Software for Beginner Nikon User

[cosgti]

I poosted this in the software forum but haven't gotten any responses. Maybe I'll have better luck here.

I'm slowly getting into digital photo and am still deciding what photo-editing software I should buy.
I just want a basic (beginner) software program to allow for minor touch-ups and that kind of thing, but something that I can grow with at least in the short-term. If you have any suggestions besides the two below, please let me know. I don't want to spent more than $150.
I downloaded the trials for Capture NX and Elements 6 and being a beginner the Capture program seems a bit complex, although admittedly I did not spend a lot of time playing with it. Elements seems a bit more user-friendly (at least for a beginner) and I like the interface.
To make the most of my trial, and help me make my decision to purchase or not, does anyone know of any on-line tutorials that I can check out? Elements seems pretty clear but I'm sure there is stuff I'm not seeing, or maybe there are some documented best-practices out there.

[K1W1]

Elements 6.
Once you get more proficient and know what you really want to do have another look at Capture NX or Lightroom or Photoshop or any of the dozens of other programs that are available.

[Telecorder]

Its free and does a good job of organization and has a good set of basic post processing tools that will work on Nikon NEF files. Once you're ready, PSE4 or above is the next progression when your budget allows. There's more out there that others have/use/recommend but Photo Shop probably has the most guidance/training resources to increase your capabilities, IMHO...

[cosgti]

Thanks. I'll give Picasa a try.

Can anyone point me to any good, online tutorials for Elements 6?

[A.meiring]

try www.projectw.org u hav to register but they hav loads

[jcon]

Can anyone point me to any good, online tutorials for Elements 6?


http://lynda.com/

It's an excellent site for tutorials, so user friendly and they walk you through everything the particular software has to offer. Well worth it!

[teko]

I like Picasa for the user-friendliness. It's so simple to use, and easy to upload to Picasa web album. But I feel the tools are not advanced enough sometimes, even compared to ACDSee. It's good for organizing photos and light retouch. So now I still use it in conjunction with PS Elements.

[e_dawg]

If I wasn't anal about image quality, I would just use Picasa and be done with it. But I am, so i use Capture NX all the time and think it's an awesome program.