Want the Effects But Don’t Have The Cash?

I know there are a few of you out in Internetland who love to take Photographs but who can’t afford Photoshop’s $675 price tag.  I only recently made that jump because Adobe was offering owners of Photoshop Elements (the downsized version of PS for the home photographer) an upgrade to Photoshop CS3 at a really bottom-basement price of $299.  (Hey, even at $299, I felt THAT pinch!)  So, if you can’t afford the best, what to do? 

 Well, there ARE options. 

If you’re just getting started with wanting to edit or improve your digital photographs, you might want to try something like Google’s free download, “Picasa.”  I remember downloading that program about two years ago and it took me about an hour to figure out all the different things it would do.  You can use Picasa to crop photos, increase saturation of color, sharpen your image up, or add a special filter.  The best part is, everything is undoable as long as you haven’t saved the photo to your hard drive.  Once you save it, though, your changes become permanent. 

Since Picasa debuted on the scene a few years ago other programs have followed on its heels.  About two months ago I heard about one called “Picnik” and this was a step up from what you could do in Picasa and it was still free.  They did offer a ”full” version with more options for a price but the free program would interface with online galleries like Flickr so you could upload a photo from home and then “work” on it on your lunch break at work.  Pretty spiffy stuff. 

This week, though, I heard about another option that takes you one step closer to what PhotoshopCS3 and PS Elements allow you to do and its called “Splashup.”  Again, it adds some new tools like those you would use in Photoshop but it comes free of charge.  Simply visit their website and download the program and you’re on your way. 

So, with all these options coming out, why do people like me continue to buy Photo editing software like PS CS3 and PS Elements?  Because…the options that you are getting with those free programs only begins to hit the surface of what you can do with the editing programs you pay for.  Granted, Splashup adds a whole new level to the game with many basic tools that, until now, you had to pay for but even those tools don’t do all the things that the tools with the same names do in Photoshop.  And, if all you want to do is brighten a simple highlight or deepen the colors of your favorite photos, then they will allow you all the creative freedom you will ever need.  If, however, you want to take your work to the next level and do things to Photos you never even dreamed you COULD, then keep plunking those quarters into the cookie jar because what you get from Photoshop CS3 will likely NEVER be found in a free program download.  You just have to try it out to understand the differences but take my word for it, it was worth every Ramen noodle dinner I am going to have to eat in order to buy my copy.