Thanks Steve,i think i shall have a go with picmonkey,i don't want to rip the pictures to pieces

Regards Ron.

PicMonkey is a nice and straightforward editing program and you don't have to install any software onto your computer to use it  - you just upload your photo of choice to PicMonkey, edit away to your heart's content, and then save your completed masterpiece back to a folder on your comp. I would definitely give it a try as (at the moment) all the options on it are free. This will change sometime in the future when they start charging a subscription for their 'Royale' extra effects, but I don't think a date has been set yet (or at least made common knowledge as far as I know) for the introduction of this 'Premium' service. It won't make any difference to the main body of their content anyway, and you can while-away many an hour just trying out their basic effects, fonts, frames and collages. If you try it and find it's not for you, well at least you've given it a go - there's bound to be something else out there. One word of advice - I agree with Steve - always work on a copy of your original pic or at least save your worked-on photo as a copy to your computer then you've always got your original pic 'unharmed'. Before you start working on your own precious photos though, why not have a go on some of PicMonkey's sample pics first? You may just be pleasantly surprised as to what you can achieve and you don't have to save them to your comp afterwards if you don't want to. As you may have gathered, I heartily recommend you try PicMonkey, but here's wishing you the best of luck with whichever editing program you eventually decide is the one for you.

Good Luck!!

Diane.

Angie, your processing certainly improves the rose photo, even though it was good to begin with.

Hi Ron,

no matter if you use it or not - i think any photographer in the digital ages should know what is possible to do with editing

If you look at the photos of others and think: i will never be able to get similar results  or at your own and wonder which potential is in them - you should know how editing works and what you could achieve with it.

It's a good idea to work like a bee. Collect as many photos as possible during the summer and digest them (edit them) during the winter

rinklyron, what not give the fun competions M or E and IHC MAN a try, lots of fun, nothing seroius and a great way to try and discover something new. http://www.myfinepix.co.uk/forum/1590

Ron, Photoscape & Picassa,both free, both very simple. give them a look 

Well, Okay, if you are happy with a photograph that is not as good as it could be - and moreover, is not as good as YOU could make it - there is no need to edit. Mediocrity rules, ok?

I apologize for the cut and paste reply to this thread but I typed out an answer to a similar question which I am posting here as well for what it is worth.

It is really a matter of taste and style, as well as what the image may or may not need.  There is no such thing as a one size fits all approach and it is rare that you will find agreement in what to do or not to do.  

Me personally am a minimalist in my approach to the majority of my images.  I don't often use photoshop and when I do I use CS2...lol...I know it's an antique but it does more than I will ever use. All of my images are imported and organised and basic adjustments if any are done using Lightroom version 2, also very outdated, but again adequate for my needs.  When I do edit it usually just amounts to some curves for contrast when needed and maybe some cleaning up of specs, dust etc or maybe some sharpening usually using the high pass filter method in photoshop that Ray described but I don't always sharpen my images either. For formal or glamour portraits however I do have a workflow which involves layers in photoshop.  

But again that is my approach and my style and may not suit you or anybody else.  I much prefer working with the camera than the computer.  I love to experiment with light and exposure and depth of field to get the most drama that I can from an image.  I've found that the longer I've been doing digital photography the less I post process, but that is just me. 

Honestly I would browse different galleries and portfolios on here and elsewhere on the net and when you find a style that you like simply ask about the workflow that photographer uses.  Most will be happy to tell you if not in detail they will still likely give you some idea of whether they are a minimalist or a photoshop guru. Some even post their workflow on their sites.  One of my favorite photographers does this from time to time and she is a photoshop goddess in my opinion.

Here is a link to her site and she does have a section for pp techniques with sample images you can download and practice with but she is very advanced: http://www.dianevarner.com/