Photo Editors

The photo editing software is the digital version of the photographers darkroom.

As per my previous post, where I discussed some of the different computer platforms, some photo editors are only available for certain platforms,  so I will try to show what platforms these editors are available for.  I will also say a bit about some of the free software available which can be powerful, and even portable !

My personal choice of photo editor is Serif's Photo Plus X4:

Serif Photo Plus  (Paid for  -  Windows only)

This program can handle RAW formats as well as files from Adobe PhotoShop (psd) and Corel Paintshop Pro (psp), with both opening and saving files in psd and psp formats, with layers fully supported.  This editor is only available for the windows platform.

I find that this software is very powerful, with a wide range of options available, but without being too resource hungry (needing very high memory capacity, powerful processors, and storage capacity) and at a reasonable price.

PhotoShop (paid for - Windows and Apple Mac)

This is seen as 'the' photo editor, used by professional photographers world wide, because of its sheer power, but its power comes at a price, both cost wise and resources required.

Adobe photoshop is a very powerful editor used for editing photographs, images for websites, and advertising.

Photoshop, originally started in 1987 under the name of 'Display' by Thomas Knoll, this was later developed into an image editor, before a meeting with Adobe where they purchased the licence to the now named 'Photoshop' program.

Photoshop has a number tools to make adjustments to images including levels, curves, vibrancy and tones of colours, as well as cropping images.  There are also plugins available for photoshop for adding more tools to the very large selection available.

Photoshop can handle Raw files, via the Adobe Camera Raw interface, as well as a number of different image formats. 

Paintshop Pro (paid for - windows only)

This program originally started as a shareware image editor.

In fact I learnt a lot using version 7 of this software whilst studying digital imaging at the Hatton Centre.  I still have version 7 installed on my computer.

Although over shadowed by Adobe's Photoshop, Paintshop Pro has the advantage over cost, which is considerably cheaper than Photoshop, and can also use most plugins designed for Photoshop.

Like Photoshop, Paintshop Pro can make a large number of adjustments to images, including levels, curves and colours.

Originally developed by JASC, the company was purchased by Corel in 2004, and Paintshop Pro was added to their portfolio of software titles.

GIMP (free  -  Windows (installed and portable),

Apple Mac and Linux)

GIMP has been around for a number of years, remaining a free photo editor with a portable version available (which I do carry), which is available on all major platforms.

Although it does have an unusual if not quirky interface, which does take getting used to, it is a handy editor for using when you are faced with someone's computer where they only have Microsoft Paint !

GIMP does not have the following in some circles like Photoshop, but being free it is a good starting place for someone who needs to edit photographs, but cannot afford to spend money.

Like Photoshop and Paintshop Pro, GIMP has a very powerful range of adjustments available and can load and save files in a range of formats.  For handling RAW files you need to install UFRaw, a plugin for GIMP.

Paint.net (free - windows only)

This is another free photo editor, which is easier to understand than GIMP, but is capable of a number of adjustments and like the other programs can use layers.