Savageduck
On 2014-03-13 18:45:22 +0000, PeterN <peter.newnospam@verizon.net>said:

PeterN
On 3/13/2014 11:04 AM, YouDontNeedToKnowButItsNoëlle wrote:

YouDontNeedToKnowButItsNoëlle
Le 13/03/14 14:50, Sandman a écrit :

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

YouDontNeedToKnowButItsNoëlle
I dont recomment the Gimp either, merely signaling that for post-processing photos, it can do as much as PS CS, a lot cheaper but not simpler !

(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
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.

YouDontNeedToKnowButItsNoëlle
It is the only one that give access (including reverse) to some niceties you set on camera, like the level of d-lighning or preset style of photos...

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

YouDontNeedToKnowButItsNoëlle
And Fuji use some crazy proprietary format that is not easy to use from an non-proprietary raw software. Something to consider when buying a camera.

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.

YouDontNeedToKnowButItsNoëlle
Yes, but for me it is a bit redondant with what I have in NX2. I dont do that much post-processing on CS, but when I do it is for specific things that I find only there : and with scripts. I use it also for graphics and preparing files with text or graphics bits.

Yet I dont know about free plug-ins that could be useful for me : I tried some plug-ins but they where not free or not useful. Some both. I had the Genuine Fractals plug-in (not free) but after I tried and uninstalled the whole suite i was never able to get it back working :(. What do you use as PS plug-ins ?

I use Aperture as host for Nik. Dfine noise filter is incredibly good, and selective sharpening is easy, and Color Efex pro allow for very fast corrections. And I use also Aperture a little bit for sony files. But the multiplication of files bothers me.

Noëlle Adam

PeterN
If you want cheap, you can get Photoshop CS2 from Adobe, for free. <https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?e=cs2_downloads>

Savageduck
CS2 will not run on an Intel Mac, PPC only. He is running OSX 10.7 so free CS2 will do the OP no good at all.