low cost RAW editor?

[mc-cro]

My laptop crashed and I lost my PS and Bridge software, so I am looking for a low cost alternative. while the PS Bridge worked extremely well, I only used very basic functions. I adjusted color, zoomed, and played with some of the shadow/highlight adjusters. I only used PS for resizing and saving. Thats a lot of overhead just to edit the WB and resize.

Are there other low cost alternatives that will allow me to adjust the RAW images, resize, and do basic functions?

 

[Misled]

Photoshop Elements

 

[mc-cro]

thanks, someone else also mentioned elements has great organization and batch edit features? that may be worth the price,

 

[BlueCorn]

If you can hit a sale, Lightroom isn't much more. It's got much better RAW capabilities.

 

[mc-cro]

can you expand the the capabilities, I am looking for what I think are very basic functions, but maybe there are capabilities that I didnt know I needed?

 

[jroovers]

If you're on a Mac you may want to look at Aperture as well. If you are a student or teacher, the academic version of LR is very cost effective

 

[BlueCorn]

Don't invest in aperture. It's a dead product.

 

[faithenfire]

for a different opinion. i use corel paintpro x5. works great for raw

 

[jroovers]

Don't invest in aperture. It's a dead product.

My wife uses it and likes it, despite the fact that they are no longer updating it. If we're talking basic functions here, you can get away with using it, and its very easy to navigate.

Never thought to ask the most basic question - what camera are you shooting and why can't you use the software that came with it? For example, if shooting Canon, why don't you just use DPP?

 

[BlueCorn]

I actually used to use (and really liked) Aperture. They fell behind on the RAW converter however so I switched to Lightroom. Since they've announced there will be no new versions, it's sort of silly to use it unless it's free.

Something to understand, if you're using an Adobe product, they all use the same converter on the back-end. They may look different but they all have the same internals. I like LR because its gear towards photographers. It's not just a great RAW converter, it's a catalog system, key-wording application, print processor (with intelligent, output dependent sharpening) and a publishing application for other web services.

 

[mc-cro]

good stuff, I am using a windows machine. and the camera is a Cannon T4i, I dont think I have ever given the packaged sw much of a try. I loaded it, didnt like it for some reason or another, and never went back to it. Does it allow for basic adjustments and sizing?

 

[IslandCrow]

Canon's Digital Photo Professional (I think that's what it's called) isn't all that bad for basic editing. I'd give it a second try if I were you and see if it fits the bill. I really haven't used it much, but if nothing else, you can use it to convert your photos to jpgs which will give you more options with other editing programs that may not be able to handle raw files. Personally, I'm a big Lightroom fan, but although it's gotten much cheaper and I think you definitely get what you pay for, it's not something I'd ever call cheap.

 

[raidendex]

http://rawtherapee.com/