What software for working with digital photos?

[Huntbear]

Which photoshop or other program is best for working with digtial photos?  I am looking around, and some of em are down right scary in price.

[Ray]

I am not really a photo editor but I have always used Paint.Net and Gimp for editing images or even creating logos from scratch. Both are free of charge and work on Linux, Mac or PC.

[Huntbear]

Thanks Ray, will look at those.  I have a bunch of photos in RAW, I want to play with and see what I can do with them using more than just the software that came with the camera.

[billythekidrock]

I prefer Photoshop.

[Huntbear]

Which version? 

[huntnphool]

I use Lightroom and CS3 but prefer CS3. I know M-Ray and Pope are both using Lightroom.

[Ray]

You can work with Raw images using Paint.net and Gimp.

[sako223]

I think Photoshop and Lightroom are the standard. They also cost but is easy to get help for them.
One I have used recently is Photoscape it is free and intuitive. Cheap way to get your feet wet anyway.

[DOUBLELUNG]

I think Photoshop and Lightroom are the standard. They also cost but is easy to get help for them.
One I have used recently is Photoscape it is free and intuitive. Cheap way to get your feet wet anyway.

I'll second the thumbs-up for Photoscape freeware.

[bow4elk]

I use CS2 (photoshop) mostly.

[billythekidrock]

Which version? 

I prefered 5.5, but now I use 7. I do have CS3 but don't use it as much.

[Tom Reichner]

I currently just use iPhoto - the free program that came with my iMac.

I plan to buy the newest version of Photoshop Elements soon - elements 8 I think it's called.  I don't plan to do anything with my photos that would require more than what a basic program like Elements can do.  Wildlife and nature images are supposed to look natural, aren't they?  So I think that all of the surreal effects, layering, etc. that can be achieved with CS4 are really unnecessary for those who shoot natural images and want to keep them looking natural and realistic.

[Jeffrey]

I currently just use iPhoto - the free program that came with my iMac.

I plan to buy the newest version of Photoshop Elements soon - elements 8 I think it's called.  I don't plan to do anything with my photos that would require more than what a basic program like Elements can do.  Wildlife and nature images are supposed to look natural, aren't they?  So I think that all of the surreal effects, layering, etc. that can be achieved with CS4 are really unnecessary for those who shoot natural images and want to keep them looking natural and realistic.

And a hearty amen!

[tlbradford]

I use the DPP software that came with my camera.  Piknik.com lets you do a lot of stuff with family portraits tha you get at Sears or JC Penny studios, for free.