Which "Basic" Post-Processing Software to Buy?

I use Elements 12 after starting out with Elements 9. I found in my free trial that it was easy for me to use. As I have worked with it, I have slowly but surely learned a lot. Painlessly. I have to disagree with the notion that it is an 8 bit editor. I do all my adjustments at. 16 bits. Yes, the guided functions require 8 bits, but I stay in the expertmode and toss a lot of my work to my plug-ins, Nik and Topaz, which work on my 16 bit files. Only when my image is complete and wish to save it as a jpeg do I convert it to 8 bits. Then, I can make a copy and have fun with 8 bit edits (black and white, art filters, cloning, etc.). My new free copy of Perfect Effects 8 requires 8 bit files but I have seen no harm from processing there. The free trial is a great thing. When you find the program you like, you will know it, pay up, and enjoy a new world.

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Originally Posted by THaNaToZ

At the risk of hijacking the OP...What's a good option for a trial run for processing HDR images?

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For image editing you could try GIMP - it's free! However, I wouldn't say it was the most accessible program to us. For HDR, if you are doing bracketing then try photomatix or autohdr. If you want to do HDR with movement (using the burst mode or video mode) try HDRinstant (you need Lightroom though) you can download the trial from their website.

Hope that helps.

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Originally Posted by THaNaToZ

At the risk of hijacking the OP...What's a good option for a trial run for processing HDR images?

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You can do a free trial of the entire Nik suite which includes HDR Efex Pro as well as Silver Efex, Color Efex, and others.

I have been using PaintShop Pro, various versions since v.7AE through X6 currently, but bearing in mind the lack of finance I suggest at least getting Paint dot Net as an adjunct for when you want to edit ... it is a free download and will handle tiff files once the file has been downloaded out of RAW format ... I am sure there are free HDR programmes around but I have not bothered to look for them. P.N has layers and to my eye after using PSP [ I bought an x3 copy for US$10 a couple of years ago and found it essentially the same as the x4 on my desktop machine ... I wanted copy for my notebook ... though recent visits to Amazon have not foudn similar priced sealed box copies ... 'open box' versions are a cheaper alternative.] is a bit clunky but I usually get there when I do exercises to check its capability.

As for 'never' in your original statement I suspect that given the freedom to use an editor, and PSP in most respects is the equal of Photoshop just works diferently and is more user freindly, you will get a great deal of enjoyment and satisfaction from having a good editor such as PSP.

I did have Photoshop in my computer but didn't bother to restore it following a computer crash ... I guess I am a PSP person and simply do not like Adobe systems :) I was given PSE8 recently and after loading it uninstalled it quickly YUKK :)