Faking it or Fixing it? When To Edit Your Photos — And How To Do It
Adobe Photoshop is the world’s most successful photo editing software, and its name has entered our language both as a verb “to Photoshop” and a gerund, “photoshopping.”
With its magical ability to alter and manipulate images, it was first seen as a godsend for photographers. It allowed us to clean and adjust images for high-quality publication.
But it was also the beginning of the age of “fake” photos — a subject I was intimately involved in and one that has given rise to concerns about the reliability of all photographic images.
Two Sizes Fit Most Everything
Photoshop comes in two flavors — Photoshop (CC) and Photoshop Elements. The main differences between them are that there are many more bells and whistles in the full Photoshop version than in Elements.
I have always used the less expensive Elements, and it has been more than capable of creating gorgeous images. It is both cloud-based and able to be installed from a DVD.
A starting subscription price for Photoshop is $22.99 a month. The latest version of Photoshop Elements on the other hand, is a one-time purchase of a program that costs $100.
These prices change often and without announcement, so check them out for yourself. Some older Photoshop programs can be purchased for a one-time fee of under $50, so shop around.
If you are thinking of buying Photoshop Elements, you can save more money by purchasing an older version. The Elements program I use is more than 5 years old, and it still works perfectly.
Searching on eBay, I turned up older versions of Photoshop Elements, like Elements 12, that were selling new for $60, while pre-owned editions were even less. Some of these older programs cannot handle newer raw software that is turning up.
GIMP is another software program for photo editing. It works very well and is basic. Most others vary in price and features, but GIMP is free and meets most needs after a little practice.
I have used Photoshop Elements since the 1990s, and it has been more than adequate for all my photo editing needs. Photoshop Elements and other editing programs emulate darkroom work and are intuitive.
If you get stuck, there are hundreds of free tutorials on YouTube to help you along. There is also a built-in safety factor. To protect your original image file, none of the editing changes you make are applied to the original until you save them.
Photoshop Elements is made up of two components — the Organizer and the Editor. When you open the program, a welcome screen asks which one you want to start with.