Why Photo Editing Software?

Say goodbye to retake after retake trying to get just the right angle and lighting, and to expensive professional developing—photo editing software brings the photo lab to your desktop at a fraction of the cost.

You can import and export using a number of different files and methods. Upload from a digital camera, a removable storage device (CD, DVD, flash drive, cell phone, and more), scanner or digital camcorder and easily edit your images with a photo editing program. After you have made the changes, photo editing software will prepare your pictures for print, emails, slide shows, an online photo gallery and more, so you can conveniently share your photos.

Edit your pictures using a number of different tools like:

• Red eye removal - resolves red eye issues by changing the color of the eye or taking the color out.
• Lighting adjustment - How often have you taken the perfect picture but it's just a little dark or a little washed out with too much light. You can adjust the light so the photo has perfect lighting.
• Touch-up scratches and blemishes - All of your photographs and your subjects will look flawless
• And much more!

In this site, you'll find photo taking tips and tutorials and comprehensive reviews of photo editing software that will help you make an informed decision on which software fits your needs.

At TopTenREVIEWS We Do the Research So You Don't Have To.™

What to Look for in Photo Editing Software

Photo editing software has unlimited applications. Use it to fix family snap shots, create digital art or to perfect images for your company website or marketing material. Below are the criteria TopTenREVIEWS used to evaluate photo editing software:

Ease of Use
Photo editing is especially difficult to learn and use because of the many different options available. The software should have tutorials to show you how to use features and many programs have "Wizards" that automatically fix the most common problems with photos, (e.g. red-eye, crooked images, correct poor lighting and so on).

Import and Export Formats
There are a handful of widely used formats the program should definitely support. JPG, GIF, BMP, EPS, PDF, TIF, PICT are among the most common. However, with the ever-changing nature of file formats, more is better.

Editing
The photo editing software should have features that allow you to improve or add to your photo like lighting adjustment, effects, text and so on.

Photo Sharing Capabilities
Software should give you tools to optimize (file size, resolution and image size) your photos for the specific sharing method you intend to use. Sharing methods include email, web galleries, PDAs, cell phones, print and more.

Output Capabilities
The software should be versatile and effective in saving images. It ought to save the images in a number of different ways including printing, emailing, web and more, so you can delve into the world of digital scrapbooking.

Organizing
The photo editing program should have organizing capabilities with thumbnails, the ability to search for images by keywords or rating, view EXIF (digital camera data), store your images in permanent albums and image archiving.

Help/Documentation/Support
The software should have tutorials to show you how and why you would want to use certain features. Also the manufacturer should provide technical support in the form of FAQs, email and phone.

With the right photo editing software, you could be the envy of all your relatives, scrapbooking partners or business associates. Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 earned our TopTenREVIEWS Gold Award, and we put together a comprehensive review which includes nearly 100 screenshots and even photo tutorials, so you'll know how Photoshop Elements works before you buy.