If you're just starting out in digital photography, you may be worrying a lot about which digital camera to get. While that is important, do remember that there is another element – image editing. After digital photos are taken, they can (and should) be cleaned up using an image editing program. In this article, we'll take a look at the various types of photo software available in the market.

Beginner Photo Editing Software
If you're new to editing digital photos and images, a basic photo editing software is what you need. These programs tend to have standard image editing features and allow you to perform basic image editing tasks like rotation, sharpening, cropping and the like. You can refer to my list of the top 5 beginner photo editors for more information.

Personally, I rely on a great tool called Ulead PhotoImpact 10. This program allows you to all sorts of image effects to your photos using clean, simple-to-use wizards and menus. What's more, it's one of the cheapest commercial grade photo editing packages I know of.

Advanced Photo Editing Software
If you need more power in your photo editor, you need to turn to advanced photo editing software. Examples include Adobe Photoshop CS and Corel Painter. These programs have high-end features not found in typical lower-end packages and are used by professional photographers. Their prices are also much higher – so do your research first if you're thinking of buying one.

Free Photo Editing Software
There are, in fact, many photo editors available for free download on the Internet. These programs offer basic image editing features and are usually written by individuals. If you want to have a feel of how to edit your photos, try one of these programs out. You can refer to my list of free photo editors for more information.

One of the best programs I know of is the GIMP. It's a nice, clean image editor originally used under the UNIX operating system but has now been distributed for Windows. You can download it here.

Photo Management Software
This class of photo software has been gaining importance in the last year or so. As a digital photographer, you'll certainly take many, many photos. How do you go about organizing and maintaining your photo collection? That's where photo management software comes in.

One of the best programs for this purpose is Adobe Photoshop Album 2.0. It's my program of choice and I really like the easy to use drag-and-drop capabilities, as well as attractive, clean user interface. Other good options include Ulead Photo Explorer 8.5 and Google's Picasa.

Conclusion
I hope this article has helped you understand what types of photo software are available in the market. Personally, I like to combine a good photo editing program like Ulead PhotoImpact with organizing software like Adobe Photoshop Album. This way, I have extreme flexibility when its comes to editing or organizing my digital photos.


About the Author
Gary Hendricks runs a hobby site at
www.basic-digital-photography.com. Read his tips on digital photography and learn to shoot better photos with your
digicam.