Photoshop?

[Carly011]

Hello. I have a Canon Ti3 EOS rebel with two lenses 18-55(the kit lens) and a telephoto 75-300 lens. I am looking for a photoshop program. I have a mac.

What is a good photoshop program for beginners?

[StoppingTime]

Well, there's always... Photoshop.
But, if you're not looking to spend the money or torrent it, than:

GIMP- Does virtually everything Photoshop does, and is free and open source. It is a little wonky with the Mac (it needs X11), and is kind of complicated to get used to.

Before I go on rambling, would you consider those?

[unknownuser]

Photoshop CS5 is top of the line imaging software from Adobe right now. There's also Photoshop Elements 10, which you can get for a fraction of the price, it has most of the basic things that CS5 has but lacks many of CS5's advanced tools. Really, if you are a beginner, I wouldn't recommend jumping right in to CS5- I used Elements 7 & 8 and Paint Shop Pro for about 3 years before I stepped up. They were relatively cheap programs and they offered me everything that I needed.

There's also GIMP, like StoppingTime mentioned that you can download for free. Paint Shop Pro is also surprisingly decent for the price it costs.

You can sample any of Adobe's programs for 30 days before you decide to buy it. You just go to their website, sign up for a free account, and download the program/s you would like to sample.

[Cognizant]

Having the same line of camera and user of Mac OS, I know your troubles :P
It really depends on your editing. If you want to do really basic editing, iPhoto does help add a bit of dazzle to your pictures.
I use iPhoto 9, which comes with every current mac, or the iLife '11 suite, but the version you have probably works too :)

[Carolyn]

Hello. I have a Canon Ti3 EOS rebel with two lenses 18-55(the kit lens) and a telephoto 75-300 lens. I am looking for a photoshop program. I have a mac.

What is a good photoshop program for beginners?


I think what you want is something in between photoshop and iPhoto - sure iPhoto lets you add a few effects and play with the colors and saturation, but it doesn't do much else. Photoshop is great, but it is a monster in terms of what you have to pay for it and what it takes to learn... GIMP is free, but it's just as complicated, and often harder to use than photoshop...

For those reasons, I really suggest that people who have a mac start with Pixelmator. It's available on the mac app store, and it's totally one that I would recommend :)

I eventually moved from Pixelmator to photoshop, but pixelmator is one of the cleanest apps I've ever used, and a great way to get into image editing :)

And, at $30, compared to photoshop, it does a good bit :)

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pixelmator/id407963104?mt=12
^ EDIT: that link to the mac app store only works in safari.

Also, you can try out pixelmator for a while, and see if you like it.
http://www.pixelmator.com/try/

[Steve Jobs]

I think what you want is something in between photoshop and iPhoto - sure iPhoto lets you add a few effects and play with the colors and saturation, but it doesn't do much else. Photoshop is great, but it is a monster in terms of what you have to pay for it and what it takes to learn... GIMP is free, but it's just as complicated, and often harder to use than photoshop...

For those reasons, I really suggest that people who have a mac start with Pixelmator. It's available on the mac app store, and it's totally one that I would recommend :)

I eventually moved from Pixelmator to photoshop, but pixelmator is one of the cleanest apps I've ever used, and a great way to get into image editing :)

And, at $30, compared to photoshop, it does a good bit :)

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pixelmator/id407963104?mt=12
^ EDIT: that link to the mac app store only works in safari.

Also, you can try out pixelmator for a while, and see if you like it.
http://www.pixelmator.com/try/

Depending on how serious you are with your work, if you're intending to pursue it as a profession, I would definitely not rule out Photoshop Elements, which has many of the essential tools of Photoshop albeit in a simplified form. Adobe allows you to try their applications for 30 days. I wouldn't think you would need anything close to what CS6 has to offer, and Elements would also make the transition into Creative Suite somewhat easier than coming from a completely different environment like Pixelmator/etc.

To really get a good grasp of what Photoshop offers, especially if you are a photographer (rather than a designer) I would highly recommend you master everything iPhoto has to offer first, including understanding and applying principles of leveling, exposure, white balance & color temperature, and the basic principles of photography and light.

[Benbomber]

Here's my theory. I shoot a canon 7d, and loads of film. I have photoshop cs5 that I got for my bday but I think that if you can take good enough photos you should not have to edit them at all, or only use aperture. If your thinking of getting photoshop, don't and save the money instead for a better lens or a good speedlight

[logangarcia]

Depending on how serious you are with your work, if you're intending to pursue it as a profession, I would definitely not rule out Photoshop Elements, which has many of the essential tools of Photoshop albeit in a simplified form. Adobe allows you to try their applications for 30 days. I wouldn't think you would need anything close to what CS6 has to offer, and Elements would also make the transition into Creative Suite somewhat easier than coming from a completely different environment like Pixelmator/etc.

To really get a good grasp of what Photoshop offers, especially if you are a photographer (rather than a designer) I would highly recommend you master everything iPhoto has to offer first, including understanding and applying principles of leveling, exposure, white balance & color temperature, and the basic principles of photography and light.

I totally agree with everything. Photoshop Elements does quite a bit for beginners and isn't that much different from Photoshop CS5/6 when you decide to make the switch. You could qualify for a student discount and get Photoshop for $249 (http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopextended.edu.html). While still hefty, it's not near as bad as the full price. Usually before a new release, they lower the price even more. I got CS5 Extended for $40 something and cannot complain.

Might I also suggest Lightroom? I love it for organizing my photos and making minor adjustments. They also offer the trials of their programs, so try them out first!! It definitely tells you if you're up for the challenge. There are many photo editing programs out there, but I think it is easier to find tutorials and help for Photoshop, as it's probably the "professional" tool.