Photography Tips

Selecting portrait professional software is never easy. What makes the task hard is the fact that there are so many retouching applications in the market, and each single application claims to be the best. But when all is said and done, one has to ultimately make a decision on the portrait professional retouching software to use. Now that is a decision that can be made randomly (without any considerations) – perhaps just by tossing a coin.

The decision on the retouching software to use is also one that can be made in a rational manner: after making some objective considerations. Needless to say, the latter approach to selection of retouching software is better. But for you to be able to use it, you need to know what the relevant considerations are: hence the need for this discussion on the key things you need to consider when selecting professional retouching software. Those key issues that you need to consider when selecting portrait professional retouching software include:

1. User-friendliness: You will generally have an easier time if you opt for a professional retouching software application that is truly user friendly. One good measure of user-friendliness is how easy the software is to use, at a general level. Another good measure of user-friendliness in this sort of software is the appearance of the user-interface: whether it is intimidating or welcoming. When all is said and done, you need to remember that some of the highly hyped portrait professional retouching software applications are actually not very user friendly. The user friendliness of the retouching software you opt to use will have a bearing on something as crucial as the amount of time you will be spending on the retouching work tasks. It will also have some influence on how enjoyable (or stressful) the retouching work will be, for you.
2. Available features: You need to first undertake some research, to gain insight on the features that are generally and by convention viewed as ‘essential features' in retouching software. Then you need to ensure that the software you ultimately decide to use is of a variety that has all the identified ‘essential' features. It is, for instance, crucial for you to know what face touch-up capabilities the software you consider buying has. Then you need to know what ‘feature enhancement' capabilities the software you consider buying has. This is because, in the final analysis, most of the work you'll be doing in terms of retouching portraits, will revolve around those two areas – namely feature enhancements and facial touch-up.
3. User support: You are definitely better off opting for a retouching software application that enjoys genuinely good technical support. This will ensure that help will always be at hand whenever you get stuck with certain aspects of the software's usage. Security and other technical patches/updates for the retouching software are also likely to be available in a timely manner (if you opt for a well-supported application).
4. Cost: All we can say about cost is that you should see to it that the software you opt to buy is, in all senses, good value for money.
5. Versatility: You can figure out how versatile a given retouching software application is by trying to get insight on the sorts of plug-ins available for it, and trying to understand what import and export capabilities it has.