Laura Balsam
Classes Outlines

The following are my personal options
based on differing amounts of experience
with each of the programs.

Software that comes with the camera
Not recommended except for certain advanced users.

For the most part, I recommend staying away from the software that comes with your camera.

Much of it is poorly written. Often the install puts a lot of junk software and advertising on your machine.

The software often changes a lot from camera to camera and version to version. As a result it may not work with your next camera and you will have to learn new software each time.

For advanced users working in the RAW format the manufacturer's software may enable advanced manipulation of in the image.
DSLR's may come with other advanced software.

Picasa
A good way to get started.

Free - Windows only

From Google
Updated, but not often.
Large community, so there are lots of resources and help online.
Automates e-mailing photos id you use Outlook Express or G-mail.
Creates web albums.
You can order prints directly from Picasa.

Limited functionality.

Photoshop Elements
A good choice for intermediate users.

$80-$100
Windows and Mac
Free trail

Free updates within each version.
New versions every 2 to 3 years. Usually a $20 discount when upgrading. The interface sometimes changes significantly from one version to the next.

Lots more features than Picasa.
Much better for handling large amounts of photos. Better "keywording" and other ways to organize images.
Many more ways to edit and improve photos.
More advanced e-mailing, web album, printing and book creation.

More to learn than in Picasa, but it is a commercially supported product. There are many online communities and tutorials.

Lightroom
For professionals and serious hobbyists who take lots of photos.

List price: $300
Windows and Mac
Free trial

Free updates within each version.
New versions every 2 to 3 years. Usually a discount when upgrading.

Lightroom is aimed at two groups of people:
1 Professionals and ammeters who take a lot of pictures and want to track them and manipulate them, but who do not feel the need for the additional expense and learning curve required for Photoshop
2 Photoshop users can use Lightroom's with Photoshop for it's superior photo database and print making abilities.

Lightroom allows you to manage thousands of photos and find the ones you want quickly and easily. It is perfect for the professional photographer who may shoot over 1,000 images during a single session. It automates many tasks that speeds up the processing requited after a professional shoot.

It is not as flexible when it comes to "correcting" or enhancing images as Photoshop. However, Lightroom's print options are superior and more intuitive than Photoshop's. Many people use the two programs together; using Lightroom to manage the images, Photoshop to make most changes and Lightroom to print the results.

Photoshop
The Industry standard.

List $650
Also comes bundled in suites with various other professional level programs.

Windows and Mac
Free trail

Free updates within each version.
New versions every 2 to 3 years. Usually a discount when upgrading.

The standard image editing program used by most professional photographers and graphic artists. Almost every commercial image you see today has been created in Photoshop.

If you want to control everything about an image and have the most options, this is the program for you.

It is a mature program that just gets better and better with each new version. In some ways it is like chess, you can get started with a little study, but you can devote years to becoming a master.

Photoshop shines in allowing you to manipulate parts of the image separately from the rest. It also creates panoramas from multiple images and high dynamic range images from multiple exposures of the same image.

You can manipulate the tonal relationships within an image as well as the colors.

Because Photoshop has been the industry standard for so long there is are many commercial videos and books, web forums, free video tutorials, trade shows, and even a national Photoshop user group.

Photoshop is expensive and has a steep learning curve. It also requires a fast computer with a lot of memory.