Re: What photo editing program do you use?
I edit both JPEG images and RAW images (I shoot with a Nikon D200 & a Nikon D70, so the RAW images are NEF files) in Photoshop Elements and ACDSee Pro. Neither program is particularly expensive - I haven't looked t either lately but pricing should be about $100 each.
There is a much more expensive version of Photoshop (PS Creative Suite) but it really isn't needed for the vast majority of people who have a need to edit photos. This is even true of a lot of pros. ACDSee has a basic version that used to be available as a free download, but I believe the developer is charging for it now.
I tend to bounce back and forth between the programs when editing because each has its own strengths. I like to start in ACDSee and move into PS Elements for certain things. Since ACDSee has an "Open in Editor" function that can be setup to load up Photo Shop, and pass an image directly into it, this is a very simple process.
There is also an open source program called "GIMP," which is free of charge via download. I just acquired it very recently so I haven't played with it much. Thus far, it seems to be pretty capable and I suspect that it does essentially everything that the other high end photo manipulation programs do. I don't yet know if it can handle RAW photo files, but for most people here, that probably isn't a concern.
For folks who do want to edit in RAW, however, potential programs should be looked at in terms of which camera RAW formats are supported. Most of the popular brands of cameras will be supported by many of the popular editing programs. And, where a particular RAW format is not supported by a program, it may be possible to obtain a format plugin to update it.
