One challenge that has come with the masses of digital images even the most casual camera owner encounters is managing your collection. Online services have limits and uploading those ever larger images is very cumbersome with the puny broadband pipes Americans have.  As you become more serious with the hobby or even turn it into a business, there’s the need not just to catalog, but do basic batch processing and editing. Adobe Lightroom has become the defacto standard with pro photographers and serious hobbyists.  Lightroom does and an outstanding job, but it’s also in the neighbor of $300 a copy, and if you use it on more than one computer, Adobe wants you to buy a lcense for each.

For Windows users, Pictomio is a great alternative. You’ll need a relatively modern graphics card for it to work, but even if you have to plunk down an extra $35, it matches features favorable with Lightroom,  and its free. You can learn more and get a free download at the Pictomio web site.

Let me make it clear I’m a big fan of Photoshop. It’s the defacto standard for photo and images editing and with good reason. Over the years I’ve learned to do more and more with it’s growing capabilities, and I’ve only scratched the surface. I’m still using the CS2 version while it’s maker Adobe wants me to move to CS4. It’s a move I won’t be making. There a two reasons. First, while the price of a very good digital DSL camera has continued to fall, the price of Photoshop has continued to rise to the point than it costs more than most prosumer cameras. Second, piracy is a problem with Photoshop, and I tend to change computer systems often. The latest piracy protections in the software make moving it from system to system too cumbersome.

Unless something better comes along, my intended next photo editor is GIMP. GIMP is free Open Source software that is nearly as capable as it’s commercial rival. What has slowed my change is the necessity of learning a new interface and work flow, and Photoshop still does a bit more. If you’re a Photoshop user who’s ready to switch, a guide to configuring GIMP to look a little more familiar is available at LatopLogic.

This tutorial will teach you how to configure GIMP to make it as close to Photoshop as possible, accomplished via plugins, filters, and other downloads. The modifications done in this article are performed on the regular GIMP, not GIMPshop. If you are absolutely unwilling to learn new keystrokes and menu layouts, then you may want to look at GIMPshop, which is a redesigned GIMP layout for Photoshoppers. If you don’t like GIMPshop, you can also try GimPhoto. (LaptopLogic)