Tech: Help please from Photoshop users

Subject: RE: Tech: Help please from Photoshop users
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 17 May 03 - 01:06 AM

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

Subject: RE: Tech: Help please from Photoshop users
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 May 03 - 10:40 PM

Well, since Malcolm had already offered to help him clean up the image, it didn't make a lot of sense to make a redundant offer. But it did seem suitable to offer a solution for the future if he decides not to cough up many hundreds of dollars for PhotoShop.

The trouble with downloading programs just to tinker with them is that they have to be installed and they each write to the registry and want to be default for various functions. If/when you uninstall them again they decide that certain shared files aren't actually in use any more and offer to remove them. The correct answer is NO! Keep your grubby mitts off my shared files! I'm curious about some of these programs people have mentioned, but not so curious that I want to mess with installing and uninstalling. Please report back, any of you brave souls who try new programs!

SRS

Subject: RE: Tech: Help please from Photoshop users
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 16 May 03 - 07:13 PM

Just a comment to those who advised use on software, rather than Ed's immediate need to get something produced quickly rather than to download software and see if it would work.... GIMP seemed to me to be quite good when I tried it under Linux. I've never tried the Windows version and have little experience with Photoshop4 but found that once I'd worked out the way, anything I wanted in that (admittedly PS was on 6 by then) commercial Adobe package could be done with GIMP. If I remember right, it took a little time to think of thier ways of thinking in terms of menus - rather different to a typical Windows program.

I'd be interested if anyone with good Photoshop experince (rather than me who has just played with it and is pretty poor on anything graphic) could give any feedback and GIMP. I thought it was quite capable once you had worked out the menus but could be missing a lot.

Subject: RE: Tech: Help please from Photoshop users
From: GUEST,Me again
Date: 16 May 03 - 05:25 PM

Just played around in it, seems pretty cool.

Subject: RE: Tech: Help please from Photoshop users
From: GUEST,Sorch
Date: 16 May 03 - 05:12 PM

I downloaded it, now just have to figure out how to use it.

Subject: RE: Tech: Help please from Photoshop users
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 May 03 - 03:14 PM

Visit http://www.tucows.com and hunt around for shareware, freeware, and regular purchase programs.

Paint Shop Pro is pretty good. It used to be a free program, now it's still relatively inexpensive. I haven't used it in a while, but I liked it before. Now I'm stuck with PhotoDraw (a dumbed down Microsoft progam that assumes you know nothing about graphics).

SRS

Subject: RE: Tech: Help please from Photoshop users
From: Ed.
Date: 16 May 03 - 02:50 PM

Thanks everyone.

Malcolm Douglas has PM'd me to offer to do it, so I'll take up his offer.

No more PMs required (Unless you want to just say hello...)

I know that it's been said before, but this is quite something of an online community.

Ed

(Malcolm, I'll mail you in the next hour or so, thank you)

Subject: RE: Tech: Help please from Photoshop users
From: PoppaGator
Date: 16 May 03 - 02:44 PM

Another free download you might consider is Paint Shop Pro. You can download it at no charge for a 30-day trial (well within your schedule for this one task, right!), and later pay about $100US if you want to keep it.

http://www.jasc.com/

Subject: RE: Tech: Help please from Photoshop users
From: Bardford
Date: 16 May 03 - 02:40 PM

It is here. Nifty little program. No Mac version, though.Irfanview

Subject: RE: Tech: Help please from Photoshop users
From: MMario
Date: 16 May 03 - 02:31 PM

Ed - I think irfanview can do most of what you need - it's a fast download and the menus are easy.

Subject: Tech: Help please from Photoshop users
From: Ed.
Date: 16 May 03 - 02:28 PM

It doesn't have to be Photoshop, anyone with a reasonable graphics program could help me out here.

For reasons too involved to go into (OK, I stood on my Photoshop CD which didn't help) I don't have access to any decent image editing software right now.

I've downloaded GIMP for Windows, but am finding it hard to find my way around or get it to do what I want.

Anyway what I wanting is this: I've got a 600kb jpeg which is a little dark and has a few blemishes on it. I need to get it on a website at a smaller file size, a bit cleaned up. I also need a 'thumbnail' of it.

It's something I could do in 15 minutes if I had the software, but I don't right now.

I'd do it myself if I had time, but I need to get this done in the next 24 hours.

BTW, this is for charity, and musical. The site that I need the image for is www.elgarinhereford.org and I'm not getting paid.

If anyone would be kind enough to help, please PM me or post your email here.

I'd be most grateful.

Thank you.

Ed