I'm often asked questions about image editing software:

  • What do you recommend?
  • What should I buy?
  • Why is Photoshop so expensive?
  • What are the alternatives?

Since the glorious weather I was raving about less than an hour ago has deteriorated into a dull greyness and the first spits of rain are now landing on my window, it looks as though I have some time on my hands so I thought I'd address the topic here.

Adobe Photoshop, in all its various versions.

Photoshop is a truly superb image editing package; no software gets to be the industry standard software set without being good. By virtue of the fact that everyone else is playing "catch-up," Adobe have been able to price Photoshop beyond the reach of most individuals.

Other than the cost of the package, there's little or nothing to criticise where Photoshop is concerned.

Adobe Photoshop Elements

To all intents and purposes, Elements is a cut-down version of Photoshop.

For the average user there is little you cannot do with Elements and in my eyes this is a serious contender for an image editing package at a cost of around £70.00 (discounts are available if you shop around).

Paint Shop Pro Photo X2

Paint Shop Pro seems to have been around forever. From humble beginnings this software is now part of the Corel group and is quite simply excellent. I've heard Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 referred to as a Photoshop CS lookalike; I'd argue with that in as much as PSP is more akin to Photoshop Elements and is priced accordingly. However PSP has been around in its own right for many a year and has a loyal following. Expect to pay less than £80.00 for this software.

GIMP: the GNU Image Manipulation Program

Breaking away from commercial software, GIMP is an extremely versatile graphics manipulation package and having used it myself I can vouch for how good it is.

GIMP has one real benefit though... it comes FREE!

If you visit the GIMP web you'll find tutorials, demos, FAQs and of course the downloads.

There are versions of GIMP available for Linux, Mac and Windows users; just make sure you download the appropriate version for your operating system.

There are, of course, dozens and dozens of other image and photo editing packages available to buy; I'm not about to tell you what you should or shouldn't buy, but the packages listed above are offered as a starting point for consideration.

What do I use? Photoshop is the image editing package I use most... no, not the latest version.

I also have:

  • Nikon's Capture NX, written specifically as a photo-editor for Nikon's digital SLRs
  • GIMP
  • Paint Shop Pro 9
  • Fireworks

For more information about the above go to:

I hope this is useful to anyone seeking image/photo editing software.