Hello
I haven't been on the site for quite a long time time but now I have retired for the final time I want to get back into my photography. I have an Adobe subscription and thing of closing the account. I have 2 questions
1 A good editing software that is easy to use bearing in mind I am 75 years old and my memory is not good.
2 If I go for a new software package can I use it on all my old images.
Your easiest (and most flexible) option is to sign up for the cheapest version of the Adobe Photography package and focus on using current versions of Lightroom. It is great software, you are apparently already familiar with Adobe apps (so less learning curve) and (again, assuming your older files were worked in Adobe software, greatest compatibility.
Get the license with the least cloud storage and pay annually rather than by the month for the lowest rate.
gdanmitchell wrote:
Your easiest (and most flexible) option is to sign up for the cheapest version of the Adobe Photography package and focus on using current versions of Lightroom. It is great software, you are apparently already familiar with Adobe apps (so less learning curve) and (again, assuming your older files were worked in Adobe software, greatest compatibility.
Get the license with the least cloud storage and pay annually rather than by the month for the lowest rate.
This is excellent advice. Also, many use Lightroom, so community help is available when needed. Many advancements have automated much of what you use to do by memorizing a series of steps, so memory defects are offset by technology. You might want to make sure that your computer system has sufficient resources to seamlessly use the software.
You now have time to consider other photographic pursuits. To my surprise, shooting film cameras again was something that I hadn’t done in years, but found that I really enjoy the process and results.
Regarding the basic Adobe photographers package. You can purchase a month to month plan directly through Adobe. When Black Friday rolls around, many third parties have year long purchases that further reduce the cost of using the software. At that time you will find a discussion on FM forums regarding where to find the deals.
I used to spend a lot of time editing my images in Photoshop. Nowadays I do at least 80% of my work in Lightroom, only occasionally jumping over to Photoshop. As you may know, edits in Lightroom are also non-destructive. While not everyone's cup of tea, Lightroom is a very capable Digital Assest Manager. Great information and support can be found over at The Lightroom Queen (lightroomqueen.com).
If you are not doing much editing and have stepped away for a while, you need to consider that Photoshop and Lightroom have lots and lots more functionality and also much longer learning curves. Without frequent use the power of these tools is not only wasted but can be very frustrating.
Instead I recommend Photoshop Elements. It is much simpler and easy to use. It likely has way, way more power than you are likely to need. The cost is also much less.
charles sharpe wrote:
Hello
I haven't been on the site for quite a long time time but now I have retired for the final time I want to get back into my photography. I have an Adobe subscription and thing of closing the account. I have 2 questions
1 A good editing software that is easy to use bearing in mind I am 75 years old and my memory is not good.
2 If I go for a new software package can I use it on all my old images.
Just stay with your Adobe subscription. Photoshop will do everything you need without getting any other software. Look at all the free tutorials that can guide you:
Camperjim wrote:
If you are not doing much editing and have stepped away for a while, you need to consider that Photoshop and Lightroom have lots and lots more functionality and also much longer learning curves. Without frequent use the power of these tools is not only wasted but can be very frustrating.
There is a longer learning curve…
… if you dig deeply in tough into the apps to master all of their nooks and crannies. But LR is quite accessible if you are doing basic stuff.
charles sharpe wrote:
Hello
I haven't been on the site for quite a long time time but now I have retired for the final time I want to get back into my photography. I have an Adobe subscription and thing of closing the account. I have 2 questions
1 A good editing software that is easy to use bearing in mind I am 75 years old and my memory is not good.
2 If I go for a new software package can I use it on all my old images.
I use DPP on Canon and used the free silky pixel that came with GH1. I think most/all camera manufacturers have free software, and i actually preferred it to the other options. You'd probably need something else, one I use is gimp, since these are more raw processors than full fledged photo editors
Which camera bodies are you using, what older bodies do you need to pp? Gimp is 16bit these days, it used to be more jpeg imo, being 8 bit, you might be able to usr it on raw now that its 16 bit. Also open source like darktable and raw therapies arent bad
There are a lot of options. Do you remember what to do in Adobe or have to relearn? I'm not sure how much sense it makes to go that route if you have to relearn it
A relevant question is what is your main photography genre: wildlife, portraits, landscapes, etc?
There are different specific needs. E.g., denoising is relatively important for a wildlife photographer than it is to a landscape photographer. Skin colors can be an important issue for a portrait photographer, while being of little concern to a wildlife photographer.
There are different apps for post-processing that have their strengths and weaknesses. Some have a reputation for doing excellent denoising, others have outstanding color profiles.
AmbientMike wrote:
I use DPP on Canon and used the free silky pixel that came with GH1. I think most/all camera manufacturers have free software, and i actually preferred it to the other options. You'd probably need something else, one I use is gimp, since these are more raw processors than full fledged photo editors
Which camera bodies are you using, what older bodies do you need to pp? Gimp is 16bit these days, it used to be more jpeg imo, being 8 bit, you might be able to usr it on raw now that its 16 bit. Also open source like darktable and raw therapies arent bad
There are a lot of options. Do you remember what to do in Adobe or have to relearn? I'm not sure how much sense it makes to go that route if you have to relearn it ...Show more →
I'm with Mike on this. Depending on how much time and $ you want to spend, if you're looking for easy and an inexpensive solution, frequently, the software supplied with the camera might be your best bet.
I have been using PS since it came out on floppy disks.