So you want to get arty, what should you use....

Well, every copy of windows has "Paint" - this can be your first dabble at doodling, and you can start your expressions here.

If you want to edit photography, XP onwards has "Photo Editor" which can be used to resize and a few basic editing tools.

The next step up, and what most people use, are Adobe Photoshop and Jasc Paintshop Pro.

Adobe PS here:

http://www.adobe.co.uk/products/photoshop/main.html

Jasc PSP here:

http://www.jasc.com/en/products/paintshoppro/?

There is a free trial version of PSP to get you started.

Which is better? Personal preference really.. I have been using PSP for over 10 years now, so I'm pretty biased towards that.

Either way, you are well on your way to creating some stunning images.

If you don't plan using 64 bit depth (used only in professional polygraphy AFAIK) you can try GIMP (it's free - both as in freedom and as in no-cost): http://www.gimp.org/

It's not better or worse than Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. It just has a different interface (which can be changed - vide GIMPshop: a GIMP hack that makes the interface more Photoshop like). So I suggest going through some of its tutorials first and then looking at a demo/trial of Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. After that you should understand how to do things from PS/PSP tutorials.

P.S. I suggest using clean GIMP (without GIMPshop) since many GIMP specific tutorials are meant for the original interface.

This thread probably deserves a :bump: after three years...

When it comes to Photoshop and image processing I'm not even a half-spanner person but of course I now and then have to do some basic image editing.

Four or five years ago I downloaded Gimp (probably version 1.something). I've never liked it - terrible interface and not what you would call self-instructing

The other day I decided to check whether something had happened and downloaded the latest stable version (2.4.5). What a difference

For those who cannot secure a copy of Photoshop at a reasonable price , try it!

Those GNU/Open Source fanatics out there really deserve :bowdown1:

Try Paint.net It functions very much like photoshop, but is completely free!

yeah paint.net ftw

I've restarted my interest in photography, going with a Nikon D-SLR. Took a while to determine what software I wanted, but in the end, I went for Photoshop Elements, which is powerful enough for most amateur users. Go for Photoshop CS if you're going really serious on it. The other software I've used in the past is Serif Photoplus, which most people won't have heard of. You can get it online or from PC World (if you must) and it's pretty handy for most general amateur work again.

GIMP I tried, but didn't like the interface. If they've updated it, then fine, try it and see.

Have fun.

Holy Thread Revival Batman!!

Photoshop all the way, it cannot be beat! GIMP is ok but can be a real pain in the bum somtimes. Certain things really are tidious it is unreal!

Mac users, it's deinfitely worth investing in Aperture 3. Excellent bit of software and a lot better than iPhoto. It's made by Apple so will still integrate into iWork and iLife just like iPhoto did. One tip though, just scrap iPhoto and use Aperture for everything, otherwise it ends up getting complicated trying to share albums between the two programs.

Just to throw in another interesting option - Pixlr is a free flash driven website that mimics the functions and layout of Photoshop. I was using it the other day and was stunned by what they've achieved.

I couldn't live without Photoshop on my PC! Well, I'm sure I could, but yeah. I love it. I have CS3.

Holy Thread Revival Batman

Adobe Lightroom. Doesn't have the layering feature in PS but in every other respect its more comprehensive and faster to use.

I started by using Fireworks a lot first of all but now use Photoshop more for detailed work etc.

Edited 5 July, 201213 yr by turbodude

Another vote for Lightroom. Brilliant at helping you keep track of what you've shot.

Lightroom (v.4.2) for basic re-sizing and enhancing; Photoshop 5 for more in-depth image manipulation (mainly the removal of distracting objects in the image) Only have Photoshop Creative Suite 5 because I was able to purchase it at education price - list price is just silly.

Lightroom is simply brilliant.

I've always used Adobe Photoshop as a digital professional and have yet to find any other software to make me change....