Looking for a photo editing/photoshop program

I'm looking for a program to edit my photos and add borders, writing etc. I'd like some advice on which programs to try.

Tbone

Presumably free?

Gimp is probably the most feature rich free software. After that I think you need to pay.

Cheap software would be Imagewell, followed by the excellent Photoshop Elements 8, and then you are on to full Photoshop software to be honest.

Thanks. Where do I download Gimp from?
I will buy photoshop if I have to but it's nice to try something before laying out the money. For now I'd try free just for borders and simple stuff and see how it goes.

Tbone

Download GIMP here: GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program


Amazon has a great deal on PhotoShop Elements 8 for $59 after the rebate. I just ordered it myself. PhotoShop Elements is a "light" version of Photoshop. It has most everything you would ever need. Great for home users and light professional work. Amazon.com: Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 [Mac]: Macintosh: Software

Hope this helps...

Thanks.
Being new to Mac, I'd like to know how safe and easy will it be to remove the program if I don't want it?

You might want to give Graphic Converter a try. I used it all the time before I bought PhotoShop. I know the name says converter but you can use it for a variety of editing tasks as well. It currently runs about $35.00 U.S. but you can try it before you buy. The features are not disabled but the longer you go without buying it the longer it takes for the splash screen to disappear. As a bonus it works with many of the plugins designed for Photoshop.

I was looking for something mainly to add borders and writing. I didn't see where you do that with Gimp

Tbone said:

I was looking for something mainly to add borders and writing. I didn't see where you do that with Gimp

Click to expand...

I'm new to Mac also. It seems that to install most programs is Mac it's just a matter of copying the program file to the "Applications" folder. To uninstall it you just delete it from the "Applications" folder.

In the case of Photoshop Elements you could download the 30 day free trial from Adobe.com. It actually has an install program that installs the program and then to uninstall it you need to run an uninstaller program that comes with it. You dont need to copy and delete from the Applications folder.

To add borders and text you could use Google Picasa. It is a very nice photo manager that has basic editing functions like text and borders. It is a free download from here: Picasa download in progress

I think iPhoto can also do text and borders but I'm not sure.

iPhoto and Picas are both photo managers so they may be in conflict if you use them both. iPhoto likes to take your photos and hide the folders where it puts them. Picasa likes your photos to be in the /pictures folder. Picasa makes a duplicate of all of your photos in iPhoto to /picturs folder and can get kinda messy. I removed iPhoto from my machine and only use Picasa.

Hope this helps and is not too confusing....

Sorry didn't think of that. You probably won't be able to do it from within Graphic Converter either without using one of the PhotoShop plugins available.

Here is a tutorial on how to add a border to a photo using GIMP. They made a "Polariod Picture" border but you could adjust it to your liking.
Nicu's How-to - Turn a digital photo into Polaroid with GIMP

Here is a video tutorial on adding a border in GIMP:
YouTube - Add a border to your GIMP projects

What the OP really wants -- based on what he has written -- is something like Portraits & Prints, which is now free.

Basically all I want to do is be able to add borders/frames around pics and add writing to it. I am happy with how iphoto works and don't want anything that would cause problems with it. I've got lots of pics and don't want any headaches.

Yeah, definitely Portraits and Prints. You'll like it.

I stumbled across another program a few minutes ago that looks like it might do what you want. ImageFramer - The Mac way to frame your pictures. Always good to have another option.

Yes, ImageFramer is fun as well.