Choosing a program

Learning goal

You will know what to look at when choosing a program to edit photos on a computer, and be able to see that even as different programs' names, interfaces and prices change, the core of the work stays the same. You will explain what a RAW processor does; you will tell apart catalog-based programs, which keep a record of your photos, from folder-based programs, which work directly in folders; you will weigh paid, subscription and free open-source options against your budget and your computer; you will know why you need to check your camera's RAW support; and you will grasp that the edits you make in one program usually don't carry over to another, but the original RAW always stays with you. You will also learn not to assume that automatic corrections will handle a face, on every skin, with the same success.

The question

The twenty frames you took in the introduction to genres module sit on your computer, and you now want to edit them not with a phone app but on the computer. You ask your group of friends. One recommends a subscription program that professionals use; another, a different paid program that studio photographers love; a third says, "don't pay, the free ones do the same job." On the internet, each program's fans have written long posts explaining why the others are bad.

Which program should I use? If I choose the wrong program, will I lose years, or do they all do the same job? In this lesson we will talk about editing programs, the real differences between them, and a few questions you need to look at when making the choice.

Context

In Lesson 7.1 we met why editing is needed, and non-destructive editing that protects the original file, through phone apps. Phone apps are fast and practical; but for editing a large RAW archive, processing hundreds of frames consistently, controlling colors and tones with fine adjustments, and preparing photos for different outlets, a computer program offers a much more comfortable workspace.

This module tells the basics of editing on a computer in nine lessons. The lessons are told through a widely used subscription program, but the free equivalents are also shown on screen. There is a reason for this: what you will learn here isn't one program's buttons, but photo editing itself. The names or places of the sliders change from program to program; the job they do doesn't.

Simple explanation

What does a RAW processor do?

A RAW processor is a program that reads the raw data the camera recorded and turns it into an image we can see and edit. As we saw in Lesson 15.1, a RAW file stores the single value the sensor measured at each pixel; calculating the colors, applying white balance, placing the tones and setting sharpness is the processor's job. That is why the same RAW file can look a little different when first opened in two different programs: each program interprets the raw data with its own default preferences.

Even though these differences look big at first glance, once you start editing they all come down to the same basic tools: white balance, exposure, contrast, light and dark tones, color, sharpness, noise reduction, cropping and local adjustments. All the widely used programs do non-destructive editing; that is, they don't touch the original RAW, they only keep a list of the changes you make. That is why a habit you learn in one program, for example setting white balance first and then exposure, comes with you when you move to another program too.

What is the difference between a catalog and a folder?

A catalog is a record book in which a program keeps, inside itself, the location, metadata and edits of your photos. In catalog-based programs you first introduce your photos to the program; the program doesn't move them, it only notes where they are and what it has done to them. This makes it easier to search among thousands of photos by keyword, star or date, and to keep several different edits of a photo; but the catalog itself also needs to be backed up.

A folder-based program, on the other hand, looks directly at the folders on your computer; you open a folder, see the photos inside it and edit them. Edits are usually kept in a small side file written next to each photo. This approach is simpler and more portable, but in very large archives searching and editing can be more laborious. Some programs offer both approaches together. Which one suits you depends on the size of your archive and your working habits.

What do you look at when choosing?

Programs fall into three main groups: subscription programs used for a monthly or yearly fee, licensed programs bought once, and free programs. Open source is a software model in which a program's code is open to everyone, and which is usually distributed for free; darktable and RawTherapee are examples of such programs. Subscription and licensed programs, like Lightroom or Capture One, often offer a more polished interface and more learning resources; free programs, on the other hand, make it possible to do the same basic jobs without paying, but learning them may call for a little more patience.

There are a few questions to look at in the choice: how big is your budget, how powerful is your computer and which operating system does it use, how big is your archive, and is your camera supported? RAW support is a program's ability to read the RAW files of a particular camera model; files from newly released cameras may not open until the programs are updated. Switching has a price too: the edits you make in one program usually don't carry over to another. But your original RAW files always stay with you; even in the worst case, you can edit them again. Many paid programs offer a trial period; trying two programs on the same photos for a few days tells you more than the arguments on the internet.

One more warning: programs' automatic correction buttons and tools that find faces by themselves may not work with the same success in every photo and on every skin. An automatic setting that shifts dark skin toward gray or makes light skin too bright is a starting point, not a result. You always need to check a face's color and tone with your own eye, if possible on a screen with consistent settings.

Visual evidence

You decide to try two programs: the trial version of a paid program, and a free, open-source program. You open a portrait from the module project in both: the RAW of the neighbor's dark-skinned daughter, shot in window light. At first opening the two images look a little different from each other: in one the skin is warmer, in the other a little cooler and flatter. In both you press the automatic correction button; one brightens the face more than needed and fades the deep brown of her skin, the other shifts the skin color slightly toward gray while opening the shadows.

Then in both you follow the same order by hand: first you set the white balance for the white curtain at the edge of the window, then you build the exposure for the face's middle tones, and after that you open the contrast and the dark tones a little. The names and places of the sliders are different, but ten minutes later the two programs give almost the same result: her skin warm and deep, the small reflection of the window in her eyes, detail in the curls of her hair. You decide which one to choose by looking at which runs more smoothly on your computer, whose interface you find more comfortable, and your budget.

Common mistakes

Summary

Editing programs differ in names, interfaces and prices, but all are built on a processor that turns RAW data into an image and on the same basic tools: white balance, exposure, contrast, tones, color, sharpness and cropping; all the widely used programs edit without touching the original file. Catalog-based programs make searching large archives easier by keeping a record of the photos, while folder-based programs are simpler and more portable; budget, computer, archive size and your camera's RAW support decide the choice, and even though edits usually don't carry over between programs, the original RAW always stays with you. Automatic corrections are a start; you need to check a face's color, on every skin, with your own eye.

Mini assignment

In this assignment you will compare two programs with your own photos.

1. Choose two editing programs, one the trial version of a paid program and one a free program, and check whether they support your camera's RAW files.
2. Open the same RAW file in both programs and look at the differences at first opening.
3. In both, set the white balance first by hand, then the exposure, then the contrast and tones; put the results side by side.
4. Press the automatic correction button on a portrait and compare the face's color and tone with the edit you made by hand.

Check yourself

• When you followed the same order in the two programs, how close did the results get to each other?
• Which program ran more smoothly on your computer, and whose interface did you find more comfortable?
• Did the automatic correction leave the skin of the person in the portrait true to its own color, or did you need to correct it by hand?

Glossary

Mini quiz

1. What does a RAW processor do?

• A) It uploads photos to the cloud
• B) It reads the camera's raw data, turns it into an image and opens it up for editing
• C) It formats the memory card
• D) It saves photos only as JPEG

2. What does a catalog-based program do when importing photos?

• A) It deletes the photos
• B) It always shrinks the photos
• C) It embeds the photos inside itself and removes the originals
• D) It records the photos' location, metadata and edits

3. What is usually not lost when moving from one program to another?

• A) The original RAW files
• B) All the program-specific edits
• C) The program's catalog
• D) The program's interface settings

4. The automatic correction button brightened a dark-skinned person's face more than needed and faded their skin. What should you do?

• A) Accept the result as it is
• B) Choose another photo
• C) Treat the automatic setting as a start, and correct the white balance and exposure for the face by hand
• D) Export the photo at a smaller size

Answers

1. B — The processor calculates colors, tones and white balance from the raw data.
2. D — The catalog doesn't move the photos; it keeps a record of them.
3. A — Edits are usually program-specific, but the original RAW always stays with you.
4. C — Automatic settings may not work with the same success on every skin; you need to correct the face with your own eye.

Summary card

• Programs change; the logic of editing doesn't.
• A RAW processor turns raw data into an image; the first look differs from program to program.
• A catalog keeps a record, a folder-based program looks directly.
• Subscription, license, open source: budget, computer, archive, RAW support.
• The original RAW stays with you; an automatic setting is a start, correct the face with your own eye.

Bridge to the next lesson

You have chosen your program; but your photos still sit in your computer's folders. When you first open the program, an empty window greets you and an "import" button waits. When you press this button, where do your photos go: does the program take them inside itself, or only note where they are? How do photos get into the program? The next lesson talks about importing, and how the catalog keeps a record of photos without moving them.