Good Post Production Software?

oomhcsoomhcs Registered Users Posts: 7 Beginner grinner
edited June 24, 2011 in Finishing School
Hi there, hope you all well..

Im looking for a post production software program that will allow me to make quick simple and interesting changes to the photos without going into too much detail
I have photoshop and I love it but i spend hours and hours doing things to one photo, I used a program on a friends iPad and it came up with some amazing and fantastic changes that were pre-programmed

So basically im looking for a program that offers quick simple cool looking changes to casual photos.. anything free would probably be preferable..
Could anyone point me in the right direction?

Comments

  • John MuellerJohn Mueller Registered Users Posts: 2,555 Major grins
    edited June 5, 2011
    Well, not free, but Nik plugins works wonders.
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    Cincinnati Smug Leader
  • divamumdivamum Registered Users Posts: 9,021 Major grins
    edited June 5, 2011
    Picasa. Free, and does the basics. Crop, adjust contrast/colour/wb, sharpen, BW conversion, glow effects, and a handful of other artistic filters. Even though I have lightroom and PS, I prefer to use Picasa for uploading to my computer, and I'll use it for basic adjustments on snapshots and other photos which won't be enlarged or don't need "real" editing/processing. Can handle raw, jpg and tiffs (although raw and tiffs can sometimes display a little oddly)

    Lightroom, of course, is the obvious (and very highly-regarded) choice for basic, non-layers adjustment and processing (as well as cataloging). I personally couldn't manage without it, and do 80% of me "real" editing in LR. Definitely not free, however.
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  • oomhcsoomhcs Registered Users Posts: 7 Beginner grinner
    edited June 5, 2011
    divamum wrote: »
    Picasa. Free, and does the basics. Crop, adjust contrast/colour/wb, sharpen, BW conversion, glow effects, and a handful of other artistic filters. Even though I have lightroom and PS, I prefer to use Picasa for uploading to my computer, and I'll use it for basic adjustments on snapshots and other photos which won't be enlarged or don't need "real" editing/processing. Can handle raw, jpg and tiffs (although raw and tiffs can sometimes display a little oddly)

    Lightroom, of course, is the obvious (and very highly-regarded) choice for basic, non-layers adjustment and processing (as well as cataloging). I personally couldn't manage without it, and do 80% of me "real" editing in LR. Definitely not free, however.

    thank you very much, precisely what i was looking for, very helpful post!
    thank you clap.gif
  • MarkRMarkR Registered Users Posts: 2,099 Major grins
    edited June 5, 2011
    Photoscape.org is very full featured, and easy to use. Paint.net is also free and fairly robust. If you don't mind using an online editor, you can try Piknik.

    And, if you have a Mac, the Preview software has a basic editor functionality that also does RAW.
  • NeilLNeilL Registered Users Posts: 4,201 Major grins
    edited June 5, 2011
    There's a lot of stuff out there, and most of it is useful. The photoediting phone/pad apps that you mention have become a cult in their own right, they have their own forums, eg on Redbubble! There is nothing quite the same in computer based software.

    If you want good quality quick and easy effects why not use your camera's styles and shoot jpg? Or play with white balance, dof, shutter etc. Put some homemade lens filters, like pantyhose, on your lens, or shoot through glass. Your imagination and creativity are pretty much free and unlimited.

    In my experience, to get the most out of any effects software you have to prepare your images well. So they have to be basically pretty right out of camera, and then you have to do basic tweaks (especially if you are shooting RAW, and then that also means converting). Good quality third party basic editing and conversion software ranges from $100 to $300. As mentioned Lightroom 3.4 is a good choice. Obviously since you are already using Photoshop there is the AdobeCameraRaw option.

    What effects software you choose depends as I've said on your standards, and also your aim, use and your subject. It's not likely that you'd treat portraits, landscape and architecture with the same filters. The state of the art software - best image quality, best variety and customisation - is expensive, eg Nik, and onOne. These are meant for serious amateurs and professionals. Topaz filters, Imagenomics, and DigitalFilmTools filters, which are a bit cheaper, are top quality and certainly worth mentioning and looking into. You have to contribute some work and discrimination of your own with any of these, but the results can be unique and stunning.

    If you just want to get an instantaneous throwaway kind of buzz from dressing up your shots in various guises, eg contrasty moody b&w, hdr, Lensbaby blur, etc, well, actually I don't have any suggestions outside of the phone/pad apps. The results from these are ok at 72ppi on your screen but mostly hopeless for real photographs.

    Please let us know what you discover!thumb.gif

    Neil
    "Snow. Ice. Slow!" "Half-winter. Half-moon. Half-asleep!"

    http://www.behance.net/brosepix
  • ThatCanonGuyThatCanonGuy Registered Users Posts: 1,778 Major grins
    edited June 5, 2011
    I have Photoshop and use the built-in Adobe Camera Raw. It's fast and simple, but my version does only raws (I think).
  • ziggy53ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 24,127 moderator
    edited June 6, 2011
    I moved this to our Finishing School forum where you'll find similar threads on software.

    I too use Picasa for simple edits. Picasa has one of the nicest straightening tool that I have found. Color correction is a little weak but, in general Picasa is very nice to use. thumb.gif
    ziggy53
    Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
  • NeilLNeilL Registered Users Posts: 4,201 Major grins
    edited June 7, 2011
    Interesting?

    http://view.mailus.niksoftware.com/?j=fe5715747c63027e7310&m=fec4157170600374&ls=fdf71070736504787610787c&l=fec1157770670d78&s=fe1d1375716c067a721777&jb=ffcf14&ju=fe2c15787362017c761673&r=0

    Neil
    "Snow. Ice. Slow!" "Half-winter. Half-moon. Half-asleep!"

    http://www.behance.net/brosepix
  • BayMareBayMare Registered Users Posts: 24 Big grins
    edited June 9, 2011
    Why not just download some interesting actions to your Photoshop program and use those? You can choose the ones you like, delete them when tired of them, and add new ones. Just do a search on the net and you'll find plenty of free ones.
  • NeilLNeilL Registered Users Posts: 4,201 Major grins
    edited June 10, 2011
    BayMare wrote: »
    Why not just download some interesting actions to your Photoshop program and use those? You can choose the ones you like, delete them when tired of them, and add new ones. Just do a search on the net and you'll find plenty of free ones.


    Excellent suggestion!thumb.gifclap

    Neil
    "Snow. Ice. Slow!" "Half-winter. Half-moon. Half-asleep!"

    http://www.behance.net/brosepix
  • rhommelrhommel Registered Users Posts: 306 Major grins
    edited June 24, 2011
    I use Imagenomic, onOne Software and Topaz Labs bundle for my editing needs.

    For Beauty Shots, I usually use Imagenomic Portraiture for Skin smoothening
    For other effects, I use onOne
    and for everything else, I use the Topaz bundle :)
    Toronto Photographer
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