PP Software on a budget

dave66

Okay, looking for a bit of guidance and suggestions.


I'm on a tight budget and want to try budget for upgrading the PP software I currently use. Just so as to be clear, I'm running Windows XP, due to family considerations moving to Linux is not an option right now, also moving to Mac while would be great is not even a pipe dream

Right now I'm using Photoshop 7.0.1 and to be honest I find it does seem to fullfil my needs, however, if I shoot in RAW (Sony ARW) I need to use Sony's Image Data Converter and then Photoshop.

Now just to be clear, the idea/notion of getting CS4/CS5 is just not a runner. So, what are my options? I feel Lightroom will probably be out of my price range, what about Elements, is there enough of a difference between Photoshop 7 and Elements or would I be better off sticking with what I have until scrapped together enough to afford Lightroom?

Am I correct that Elements 8 includes support for handling Sony RAW (A550) files?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

dakar

One vote for Elements.

It doesn't do masking, but there are workarounds, and I don't miss it really anyway. I also have Lightroom, which is handy for most of the quick adjustments I do, and Elements does everything else I need. For the price, it's a steal.

I assume it copes with the Sony raw files, but maybe someone else can clarify that for you.

the_monkey

Whats the rough price for the new lightroom ??

€200 - €300 ... bit steep, i thought that was the CS5 range...

mehfesto

GIMP is free and covered RAW the last time I used it.

I didn't really think it to be user friendly though, but tbh, I didn't give it much time. It's a good option if yer totally stuck!

Promac

The GIMP is great to be honest. I used it for years before I got photoshop and I found it perfectly user-friendly. Found photoshop very awkward after using the GIMP but that's just because I was used to a different system. If you're open to a slight learning curve then you should be happy enough with it.

Crispin

dakar wrote: »

I assume it copes with the Sony raw files, but maybe someone else can clarify that for you.

Using lightroom 3 beta test at the moment. Handles Sony raw files well
Damn I wish it was freeware back to gimp next month.

hbr

Promac wrote: »

The GIMP is great to be honest. I used it for years before I got photoshop and I found it perfectly user-friendly. Found photoshop very awkward after using the GIMP but that's just because I was used to a different system. If you're open to a slight learning curve then you should be happy enough with it.

Just like you, as a long time Gimp user, I find Photoshop is difficult to use.

Any advanced image editing software with a large range of tools and features
like Gimp or Photoshop will have a fairly steep learning curve for a new user.

I think the only reason people find Gimp a bit strange is because it
has a slightly different look-&-feel to typical Windows or Mac software.
The graphical interface is based on GTK+ (Gimp toolkit) which is the
main reason that it has been successfully ported to so many different
systems.

The other problem for new users was that so many options are
accessed by right-clicking the mouse. In recent versions of Gimp,
all of these options are also available in conventional drop-down
menus at the top of the screen. I find the 'Gimp way' of right
clicking is much faster and easier when you get used to it.

Buckz

Elements 8 is excellent- the highest version of Photoshop I ever used was 7, and Elements 8 compares very well, and some of the few tools that are missing are available as free downloads. The adobe web site will tell you what version of Adobe Camera Raw you need for Sony Raws.