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i only have a few days left on my free trial version of ACDSee Pro 9 which paul (larson) recommended.
ACDSee is extremely user friendly and i've liked using it so i might go ahead and purchase it. however before i do, i was wondering if anyone reading could recommend other software of similar cost (around £100) which they have found versatile and really easy to use. Photoshop is way out of my price range. I've used serif which is good but its not user friendly and i do have a hard job getting to know the functions despite the fact ive had access to it for years (also can't burn to dvd with serif and that is an important function for me though not vital)
Ease of use is a priority!
any advice will be greatly appreciated, many thanks
pippa

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I'd VERY strongly recommend using Photoshop Elements v.5 retailing at amazon at around £54.98 (!!)
free p&p
I've used v.3 and played with 4 and 5. Comes with an excellent organiser and as its roots are firmly within Photoshop, you wouldn't have much bother moving up.

Howard

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thanks for that Howard - ive been wary of going near photoshop with all its elements but now you've pinpointed one aspect of it i shall investigate - price not too bad either - was imagining hundreds of ££££ to shell out for photoshop and wasn't sure if you could use the different bits of it on their own.
thanks again
pippa

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Howard - dont know if this msg will appear because in my haste of trying to find the thread i managed to click the button which says "close the thread" and a confirmation that the thread was closed appeared.
Just wondered if you knew whether you can burn to a dvd with photoshop Elements v5 - i will check this out in my search on the web but just wondered if you could tell me
thanks
pippa

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Yes, Elements has DVD burning built in to it. It also prompts you to back up regularly as well.
You can create slide shows, web galleries etc etc

Howard

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Howard - thank you very much for the advice and taking the time to give it. I have noticed on one of my web searches that i can download a 30 day trial to see how i get on with it - not till my ACDsee trial finishes though(another week) otherwise i can see muddle looming.
Thanks again,
pippa

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Photoshop Elements is ok if you are not real concerned about color managment or 16bit files.
If you are just using it for personal use, then it would be fine.
I downloaded the trial last week and the only reason I didnt like it was it didnt support 16bit files and wasn very good at color managment conversions.

I too own ACDSee but the Pro version.
I also think Photoshop CS is way out of my price range.

I did download Paint Shop Pro XI the other day and it seemed to have a lot more than Adobe Elements could do.

Here is the link to download
http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satell...t/1155872554948

$79.99 US

£89.99

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Colour Management in Elements

Sorry but Adobe PS Elements 5 certainly does have colour management, though you have to look at it carefully. It also allows you to use properly constructed printer profiles to print photos accurately, unlike ACDSee and PSP and indeed most other editors.
http://www.bytephoto.com/forums/images/icons/icon10.gif
Talking
If you aren't convinced I'll post the relevant pages to show you. I use full colour management in Elements 5 for screen work and for printing - though for practical portrait work I normally use CS2 as then I can check colour more accurately

Howard

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Thanks, I couldnt find it but it still doesnt allow editing in 16bit which is what I use to print all my files from tiff.
I never work in jpg unless I upload to the web.

ACDSee and PSP both have color management and icc profile handling

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Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter. -Ansel Adams

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You may want to look at GIMP. It is free and very powerful. There is a color management plug-in for it, though that does not come with an automatic installer. I'm not sure how GIMP compares with PS Elements, but I would bet it's every bit as powerful. It does not include any image organizing software, however.

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Fair comment - about PSP and ACDSee - they didn't used to though when I last looked at them.
Didn't like PSP 8 interface at all, and ACDSee (about 4 years ago, didn't seem to offer me anything apart from screwing up my WIN registry!

Howard

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My husband uses PSP8 and hadnt upgraded for a while. But when he upgraded to the PSP XI just the other night, he said it did a whole lot more than PSP8.
I didnt really use PSP8 so I cant compare.

He isnt using PSP for photography like I am so there is a lot more in there than he will ever use or knows what it's for

You're right, dont think ACDSee from a few years back had colormanagement.
Now you can access color management in ACDSee Pro by going to Tools, Options, color managment, then enabling it and choosing the profiles you wish to use.

I used ACDSee back in version 1 when it was free
Think it was around 1995-96.
It was the only good software out there at the time that allowed you to view pictures within your windows directories/folders without opening them up into a photo editor.
I had actually gotten permission from ACDSee back in 96 to distribute the free version of the program on all my family history CD's that I produced for my family members so they could view all the family photos.

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Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter. -Ansel Adams

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this has been very interesting reading

Thanks JGC888.

I've been to the GIMP site and just downloading it seems complicated however i will persevere.
apologies for not replying sooner but clicked a button which closed the thread for me - motherboard also burned out so with one thing and another this is first chance to reply.
computers and me are a bit of a struggle and trying to understand them wraps me up for hours.
thanks anyway
pippa

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thanks Ruth
while i understand that jpegs are good for uploading i am not au fait with 16 bit or advantages of using different formats - perhaps you could point me to where this stuff is explained.

i had the acdsee pro trial version and lost it when my motherboard burned out just before the trial ended - i did like it but wondered if it might be a bit limited for editing (huh little that i know)

thanks for the link to paint shop pro which looks good - only drawback is there is no trial version available so will need to pay upfont then get a refund if i cant get on with it - needs to be user friendly.

Do you prefer to use ACDSee Pro or PSP?
thanks for any time you can spare.
pippa

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There is a really good website that teaches you how to work with GIMP. It is called gimp-savvy, which is an online book.

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