Adobe Photoshop and CS

[Master Mason]

I bought CS2, but I got the whole suite for $300 so it wasn't too bad. If I hadn't found that deal, I would have gotten elements. After playing with it, and finding out what I really use it for, elements would probably really have been fine for me.

 

[jns]

I have photoshop cs and do not like it
Im only a beginning
downloaded PSE5 for the free trial and I am loving it
much more easier to use for me
but maybe when I get the hang of it ps cs will seem easier

its just getting the time
spending to much time chatting on these boards
good luck with what ever you get
try the free trail first

 

[prcoamo]

Ok, so looks like the consensus is to start w/ PE5. I'm going to download free trial this weekend and start playing around with it. I think I'll also take a look at Google's Picasso. Nice to know there are options out there to try for free.
Well I know where I'll be this weekend - parked in front of my computer but at least it'll be fun work

 

[MICKEY88]

I highly recomend PAint Shop Pro Photo,, you can also download a 30 day free trial from Corel.

 

[Groucho]

Something like removing people can be tricky no matter what you're using, especially if they are in front of something that has some texture or detail to it that will need to be replaced. Unless you just want a black hole where they were.

For free stuff, I feel that nothing beats Irfanview, and it can do most anything you'd need normally, but it won't do more advanced things like cloning out people, doing layers, etc. But for basic stuff like cropping, color, etc, it's incredibly fast and powerful.

Beyond that... probably PSE or maybe one of the competitors.

 

[cpbjgc]

I highly recomend PAint Shop Pro Photo,, you can also download a 30 day free trial from Corel.

Can it deal directly with RAW format? I understand Photoshop CS can with either on its own or using a plug-in. I was checking Corel's website but couldn't find anything about this. I have an old version of photoshop which is too far back for the upgrade path to be economical, so I am looking at alternatives.

Thanks.

 

[photo_chick]

Photoshop (both CS2 and Elements needs the free camera RAW plug in to process RAW files. There is also Adobe Lightroom, which is great for processing RAW files. Another great option that I like for processing RAAW is Bibble from Bibble Labs.

MAke sure whatever you choose support your camera's format if you are working with RAW. Most are supported now but it is always a good idea to make sure.

 

[MICKEY88]

Can it deal directly with RAW format? I understand Photoshop CS can with either on its own or using a plug-in. I was checking Corel's website but couldn't find anything about this. I have an old version of photoshop which is too far back for the upgrade path to be economical, so I am looking at alternatives.

Thanks.

Files supported by Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo
Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo supports the file formats listed in the following table.


Format Description Support
AFX AutoFX Read only
BMP Windows Bitmap Read/Write
BRK Brooktrout Fax Read/Write
CAL CALS Raster Read/Write
CDR CorelDraw Drawing Read only
CGM Computer Graphics Metafile Read only
CLP Windows Clipboard Read/Write
CMX Corel Clipart Read only
CRW Canon Raw Read only
CUR Windows Cursor Read only
CUT Dr. Halo Read/Write
DCR Kodak Raw Read only
DCX Zsoft Multipage Paintbrush Read only
DGN MicroStation Drawing Read only
DIB Windows DIB Read/Write
DNG Adobe Digital Negative Read only
DRW Micrografx Draw Read only
DWG AutoCAD Drawing Read only
DXF Autodesk Drawing Interchange Read only
EMF Windows Enhanced Metafile Read/Write
EPS Encapsulated PostScript Read/Write
FPX Flashpix Read/Write
GEM Ventura/GEM Drawing Read only
GIF Compuserve Graphics Interchange Read/Write
HPGL HP Graphics Language Read only
IFF Amiga Read/Write
IMG GEM Paint Read/Write
JP2 JPEG 2000 Read/Write
JPG JPEG – JFIF Compliant Read/Write
KDC Kodak Digital Camera File Read only
KFX Kofax Read only
LBM Deluxe Paint Read/Write
LV Lazer View Read only
MAC MacPaint Read/Write
MRW Minolta Raw Read only
MSP Microsoft Paint Read/Write
NCR NCR G4 Read/Write
NEF Nikon Raw Read only
ORF Olympus Raw Read only
PBM Portable Bitmap Read/Write
PCD Kodak Photo CD Read only
PCT (PICT) Macintosh PICT Read/Write
PCX Zsoft Paintbrush Read/Write
PDF Adobe Portable Document File Read only
PGM Portable Graymap Read/Write
PIC (Lotus) Lotus PIC Read only
PIC (PC Paint) PC Paint Read/Write
PNG Portable Network Graphics Read/Write
PPM Portable Pixelmap Read/Write
PSD Photoshop Read/Write
PSP Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo Image Read/Write
RAF Fuji Raw Read only
RAS Sun Raster Image Read/Write
RAW RAW Graphics File Format Read/Write
Raw camera Raw camera data Read only
RIFF Corel Painter Read/Write
RLE Windows or CompuServe RLE Read/Write
SCT SciTex Continous Tone Read/Write
SGI/RGB SGI Image File Read/Write
SVG Scalable vector Graphics Read only
TGA Truevision Targa Read/Write
TIF Tagged Image File Format Read/Write
WBMP Wireless Bitmap Read/Write
WMF Windows Meta File Read/Write
XBM X Windows Bitmap Read/Write
XPM X Windows Pixmap Read/Write
XWD X Windows Dump Read/Write
WPG WordPerfect Bitmap/Vector Read/Write

 

[cpbjgc]

Thanks Mickey88! It appears that a download is in my immediate future...

 

[holycow]

My son is doing a project for his photo class but they haven't been able to use the actual program.

He is wondering if he can shrink down a pic of himself and place it on another pic of himself.

(He wants to do devil/angel of himself on his shoulders.)

Does anyone know if this is possible or not? Thanks a bunch!


The mom

 

[tinksdad]

You bet!!

Use layers and three shots. You'll have to isolate the first two (devil/angel) in a selection, reduce and then apply them to the main photo.

Do you have the three pictures yet?

 

[boBQuincy]

Sure, Photoshop can do this but it can be difficult, and there are ways to make it easier on yourself. Take all three photos against a plain background, like a painted wall. Bright green or bright blue is best, to make cutting the figures out a lot easier.

At that point, just resize the two figures, tone the devil red, and add an outer glow to the angel.

Have fun!

 

[manning]

Sure, Photoshop can do this but it can be difficult, and there are ways to make it easier on yourself. Take all three photos against a plain background, like a painted wall. Bright green or bright blue is best, to make cutting the figures out a lot easier.

At that point, just resize the two figures, tone the devil red, and add an outer glow to the angel.

Have fun!

You may want to feather the cuts.

 

[argusp2]

Under the filters menu in Photoshop CS2, there is also the extract option.

 

[holycow]

Thanks so much for the replies.

His project is take 36 digital pics of yourself. So he's been all over the house taking pics. I will let him know all of your suggestions. I really appreciate it!


HC

 

[jann1033]

here is my problem with this lens( repaired 28-135)...the sharpness is fine now imo but if you notice the clump of bushes/trees in front of the old house, it seems like it is way less sharp than the house and barn, really even the trees to the rt of the barn and in the field in front as well...i don't know that it's necessarily due to where it is in the photo( i cropped it a little but it seems like anyplace there are bushes or such in the photo they look like that) but what is this that makes this happen? and is it fixable? i can't figure out if it's the contrast or what but it seems to me i notice it mostly in a clump of bushes (like this) fuzzy and weird colored. it's what i dislike about this lens but don't know what it's called so can't do anything with it...this is f8.,IS on, 1/50 sec but it seems like it does this at any aperture and any speed. the overall sharpness isn't really bad cause enlarged i can see the boards pretty distinctly and the lightening rod etc but those odd colors and fuzziness drive me nuts.
this photo isn't the greatest, it just shows what i mean with the weird coloration type thing

 

[DVC Jen]

I guess I am just not seeing what you are seeing. Wish I was, but the photo looks fine to me.

Why do the colors look strange to you? Maybe if I saw the actual scene and not a photo I would understand. Are the colors in the photo different from how they really are?

Also, I could be totally wrong here and it wouldn't be the first time. I thought that in order to get the greatest sharpness or dof you should use a smaller aperature - something that starts around 22(at least that is what I thought I had read in Bryan Petersons books)?

If I am wrong please let me know all you experts out there.

BTW - I would love to explore that place. I bet a treasure or two could be found there.

 

[MICKEY88]

here is my problem with this lens( repaired 28-135)...the sharpness is fine now imo but if you notice the clump of bushes/trees in front of the old house, it seems like it is way less sharp than the house and barn, really even the trees to the rt of the barn and in the field in front as well...i don't know that it's necessarily due to where it is in the photo( i cropped it a little but it seems like anyplace there are bushes or such in the photo they look like that) but what is this that makes this happen? and is it fixable? i can't figure out if it's the contrast or what but it seems to me i notice it mostly in a clump of bushes (like this) fuzzy and weird colored. it's what i dislike about this lens but don't know what it's called so can't do anything with it...this is f8.,IS on, 1/50 sec but it seems like it does this at any aperture and any speed. the overall sharpness isn't really bad cause enlarged i can see the boards pretty distinctly and the lightening rod etc but those odd colors and fuzziness drive me nuts.
this photo isn't the greatest, it just shows what i mean with the weird coloration type thing

I could be wrong, but it's always been my understanding that your depth of field starts at the point of focus and extends outward{farther away}, so if you focused on a building, bushes close to or beyond should be in focus, while bushes/objects in front of would not be.


to me the pic looks oK.. could you either post the original or email it to me for better viewing..

 

[RitchG]

Well, of course, anything is PS-able! But most don't have that kind of time.

I agree with DVCJen and MIckey88 about aperture, DOF and so on - at larger f-stops you'll get a shor focus range in front of the focus point and a bit more behind. Since it looks like the photo was done on a cloudy day, perhaps the aperture was opened fairly wide; focusing on a realtively far object like the barn would let the barn, house and distant trees be in focus but the foreground objects like the bushes would be out of focus.

About the "weird coloration"; I can't see it in the posted image, but maybe you're seeing the lens/sensor fringing? (Apologies if you've been through this already--)When you have a sharp, dark edge (like branches) against a high-power background (like snow or the sky) the lens bends the different light wavelenghts to different angles, which seems to get magnified by the sensor, as it gets processed in-camera and enhances the fringing. IIRC, the RAW converter in PS has an option for de-fringing. DxO Optics Pro does this too ( and lots o' other stuff).
HTH
---Ritch

 

[JR6ooo4]

I thought DOF was to extend evenly in front and rear of the focus point...? If you focus on the center of a focus chart and only the area behind the center is in focus (nothing in front) it is called back focus.

Mikeeee