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buy photo softwareHaving fun with your photos - You can get up to all sorts of amusing things once you have a computer and the approriate software, check out the visitor on the bench below, was he really there or did the author put him there?  Now you may wonder why computer software is before the buy a computer section ? Well the reason is actually quite logical as a computer on its own can achieve nothing without a software Program. Most computers are sold with some form of software already loaded on them which may allow you to do certain basic photo functions but if you are buying the computer to do a specific task such as modify or organise digital photos ask if it has the necessary software included.
We need to just look at MAC computers for just a moment as MAC's are sold with a very good photo program called iPhoto, which will keep track of the photos on your computer, allow you to index them in a really easy fun to use way and even modify them in a relatively sophisticated way. It is worth mentioning that MACs also come preloaded with iLife ’08: Home of your life’s events. With the latest versions of iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, and GarageBand included, you can create a photo book, make a movie, build a blog, compose a song, and much more. So buying a MAC may give you all the software you will ever need. If you chosen computer has not got the software you need you will have to buy a software package to run on the operating system used on your computer. As this website is aimed at photography we have listed photo / image based software which is worthy of your hard earned cash, but Try before You Buy. Most software companies offer the option to download a trial version of their software to see how you get on with it. You will most likely also find tutorial videos to show you how to use the software. You often have to choose how to buy your software, to download directly from a suppliers website or buy in a box with a disc and documentation, sometimes both. It is always a good idea to select the buy on disc option as if anything goes wrong with your computer you have a hard copy of your program. If you decide to download your program, once you have follwed the instal instrauctions it may ask you to check for updates, this is a worthwhile excercise as you will have the very latest version of your software. Once you have the latest version loaded, make a copy of it to CD or DVD disc for safe keeping. Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 and 7 - click here for their website Windows and MAC versions are available.You may have heard mention of Photoshop, currently on version CS3 with CS4 to follow shortly, well Elements is the consumer version with some reasonably powerful features that may be enough for keen photographers. I bought this software with a view to using it as a basis for the learning section pages, but I was so disappointed with the general layout the facilities available and the final straw was its so slow to load and to switch between the "organise" and "edit" modules, I gave up and returned to ACDsee (below) BEWARE I had experienced real problems when I download the trial version of this software to take a look, then decided to buy the software on DVD disc, as the instalation from DVD disc would not complete with the trial version still on the hard drive. There's a real issue which is well documented on the Adobe website so if you download the software and decide you want to buy it, Buy It from the downloaded trial version already on your hard drive. Adobe Lightroom - click here for their website A windows and MAC based program aimed at professional photographers or at least very keen amateurs. Lightroom and its competitor Aperture offer a workflow approach to loading, organising, adjusting and viewing your images. These programs are altogether more sophisticated with colour management and facilities which are really behond the remit of this website, so check out the Adobe website for more details. Apple Aperture - click here for their website An Apple MAC only program, all of the comments regarding Lightroom above apply to Aperture. However as with all things Apple it has a different presentation and a few extra nice touches like a photo book design feature. Corel Paintshop Pro - click here for their website Windows only and is real alternative to photoshop. Paintshop Pro has always been a direct competitor to Elements, but has perhaps not been quite so user friendly due to the extra facilities it offers. Since Corel have taken over however, they have worked hard to make the user experience more friendly, introducing a quick fix routine to deal with common photo fix tasks. So its worth downloading for a trial if you are on a windows machine. I would suggest that Paintshop Pro is a better bet than Photoshop Elements at the moment. ACDsee and ACDsee Pro- click here for their website There are two versions of this windows only software which is used by amateurs and professionals alike, along side programs like Adobes photoshop as its cheap, fast at what it does, easy to use and powerful. Its no photoshop but for an easy, fun way to organise your photos, sharing your photos and carry out straight forward adjustments it great. The Pro version is worth the extra money as the adjustment tools are far more useful, but either way this great package is worth a trial download as its a great partner for the more sophisticated programs like CS3, should you wish to move on to bigger and better things in the future. Google Picasa - click here for their website Windows only program but the good news is its totally free. I have suggested to friends to download Picassa for a free trial and they love it. Its not very sophisticated but its free, give it a try. But one word of warning, the print facility is a bit hit and miss. There are of course thousands of software programs available and its a nighmare deciding what to buy, indeed you may have Free software supplied with your camera or printer. Take a look at it and if you can do everything you want to do then stick with it, however take a look at the websites of the companies listed above to see if you can acheive more with something else, after all Free usually means basic, no frills, cheap, and you get nout for out in this world. |
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