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An Introduction to Various Photo Editing Programs

Chris Gampat
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02/18/2010
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Last Updated on 02/18/2010 by

There are loads of photo editing programs available, but sometimes you’re in wonderment as to which one you should get your hands on. If you’re trying to figure this out or if you’re looking to explore new programs, you should check this essential list out after the jump.

Mass Editing

Aperture– Aperture allows you to import many photos at once and make lots of minor edits to them such as color balance, saturation, etc. The latest version is apparently being loved by many photographers right now and many are calling it a, “Lightroom killer.” The interface of this program is very simple and extremely straight forward.

Lightroom- My personal program of choice for shooting tethered with my Canon 5D Mk II connected to my Macbook. Lightroom allows you to do everything that Aperture does but it offers more support and in a much more timely fashion from Adobe (take a look at Aperture’s supported cameras here for proof). When I’m finished cataloging and organizing my images I can take them through the development window in Lightroom and just being the editing process. This is great for when I just need to make little touch ups.

Capture One– I used to use this program quite a bit. Capture One is the preferred choice for users of Phase One Digital cameras. It’s like Lightroom but the interface is different and lots more information can be displayed on the screen in one area than with Lightroom. For those of you that want to more advanced approach, I highly recommend Capture One.

Single Editing

GIMP– GIMP is essentially Photoshop but with different names for nearly every function. It also allows for editing of RAW photos through a plug-in which is nice for enthusiasts. I don’t use it simply because I personally hated the learning curve. I know lots of people that love it though.

Photoshop- Hands down the most used professional photo editing tool ever. It’s for good reason too. Photoshop allows for loads of editing abilities and the program has a very short learning curve as well. Nothing can really compete with it.

Photoshop Elements– Elements is my program of choice for a large number of reasons. As a photojournalist, events photographer, and concert photographer I don’t often need to make major manipulations to my photos. When I do, Photoshop Elements provides all the power I need and also does it without taking up the resources on my computer that Photoshop would. That’s a great change of heart.

Paint.Net- This program is like GIMP but doesn’t offer RAW support. Of all the programs here, it also has the cleanest and simplest interface.

Web

Picasa– Picasa is from Google. It’s a photo editing and organizing software. It’s very powerful, simple and versatile. I don’t use it because I don’t like their Terms of Use.

Photoshop.com- This website allows you to upload, edit and share your photos. It’s nice because it’s an even simpler version of Photoshop Elements. Anyone can pick this one up and it has the cleanest interface of the three web editing tools.

Picnik– Picnik works with Flickr. Targeted towards total beginners, you can do most of these things using something like Windows Photo Viewer.

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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.