Reactive Imaging

Adobe Photoshop is the undisputed king of image editing applications. Yet, to many it appears to have become bloated and overpriced over the years. Many continue to pay for upgrades because of the vast resources available for further instruction and years of invested time delving into its endless array of features.

Truth be told, good results can be achieved with less expensive programs. Photoshop Elements ($89 msrp) has an entirely different feature set and target audience than full-featured Photoshop. Elements, as the name implies, is a collection of features extracted from Photoshop for editing RGB digital photography.

Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 ($80) for Windows and Pixelmator ($59) for Mac are popular alternatives to Photoshop ($699). Like Elements, Pixelmator, with its stunning interface, is currently limited to RGB workflows. This may be alright for some inkjet printers sporting a dozen wide-gamut inks but CMYK support is generally necessary for commercial printing.

Money Can't Buy Me Love

Those budgeting less than a dollar still have options. There are several Web-based photo editors. Files must be uploaded and features are not as robust as desktop applications but Web apps are a viable option for simple fixes. Adobe Photoshop Express, Aviary, Picasa, Picnik, Pixlr and Splashup are some of the interactive Flash-based titles.

There are even free desktop image editing applications. GIMP is an open source offering. (Donations accepted.) It is available for Mac and Windows with support from a large community. GIMPShop steps up the game by modeling the interface after Photoshop though it lacks support for Photoshop plugins. Installing Apple's X11 is recommended for either GIMP product on Mac OS X.

With frequent updates, open source applications can feel like beta projects lacking stability. With a user interface unlike Photoshop, Krita is an award winning Linux application lauded for ease of use. Paint.NET requires Windows. ChocoFlop, designed exclusively for Mac, is offering its beta for free.

End result is more important than the tool used to achieve it. Some applications are designed more for creating artistic images while others are provided to enhance the appearance of existing photographs. Most applications have native file formats. For example, Photoshop can save PSD files. When little known applications are used, don't submit the native files for output and expect the print shop to have a copy. Save images in standard formats (preferably TIFF or if you must, JPEG). Become familiar with basic file preparation procedures.