Photo Editting Software?

I'm an amateur photographer and am looking for a specific effect for some photographs.  Black and white photo with one object that has the original color.  What photo editting software allows you to create photos with this effect?  And I guess, what are some good photo editting programs in general?  Thanks in advance!

Photoshop or Gimp

I know Photoshop would do what you want, but it's fairly expensive.  It's probably the better investment over the long run though.  It looks like Photoshop elements will do it (I'm not familiar with it though, so I don't know for sure), but, from what I've seen, it looks way more complicated than the Photoshop method.  The Gimp sounds like it would also work, but again I don't know enough about it to recommend it one way or another.

Original Post by jewelsmcblah:

Photoshop or Gimp

photoshop does it all

Great! Thanks for the input!  I was leaning towards Photoshop, but was weary of the price.  If it's as great as it's made out to be, it's probably what I'm looking for anyway.  I've never even heard of Gimp, what's the biggest difference between it and Photoshop?

Photoshop Elements will do it also, for a lot less money than the full Photoshop application. 

Edit: here's a link to one of my CC journal posts that created that exact effect (well a sepia tone rather than black and white but you can do B & W too) with Photoshop Elements:  http://caloriecount.about.com/users/meganr/pa ge/8.html - the May 19th entry.

I've only had passing experience with GIMP, so take this for what it's worth.  The GIMP is freeware (big bonus), so it's worth a try.  The few times I've used it, it felt like a clunkier uglier Photoshop.  A lot of the menus are very similar, but (and I may just not know how to do it) GIMP doesn't seem to have anything like Photoshop's rubylith selection ability, which would make what you're doing much easier.  Also, and this might not matter to you right now, GIMP supports Wacom tablets(absolutely cool pen-based drawing tablets if you don't know.) by making the line more transparent with less pressure rather than thinner like Photoshop.  

Other than that, it feels very Mac-ish as it's menus/windows are disconnected and just kind of hang out. 

The biggest differences I've seen among the programs are how easy or difficult it is to get things done (not a surprise).  The thing is, for the most part, a lot of that's totally dependent on the preferences of the user. 

Have you thought about trials?  Adobe offers free 30 day trials of thier software.  Also if you happen to be a student, they offer fantastic discounts.

If you're going to be doing this a lot, I'd really recommend just going for Photoshop, it's got a lot of power, there's a large knowledge base, and it's proffesional software so you're going to end up with more control, and better results, in the long run.

I'd at least give Gimp a try before you spend the $$ (I use gimp quite often). I'm a visual communication maj. and imo the newest version of gimp is darn near as good as photoshop. The only reason I'd suggest PS over gimp is if you plan on using it for work-PS is a little quicker and the UI is a bit more refined. Both programs are now so close to being the same- if you have alot of trouble using one, you'll probably have trouble using the other. Btw there are all kinds of tutorials, written and visual, that you can check out for both progs.