technically you could even do your editing with the google photo in browser editor.

 

For have used both Lightroom and Photo Ninja, Lighroom is clearly a lot easier to use, even for a beginner in photo editing, everything you need is directly accessible on the right side panel, from white balance, to color saturation and sharpening. The extra plugins to export to other platform like Facebook, Flikr and other comes handy too.

 

It takes maybe a small hour to learn it but afterward you are good to go, plus if you feel like doing more and start shooting raws, you already have a good platform to start on and learn basis and master more things later on. Last point in its favor, it is really easy to find tutorials for Lightroom, even free ones over Youtube.

[Tom H.]

If you want to learn Lightroom, Phlearn Lightroom 101 and 201 are the perfect start and you can usually find those on sale several times a year. Easily worth every penny.

 

I shoot multiple formats (35mm, 120 film and digital), so keeping a good catalogue is paramount. I tried Capture One, but Lightroom just works better for my needs.

[Vladimir]

Hi,

 

If you could only afford one piece of software for editing, which would you choose?

 

Photo Ninja

On1 Photo 10

Lightroom

 

All 3 being under $150

 

My needs I think mainly towards editing jpgs, want something simple and fast to use

for sharpen, contrasts, making images pop for the most part, thats where On1 looks like

the way to go.

 

On other hand, reviews showing Photo Ninja is much better for Raw conversion with Fuji.

 

If you used both, which is has the simpler interface and quicker work flow?

Also any Auto feature? I know some of you will shake your head but its to spend least amount

of time behind the PC.

 

Does one have more feature set than the other?

 

Thanks

 Try this than

http://rawtherapee.com/downloads

great free tool and quite powerful

[Guest thiswayup]

 Try this than

http://rawtherapee.com/downloads

great free tool and quite powerful

And you can add Gimp for retouching. Total cost: zero. 

[Lynxo]

Thanks. I just installed Gimp today, will try rawtherapee as well.

 

I read a short review for Gimp vs. Photoshop, of course they said photoshop is better, but I did not

understand better as in workflow, features or better in actual image quality. I guess I am trying to ask

is free software image will not look as nice as expensive photoshop image when editing same image on both software?