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What digital photo management and editing program for a dummy?



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 24th 08, 04:18 PM posted to rec.photo.digital
Gordon Zola
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Posts: 3
Default What digital photo management and editing program for a dummy?

My wife is a casual point-and-shoot photographer who took many great
family photos on film over the years. Today she has a digital camera
and, while giving it a good shot initially, takes hardly any pictures
any more. The reason is that it is too difficult for her.

What? Too difficult, you say? Nonsense, digital is easy.

But it's not, you know. Not for people who are not that technical and
were brought up on film. Before, she would drop off the roll of film
at the store and a couple hours later have a bunch of pictures. But
now... all she has is files on a card.

How to transfer them to the computer?
For that matter, which computer? (We have more than one)
And her pix need to be kept separate from mine, or at least she should
be able to find hers back without too much trouble.
How to make the files smaller for easy emailing?
How to fix some color or brightness issues?
Oops, she just over-wrote the original with the edited version...
Now that she has edited the picture, where the heck is it so it can be
shared or emailed?
And how to get real pictures..? I mean prints.
How to back all those files up?

The main objective here is to end up with good looking prints like in
the olden days, and pictures that can be emailed, with the picture
files adequately protected for possible future use.

There are tons of image editing programs out there, Irfanview,
Photoshop, Elements, ACDSee, Picasa, Lightroom, Paintshop Pro, and
many many more.. plus the proprietary progs that came with the camera.
Is there any single one of them that will manage the whole digital
problem for my wife in a way that is relatively easy? Does she need a
couple maybe?

There is a pretty good learning curve for every program and she is
definitely not going to try more than one or a couple. So if you guys
could recommend one, that would be real useful. Cost is no object.

(And if there is a good solution, I might use it too!)

Suggestions appreciated.

Gordon
  #2  
Old August 24th 08, 05:22 PM posted to rec.photo.digital
Marvin[_2_]
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Posts: 171
Default What digital photo management and editing program for a dummy?

She can till get prints made in very much the same way.
There are many places, such as chain drugstores, Sam's Club,
etc., that have kiosks where you put the memory card in a
slot, see the photos on the card, and select those you want
printed. The turn-around time is similar.

Gordon Zola wrote:
My wife is a casual point-and-shoot photographer who took many great
family photos on film over the years. Today she has a digital camera
and, while giving it a good shot initially, takes hardly any pictures
any more. The reason is that it is too difficult for her.

What? Too difficult, you say? Nonsense, digital is easy.

But it's not, you know. Not for people who are not that technical and
were brought up on film. Before, she would drop off the roll of film
at the store and a couple hours later have a bunch of pictures. But
now... all she has is files on a card.

How to transfer them to the computer?
For that matter, which computer? (We have more than one)
And her pix need to be kept separate from mine, or at least she should
be able to find hers back without too much trouble.
How to make the files smaller for easy emailing?
How to fix some color or brightness issues?
Oops, she just over-wrote the original with the edited version...
Now that she has edited the picture, where the heck is it so it can be
shared or emailed?
And how to get real pictures..? I mean prints.
How to back all those files up?

The main objective here is to end up with good looking prints like in
the olden days, and pictures that can be emailed, with the picture
files adequately protected for possible future use.

There are tons of image editing programs out there, Irfanview,
Photoshop, Elements, ACDSee, Picasa, Lightroom, Paintshop Pro, and
many many more.. plus the proprietary progs that came with the camera.
Is there any single one of them that will manage the whole digital
problem for my wife in a way that is relatively easy? Does she need a
couple maybe?

There is a pretty good learning curve for every program and she is
definitely not going to try more than one or a couple. So if you guys
could recommend one, that would be real useful. Cost is no object.

(And if there is a good solution, I might use it too!)

Suggestions appreciated.

Gordon

  #3  
Old August 24th 08, 05:54 PM posted to rec.photo.digital
Gordon Zola
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3
Default What digital photo management and editing program for a dummy?

She already knows that.

What does she do with the card afterwards? What if the picture she
wants to print is not on the card any more?

What about all those other things I mentioned?

Gordon


On Sun, 24 Aug 2008 16:22:53 GMT, Marvin wrote:

She can till get prints made in very much the same way.
There are many places, such as chain drugstores, Sam's Club,
etc., that have kiosks where you put the memory card in a
slot, see the photos on the card, and select those you want
printed. The turn-around time is similar.

Gordon Zola wrote:
My wife is a casual point-and-shoot photographer who took many great
family photos on film over the years. Today she has a digital camera
and, while giving it a good shot initially, takes hardly any pictures
any more. The reason is that it is too difficult for her.

What? Too difficult, you say? Nonsense, digital is easy.

But it's not, you know. Not for people who are not that technical and
were brought up on film. Before, she would drop off the roll of film
at the store and a couple hours later have a bunch of pictures. But
now... all she has is files on a card.

How to transfer them to the computer?
For that matter, which computer? (We have more than one)
And her pix need to be kept separate from mine, or at least she should
be able to find hers back without too much trouble.
How to make the files smaller for easy emailing?
How to fix some color or brightness issues?
Oops, she just over-wrote the original with the edited version...
Now that she has edited the picture, where the heck is it so it can be
shared or emailed?
And how to get real pictures..? I mean prints.
How to back all those files up?

The main objective here is to end up with good looking prints like in
the olden days, and pictures that can be emailed, with the picture
files adequately protected for possible future use.

There are tons of image editing programs out there, Irfanview,
Photoshop, Elements, ACDSee, Picasa, Lightroom, Paintshop Pro, and
many many more.. plus the proprietary progs that came with the camera.
Is there any single one of them that will manage the whole digital
problem for my wife in a way that is relatively easy? Does she need a
couple maybe?

There is a pretty good learning curve for every program and she is
definitely not going to try more than one or a couple. So if you guys
could recommend one, that would be real useful. Cost is no object.

(And if there is a good solution, I might use it too!)

Suggestions appreciated.

Gordon

  #4  
Old August 24th 08, 06:43 PM posted to rec.photo.digital
Ray Fischer
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5,136
Default What digital photo management and editing program for a dummy?

Gordon Zola wrote:
My wife is a casual point-and-shoot photographer who took many great
family photos on film over the years. Today she has a digital camera
and, while giving it a good shot initially, takes hardly any pictures
any more. The reason is that it is too difficult for her.

What? Too difficult, you say? Nonsense, digital is easy.

But it's not, you know. Not for people who are not that technical and
were brought up on film. Before, she would drop off the roll of film
at the store and a couple hours later have a bunch of pictures. But
now... all she has is files on a card.


If you want it to be as easy as film then you just take the memory
card to the store, have the photos printed, and some will even put the
photos onto a CD for you.

How to transfer them to the computer?


How do you transfer film to your computer?

For that matter, which computer? (We have more than one)
And her pix need to be kept separate from mine, or at least she should
be able to find hers back without too much trouble.
How to make the files smaller for easy emailing?
How to fix some color or brightness issues?
Oops, she just over-wrote the original with the edited version...
Now that she has edited the picture, where the heck is it so it can be
shared or emailed?
And how to get real pictures..? I mean prints.
How to back all those files up?


You want to do thinkgs that are also very difficult with film. If you
want simplicity then don't try to make it hard.

The main objective here is to end up with good looking prints like in
the olden days, and pictures that can be emailed, with the picture
files adequately protected for possible future use.


LOL! And I bet you have no idea where all of your film negatives are
these days.

For digital images iMovie on the Mac makes it pretty simple. Connect
the camera and iMovie with transfer the photos to your computer.
Select which ones to print and it will upload them, have them printed,
and you'll get your prints in the mail.

--
Ray Fischer


  #5  
Old August 24th 08, 10:20 PM posted to rec.photo.digital
Roy G[_2_]
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Posts: 208
Default What digital photo management and editing program for a dummy?


"Gordon Zola" wrote in message
...



Before, she would drop off the roll of film
at the store and a couple hours later have a bunch of pictures.



Take your wording above, remove the word "Film" and replace it with "Memory
Card".

OR you could buy her one of those little 6 x 4 Printers, where she just pops
in the card, presses the button and out come the Prints.


Roy G


  #6  
Old August 25th 08, 03:15 AM posted to rec.photo.digital
Archibald
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 108
Default What digital photo management and editing program for a dummy?

On Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:20:20 +0100, "Roy G"
wrote:


"Gordon Zola" wrote in message
.. .



Before, she would drop off the roll of film
at the store and a couple hours later have a bunch of pictures.



Take your wording above, remove the word "Film" and replace it with "Memory
Card".

OR you could buy her one of those little 6 x 4 Printers, where she just pops
in the card, presses the button and out come the Prints.


Thanks, but not what I asked for.

Gordon

Archibald
  #7  
Old August 25th 08, 06:23 AM posted to rec.photo.digital
C J Campbell
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Posts: 1,272
Default What digital photo management and editing program for a dummy?

On 2008-08-24 08:18:56 -0700, Gordon Zola said:
Before, she would drop off the roll of film
at the store and a couple hours later have a bunch of pictures. But
now... all she has is files on a card.


Take the card to Costco or Wal-Mart or wherever you used to go.


How to transfer them to the computer?


Use a memory card reader. You can pick one up at Wal-Mart or Best Buy
or Staples or even some grocery stores for less than $30.


For that matter, which computer? (We have more than one)


The Mac, if you have one. Whichever one she wants otherwise.

And her pix need to be kept separate from mine, or at least she should
be able to find hers back without too much trouble.


So she uses her own computer and you use yours.

How to make the files smaller for easy emailing?


Picasa 2 for PC or iPhoto for Mac will do this easily. Picasa 2 is
free. iPhoto is part of iLife but it comes with your Mac.

How to fix some color or brightness issues?


Picasa 2 for PC or iPhoto for Mac. Or, you could use the software that
came with the camera.

Oops, she just over-wrote the original with the edited version...
Now that she has edited the picture, where the heck is it so it can be
shared or emailed?


Picasa 2 and iPhoto allow you to revert to the original photo. They
don't actually make any changes to the original photo. This is also
true of Lightroom and Aperture.

And how to get real pictures..? I mean prints.


Picasa 2 and iPhoto allow you to order prints on line, or you can
export the pictures to a USB drive or memory card and take it to
Wal-Mart. I don't know whether you can do it with Picasa, but iPhoto
allows you to create bound picture books which you can then order on
line.

How to back all those files up?


Time Machine for the Mac -- and an external drive. I use an Apple Time
Capsule and do everything wirelessly.

Otherwise just copy everything to DVDs. Or use any standard backup
software to back up to an external hard disk.


The main objective here is to end up with good looking prints like in
the olden days, and pictures that can be emailed, with the picture
files adequately protected for possible future use.

There are tons of image editing programs out there, Irfanview,
Photoshop, Elements, ACDSee, Picasa, Lightroom, Paintshop Pro, and
many many more.. plus the proprietary progs that came with the camera.
Is there any single one of them that will manage the whole digital
problem for my wife in a way that is relatively easy? Does she need a
couple maybe?


Well, if you are willing to spend the money, Lightroom 2 is a complete
solution. Photoshop Elements is another possibility. I use Aperture.
Lightroom 2 is very innovative, allowing you to adjust the saturation
of a single color, for example, with a gradient. To do that in
Photoshop would be much more difficult and require the use of several
layers. Photoshop can do a few minor adjustments not available in
Lightroom 2.

Aperture uses 'libraries.' You can have any number of libraries, so
your wife could store her pictures in one library and you could store
yours in another. I think Lightroom allows this, too.

Both PC and Mac allow you to set up separate user accounts. Programs
can be accessed from all the accounts and you have separate user
folders for each user. So it would be easy for your wife to log onto
her account and have the software see only her folders of pictures.


There is a pretty good learning curve for every program and she is
definitely not going to try more than one or a couple. So if you guys
could recommend one, that would be real useful. Cost is no object.

(And if there is a good solution, I might use it too!)

Suggestions appreciated.

Gordon



--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

 




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