Desperation: Someone recommend a photo editing tool!

[textualdeviance]

Considering that I edit photos for a living, you'd think I'd already figured this out, but... Sadly, no.

Here's the core problem:

I hate Photoshop. No, really. I hate it. I hate Adobe's UI, for one, and the thing is a giant, memory-sucking behemoth that takes about 10 minutes to load on anything other than the computer equivalent of a Testarossa

Comments

[abiku]

Your requirements rule a lot of the usual suspects out. You may want to check out Xara Xtreme. It has a stupid name and isn't free, but the non-pro version is only $89 and that isn't that bad compared to Photoshop. I don't know offhand if it does everything you listed above, but it is supposed to be a good program. YMMV.

[abiku]

Also, perhaps PhotoPlus 9 or the old standby of a lot of people, PaintShop Pro.

[paulnolan]

Would an old version of Photoshop be OK? CS4 is a slow, bloated sack of crap, but 7 through CS3 have most of the important features and run much nicer.

GIMP has most of the stuff you mention - not sure about edge feathering, but it might have been added since I last used it.

[textualdeviance]

I used to run CS3, and it was OK, but my biggest problem with PS is that it's just too much tool for what I need to do. I feel like I need a degree just to use it. It's overly complicated for basic photo editing.

[paulnolan]

If it's just for that (and not any fancy tricks type stuff), have you tried Lightroom? Kind of a halfway point between Bridge+ACR and full Photoshop. (I would suggest Aperture as that's what I use, but there's no Windows version, and LR's pretty much the same feature-wise).

[van]

I use an old (old, like 1990s old) version of Paintshop Pro (5.0 to be exact). Last I looked it was up to 9.0. I know it does MOST of what you want, I'm just not sure about the batch editting. Still, it might be worth looking into.

[ironymaiden]

ha! i use the same version at work, i refuse to give it up.

the GIMP is my answer for the full-service editor. it's a technician's tool rather than an artist's, which is pretty much what i need.

otherwise, i use Picasa for basic crop/retouch.

[van]

Ahaha, yeah. I upgraded my PSP once, and I was like "WHY DID YOU CHANGE HOW TO DO EVERYTHING?!??!?!" and went back to 5.0. It doesn't do everything I want, and sometimes I have to load up Photoshop, but I'm familiar with what it does do, and enjoy it much more.