Photoshop vs Windows photo gallery

[imamartian]

I've just started getting into photography, and i don't get or like the idea of using photoshop to make pictures better - more likely that i don't have the time or the money to invest in it. I have downloaded Gimp, but don't understand how to use that.

However, i noticed the other day that Windows photo gallery has a fix option, and in a lot of cases will improve the exposure of under exposed shots, and allow you to crop pics etc.

I 'fixed' the exposure on one photo and noticed that the file size went down from around 9mb to around 3.5mb....

So what is it doing to my picture? Is it worth using? or is it ruining my snaps?

Thanks

 

[Alarm]

Gimp is a PITA but pretty good when used to it.

 

[frankman]

I'm not familiar with Windows photo gallery but it's probably compressing your jpeg image more than the original. Jpeg is a compressed file format and the compression can vary. The more compression used, the more detail is lost. See if there's a setting where you can control the image quality on saving.

A basic image viewer/editor that's worth looking at is Faststone. It has a surprising range of features and can even deal with RAW images, if you ever use them. Best of all it's free.