Are you shopping for photography software? Here’s what you need to know to find the programs that will take your shots to the next level.
Did you know that over 50,000 photographers operate within the United States?
If you’re an aspiring photographer as well, know that your skills aren’t enough to make you distinguished. In this competitive industry, your equipment and software play a huge part in your success. But if you aren’t well-versed, you might have no idea what photo editing software to get.
Don’t get discouraged yet.
In this guide, you’ll learn what to look for in photography software. Read on and find out more:
Why is Photography Software Important?
Photographers must understand that photo editing is a part of their job. With edits, your stunning photos become perfect through metrics adjustment. Some of these include balance, color, and exposure.
Also, editing your photos reduces their file size. It’s an especially important process if you want to post your images online. It matters not whether you’re posting on your photography website or social media account.
Smaller images improve your website’s loading speed, improving your search engine rankings. Take note, Google’s 2018 algorithm made page speed a factor when determining your placements on their search engine results page. When uploaded on social media platforms, smaller images have better quality.
What Should You Look for to Get the Best Photography Software?
If you want to save time when editing photos while maintaining quality, get intuitive editing software. They must be easy to use and have powerful features to take your photos to the next level. Here are some things you must consider:
1. Simple and Great User Interface
Regardless of its features, a photography application is unusable if its interface is too difficult. Great software must have a simple user interface. If your chosen application is easy to understand, you’ll know that the developers planned it intricately.
These programs thought about the journey of an average user. For example, photography applications with clean and easy workspace enable you to focus on your images. The best part is when your chosen application gives you a detailed walkthrough of each module when first opened.
2. Wide Set of Features
For a freelance photographer, you must have lots of tools needed to make photos of varying subjects. It means your chosen software must cater to different types of photography. Some of these are:
- Portrait
- Landscape
- Real estate
Take note, photography encompasses other types, but these are the most common. To make the most out of these, you must get the software with presets and professional filters. This is the baseline for your features, especially when you’re a beginner.
3. Skill Level
Depending on your skill level, your choice of the right photography application changes. If you’re starting, you must get the software with photo cataloging capabilities. It must have basic editing and sharing tools.
As for functions, you must get editing functions like cropping, rotating, flipping, and more. It’s also handy to get functions that allow you to adjust both the shadow density and highlights. Most software made for beginners automates these functions to help you decide on the right setting.
Intermediate Skill Level
Once you exhausted the basic editor’s potential, you have lots of great software options. Pick ones that offer histogram-based adjustments with higher fine-tuning capabilities for basic settings. Some also have customizable user interfaces, batch editing tools, and wider output options range.
Intermediate photography applications often have a lesser degree of automation. In most cases, you’ll find quick-fix settings to correct red eyes or adjust brightness and other settings.
Expert Skill Level
Applications used by experienced photographers have more complicated and powerful features, like raw file conversion capabilities. Their design allows photographers to make the most out of their experience. At the cost of its complexity, you have more control over your photo-editing efforts.
4. Cost
This is one of the most important deciding factors whether the application is right for you. Some have a one-time payment option while others are subscriptions. There are lots of free software on the internet, but most have limited functionalities.
Your willingness to buy the tools despite the cost reflects your determination in photography. If you’re unsure whether you’re making a career out of it, try out free tools first. Some better applications have free trial versions.
Use these free trials to know whether the photography application is right for you.
Open Source Photography Applications
Are you unsure whether to invest money in photography programs? If so, get these free, open-source applications. You can also try out this guide on how to read PDF files in Google Docs and how to convert them into Word Documents.
GIMP
This application is a great alternative to Adobe Photoshop. Its longevity is because of its compatibility with both PC and Mac. It also has most of the tools seen in Photoshop, but it doesn’t have a polished look.
It also has fewer third-party options and tutorials. But as a free option, GIMP is the best application for the task.
Darktable
Do you want a RAW developer similar to Adobe Lightroom? If so, Darktable’s features allow you to completely control your images. Despite its free nature, it can compete with Lightroom.
Its main drawback is it’s less extendible. Like GIMP, you also have limited resources to help you learn about its functions and features. The worst part is that Darktable only works on macOS.
Irfanview
This freeware application is an image cataloguer and file viewer by design. But its updates make it a more powerful tool. The application has key editing functions while enabling users to see images as slide shows.
You can also resize, rename, move, and copy files and email photos using Irfanview. This is convenient since you need not open other applications when editing photos.
Become a Photographer Today!
These are some considerations to get the best photography applications around. Use the examples above if you aren’t willing to spend money yet.
Did this guide help you choose good photography software? If so, we encourage you to read our other posts and learn other valuable tips and tricks.