The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #59742 Message #954236
Posted By: JohnInKansas
17-May-03 - 01:06 AM
Thread Name: Tech: Help please from Photoshop users
Subject: RE: Tech: Help please from Photoshop users
I'm somewhat constrained by business considerations to avoid freeware, shareware, and other software that might be considered in any way "experimental," so I can't comment on the programs mentioned above.
I think it goes without saying that anyone who needs or wants to do "professional" grade image work should have Photoshop, and probably a couple of other programs. I'd love to have Photoshop just to play with, but I can't justify the price - or the learning curve.
I can give an enthusiastic endorsement for Photoshop's "little brother" Photoshop Elements. I purchases PE shortly after I got a digital camers. The "wimp-o-matic" flash on the camera produces a lot of "very dark" shots, and several reviews commented favorably on the "enhance, fill in flash" feature. Color balance adjustments and file type changes also received good reviews.
The simple "tweaking" of digicam photos is, if anything, even simpler and more effective than indicated by the reviews. It's not just excellent - it's downright amazing.
I hadn't explored many other capabilities of the program until I was "delegated" to scan and print copies for the whole fam-damily of a bunch of "heirloom" photos. A couple of the "most valued" photos had rips a couple of inches wide up the middle. Many were stained with coffee(?), soft drinks(?), motor oil(?), insect parts(?), and a few things I couldn't even guess about. Several had apparently been carried in someone's hip pocket for a few years before grandma put them into a collage - and glued several to both the backing board and to the glass, before she ripped them out and rearranged them - of course using the same glue and technique. There were several missing eyes and ears... I think you get the picture.
I found Photoshop Elements capable and sophisticated enought to restore all the missing body parts, remove the stains, replace missing backgrounds with matching texture so that (in my humble opinion) the end results were mostly better than the originals could have been when new. (One photographer around 1910, especially, had an awful lot of trash in his solutions.)
List price is about $100, which is pretty steep; but I've seen version 2 (which I have, but haven't installed yet) for around $60 - with a $30 rebate so it may be available pretty cheaply if you shop around. Personally, I think it's worth the list price if that's the best deal you can find - especially if you're taking a few digital pictures.
Sorry to rave so, but this is about the first program I've run into in years that I can give an unqualified recommendation on.
John