Alternative to Photoshop Wanted

[djh]

OK guys, here's the deal. I have Photoshop CS but I'm looking for something else. You may think I'm nuts, but I kinda - you know - really - didn't - quite - actually - nudge nudge - pay for Photoshop so I really don't feel too happy about using it. I'm a beginner with Digital Photography so I must have image software to sort out my poor work.

"Why not just buy Photoshop?" I hear you cry! The problem is that I've recently bought two cameras, Canon S1 and S60 (which between them make just about the perfect camera, but that's another story), and I simply can't justify the expense of the Adobe software right now.

Anyway, PS is great, but I don't think I really need that level of sophistication.

I'm currently trying Paint Shop Pro and waiting for the amazingly slow download of PhotoImpact to complete. Both of these will fit nicely into my budget. I also read here about the new Microsoft software and what I've read so far does not thrill me. Just to be fair, I also deleted the cracked version of PS and I'm using the 30 day trial.

I would be hugely interested to hear of anyones experiences with PhotoImpact and Paint Shop Pro, also Photoshop Elements. There is soon to be a new release of PSP which seems rather interesting. So far the trial of the current version is going pretty well - 60 day trial as well which is rather nice, :D

Are there any Photoshop features that I'm going to wish I had one day?

Update: I've been using Paint Shop Pro with the Virtual Photographer plug-in this evening. This is a fantastic combination and I'm getting some really creative results, even on some old, rather poor files.

Round One to PSP!

Here's an old picture of my son that I played with. Pretty scarey hey :lol:
http://djh.smugmug.com/photos/7854464-M.jpg

[Crocuta]

I'm not sure how to vote since you know better than me what you plan to do with this, but I don't think you can go wrong with either Photoshop Elements or Paint Shop Pro. Both are reasonably priced and quite powerful. You know what working with PS Elements will feel like, so at this point, I think you should just continue playing around with PSP and see how you like it compared to the Adobe way of doing things. Then check over the lists of features of the two and see if they both do everything you need. If one has a must-have feature the other lacks, that might decide it right there. If not, then just use the one you like better.

[Suhit Gupta]

I am definitely in the Photoshop camp, but since you are looking for alternatives, try ACDSee. I know that it is typically used for cataloging, however the complete version comes with FotoCanvas that is fairly quick and easy to use. It is also inexpensive and includes most of the basic and intermediate editing features that Photoshop contains.

Both Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop Elements are good but are more expensive. They will also do what you need.

Having said all this, the things you will loose when moving away from Photoshop are the expandability. It has tons of filters and tons more that you can download from the web. If you are into seriously messing with images or creating your own digital graphic art, Photoshop is the way to go. Finally, there are very nice tools from Kai that plug in with Photoshop and (if you use them) you would miss them tremendously.

Suhit

[James Fee]

Don't forget WinGIMP (http://www.wingimp.org/). You can download a free version at http://www.gimp.org, but if you are willing to pay, you can get tech support.

[KidKomputer]

Haveto say I'm in the PSP camp. I've always hated Adobe's UI and the learning curve that went with it. Probbably not an issue for you.

Suhit:
Quite a few Photoshop plugins (including Alien Skin/Eye Candy, Blade Pro, & Kai's power tools) work with PSP

I agree with James the Gimp is great if you're on a tight(no) budget.

[djh]

Update.

Since making the original post I've tried and bought some rather good software which is working really well.

I finally did buy Paint Shop Pro. After a 60 day beta version, then a 60 day trial, I certainly owed them. Very pleased with it, a super product and a bargain. I bought my copy from Amazon for about $85.00, can't go wrong!

Next, I tried and then purchased Nikon Capture. This is fantastic with Nikon NEF files and is the only way to load custom tone curves into the D70. Good software, but does not really deserve it's $100 price tag.

I also bought Curve Surgery Pro, which lets me use curves after taking the shot - very clever.

Finally, I'm using the beta of RAW Magick Lite which replaces Curve Surgery and has potential to replace Nikon Capture as well. Will be great if it does because it's 1/3 of the price.

I'm really pleased at the results I'm getting. The ironic thing is that the more I learn about how digital images work, the better my pictures straight from the camera, and the less post processing work I need to do.

[Alpha2004]

corel photo paint is the best :P

[Macguy59]

Another app you may want to have a look at is Paint.NET. Not as powerful as PS or the GIMP but has similar tools (layers, filters, etc) and it's free :) thought it does require the .NET framework to be installed.

LINK (http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net/)

[djh]

Another one I've been playing with is ViewRaw http://viewraw.photosapien.com/

At the moment it only supports Nikon NEF files, but its worth checking out. I started using as just a viewer because it opens NEF files more quickly than most of the apps I have.

The newest version now does much more including exposure adjustment, white balance, histograms for all the chanels and also allows saving as TIF.

ViewRaw is a freeware package and seems to be getting better all the time. I've not really had much chance to see how well it works, too much work right now and I'm also using RawMagick.