Need cheap photo & Video editing software packages.

[jose]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for cheap photo software in the $100 range..

I have basic photo software that came w/ my Canon I860 printer but it
sort of sucks.. Also I've tried the software that came w/ Nero Ultra ed. but it bites also. I do have Printshop 20 DVD ed. but it not great either.

I just need something simple to edit/enhance a jeg or tiff and have the
ablity to print on glossy paper at any size..

I don't like the album type software that puts stupid borders around
everything..

thanks for the help

Regards,
Jose

 

[imported_Traxis]

I like ACDSee 7. It is only $49.99 USD. There is free trial available, too.

 

[Schadenfroh]

freeware if you want to try it out:
http://www.gimp.org/

 

[corkyg]

Yeah -ACDSee is good - but the best is probably Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 - or Jasc (Now Corel) Paintshop Pro 9. This is also an excellent performer and essentially free . . .

IRFAN

 

[episodic]

wth?

Photoshop Elements 3.0 hands down is the winnder.

 

[jose]

Thanks alot guys...

Regards,
Jose

 

[KeyserSoze]

Another one if you wanted to go the free route:
Paint.Net




KS

 

[nweaver]

gimp is great. for printing photo's a specific size/layout the HP Photo printing software is great.

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: episodic
wth?

Photoshop Elements 3.0 hands down is the winnder.

Agree - however it is also the most difficult to use. It has a rather steep learning curve.

 

[episodic]

Originally posted by: corkyg

Originally posted by: episodic
wth?

Photoshop Elements 3.0 hands down is the winnder.

Agree - however it is also the most difficult to use. It has a rather steep learning curve.

I find it just the opposite.

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: episodic
wth?

I find it just the opposite.

Well, I am happy for you. I happen to teach a 5 day course in PSE3.0, and it is not really all that intuitive for many folks. The problem is - too many choices in too many menus that are all visible at once. Learning the GUI is the main problem. It is certainly much easier than Photoshop CS (which I also have.)

 

[xgsound]

Before you buy try Picasa2 for free from google. I have Printshop Deluxe and Photoshop Elements 2.0 and I hardly use them now.

I use a card reader to download pics to a new folder, fire up Picasa to include the folder, view edit crop and HOLD the pictures I want , then print 4 at a time to 8.5 x 11 sheets. The "fill light" feature is excellent.

I'm printing pictures 4 at a time in 5 minutes.


Jim

 

[mechBgon]

I have Paintshop Pro 8, Ulead PhotoImpact 8.5 Pro and just got Photoshop Elements 3.0 in the bundle with Premeire Elements 1.0. I think it's partly what you're accustomed to, but having used Ulead for a long time, that's the one I like best so far. You should be able to find it in the $75-$90 range for the latest version if you want, and I think they have free trial downloads like most outfits do.

PSE3.0 can be had in that bundle with PE1.0 for $130-ish, so if you need video-editing software and don't mind its Firewire-or-else attitude, that could be worth a look. I'm sure PSE3.0 will grow on me

 

[jose]

Thanks a whole lot guys for the info.

I'll try Picasa2 to see how it is..

mechBgon, What cheap $100 package would you use for dv to dvd editing ? I have a Sony DV TRV20 camera and I'd like to burn vacation video's to dvd.

I do have a Nec 35020a & a Plextor 708a dvd writer. I was looking at the Ulead Video Studio 9 ... What's your opinion of this product ?

Thanks everyone.

Regards,
Jose

 

[mechBgon]

mechBgon, What cheap $100 package would you use for dv to dvd editing ? I have a Sony DV TRV20 camera and I'd like to burn vacation video's to dvd.

So far I've tried:

1) WinDVD Creator 2. Hey, it came with my Asus K8N-E, what the heck Also used WinDVD Creator "1" to edit bunches of analog video off my folks' bottom-run Sony camcorder on their Duron rig.

2) NeroVision Express from my Nero 6 retail

3) Windows Movie Maker 2

4) Adobe Premier Elements 1.0 (got in the bundle I mentioned)

5) Cyberlink PowerProducer 2 Gold that I got with a cheapie $28 KWorld analog-capture card

Adobe is slowest, but obviously has the most capabilities if I want to invest the time to learn them. If nothing else, I like its "squash-to-fit" capability where it automagically makes stuff fit on a disc, no capturing 1.5 hours at DVD-HQ quality and then finding out it ain't gonna fit on the disc (NeroVision pulled that one on me a few times).

WinDVD Creator is pretty simple plus it will capture from analog devices (unlike Adobe). It seems pretty stable. It doesn't want to capture analog audio from my KWorld card though

PowerProducer 2 Gold works great when it works, very simple newbie hand-holding program, but sometimes it chews all the way through the encode, finishes the DVD burn itself, then kicks out an error that it couldn't finalize the disc

Windows Movie Maker is great, if you want to make .WMV anyway

So the lessons I learned are (1) have at least four video-editing apps and (2) if at all possible, use Firewire and not analog capture! And I use Adobe most of the time, WinDVD Creator 2 the rest of the time.