We've had wet weather and I haven't been able to get out to take many photos with the new camera. Instead I've been trying out a lot of software. I've tried Photoshop CS3 beta, Photoshop Lightroom beta, Photoshop Elements, all from Adobe and I've also tried Nikon's Capture NX, Capture Editor and Picture Perfect. I tried Corel Paintshop Pro Photo and Snapfire. I tried Lightzone from Lightcrafts. Since I use Linux most of the time and these are all Windows and / or Mac products, I also tried a combination of F-Spot, The Gimp and Google's Picassa to see if I could stay all Linux all the time.
F-Spot and Picassa as well as Snapfire and Picture Perfect seem best for casual editing and cool print options but lack the high-end tools for good RAW handling and automated batch processes for repetitive workflows. On the other hand, Capture NX and Photoshop, et al have all kinds of powerful features but no fun print templates, photo albums, etc.
Photoshop Elements may be the choice for now since it handles NEF (Nikon's RAW files) and has fun output options like calendars, photo album pages, bordered prints, slideshows and video CD. Stay tuned for updates as I try out all these programs for the next 30 days. If you have found the perfect solution, please add a comment or send me an email.
