FWIW, I use Photoshop and Lightroom for all of my photo-editing. I was, for a short time, upset when they went to a subscription service for the software. I am on o very tight budget, but the $9.99 I pay monthly for the two products is worth it to me. This is what Adobe offers as their 'photography bundle' and it contains a number of other items that I don't use. The big advantage is that it is always up-to-date. No affiliation with Adobe, just a satisfied user.

So far... nothing edits better than Photoshop for me. But - it is time consuming.. and the version I use is older than pyramids... and I am NOT buying a new one... for obvious reasons... $$$$$... I am editingpics for ebay to the point of - not the masterpiece - but GOOD ENOUGH.

Good enough and very fast is IrfanView. Plus it is free. You can crop - automatically edit - rename the photo in seconds, CTR-Y, SHFT-U, You want to play with red, blue and green, saturation, brightness and contrast - SHFT-G. Woo-Hoo - save - next. I also use my phone camera. New smart phones and I phones - have amazing cameras. Tripod is good - they have the attachments for the cellphone.

What else - you need to have a good light and good background. I got the cheapest version of MYSTUDIO - $99 - plus - extra 24 inch light. They have really good daylight type tubes with good color correction. You can get a studio cheaper - ebay has them - Hyn Patty is the one who can advise. Miss her posts and her photos...

But whatever you do - different colors do better under different light sources. Example - the same Arcturus Aegis posted. The one our eye sees - is the one without editing. The one Aegis copied from the internet - with very yummy "Kodak" colors... you never see it like this with your own eyes... Eye Candy...

I.

We've been using Photoshop Elements forever and are still using the program from several versions back. Commonly available on sale at multiple internet sources from $50-70 (try B&H Photo or Adorama). Elements is one of the few photoshop versions that I believe you can still get on a disc as opposed to the full versions that are download only and offered by monthly subscription. Elements has many of the standard functions offered by the full Photoshop program but does have some professional limitations.

I've found that unless you're pretty serious about editing your images, the full Photoshop package is far and away too much program for the average picture snapper who will likely never use a tenth of what the program offers much less want to devote the computer memory space that it takes to run it. A great program? You betcha! But do you really need that much image processing power and are you willing to devote the time it takes to learn all the features?

If all you want is a free editing program, do a search for "free photo editors" and you'll probably get more choices than you care to try out. Certainly nothing wrong with free though if you're only looking to doing minimal adjustments to a limited number of images.

Agreed. Photoshop Elements is a good way to go.

I've got an early version of Photoshop which was good for what I needed it for. However, when finally I moved up to Windows 7 I couldn't install my Photoshop. The cost of the latest subscription version isn't justifiable for my situation. I've been playing around with a few editing programs but would be happier with my old Photoshop.

It's kinda different, but I found what I needed with Affinity Photo. I can buy it (unlike rent-a-Photoshop), which I like.

Obviously interface is going to be different, but give it a try.

For a free photo editing program, GIMP is decent.

That's true, I can usually do what I want with Gimp, though the time to do it (probably because of relatively unfamiliarity) is increased greatly. It also performs (imo) better under Linux than Windows.

Just remembered that I have a couple of friends that have been using Paint Shop (I believe Corel is the company) for ages and love it. It has many of the same features as PS Elements per the description. Found the PSE Pro 2019 version at B&H for $79 plus some change although there is apparently at least one version with even more features that comes in at about $100. Sorry but don't personally know much else about it other than the description given on the sales page.

I do want to add here that you will find opinions for and against almost any editing program. Not enough options, too many options, too hard to learn, doesn't do layers, bad customer support, too expensive, etc., etc., etc.

Just another program option for consideration but what it really boils down too in my opinion is finding a program, be that free or purchased, and spending enough time with it to find out what it does, how well does it do it, what options do I have on that editor, does it keep a catalog of your images, are the controls intuitive, how fast will it do it's intended purpose without bogging down whatever machine you're going to run the program on, i.e: does my current machine have enough RAM and memory, and lastly, are you willing to spend some amount of time "playing" with the program to see how it can make your images better? Because... if you don't want to spend the time to learn it, whether that be a few minutes here and there or just sitting down and trying this and that on each function until you get it figured out then you're probably better off with the best free editor you can find. As mentioned by other posters, GIMP has been around a long time (it's freeware as I recall) and seems to be quite well respected by people that have used it (I have not, having started out on PS Elements).

Good luck any way you decide to go..

I take pictures on my iPhone and edit using the app Snapseed.

Hi Aegis, I bought Photoshop Elements years ago for doing my digital scrapbooking pages and have upgraded it twice since then. Love working with that program, seems to do everything I’ve ever wanted to do with photos and graphics, and the price is right.

:D

Free https://pixlr.com/editor/

Ok, so I'm back again with another "free" product suggestion simply because your question got my curiosity humming. Found this one by accident while looking for something else but looks good to me and probably worth a try.. Note that the system requirements look to be a tad more restrictive (seems to be only Windows 10 and X-Box) than a few other sites but unless you're running a stone age machine, that shouldn't be an problem.

https://www.photoshop.com/products/photoshopexpress

Shows to be a free editor by Adobe and the description lists many of the tasks that one would use on images that you take. Like any editor, it will probably take a few tries to see how well it does what it says it does but since Adobe has been a leader in the field for many years, I've no doubt that it will do the job.

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I am a professional photographer and web designer who HATES Photoshop. Many years ago I changed to Zoner.com. Zoner does everything that Photoshop does and does it easier, cheaper and much faster and best of all - it is free. I however use their pro version that is around $80 or so. Unfortunately it only works on PC's and not MACs. Check it out! I have been using it for more than 15 years.

Zoner.com

If you can before your next shoot, run a white balance, best done using the lighting at the actual scene. I suspect that you haven't run a white balance recently. That may correct your off-balance colors and will reduce the amount of photo-shopping needed.

aegis1000: By your comments, your white balance may be off. I'm not familiar with smart phone cameras; For digital cameras, one should set the white balance before using to get the best hue results. I set mine for outdoors and lave it there, and then use the lighting source adjustments to account for different light sources. Some cameras try to self adjust for varying light sources, but for best results, one should do a white balance for the present light source. If you adjust the light balance, you'll find better results and a reduction in the amount of required post adjustment.

If you make the pic of a grey card - at the same location you are going to take your photo, and use this information to create a post photo filter to correct a photo taken at the same location at the same light - you can significantly improve the color presentation. Some cameras have this option built in, or you can use post processing available in Lightroom etc. The grey card - or a combination of grey, white and black cards is sold in any specialized camera stores. Not expensive. And plenty of youtube videos on how-to.

Regarding what soft to use - the best soft is the one you know really well. Photoshop = while you can produce a super result - is huge... probably way too involved for most of us.

Since most of us already got attached to our IPhones and Androids - these gizmos have really good cameras built in - and you can select - inside-outside- fluorescent - tungsten, try them all - and choose the one - that works for this location the best - and go with it.

Photoscape is a nice free easy basic program. It has some nice options too. Been using Irfanview and Photoscape for a long time and they have worked well for me. I do have PSE 9 too, no subscription. but only need that to make small adjustment like removing an objects, have teetered into other options but believe me, not heavy into that, lol

Might also consider where your violets are pertaining to shade and sun. The shade (esp deep shade) brings out blue color cast. While the sun may make them overblown (bright and no details). A dapple or solid bright shade would be ideal.

***I just noticed someone mention Snapseed. Good for on the spot editing, too!

For a few bucks Neopaint 5 (Its now called PixelNeo). According to the license you can install it on as many devices as you wish just so long as you only use them one at a time.

I use GIMP (which is free and very dependable) and I also have a paid subscription to Adobe Photoshop for $9.00 a month. Both work very well for me. I tend to prefer one or the other for certain ease depending on what I'm doing with my images. As Irena noted, adjusting your white balance on your camera is a great first step to color correcting your images and saving you the photo editing time on each individual image. You may also be able to go in and manually adjust the blue saturation if it's a real DSLR rather than using a phone camera.