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Photoshop or some other software?

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micknlea
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Photoshop or some other software?

Post by micknlea » Sat, 15 Oct 2005 10:15 pm

I am looking to buy something like Photoshop but have absolutely no idea where to begin or what is good or not. I don't need it for anything except enhancing our own photos etc and making albums etc, and also to help the kids with some of their special projects etc, oh and for me to play around with doing some "artwork" at home.
I noticed that some of you use it for your work etc. Does anybody have any good advice? Is it hard to learn how to use it?
I really don't have a clue where to begin and have not found any computer store people to be of much assistance here.
Thanks in advance!

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Shilo2010
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Post by Shilo2010 » Sat, 15 Oct 2005 10:36 pm

Photoshop is not an easy program to master. It is an easy program to use at it's basic levels. The best feature of Photoshop to my mind is the clone tool. I use various programs for image rendering and editing.
Photoshop 7, Stoik smart image resizer, Adobe picture it, Bryce, Vue, Paintshop Pro and photo delux.I find all of these programs very good and they all work well together. My point is, if you really want to edit images to their full potential no single program will have all the features on it's own and you will need to utilize various programs to obtain the Finnish you are looking for.
The very best site on the net for you to get an idea is -
http://www.renderosity.com
Really worth a look, great site. :)

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Strong Eagle
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Post by Strong Eagle » Sun, 16 Oct 2005 9:29 am

Paintshop Pro is a very good choice. Easy to use, intuitive, and quite powerful, no not as much as Photoshop but many, many facilities.

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banana
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Post by banana » Sun, 16 Oct 2005 4:33 pm

Getting Photoshop just to remove red eyes is abit of an overkill. Kind of like using a shotgun to clear an ants nest.

I tested IrfanView very briefly for a mate and it seemed relatively user-friendly, powerful enough for most basic image manipulation. Best of all, it's free.
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Shilo2010
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Post by Shilo2010 » Sun, 16 Oct 2005 5:00 pm

You can get a nice clean download for Irfanview from nonags.com

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banana
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Post by banana » Sun, 16 Oct 2005 5:48 pm

nonags.com looks like a pretty sweet site, USD40 for a lifetime of having someone else test freeware for you sounds fair.
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Shilo2010
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Post by Shilo2010 » Sun, 16 Oct 2005 6:22 pm

Yep, it is a good site.

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Baron Greenback
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Post by Baron Greenback » Mon, 17 Oct 2005 3:44 pm

Photoshop can be a bit daunting, Irfanview is a good starting program as it is free & easy to use.

I found Picassa a very good program, it is free & has an amazing "I'm feeling lucky" button (it is part of the google family). This button adjusts levels & fill light etc with just one click. I had some shots from a plane window which were dramatically improved using Picassa.

Give it a go - you will be pleasantly surprised
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Post by sapphire » Mon, 17 Oct 2005 5:28 pm

For minor editing here and there Photoshop would be a waste not only of money, but also time spent in mastering the software. Its a different matter if you would like to learn it. I would say other softwares suggested here would be far better for the OP.

Although, Photoshop rules for image editing! :)
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micknlea
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Post by micknlea » Tue, 18 Oct 2005 10:14 am

Thanks guys.
Your info is great, I now have a lot more ideas to work with and software to consider. Thanks too for confirming what I was thinking already, that Photoshop is overkill for my needs (and from all reports too hard to learn).

Being a beginner at this side of things, I am not sure what I am looking for, I do want more than red eye etc and in addition to just editing pics I also want to be able to do something a bit more creative as well, so I need to find a happy medium.

Thanks again for your help...its certainly better than any software sales person has given me...but thats another story! :D

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Post by varun » Tue, 18 Oct 2005 11:54 am

Take a long hard look at Photoshop Elements 4.0. Very easy to use - too easy, in fact, which is just the way I like it now that I have no personal time - and inexpensive. You can pick up an "Academic" copy from Sim Lim for about S$ 120 (not sure what the "non-academic" version costs - no functionality difference, they theoretically require you to show an academic ID when making the puchase, but no one in SL Square cares).

Strongly recommended. Industry standard.

- V.
micknlea wrote:Thanks guys.
Your info is great, I now have a lot more ideas to work with and software to consider. Thanks too for confirming what I was thinking already, that Photoshop is overkill for my needs (and from all reports too hard to learn).

Being a beginner at this side of things, I am not sure what I am looking for, I do want more than red eye etc and in addition to just editing pics I also want to be able to do something a bit more creative as well, so I need to find a happy medium.

Thanks again for your help...its certainly better than any software sales person has given me...but thats another story! :D

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