photo editing software

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pauld111

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I want to get software to do basic editing on photos, such as scratch/dust removal, exposure and sharpening. Which software handles this well? Is Capture One overkill for those things? I tried GIMP but I don't find it easy to use, whereas I have the trial upload of Capture One and it seems perfect, but very pricey and more than I probably need... I have also tried just the Windows built in photo editor but it does not handle scratches nicely (as far as I can tell).

Any help would be much appreciated. I basically want to do minimal editing to photos.
 
Corel Paintshop Pro. Quite cheap (compared to others), optimized for photographers and fairly easy to learn and use but powerful. There are now also tutorials online. I have been using it for years.

It has a scratch removal tool, which I mention as this seems to be of concern to you. You click and drag a line along the scratch and the software heals it. Its pretty good too. And also a repair tool under makeover menu in the drop down list. This is like Adobe's healing tool and fixes small problems like dust without using the clone tool although that can be used too.

You can download a one month trial for free to see if you like it.

https://www.paintshoppro.com/en/pag...MI4oX4kvSL3gIVSI6PCh0e0Q7FEAAYASAAEgJ-OfD_BwE

The other option is Lightroom. You can probably still find it on eBay I think for the standalone version or you can pay by the month but I do not think that option is economical if you do not do much editing. It does all of the basics required by photographers quickly and easily. Including spot removal but not sure about how easy scratch removal works.
 
peterm1 said:
Corel Paintshop Pro. Quite cheap (compared to others), optimized for photographers and fairly easy to learn and use but powerful. There are now also tutorials online. I have been using it for years.

It has a scratch removal tool, which I mention as this seems to be of concern to you. You click and drag a line along the scratch and the software heals it. Its pretty good too. And also a repair tool under makeover menu in the drop down list. This is like Adobe's healing tool and fixes small problems like dust without using the clone tool although that can be used too.

You can download a one month trial for free to see if you like it.

https://www.paintshoppro.com/en/pag...MI4oX4kvSL3gIVSI6PCh0e0Q7FEAAYASAAEgJ-OfD_BwE

The other option is Lightroom. You can probably still find it on eBay I think for the standalone version or you can pay by the month but I do not think that option is economical if you do not do much editing. It does all of the basics required by photographers quickly and easily. Including spot removal but not sure about how easy scratch removal works.
Click to expand...

I will look into Corel Paintshop Pro, thanks
 
I've had good luck with Photoshop Elements, one of the last remaining Adobe packages that doesn't require a subscription. I tend to update every 3 or 4 years, as I don't tend to use a lot of the features that are added to the annual updates. The 2019 version was just released.
 
You might try one of the mfg editing packages like Canon DPP (download or from a photographer that uses Canon). Basic functions and you can scan your film as TIF. If multiple TIF file options experiment with your scanning software... e.g. Epson Scan has multiple TIF format options.
 
Capture One is definitely overkill for your needs and very expensive. It sounds like you have a Windows computer, if you have a Mac the built in Photos program isn't bad. There are several inexpensive non-Adobe programs out there that you should trial: Luminar 2018 ($59)and Affinity Photo ($49). Both are actually quite powerful and inexpensive as this sort of software goes. You can always use them for just the few features you need. Both have free trials available.
 
Thanks for your feedback thus far. I have another question. What I am doing is developing film myself and then using a reflecta RPS 10m to scan with silverfast ai studio 8 software. I have read before that people would scan for a flat negative in order to do adjustments in Photoshop or other software. But is it not possible for me to do everything required (seeing that I want to just do minimal adjustments and maybe scratch removal / sharpening) within Silverfast and then cut out the need for a photo editor? What is your experience with Silverfast? I should have outlined this all in my original post.
 
EarlJam said:
I've had good luck with Photoshop Elements, one of the last remaining Adobe packages that doesn't require a subscription. I tend to update every 3 or 4 years, as I don't tend to use a lot of the features that are added to the annual updates. The 2019 version was just released.
Click to expand...

As I recall, Corel Paintshop Pro which I mentioned below, is pretty similar in features and price to Photoshop Elements (though I think a little cheaper in price, least it was then).

A decade back I used to use PS Elements but when I was working away from home for a few months and did not have my installation disk I lost it due to a PC crash. In the event Corel had a price special on at the time so I bought that instead and have stuck with it ever since. Back then my view was that it was a little better than Elements as it had a few tools that worked better for photographers. But that was 9 years ago and I cannot say with exactitude what the comparison is now. But I would expect either to be good for what you need.
 
Most scratch removal tools will affect the rest of the picture too.

Isn't it better -although time consuming- to remove the scratches manually with a clone/heal tool ? (I'm using gimp for that)

Never had any decent results with automatic processes in image editors.
 
bulevardi said:
Most scratch removal tools will affect the rest of the picture too.

Isn't it better -although time consuming- to remove the scratches manually with a clone/heal tool ? (I'm using gimp for that)

Never had any decent results with automatic processes in image editors.
Click to expand...

The Corel Paintshop Pro scratch tool is quite smart. You can specify the width of the line to be healed and then use the tool to get rid of the scratch by clicking and dragging the tool along the line of the scratch -no more is needed. I was surprised when I first used it at how good it is. It functions in"heal" mode rather than like a conventional clone too. In other words it dynamically assesses nearby pixels and selects suitable candidates to use to paste over the scratch to render it invisible against its immediate background. In this way you can go across various background images without having to consider what is "underneath" the scratch. The software that operates the tool does this for you. Very clever. And most times I found it to be spot on. So good in fact that I have occasionally used it instead of the clone tool when I am having difficulty matching the replacement pixels to a complex background.
 
I also suggest checking out Paintshop Pro and Photoshop Elements. They'll do all you need; are reasonably priced; have long-standing and well-deserved reputations for features and reliability (both have been around for a decade and a half); and there's loads of tutorials, books and other help available.

Both are still probably a bit overkill for your needs - but better to have too many features and not need them than too few and need them! I use Capture One and think it's excellent but I feel it's too overspecified for what you want to do - but if you don't mind paying for it, the only downside is investing time to learn to use it.
 
For Apple (OS X) Pixelmater is an inexpensive yet powerful platform.

Otherwise, as several others mentioned Otherwise Photoshop Elements 2018 ($80) or Paintshop Pro ($60) are available.
 
pauld111 said:
Thanks for your feedback thus far. I have another question. What I am doing is developing film myself and then using a reflecta RPS 10m to scan with silverfast ai studio 8 software. I have read before that people would scan for a flat negative in order to do adjustments in Photoshop or other software. But is it not possible for me to do everything required (seeing that I want to just do minimal adjustments and maybe scratch removal / sharpening) within Silverfast and then cut out the need for a photo editor? What is your experience with Silverfast? I should have outlined this all in my original post.
Click to expand...

https://www.silverfast.com/highlights/srdx/en.html

If you have the more advanced version of Silverfast, which it looks like you might, you can do dust and scratch removal using Silverfast alone, even on black and white negatives, which normal Digital ICE can’t do. You would need to study the information on the Silverfast site to understand how. Other adjustments to color, exposure and contrast can be done within Silverfast as well. There is more that can be done in something like Photoshop, but Silverfast is more than capable of doing “minimal adjustments”.
I wish I could teach myself to be satisfied with minimal or no adjustments. Then life would again offer all free time I had when I just went to the drugstore and picked up my package of prints, and that was that. You got what you got, either they “came out” or they didn’t, no more work needed on your part.
Good luck with your decision, it’s a slippery slope.
 
Larry Cloetta said:
https://www.silverfast.com/highlights/srdx/en.html

If you have the more advanced version of Silverfast, which it looks like you might, you can do dust and scratch removal using Silverfast alone, even on black and white negatives, which normal Digital ICE can’t do. You would need to study the information on the Silverfast site to understand how. Other adjustments to color, exposure and contrast can be done within Silverfast as well. There is more that can be done in something like Photoshop, but Silverfast is more than capable of doing “minimal adjustments”.
I wish I could teach myself to be satisfied with minimal or no adjustments. Then life would again offer all free time I had when I just went to the drugstore and picked up my package of prints, and that was that. You got what you got, either they “came out” or they didn’t, no more work needed on your part.
Good luck with your decision, it’s a slippery slope.
Click to expand...

Hi Larry,

I think you have the best solution. I will try do everything in Silverfast Suite. The reason I never tried it like this is because I always thought that the dedicated photo editors were where one did adjustments and that any extra features scanning software offered would be as an after thought.

Cheers

Paul
 
Sounds like you use a Windows based computer. If so, I agree with giving Paintshop Pro a look. I used it years ago when I used Windows.

Also, I don't know if you can still download Picasa or not since Google stopped supporting it. If you can, it's a freebie that does some simple editing that might be all you need. I used to use it in conjunction with various camera maker's software.

And, of course, there's Lightroom if you can locate the standalone version.
 
My Software

My Software

I use Photoshop CS 6, the stand alone version as I don’t wish to pay a subscription. I look forward to the upcoming release of Photoshop for the iPad. I have and use constantly, an iPad Pro 10.5 inch. Also 2 Mac Book Pros. I got my copy of Photoshop at Best Buy for $300! They were trying to placate me for problems their Geek Squad caused. I was very placated!

I bought the iPad Pro high end version for in the vicinity of $1200, to use with a $20 software program..Affinity Photo! LOL! But...I find that the program does almost everything Photoshop can do! Its just not as intuitively easy to use as Photoshop.

Tried Gimp, but couldn’t make heads or tails of it!

As for the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil...I use it constantly and the Mac Book Pros just sit there unless I need to use Photoshop.

Unkei
 
Last edited:
Corel Paintshop Pro 2019 is really good for dust and scratch removal as peterm1 said. It is a mature version with far less bugs. I use it also for my digital shots with the Topaz plug-ins.

Be aware that Corel always brings out the new version in august, so you can get the "old" version cheaper when the new version is announced.
 
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