Which photo editor to choose is a common question that arises for many in today’s world of the digital age and there are many photo editing applications with many features and one needs to evaluate and compare each of these in selecting the best application that will meet your needs.

When editing digital photos there are many choices of software that are available and these can be put into three main areas in order to make it easier for the user to decide. The first category basically consists of Freeware, Promotional or Shareware products. Second is the Consumer category, and thirdly there is the Professional category.

In selecting a program it is important to consider how much you are willing to spend? Will you be able to learn how to use the software competently or will it be too advanced? When choosing a program how well does it edit and does it have all the features that you require?

It has become well known by many that Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard in terms of photo and image editing software. The latest in this range include Adobe Photoshop CS4 and Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 which is one of the best photo editing software programs around. Photoshop can be quite an expensive program and for the average consumer or beginner may be a little too much when there are other alternatives available for less money, however for the professional, this program is a must!

There are several other popular options which can be considered and include the Picasa editor by Google, Jasc Paint Shop Pro and Microsoft’s Picture It! These programs and many others offer a 30 Day trial for free so be sure to take advantage of these in order to try before you buy.

Another point to note is in relation to the free software programs which are often provided with your digital camera or other devices when purchased. Some of these can be very good but generally most are usually not very good quality and a waste of time and space. Be sure to get yourself a proper program such as the ones mentioned and I highly recommend Adobe Photoshop as it is an absolute gem of a program for all you photo and image editing needs.