I had a conversation yesterday about photo editing software while teaching a relatively new photographer some of the basics so we can get her off of “Program” shooting. She asked about photo editing software, and mentioned she would have to get Photoshop. Now, while I absolutely love Photoshop and Lightroom too, most people have no need for all of the features in that software. Most people just want to be able to crop their photos, and maybe make some minor adjustments. I suggested she give me some time to do some research, and this is what I’ve found so far.
Photo Editing Software
I always knew Gimp (https://www.gimp.org/) was available for those who need something inexpensive, with near Photoshop abilities. I was looking for something that might be a bit easier to learn how to use. A quick Internet search found a couple of blog posts on the subject (yes, someone has almost always done the research for you :-)). One is for free and “not-free” software. The other is for only free programs.
http://savedelete.com/software/best-free-photo-editing/181223/
The common program on both lists (besides Gimp), seems to be PhotoScape (http://x.photoscape.org/). It’s available for both Mac and Windows. I’ll have to download it to try it out. I noticed one of the neat features is the ability to make animated gifs.
Darktable (http://www.darktable.org/) is a free, open source Lightroom replacement. Sadly (for some) it is only available for Linux distro and Mac Users. Still, if you use one of those operating systems, try it out. Maybe one day they will get a Windows edition out.
Does anyone know of any free photo editing software out there that’s not listed in the blog links I included for someone to try? Not everyone should invest in Photoshop just starting out.