I will be getting my 50D tomorrow and am wondering , for a newbie to post processing, which photoshop do you recommend? I've been doing some reading and it sounds like maybe CS3 would be a good starter. If so, can i download it for free, or do i have to buy it?
Current version is CS4. I would take a serious look at Photoshop Elements first, it will do most of the things that photographers have use PS for at about 1/10th the cost.
Depending on your style, you may find that Lightroom or Aperture may meet your needs. After really diving into these programs I found that I rarely use my CS3. Again, it depends on what level of post processing you want to achieve. If you need layer based editing than I'd agree with the others and go for Elements.
Yep, I have Lightroom and its great. It does almost everything I need. But I have been considering cs4 or elements because I want to run genuine fractals, perform some distotion correction sometimes and would like to be able to watermark/sign/caption some of my photos. Too bad Lightroom can't be the host software for Genuine Fractals.
bobrossi wrote:
Current version is CS4. I would take a serious look at Photoshop Elements first, it will do most of the things that photographers have use PS for at about 1/10th the cost.
Probably a good idea since i'm new to PP. Thanks!
Gary Petersen wrote:
If money is tight get Elements. If not get CS4.
Thanks Gary, i read a lot of your posts and value your advise. Money is a little tight right now, so i think the Elements version may be good for me. I just read the reviews of this version a few minutes ago and it "sounds like me"
mdphotography wrote:
Depending on your style, you may find that Lightroom or Aperture may meet your needs. After really diving into these programs I found that I rarely use my CS3. Again, it depends on what level of post processing you want to achieve. If you need layer based editing than I'd agree with the others and go for Elements.
I do static birding, landscape and some macro. I just need to "Get My Feet Wet" in PP.
If you are into this seriously at all I would just get CS4, elements is kind of crippled in subtle ways to get you to buy CS4 down the road... everyone I know who started out with Elements ended up buying the full package.
If the cost is prohibitive, I would just get GIMP for now. GIMP is completely free and has a large user base for support... it is much closer to CS4 than Elements and has full support for Photoshop plugins like Genuine Fractals and NeatImage etc...
IMO, what you really need to start out is sharpening, Levels and *real* curves (which are not available in Elements)...
Why not start with DPP & see what you feel is missing? I do 95% of my processing w/o the use of an Adobe product. It's not a "required purchase" to have nice digital photos.
Matt Philbin wrote:
Why not start with DPP & see what you feel is missing? I do 95% of my processing w/o the use of an Adobe product. It's not a "required purchase" to have nice digital photos.
Thanks, i'll look at that on Google. As i said, i'm new to this and need to know where i'm going.
You might also try taking a class in photoshop. Lots of community colleges offer them, and then you can get the full version of photoshop much cheaper as well as a great opportunity to learn it.
Matt Philbin wrote:
It should come with your camera... Digital Photo Professional...it's Canon's software.
Oh, o.k. Matt, thanks! I'll try it and go from there.
I use lightroom 99% of the time- I find that it has almost everything a photographer uses on a daily basis, in a superbly compact and simply to use program. I also use CS3 for HDR's and other special things for the rest of the time. Haven't used CS4 but can't comment on that.
