Photo-editing software reviews: FAQs
What can I do with image editing software?
Photo editing can turn a poor shot into a great one
Photo-editing software lets you make changes to photographs stored on your computer. These are usually JPEG files taken by a digital camera or Digital SLR.
The software comes with a range of tools for correcting and manipulating your pictures.You can remove red eye, tone down the brightness on an overblown flash photo or crop to the heart of an image.
With many programs you can also merge photographs, use artistic effects to create surreal effects, remove people or objects from a picture, even smooth the skin to make a wrinkly face look smooth and young.
Some packages come with scratch tools for gently rubbing away creases and marks like the ones you often see on old photos. This can be useful if you have scanned in an old, damaged film photo.
Apple Aperture - a package with plenty of features for the keen photographer to try
I haven't used photo-editing software before, how easy is it to use?
Some photo-editing programs take practice to get to grips with due to the sheer number of features and options, but many make it quite simple for beginners to pick up with clear icons, menus and help features.
All have an automatic correction tool which can correct a photo for colour, contrast, brightness and sharpness. It's worth trying for a quick fix, you can always undo if you're not happy with the result.
The most powerful photo-editing srograms have plenty of manual options, too, giving you the freedom to make precise adjustments.
Each software package in our test has an ease-of-use rating, so use this to help you decide which software is best for you.
Where can I get photo-editing software from?
Adobe Photoshop Elements is probably the best known paid-for package - it's available to buy on CD in electronics and computer shops, and of course online. You can also download it from the Adobe website.
In the last few years free photo-editing software has become widely available. This can be downloaded from the web (eg Paint.net) or come free of charge when you buy a new computer (Apple iPhoto) or as part of your office suite (Microsoft Office 2010 Picture Manager).
Pixlr - free web-based photo-editing
Pixlr and Google Picnik are also free, but they are online programs - you upload your image and edit it from within the site. An advantage of this is that there's nothing to install or update on your own computer, but a disadvantage is that you need an internet connection whenever you want to upload and edit a picture.
Is the free software any good?
Yes. Free software varies in quality and often lacks the advanced features of paid-for software, but there are still some very good free programs available. You may not always find advanced features though, and the Help section of the software is sometimes not as developed as on paid-for software.
Do I really need photo editing software?
We've all got boxes stashed away full of photos which could do with sprucing up. And while digital cameras show you the results of your efforts as soon as you've taken a shot, it’s still tricky to take a photo which reproduces precisely what you see in front of you.
A good photo-editing program provides you with the opportunity to change the photograph you took into the photograph you wanted to take.
Will my computer be powerful enough?
Some photo-editing packages – particularly those crammed with features – require at least 1GB of RAM. Check system requirements before you buy or download, but as a rule of thumb, most computers up to about 3 or 4 years old will run most software successfully.
