Recommendation wanted: Photo editing software

vanagon40

My 21 year old daughter wants photo editing software for Christmas. I know nothing about this, except that I have heard of Photoshop.

Is there something better?

My daughter's camera is only about 4 pixels, but she is a decent photographer and has some artistic talent (that she did NOT inherit from me). This is for recreational use only. I do not believe that she has ever owned any editing software before.

I don't mind spending more money than the cost of Photoshop (and I certainly don't mind spending less), but I do not want to get too carried away.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Nolf-Job

I would suggest giving gimp a try. With a smaller point and shoot, it's sometimes overkill to drop the money on an expensive program right off the bat.

If she really gets good and invests in a dslr or the like, you might want to move up to photoshop or check out lightroom. It's pretty nice if you're doing strictly photo editing.

primesuspect

Lightroom is decent, but I think Photoshop Elements is the perfect place to start. $100 gets your foot in the door to the Photoshop world, and Photoshop is the only tool that professionals use. It's $100 so it is not prohibitive, and the skills she'll learn with PSE will carry over if she decides to upgrade.

Lightroom is not really a true photo-editing app. Don't get me wrong, I love Lightroom, but it is more for advanced hobbyists and pros. You can do great things with it like bulk color profiling and correction, bulk EXIF editing, etc... things that are certainly possible with Photoshop, but only painfully.

vanagon40

Thanks for the responses. I went with sort of a compromise. I got the prior version (version 5) of PSE for $33. Hope it arrives by Christmas.