Sandman
In article <lfs4m0$ka0$1@speranza.aioe.org>, YouDontNeedToKnowButItsNoëlle wrote:

YouDontNeedToKnowButItsNoëlle
Le 13/03/14 10:49, Sandman a écrit :

Nige Danton
So, where do I start? Presumably I'll need some software - whats the recommendation?

Sandman
I always recommend Photoshop.

YouDontNeedToKnowButItsNoëlle
Photoshop CS is very expensive ; plus, the learning curve is step. Photoshop elements lacks some essential features (layers, what can you do in PS without layers and scripts ? ).

Sandman
Very much! On the topic of post-processing, Photoshop Elements is very able. Few post processing techniques require the use of layers. Granted, many layer functions of Photoshop CC are very handy in post-processing, but not necessary.

YouDontNeedToKnowButItsNoëlle
So if you want to give your money to Adobe, get Lighroom instead.

Sandman
LR is a full image database and file management application and it's a bit over the top for mere post processing. Plus (as far as I'm aware) LR doesn't support Photoshop plugins (correct me if I'm wrong)

but Elements does, so there's a plethora of cheap or free plugins out there you can use for your post processing needs.

YouDontNeedToKnowButItsNoëlle
As powerfull as PS CS is the Gimp ; the learning curve is step or worse. But at last, it is free.

Sandman
I wouldn't recomment the Gimp even to Tony :)

YouDontNeedToKnowButItsNoëlle
(And there is no such thing as free software : ridden with evangelists, or full of holes, or digging into your information...See below) You can do some ajustements with Picasa (no local ajustements) that is free, newbie oriented and belongs to Google and scan your HD when installing. I just hate that so I never went past this step of installation...

Sandman
iPhoto is free and has some really neat post processing tools, but compared to Photoshop, it's sort of meager.

Nige Danton
If it matters I'm shooting with a Nikon D7000 and an 18-105 lens. I shoot in RAW and jpg.

YouDontNeedToKnowButItsNoëlle
Raw developpement for Nikon is at its best with Capture NX 2 (because Nikon raws are non-standard) ; beware that they are about to remove essentials features in it, downgrading it so to speak.

Sandman
There really is no standard RAW format, at least not used by the major manufacturers. They all have proprietary formats that has to be reverse-engineered by people that want to read them. That's why NX2 is the only application that can *write* to the RAW format.

Adobe really wants people to use the open DNG format, but few manufacturers do, and Nikon and Canon probably never will.

YouDontNeedToKnowButItsNoëlle
I do 90% of my postprocessing in CaptureNX, the rest is between AdobeCS3 (I dont want to buy or rent a new version for the little use I have) and I use Aperture -that has also postprocessing capabilities- just as host to the Nik collection plug-ins.

Sandman
Aperture has great post processing tools. I use it a lot.