I use Adobe Photoshop for my photo editing. Adobe Photoshop is a wonderful tool for Photographers, but I really only use about 1% of what Photoshop can do. You don't need Adobe Photoshop to do the photo editing I do, you can use other photo editing softwares like Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2, Adobe Lightroom for the PC or Apple Aperture 2 if you use a Mac.
There are also free tools you can use like GIMP or Google's Picassa. GIMP is similar to Adobe Photoshop but it's an open source software, so it's free to use. It is as powerful as Adobe Photoshop.
Picasa is free from Google but I find it to be quite limited in what I can control since you cannot adjust curves is really more for quick and easy use than full control. I found my photos come out better when I can control it better in Photoshop. I do use Picasa to organize my photos. I can probably use some other software but I'm a little lazy to learn a new system right now.
I'm showing you different software options here because I don't want you to think that Adobe Photoshop is the only way to edit your photos.
If you want more control and you want something free, I suggest you download GIMP. GIMP has pretty much all the tools you need to retouch or manipulate your photo like levels, curves, sharpening, channel mixing and more. The nice thing about GIMP other than it's free is that it is multi-platform. Which means you can use it whether you are using Windows, Mac or Linux.
Here are some suggestions on which software to use depending on your photographic needs.
Google Picasa - weekend photographer, family photos, quick correction and photo organization.
Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 - same as above plus for the more advanced photographers who wants a little more artistic control.
Adobe Lightroom and Apple Aperture - same as above plus ideal for professional photographers. Great for organizing photos and batch processing.
GIMP and Adobe Photoshop - for professional photographers who wants full control and best for complete photo manipulation.
The main thing to remember is, it doesn't matter which software you use, as long as you're comfortable using it and it is good enough for your needs. Rule of thumb when choosing which software to use is this.
"Use the one that is best suited for your computer hardware."
A lot of people I know likes to use the latest and the best software. Which usually means they default to Adobe Photoshop. First of all, Adobe Photoshop is expensive and it is only really usable on higher end machines, dual core CPUs and lots of RAM. Anything lower than that, Photoshop is a pain to use.
So if you only have a netbook, don't bother using Photoshop. Stick with Picasa. It will save you a lot of pain.
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