Hi all, Like a lot of you guys I am very much into digital photography. I am looking for free software (windows) for my digital darkroom. I don't work on my photos everyday....just occasionally thats why I am looking for free tools. I just got started with Gimp so that should take care most of my editing but I still need tools for these tasks: - Photo management (especially one that shows histograms and EXIF data) - stitching panoramas - Creating HDRs Also, please share any other free software that you are using for your digital pics. Looking forward to your suggestions.
Photoshop is always free - you just need to look in the right places. Usually you will get a photo management program with your camera, but I believe nothing can beat simple folders with a date and name for the shoot. Stitching panoramas can be done in PS, but requires a lot of practice to get it right. You can get some panorama makers, but they often have some little flaws. As for the HDRs, you can get programs to do it for you. But you can do it manually in PS. If you decide to 'acquire' PS, then I recommend getting PS CS3 Extended as it is better for photo editing. If you shoot in RAW, grab Adobe Lightroom to convert to .TIFF for PS as the PS RAW editor can make an image a bit noisy.
Erm, just would like to say for editing, PS7 would be fine. http://qtpfsgui.sourceforge.net/ It is an open source HDr program. Just try it to see if you like it. Canon Photostitch is good, or I assume if you have a Nikon it would come with a stitching program, or any other brand. I use the RAW software that came with my XT, which is great. Digital Photo Professional by Canon is also good.
thecraic I've been using PS from the "usual" places till now but thought I'd give the free ones a try. iPirate Thanks for the suggestion. I'll give it a try. What's your experience with the product? My cameras don't support RAW, by the way, only JPEG.
I want to try Photoshop, I have PSE 4. Could someone lead me to the "right places" to download for free for long term, not just 30days. Thanks Karen
