Photo editing Software

[Deimos]

What do people use to “sort-out” their pictures.  I’ve looked at Photoshop (at least I saw the

price and started looking away quickly). 

Then there is Adobe Lightbox – but it seems to save your edits in its

own database so once you start using it you are tied to Adobe for ever more (or

lose all of your processing !!!).  Corel

Paint Shop Pro X2 looks reasonable price wise but anybody any experience.  Then there is GIMP which is free but not

desperately convenient (in that many of the adjustment dialogs are modal so you

call them up, adjust one aspect of the pic then dismiss them and go on or back,

etc.  Also GIMP is slightly “unstructured”

as can be the case with Freeware software from many contributors – but it is

excellent value for money.

And there are probably loads I have no even considered.

I am new to this and am more interested in the results than

the package so if anybody has any experiences any comments would be greatly

appreciated.

Thank

Ian

[cooperlola]

Photoshop is great but "Elements" - which is a shortented version - is more than enough, imo, for most amateurs.  I got it free with my scanner!  Prices are quite reasonable for this version Ian.

[Clair]

I use Picasa 2 for basic adjustments and filing and Photoshop Elements for anything more involved.

Photoshop Elements came free with a digital camera.

You might find some useful info here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtml?xml=/connected/essentials/dcarchive/nosplit/dcarchive.xml

[Russethouse]

I have just started using Irfanview after it was recommended here - it looks as if it has lots of things for me to explore.....

http://www.irfanview-stop.com/index.asp?s=go-uk&a=irfanview&kw=irfanview

Its a free download.

[cooperlola]

Ian, I have a copy of Nikon Picture Project which I have never even loaded into the PC as I already had Elements.  You are welcome to it, if it's of any interest?

[Deimos]

[quote user="cooperlola"]Ian, I have a copy of Nikon Picture Project which I have never even loaded into the PC as I already had Elements.  You are welcome to it, if it's of any interest?[/quote]

Many thanks.  I

actually got something with the camera (purchased the other week) but it is

limited and had a really tacky user interface.  Also, I did not get a Nikon so the Nikon package probably wont support the Olympus RAW format - but many thnaks for the offer.

A lot of the concepts are new to me so I was thinking of

trying to select “the right” package to start with and stick with it through

learning what is involved.  I had a look

at GIMP (the free one) and it seems a bit “unstructured”.  Adobe always worries me because they seem to

tie you into sticking with their software (as in the Lightroom method of saving

all your work in Adobe’s Lightroom’s own proprietary database rather than

actually modifying your picture – so you always have to use their Lightroom to

view/print/whatever the pic or you have lost the work !!  I’d prefer something that actually changes

the pic so you could e-mail it to somebody else to view if you want.

Not being an expert I don’t think I need the full Photoshop

level thing but don’t want anything too basic either.  I was looking at Corel Paintshop Pro (?) which looks a reasonable

price.

Ian

[cooperlola]

Hmm.  I don't think you'd find Elements at all basic - I don't know that there's much it won't do that the average person would want.  Don't know a lot about Corel - I have it in a bundle somewhere on the PC but have always used Elements.  I must explore it a little better some time!

[fivecats]

There is other free photo editing software you should have a look at

• paint.net - this is a
  sophisticated piece of work from computer science students at Washington
  State University. It's not quite as powerful as The Gimp but a lot
  easier to use and install.
  Website:
  http://www.getpaint.net/

• photoplus - this software installs easily and it's
  loaded with features including layer support. In fact, it looks and
  feels like a "lite" and slightly clunky version of Adobe PhotoShop. Version 6 is free, however the latest version is available for only $10.
  Website:
  http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/PhotoPlus/default.asp
• Photofiltre - this is french software. It comes with a good range of tools, however it cannot handle layers.
  Website:
  http://photofiltre.free.fr/

Hope this info helps

[Dick Smith]

Which? rates Photoshop Elements as the best.

I use Elements and Aperture, but I prefer full fat Photoshop.

[chrisb]

I've used Paint Shop since before it became part of the COREL package and have found it more than capable of doing everything I want - and certainly cheaper than Photoshop.

I recently got an Epson scanner and the free software that came with that is also pretty good at a basic level.

[Beemer1150]

As previous posters have noted Photoshop is the real McCoy - if it can be done to an image Photoshop can do it! At a price and after tuition...

Pre-retirement I used various versions for magazine publishing over many years. IMHO you need to use it regularly to get the most out of it - it's very powerful but not very kind to infrequent users.

I believe Elements has pretty much everything a non-professional would need (I recall that it doesn't handle CMYC or other publishing-related aspects) and many people find Adobe's logic easy to follow (I find Microsoft's thought processes almost impenetrable at times!).

If you don't need the full features of Photoshop then Elements is recomended as a very good bet - especially as it's bundled with some cameras and scanners.

 

[Clarkkent]

If you don't want the latest version of Photoshop (CS3), you may find that it's possible to buy earlier versions on Ebay. A couple of months ago, I bought a brand new boxed CS2 for about £80.

[Deimos]

I am having a look at Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 and it

is a disaster.  On they web site it says

it opens and handles Olympus RAW files (even lists my camera).  even has the ORF file extension available in

the “Open Dialog” but when you select an file it complains it “does not

recognise the file type” and fails.  I

hate it when a package claims to do something mainstream then you find it just

does not work.

Then, for some reason then need a service running 24/7 on

your computer (even when the photo editing is not running).  This is a 3^rd party process that

collects information from your computer and sends it to a 3^rd party

(not even Corel !!!).  Many people seem

to think this is Spyware (as it meets many of the normal definitions of

Spyware).  If every bit of software I

purchased needed a small process running the entire time I would need quite a

few massive capacity machines for all their little bits to be able to run

(leaving no processor time for me to). 

You can trash this service with a bit of manual work but when you then

try to install any updates the install runs through, complains and then

un-installs itself.

The package seems a complete disaster – not because it is

bad as such (not even got to look at it yet).

Ian

[Russethouse]

Deimos, how about googling 'photo editing software reviews' - it may give you a few hours reading but could be very helpful.

Bon Chance.[:)]

[Will]

I use both the full Photoshop and Elements. The original Elements was, quite literally, a cut-price version of Photoshop which did everything the full version did, and in almost exactly the same way. The two exceptions were that it would not save images in CMYK format - as required for four-colour litho printing (though it would open a CMYK image by converting it to RGB) - or handle RAW image formats. Which basically meant that if you were using it for professional publishing work you were forced to buy the full version. The lack of CMYK capability is of little or no interest to 99.9% of non-professional users, the RAW question has been addressed in later versions of Elements. Unfortunately the user interfaces of Elements and Photoshop have grown further apart, so although the functions are still very similar, the way they do things is, in many cases, different, and the full program has grown some extra, advanced, facilities that have not yet been incorporated into Elements.

However the current Elements is still excellent, and handles Nikon RAW images very well indeed.

I have also used other software, such as ACD See and PaintShop Pro, but didn't personally get on with them. Other users might like them - it all depends what you are looking for and what you are used to.

[Deimos]

Had a look at the Corel one but they need their Spyware

system (a service from a 3^rd party that scans your system collecting

info and sending it to a 3^rd party (NOT COREL) – something I will

not tolerate on my computer.

Tried Adobe Elements and they also have their Spyware

service that collects info about your computer and sends it (hardly even

encrypted) off somewhere on the internet. 

again, I am happy to pay for a license and happy to have companies check

that license when I e.g. run their program but I will not have people taking my

computer’s resources 24/7 when I might only run the program occasionally.   It is a diabolical liberty and also, from a

software design structure completely unnecessary.  For occasional use things (e.g. an occasional use license check)

they you do not implement it as a service but you put the code in a DLL so it

is only loaded when needed.  What is

more, the uninstalls leave this spyware in and running (left in clogging up

your computer forever !!)

I beggars belief how these companies can think it is their

right to install software you neither want nor need that collects information

and sends it off.  They do not require

an internet connection and only use it “if it happens to be available” (i.e.

not needed to verify your license).

So I’m back on the freeware – not from cost perspective but because

eI am not prepared to accept spyware on my computer.

I'll have a look at ACD See (check if it is spyware free once I've manually got this other stuff of my computer - editing the registry, etc.)

Ian

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

Personally I prefer Corel Draw suite as it's easy, functional and its interface is much better and easier to use than Adobes Photoshop and Illustrator.

However there is a free package called GIMP and is apparently quite like Photoshop and know of many people who use this. http://www.gimp.org/

[tenniswitch]

[quote user="Dick Smith"]Which? rates Photoshop Elements as the best.
I use Elements and Aperture, but I prefer full fat Photoshop.
[/quote]

I have Elements and Photoshop CS2, much prefer the latter for editing.  I'd used an old, basic version of Photoshop (that came bundled with cameral software) and was quite disappointed in the Elements editing tools.

Of course, most people are better photographers than I am and, therefore, probably don't need to do as much editing as I do. [:D] 

As to becoming tied to Photoshop for future editing, that's true only if you're saving in a Photoshop proprietary format.  You should not have a problem if you save your photos in .TIFF or .jpeg formats.

[Dick Smith]

Do you shoot as Jpg or RAW?

[Deimos]

[quote user="tenniswitch"]

As to becoming tied to Photoshop for future editing, that's true only if you're saving in a Photoshop proprietary format.  You should not have a problem if you save your photos in .TIFF or .jpeg formats.

[/quote]

As I understand it Photoshop Lightroom has a “system” it

uses when you make changes to a picture. 

It does not modify the picture file itself but rather stores the changes

you make as a sequence of operations – and these changes are stored in its own

proprietary database.  Once you have

made changes, if you reload the picture file at some point in the future the

original image is loaded then the changes you made are fetched from the

database and re-applied.  Thus, stop

using Adobe Lightroom and you can get at your original file but not the work

you put into improving them.  As I

understand it this applies to both Adobe proprietary formats, RAW images and

standards formatted images (i.e. everything. 

I have read that this is a new feature in Lightroom.

However, I am repeating what I have read in various reviews

and publicity here as I do not have the package myself – I’m at the stage of

considering which one to get.

Ian

[Deimos]

[quote user="Dick Smith"]Do you shoot as Jpg or RAW?

[/quote]

For my part: Both.

If I’m just “messing around” with nothing serious then

JPEG.  However, if there is any chance

it might be something worthwhile then RAW. 

My main aim in getting this dSLR was to blot it to my telescope and find

out just how hard astrophotography really is. 

I now have most of the adapters to bolt it on.  For non-solar system objects then RAW is essential as the

stacking software apparently makes a complete mess with JPEGs.

Ian

[Tony F Dordogne]

I'm not a techy person at all and just can't work out how to use Elements!

I want to unlock some layers from some pics and then transport them into another pic, basically to pretend two people who were absent were really there for a group photo.

Has anybody any idea how I might do this!

[tenniswitch]

[quote user="Deimos"][quote user="tenniswitch"]

As to becoming tied to Photoshop for future editing, that's true only if you're saving in a Photoshop proprietary format.  You should not have a problem if you save your photos in .TIFF or .jpeg formats.

[/quote]

As I understand it Photoshop Lightroom has a “system” it uses when you make changes to a picture.  It does not modify the picture file itself but rather stores the changes you make as a sequence of operations – and these changes are stored in its own proprietary database.  Once you have made changes, if you reload the picture file at some point in the future the original image is loaded then the changes you made are fetched from the database and re-applied.  Thus, stop using Adobe Lightroom and you can get at your original file but not the work you put into improving them.  As I understand it this applies to both Adobe proprietary formats, RAW images and standards formatted images (i.e. everything.  I have read that this is a new feature in Lightroom.
<!--[endif]-->

Not arguing with you.  I don't know anything about Lightroom.

However, I am repeating what I have read in various reviews and publicity here as I do not have the package myself – I’m at the stage of considering which one to get.

Ian

[/quote]

[George]

[quote user="Tony F Dordogne"]
I'm not a techy person at all and just can't work out how to use Elements!
I want to unlock some layers from some pics and then transport them into another pic, basically to pretend two people who were absent were really there for a group photo.
Has anybody any idea how I might do this![/quote]

In the full version of Photoshop you can open another picture on the desktop, make sure you can see both and drag the layer from one to the other.

If that doesn't work can you save the layer as a picture and then drag it in?

I'm away now until after Easter, but if none of this works perhaps I can think of something else