Which Photo Software? What photo software you need, when, and why…

I recently discussed the must haves / don’t needs of buying a digital camera, depending on the stage of your photography obsession . I would imagine that most of the time photo’s come straight out of the camera and onto paper, if at all. If you want to take your photo’s that little bit further, here are some software tools which can smooth the way…

I don’t know how many times I have had to rebuild my PC due to a glut of software. I must have tried nearly every photography related software or utility on the market. Don’t waste time like I did… here are the winners:

First Steps

So you use a compact digital camera, and you shoot exclusively JPEG files (though it may not mean much to you). Nothing beats Google Picasa for ease of use, power, and price… Free!

Google Picasa — Did I mention it was free?

Pluses:

Picasa can produce some amazing effects, which would take many steps in either Photoshop Elements or CS3. It’s photo organising capabilities are not bad either. And, did I mention it was free!

Minuses:

It currently does not support RAW files, and it’s edits are limited to the entire picture, so any advanced digital editing is out.

Brisk Walk

You are using an advanced compact digital camera, and you are beginning to tinker with the RAW format. Additionally you see all these tutorials about digital editing, mostly referring to Adobe Photoshop, but the cost is out of your league. Give Photoshop Elements a whirl. It has most of the tools that its big brother has for Digital Photographers, and has continuously updated RAW file support due to Adobe Camera Raw.

Adobe Photoshop Elements — Better than you would imagine!

I have used Adobe Photoshop Elements for years, and in many ways it is more powerful than many professionals give it credit for.

Pluses:

For example, its integrated organisation capabilities have only recently been matched by Adobe Lightroom, supporting keyword tagging, collections, versioning, tight integration with the editor.

Minuses:

Doesn’t support layers, non destructive editing, advanced renaming, automation.

In fact, in my opinion, you really need a good reason to buy Photoshop CS3 over Photoshop Elements, especially since you can expand its capabilities with Photoshop Compatible plugins.

Jogging

You are using an entry-level SLR, and shoot nearly exclusively in RAW. You have amassed a large image library, and are beginning to poke around in the murky world of digital noise.  Here are some additional tools which I have found useful:

• NeatImage - Very easy to use, intelligent noise reduction in your images.
• PTLens — Great at “straightening” out the photo’s produced by imperfect lenses.
• Hamrick Vuescan - Got a scanner? Get this!
• Adobe DNG converter — When you start adding tags, and other metadata to images, you will begin to see additional “XMP” files appear. These files store the additional data when Adobe does not know how to write back to a particular image file, such as a proprietary RAW file. Converting all your RAW files to DNG has many advantages, one of which is the ability to store extensive metadata.
• Flickr Uploadr — The best photo sharing community.

I will leave the pluses and minuses of these as an exercise to the reader .

Sprinting

Ok the big kahuna! Despite it’s outrageous price, you have decided that you absolutely need Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop Lightroom. That said, if you are a professional photographer, and utilise any third-party studio management, colour management, or any software, it is certain to work with these. Tutorials in industry press — you guessed it, Adobe Photoshop CS3. Many open source fans mention “The Gimp” as an alternative… but as good as it may be, it will never be taken seriously in the Photographic industry as long as it is called “The Gimp”.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom — the professional choice for Digital Asset Management

Adobe Photoshop CS3 — The Big Kahuna!

I know I recently upgraded… so what do these give me:

• Complex file renaming in Lightroom
• Advanced metadata capabilities, such as templates, in Lightroom
• Advanced colour management
• Automating Photoshop with Actions

Pluses:

Extremely powerful, and pretty much the industry standard.

Minuses:

Bloody expensive, and in Europe, it’s a rip off with prices which bear no relation to sales tax, importation duties, currency exchange etc. Buy a boxed product in the US and bring it home.