What photo editing software do you use?

[Chad]

I want something that is easy to use for mostly basic tasks like cropping, resizing, some color and brightness adjusting, compression adjusting, ability to add text, etc. I don't need anything super advanced like the full on version of Photoshop. Less than $100 and preferably less than $50. I did some reading on Amazon and it gets pretty confusing. Sounds like Jasc Paint Shop Pro 8 was a popular version, so I downloaded a trial version and am going to give it a whirl.

But I'm interested in hearing other suggestions.

BTW, I'm running Windows XP MCE.

[Number Of The Priest]

I THINK Adobe Photoshop Elements is along the lines of what you're looking for, but I can't comment on it because I was a Photoshop 7 user turned Photoshop CS2 user. I don't use Photoshop for intense graphic manipulation like my genius artist brother is capable of, but even as the photographically-inclined one in my family, I found the jump from 7 to CS a dramatic one.

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Photoshop_Elements

[Chad]

Just curious....did you pay $650 for Photoshop?

[Number Of The Priest]

My brother got it from university; it's part of his curriculum. I actually wonder when they're gonna switch to the new Photoshop CS3.

[nateb]

Not to drag the company line but, we actually just got done with Photoshop lightroom a couple of months ago. It is strictly geared towards photography workflow. It can be found on the net for around 100.00. I suggest that you check it out, or at least get a pirate copy until you actually find out how useful it is then buy it. I use it 100% of the time now rather then photoshop. I love it.

Lightroom for Mac/Windows

[Firebird V]

Photoshop CS2

[fr0sty]

Paintshop Pro XI

[fr0sty]

Oh, and I used V8 before that. The reviews on amazon slagged xi. I like it.

[Tashtego]

GIMP, free & very capable

http://www.gimp.org/

[Newc]

PSP 9. Didn't see a point to "upgrading" above that when Corel bought JASC.

[audiophile]

PSP here

Another nice one is Thumbs Plus. Was once much less-featured than Phtoshop or PSP, but I think they've grown to fill the basic image editing niche.

[Evol]

GIMP, free & very capable

http://www.gimp.org/

Agreed. I've been using Gimp for years,very PS like,VERY VERY capable,and you cannot beat free. Fast as lightning too.

[SlasZ]

Paint.NET is open source, free, and pretty feature rich. Since it's open source there are regular updates and new features added.

[shobet]

CS2 and The Gimp here. I quite like the Gimp, but Photoshop is the daddy!

[thetroy]

mspaint !

Yeah I don't do anything beyond rotating and cropping or drawing things on people