What program can you recommend...

[tegan]

Thanks for the tip about Sony's browser..... I'll give that a go....

I'm still using Google's Picasa2 for quick image viewing etc... I really can't believe the lack of thought and ease incorporated into the viewers of BOTH PSPX2 and Elements..... and Nikons software.... It just really seems like an afterthought.... I'm a fairly heavy image user... I'll take about 1200 a month and retain about 800.... I find Picasa's browser to be a rocket when scrolling through bulk images... Sometimes I'll use Picasa for quick cropping but it's adjustment tools are quite crude...

I loaded 600 14 megapixel images into Sony's motion picture browser and the first time it took several minutes, but after that they loaded instantly and the size of the thumbnails can be adjusted in real time. Moreover you can easily drag and drop into another program so I often have the Sony browser and an editor open at the same time, although I have lots of ram.

Tegan

[pslove]

i have to say hands down Photoshop CS3 (i also liked my CS2) is my favorite editing program(hense my handle:P)...but not very intuitive if you've never used it. i know this first hand, being self taught, but the payout, i think vs. other editing programs once you've read tutorials, figured out basics,played around with it.. etc is great...it's like having a lab on your computer. try and find someone you know who can lend you a copy. as mentioned it's more expensive then some of the starter dslrs.

just my
Jess

[JoeMezz]

..for editing pics..I am not familiar with any right now..I've heard of Photoshop, never used it..and want something that is very simple to use! Thanks

I use Photo Mechanic http://www.camerabits.com to edit my photos. "Edit" -- meaning to organize/delete/compare, apply metadata data, select the good/bad/better/best images. It is the industry standard in the world of photojournalists.

Then I use Capture NX2 (NX) to process 99% of my finished products. I think NX is very under rated and one reason is that people do not realize how the selection tools actually work until you learn how to work them, and another reason is that it's capabilities/functions are not obvious because of the simplicity of the user interface.

I suggest you go to CaptureNX.com and watch the videos. If you like it, they have a 60 day demo that is not crippled in anyway. NX is very unlike Photoshop and I think people shy away from it because of that that.

NX is very powerful and designed to save you time. It is meant to post process photos only - - not manipulate images.. so yes it is less powerful than Photoshop but very powerful at doing post processing.

If you plan on learning Photoshop at some point to a serious level ... then maybe Elements is a better way for you to go.

Since I only process images and do not alter images AND want to do that as fast as possible - I selected NX as my primary post processing software. I use Photoshop on rare occasions.

I hope that helps.

(File brower in NX sucks, but I use Photo Mechanic for that function)

[AcadieLibre]

If your on a Windows PC I would suggest Ulead Photo Impact, very easy to learn, small learning curve and until I moved to Mac it was my prefered photo editing program. Since PS went to CS2 and CS3 I use Lightroom and Photoshop CS3.