Digital Imaging software
 

which one should I buy?

Anybody has experience with Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0?

How about the Photoshop CS2? Overkill for an amateur photographer? We (wife) is into photos and she's got a Canon Eos 20D.....

Other alternatives?

Thx!

Photoshop CS2 rocks, but is darn pricey. I have it, but then I "found" it on the internet.

If she shoots in Raw format, then there is Raw Shooter Essentials, and also the EOS 20 comes with software that works decently.

You will need something for an EOS20. The dSLR's don't do as much work on the photos as the point and shoot models.

What are the advantages of shooting in RAW format?

Matteo,
Running Mac or Windows? If Mac, try the free beta version of Adobe's new program, LightRoom. They say it's Photoshop for photographers.

http://labs.macromedia.com/technologies/lightroom/

Sherwood

Make sure you're running a firewall that restricts outbound traffic, or you may soon find 'your' new copy of CS2 disables itself...

ianc

Raw format is kind of like having the negatives. So the benefits are that you can work from a full original any time you want/need. It keeps the quality high.

There is a downside to raw, and that downside is that the image is uncompressed, so a 1 Gig card in the EOS20D will probably hold about 125 shots as opposed to more than double or triple that with jpeg. Raw photos in the 20D are around 8mb each.

Yes, I have a firewall that blocks outbound.

When a CCD captures an image on a digital camera, a wide range of light information is gathered. On a normal camera, the exposure setting is chosen by an algorithim for a "best" image and the rest of the exposure information is lost. In RAW format, all that information is kept and you can set the exposure and LOTS of other parameters after the fact on the computer. It should be said that this is not pixel manipulation such as just doing Brightness/Constrast adjustments but as stated, the same type of work a photographer would use in a darkroom to create and image from film. Big files but unbeliveably cool to work with.

Thanks guys I understand now... I played a little with the software that came with the camera... Now I see the diff between changing those exposure parameters on the RAW pic and changing brightness using say Photoshop...

Photoshop is still the king. Most professionals, all the ones I know, use photoshop as the basis of there image production, although several other programs are also in the workflow loop. This program is very powerful, but it is also large and expensive. Much like our 911's, in the right hands and with the right training, photoshop can do amazing things. If you give me a newbie at the track and he wants to learn to drive fast right now, the 911 is not the car for him. The 911 takes time and experience to drive well. Photoshop is the same. I have used it since 1989 and would not trade it for anything. If you are new and just want to make nice pictures for a while it might be overkill- other programs like elements are easier to use and may give better results the first month you are using it. If you are bitten by the photography hobby, or looking at becoming a pro, jump into photoshop. It will take some study and time to get good results, but it can be worth it. Most of these programs have a 30 day trial, take advantage of that. Also look at what you want to accomplish. Do you shoot raw, or jpg? Are you going to print 4x6 prints of your dog, or are you looking to produce 16x20 gallery prints? How much time do you want to spend post processing? All the programs work, most work very well- the more complex, the harder they are to learn, but at the same time the more they can do to help you produce that perfect image.
Gary

Here's a Pro quality tool for $0
http://www.gimp.org/