Which Budget Photo Editing Software under $200?

**etherial** · 18-05-2009, 10:47pm

Hi All, I currently have PS Elements 4 (yes thats right it's a bit old!) and am looking to update to something better. PSE4 I was disapointed with from the start, it was always slow (and still is even with 3GB RAM) and the function set isn't particulalry user freindly. It always seems to take me twice as long as it should to do anything.

Anyway I tried to get to Adobe website, but is it just me or what. I can't get into any website that starts with www.adobe.com I have had all sorts of problems in the past trying to download things like flash player on 3 different PCs on two different connections no adobe website will open. So all things considered I am not a fan of Adobe...

Anyway that aside, I am looking for a good editor for under $200. I use DPP for raw conversions so I have that covered, its more the retouching etc that I need.

Any advice appreciated.

**JM Tran** · 18-05-2009, 10:52pm

I think you should be able to purchase 2nd hand copies of CS3 with legit serials from clearance sales of offices, or from individual sellers from online forums, thats what I would do.

**Bill70** · 18-05-2009, 10:54pm

Mic, I’m trailing Corel Paint Shop Photo Pro X2 as a free trial for 30 days. I’m finding it quite good & easy to use. I decided to trial this because I have Corel Video Studio & love it to edit video.

**ricktas** · 18-05-2009, 10:54pm

Photoshop Elements can be worth investing in (though I think it is a bit over $200.00). Paint Shop Pro is worth trialling as well.

**jev** · 18-05-2009, 11:12pm

PaintShop Pro is what I use often too, but I must confess the latest versions do not really provide added value anymore. Anothe roption would be to look at GiMP. Free (you can't beat it's price/performance) and slowly growing into a real competitor to PSE and PSP (if the developers added 16-bit support I would kick out PSP and PSE for good I think).

**ving** · 19-05-2009, 12:00am

i use paintshop pro 12, vers 13 is avaliable too but 12 works fine and does absolutely everything you could want including a built-in hdr proggy.

gimp can use photoshop plugins i believe and is still free, so maybe thats a goer?

**Terri** · 19-05-2009, 12:47am

Mic, I recently bought Elements 7 for just unde $200... I like it, but I'm far from expert so probably don't expect much from it.

**RuthJ** · 19-05-2009, 9:03am

Is anyone in your family a full-time student. I bought Photoshop CS3 last year at academic pricing for only $216 (postage included). It is the full CS3 extended version...not in any way disabled or crippled. Can be purchased by any high school, tafe or uni student with a full time student card and whose course runs for a minimum of 2 years. When I was looking at buying this, I found a lot of stories and misunderstandings online about the deal. I have a feeling that people tend not to trust what is a very good deal.

**ricktas** · 19-05-2009, 9:21am

Originally Posted by RuthJ

Is anyone in your family a full-time student. I bought Photoshop CS3 last year at academic pricing for only $216 (postage included). It is the full CS3 extended version...not in any way disabled or crippled. Can be purchased by any high school, tafe or uni student with a full time student card and whose course runs for a minimum of 2 years. When I was looking at buying this, I found a lot of stories and misunderstandings online about the deal. I have a feeling that people tend not to trust what is a very good deal.

Remember that that the Student version cannot be used for commercial purposes. So you cannot say sell photos edited in the student version. Whether Adobe would ever know or find out is a different thing, but your licence agreement states that it can only be used for educational purposes.

**RuthJ** · 19-05-2009, 9:25am

True...the other caveat is that the license allows it to only be run on one computer and that must be connected to the internet. It's still a great deal for people in the learning stages.

**IanB** · 19-05-2009, 9:43am

I may get shouted here because I have not used this one or know much about it, but you could try GIMP, down load it from the Web for FREE. Could be worth a look.

After that, I have always pointed members to Elements; CS3 does need a fair size PC to operate it, however if you can get CS3 $2/300 I would say get that; I'm trying CS4 and found nothing extra in there for me that CS3 can't do

**RuthJ** · 19-05-2009, 9:47am

CS4 is available at the same student pricing. I bought CS3 before CS4 was released and was offered a free upgrade to CS4...I didn't bother with it....was just getting to grips with CS3.

**Calxoddity** · 19-05-2009, 4:41pm

Hi,
Download a trial of PSE7 and see how you like it - there's nothing to lose!

Whilst you may be able to get CS3/4 as a student special, also consider whether it's going to be suitable for your needs. PSE7 has a much less steep learning curve.

Regards,
Calx

**Seesee** · 19-05-2009, 5:04pm

My advice if money is tight is stick with one of the Elements series...I use CS3 mostly, but also have Elements 5, which I believe is a lot better than E4. Elements 5 is a great program, similar in speed or exactly the same as CS3 in that respect. Elements 7 is an upgrade again and although I haven't used it I would well imagine it would be very good.

My Elements 5 works in a very similar way to CS3, and for the most part works just as well as CS3. PS CS3 and CS4 are a lot more intricate if you want to go down that track, but the Elements 5 to 7 series has many more features than most of us will ever use, very creative, the only thing I really wish the Elemenntshas would be a good Stitching program...however there are add ons that work well.. Digital Camera Magazine once rated Elements 5 to 7 as the second best editing program.....value for money.

Seeing as you are familiar with E4 maybe it will be an easier learning curve by sticking with the Adobe PS software....E7 I would suggest. { and less that $200.00}

**etherial** · 19-05-2009, 6:26pm

Hi guys, thanks for all the advice. It certainly sounds like the front runners are Photoshop (CS3/4 or Elements) is the way to go, followed by Paint Shop Pro or GiMP. I'll have a look at all three.

Still p****s me off that I can't get to any adobe sites for a look/read. This link just won't load: http://www.adobe.com/downloads/ I also found a download link from Cnets Download.com but they wont work either.

**etherial** · 19-05-2009, 6:57pm

Wow, I fixed it. I can now get to Adobe sites. It turned out to be my proxy settings in my browsers. If I turn the proxy on it works, off and it doesn't. Now I can try out the newer PSE!

**tonykieuphotography** · 19-05-2009, 7:19pm

Maybe you could get adobe photoshop cs2 and upgrade when you have the money?

**Allann** · 19-05-2009, 7:26pm

Here is something out of left field... similar to Lightroom but a quarter of the price http://www.bibblelabs.com has full support for your camera too, so can do raw conversion in the software.

**Miaow** · 19-05-2009, 7:53pm

One thing going for Gimp is it's free and very powerful

Irfanview (free again) isn't bad either for a real small program with the basics and it does have the capability to run photoshop plugins also.

**etherial** · 19-05-2009, 8:28pm

Originally Posted by tonykieuphotography

Maybe you could get adobe photoshop cs2 and upgrade when you have the money?

Hi Tony, re the $200, I put that up as a way of getting discussion about less expensive options for the amateurs and learners among us. At this stage I am looking to learn what I can do, what I like and don't like, how much I might actually use it etc, before I go out and spend more on a fully fledged product.

BTW, I've found this really good site that shows how to do various things:
http://tv.adobe.com/#pd+Photoshop%20Elements
It, along with he comments here, has just about convinced me to update from PSE4 to 7.

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