Photo Editing For The Newbie

So I will be purchasing my digital camera within the next three days. Nothing fancy, not even a ton of MP, just enough to take decent shots with. I want to get into photo editing, making my imagers sharper, contrast, brightness, and the like.

I have no real need to purchase Aperature, as I am sure most of the controls and such will be over my head. I'm looking for a user friendly, affordable, photo editing program. Any suggestions?

I have yet to fire up iPhoto btw...

iPhoto has some basic editting features, but nothing fancy. It can also manage your photos as well.

I use Photoshop CS2 for all of my editting, but you can get Photoshop Elements, which is a chopped version of Photoshop for around $100.

I have a s6500fd http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Fujifilm/fuji_finepixs6000.asp, it takes really nice photos and is pretty cheap compared to the rest. It isn't a digital slr but is modeled after one so you get to look cool while using it in front of others. One of th main things I liked about t was the manual focus being mechanically linked to a ring, just like a digital slr. Id recommend it.

As for the editing tools, you should use gimp, its free and works great.

Here is a list of some pretty good apps for the Mac in this space:

Photoshop Elements
Photoshop CS3

GraphicConverter (http://www.lemkesoft.com/xd/public/c...lkPTE5Mw_.html)

GIMP (www.gimp.org)

ImageWell (http://xtralean.com/IWOverview.html)
ChocoFlop (http://www.chocoflop.com)
PhotoComplete (www.funkypixels.com)
Seashore (http://seashore.sourceforge.net)

LiveQuartz (http://www.rhapsoft.com)

...and of course...

iPhoto (which has quite a nice set of editing tools)

You really should try out iPhoto. It is SURPRISINGLY good for a free bundled app.

iNick said:

I have a s6500fd http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Fujifilm/fuji_finepixs6000.asp, it takes really nice photos and is pretty cheap compared to the rest. It isn't a digital slr but is modeled after one so you get to look cool while using it in front of others. One of th main things I liked about t was the manual focus being mechanically linked to a ring, just like a digital slr. Id recommend it.

As for the editing tools, you should use gimp, its free and works great.

Click to expand...

Thats the camera I bought LOL =)

When it arrives in the mail I'll test it out along with some of these apps and let you know how I make out. Thanks for your help guys!