Photo manipulation software

ERICS_MUM

I want to have a go at scanning some old photos and cleaning them up, cropping etc. Never done it before but I'm quite computer savvy (for a middle aged woman anyway ).

Can anyone suggest software that is basic, not too expensive and simple/intuitive for me please.

Thanks


Linda xx

PS perhaps photo editing is the proper phrase ?

free4440273

http://www.irfanview.com/

santer_2

Another vote for irfanview

Paint is worth having as well IMO

http://www.getpaint.net/

dg1dd1ngs_2

I am an Adobe user and couldn't even imagine using anything else. What sort of budget do you have?

Irfanview is an excellent piece of software though and if you can't afford or don't want to use Photoshop then it's a very good alternative.

Dave_C_2

I have recently done some slide scanning and found the retouch facilty in Picasa invaluable to get rid of dust, scratches etc on the slides.

As they are both free and simple to use why not try both Picasa and Irfanview?

Dave

WhiteChristmas

Another Photoshop user here - it is the market leader for a damn good reason - NOTHING touches it.

Undeniably expensive, though, and takes a lifetime to learn. The open source "equivalent" - GIMP - is actually remarkably good though it isn't an easy package to get to grips with.

If you haven't got a lot of time to dedicate to it, then something like Picassa will give you some sort of result, but nothing like as good as you could achieve with a "proper" program.

ukcarper

There is plenty of free photo editing software available which will do the job. Google free photo editing software. Unless you are intending to get into photo editing I would ignore the full PhotoShop as it is very expensive and has a steep learning curve. I use PhotoShop Elements and find that does almost everything I need and I recently downloaded Serif PhotoPlus starter its free and is similar to Elements you do have to register and it does ask you to upgrade when you close it.

One of the advantages of PhotoShop and PhotoShop Elements it is easy to find books and tutorials some of, which are free.

ERICS_MUM

Thank you all so much, I'll check them all out.


:T :T :T :T

Owain_Moneysaver

Another vote for Irfanview if you just want to resize/flip/crop photos.

Your scanner probably came with some photo editing software included, which you might not have chosen to install - worth checking if you still have the scanner CD.

patman99

Both The Gimp and Paint.net will allow you to do anything that PS will do using the same methods (You can apply any PS tutorial to the Gimp and it turns-out the same). Your biggest problem will most likely be unwanted specs of dust or creases, these can be easily removed using the clone tools in PS/Gimp/Paint.net or even MS Paint which comes free with Windows.

If you do decide to go the Photoshop route, then install something like TOR or ghostsurf, that way you can go to Adobe's US site and buy it for a damn site less than in the UK.