Windows 7: Picture Editing Software Idea's

I have Irfanview installed as my System Default Image Viewer and Editor ..
And Jump to Photoshop when I need "More Power" .. (as Tim the Toolman would say)
Irfanvew can quickly Crop, Resize, Convert and adjust lighting ..
But there can be more to the subject of Lighting and Color adjusting than the simple Editors are equipped for.
These problems are usually a one click fix in Elements.

Picasa is another free software to consider...
Free picasa.com Download - picasa.com Files

I think it's more of a brightness/contrast thing that they maybe looking for so Infranview or FastStone should be good enough, but like you say if more precision is needed then a more powerful prog may be required.

paint.net

Here's some recommended Freeware Image Editors ... and Viewers

To show one of Elements Features, The Shadow/Highlight tool ... I tried to find a photo with Problems.
Elements knows what is Light and Dark .. And I told it to bring up the dark's about 50% .
about a 10 second adjustment while I decided what I wanted
The Panorama was made in Irfanview Quickly .. Then it was resized to 800 pixels wide.

I'm not sure if any of the freeware editors can do this lighting adjust.
After >> Before

Thank you for all these ideas and tips, this will help a lot!!

i will over the next week or 2 give them all a go and see what i think of them

The more Editing Power a program has ....
The longer it takes to load before you can use it .. and the more complicated it becomes.

My criteria is to do ~90% of my everyday work in something that's fast and relatively simple ..
Then, When I need More Power .. use the Best.
Good luck on your decision.

Elements has a full trial version .. I think it's good for 30 days