Photo Editing Software

Adobe Photoshop is quite expensive but a very powerful tool to have. The new version, Adobe Photoshop CS2 is about 600$ and has more advanced functions making your life easier But Adobe Photoshop 7 is pretty good too, its about 200$ now I think ><;

 

PhotoShop Elements may be all you need. It really depends upon YOUR price range and YOUR need as well as your level of commitment to learning at various levels the intricacies of PhotoShop. CS2 is state of the art.

Many members here use other image editing programs as well.

 

I use elements, which I got with my wacom tablet ^^ it has many useful functions, and I'm sure it's much cheaper than photoshop itself.

 

There is also the (Completely Free!) Gimp: http://www.gimp.org/

The Gimp is the Gnu Image Manipulation Program. It's an open source project, which means it's freely distributed to be used (by anyone) and added on to (by us weird programmer types). It's just as powerful as photoshop, but it's not quite as user friendly. Still, there are pleanty of walkthroughs and manuals available for the Gimp to get you started.

Photoshop is priced for buisnesses, not for personal use, something that infuriates me to no end. If they just published it for a reasonable price for the common consumer, they wouldn't have nearly as much trouble with piracy as they do now.

As for photoshop, if you are a student or have a friend who is, you should be elligable for a student discount, which might bring Photoshop CS down to about $200. My preferred photoshop is CS, as I had some problems with 7 closing itself when I hit save, thus losing the work I was trying to save >.<. I really don't like most of the additions they have made to CS2 (the latest-and-greatest)

 

What a great bundle! This would be a worthwhile purchase for a lot of folks - do you have a link? How do you like your tablet?

Bear in mind that they do offer Elements at less than $100 usd. PhotoShop IS professional software!!! If a user is utilizing even half of the available manips in the full version, then they are probably a pro anyway or on their way to being one.

 

Suggestion: softwareoutlet.com has the new Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 for only $54.95. It normally retails for $99.00, or direct download from adobe.com for $89.00. Needless to say, I plan to order mine from softwareoutlet.com. I've used other programs that "claim" to be just as good, but adobe.com lets you download a 30-day free trial, and NOTHING comes close to it--it's AMAZING!
Love, Tambra from Oregon, USA

 

I use Adobe Photoshop 7 and though it's a bit outdated I love it and a lot of people still use it. I got mine for free because a friend gave it to me, she no longer wanted it because she upgraded ^_^

 

I'm afraid I don't remember where I got my tablet...it's been here for at least three years O.o;;; (bad memory) I assume I got it at http://www.wacom.com/graphire/index.cfm

Which includes elements and painter (though painter's a hard beast to master!)

My tablet works as good as new, and I haven't had any problems ^^ both it and elements are such lifesavers

 

I agree it all depends on what level editing you want to do. I bought Photoshop CS, a couple months before CS2 came out. I originally had version 4, which does not work under XP SP2.

 

I've been a long time user of JASC/Corel PSP (Paint Shop Pro), though I know Photoshop has a lot of great tools to it as well.

Currently I'm using PSP X, which retails at $100.

 

I'm still using Photoshop 6.0... Since I no longer use it professionally and it runs just fine under XP-SP2, I never saw the need to upgrade. You could probably find a copy of 6.0 or 6.5 for cheap from one of the web outlets, and it worls perfectly well for 99% of the basic manipulations and image corrections you'll do from day to day.

I also have to praise Wacom tablets very highly. I've had my 9x14 Intuos tablet for about five years and it's a great, great tool. I use it full-time, in place of a mouse.

 

I'm like Brightfires myself. I have Photoshop 6.0, and the appearance of it is more user friendly than CS2 anyway (we have two computers, one with 6.0 on [mine], and one with CS2 on). I do use it professionally for pixel art,but pixel art can be done on any program.

It just depends on your personal tastes. If you just want the basics, an older version is better. If you want everything and the icing on top, keeping updated is better.

And hm... I need to get a tablet myself. (Thanks for the recommendations for Wacom everyone. =P)

 

Picasa is another free image editing program; it doesn't have nearly as much power as Photoshop, but it's easy to use, and can also help you organize photos and post them on the web.

 

I have paint shop pro 8 which I love... and does everything I need and alot more lol... I also have the Wacom Tablet and its brilliant as is the software it came with... def reommend as a option... and I bought it from PC World

Hugs Maz x

 

I'm using Photoshop CS2. If by chance you are in college you might want want to ask at your college's book store if they have a student discount on software.

I bought photoshop and illustrator together in "Adobe Creative Suite 2 Premium" (which costs $1,999.00 from the adobe store) Which was bundled with "Macromedia Studio 8" (about $1,000.00) for about $400 total. You need to email the company a copy of your student ID and they will verify you have a certain number of credits and if you meet the requirements you save thousands. Technically your not supposed to use the education version for commercial use, thats why its so cheap.

So if your in college or going into college and plan on doing a bit of digital editing and/or webpage stuff the bundle may be for you. I'm not sure if they sell Photoshop CS2 by itself...

 

I've got both Photoshop CS2, and also Paint Shop Pro 9 (ver. X is out though), and I lean more towards PSP for general photo editing, while PS is probably geared towards the dedicated graphic designers, artists, and design professionals. I got them both when they were released so the prices were cringe-worthy (although I managed to get PS at a student rate, hurray!). As mentioned by Zagzagael, PS Elements might be all you need if you're doing basic photo editing. You might find that more advanced versions (also more expensive) might not be for you - take time to look at specs and features and see what tools and functions you WILL use before looking at versions and price range.

 

i have photoshop 7.0 but i also like paint shop pro but since i got my new computer i can't find me PSP disk to put it on this computer so ill have to buy a new one sometime.

 

I used Photoshop 7.0 ever since it came out and I am more familar with it that CS... even though there isn much that has changed. At least not from what I remember back in High School.. <__<;;. I've done tons of graphic on 7.0 but not so much right now. I haven't upgrade yet b/c I don't know if I am going onto graphic design or not. <__<;; Hmmmm.... I do however, rocommend a different program if you are useing it to resize you pictures and such. If you are not going into the graphic art feild, I do not recommend you dropping even $200 for the program. But if you want to, thats ok too. lol

 

I'm a cheaksate! i use PhotoImpact 7 which was free with my Packard Bell tablet and cordless pen.
it is basic and fairly easy to use but some of the results are just as good as more expensive programmes. either that or i am just used to it after all these years!

 

I use Paintshop Pro 7 and Photoshop CS2. They both have different strengths - PSP is faster to load and much, much quicker for cropping/reducing/expanding images, and it "remembers" where you're saving stuff too. CS2 is magnificient - it can do so much. I haven't even used 5% of it yet. And there's loads of tutorial websites to teach you too. Downside is, it takes ages to load, even on my fairly powerful laptop, and the browser is rubbish. If you want to play tricks (level adjustments, HDR - stuff like that) then CS2 is a must.

PSP I got free from a download site. CS2 cost me about 20GBP (approx $40 US) from eBay.


(My partner uses Photoshop Elements and is well pleased. It seems to do most of what CS2 does, but without the space overhead. Hers came preloaded on her laptop though, so I have no idea about cost.)

 

IM super lazy so i didnt really read through this ENTIRE thread

BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


go to www.softwareking.com << highly recommended u can get the entire adobe pacakge for the price that schools/teachers etc usually get at a discounted price (more than half off!!!) its what I got, and totally worth it!

 

I agree with toratenryuu. Use Gimp. It has all of the functionality of any other photo editing program out there, if not more, due to the simple fact that it is open source. Unless you're used to Linux/Unix-based programs it WILL take some getting-used to, but once again, there are plenty of manuals out there to help you, and once you've got that hang of it you will be invincible. Go for the Gimp!

 

Question's in the topic.

I used to use Paint Shop Pro back in the day and I rather liked it. Does anyone use it? What versions are really good nowadays? Same with Photoshop, anyone have any recommendations as to which is the best?

 

I use a number of products

PSP
Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator
Irfanview
GIMP
Photo tags Express
Photo Impressions
Wild Photo Effects.

It really depends on what I want to do and which computer I'm at really, lol.

 

I just use Photoshop. I didn't do much photograph editing until I got my doll, so I can't tell you about the usability of older versions of photoshop specific to photography, but CS2 and CS3 have both been just fine for me. Non-specific to photographs, Photoshop from 7 up seem to be similar enough that they're all fine to me. *shrug* I've used some earlier versions briefly, but I've only had versions between 7 and CS3.

 

I tend to prefer for photograph editing:
Adobe Photoshop
and
Adobe Lightroom

Both are simple to use and effective at altering your photographs, such as removing background rubbish or changing the light. You can also enhance aspects of your image in many different ways with the tools, such as the eyes or shine of hair etc when it comes to BJD portraits.

 

I haven't edited my doll pics yet but I've been using Photoshop 7 for two years and it works just fine for me. I also have a Wacom tablet that helps a lot.

 

I use Photoshop 7, but I've been using it for a while. xD I think it's actually pretty hard to get used to, but once you get the hang of it, it's like... magic. =o

 

Wacom tablet...or any good graphics tab is a great idea as it save the frustration of using a mouse and you can treat the pics ur editing as if using a paint brush or pen (for the aty ppl amongst us)

 

I use Photoshop CS2, that with my student discount, I got at my college for $35. It was cheaper than it usually is because the school was discontinuing stocking software and making you go to an outside source; it usually runs ~$100 with a discount, to my understanding. There are many tools in it specifically for editing photos, and if you go to places like www.renderosity.com and look in the 2D section of the free stuff and the shop, you can find many nice actions and filters that could automatically spruce up an image to your desired effect.

 

I mainly use PaintShopPro 9 and Photoshop CS2 just when I want to do certian brushes. A friend downloaded them both for free online, I don't know where though

 

I use GIMP. I love it almost as much as I love the computer. XD

 

Photoshop 7, and sometimes paint.net (because I'm still more used to the latter, and finds what I want easier.. x))

 

Photoshop CS3
Love, love, love, love it!

 

I use Photochop 7.0 and it works fantastically

 

Photoshop 7 work great for me!

 

I prefer Jasc Paint Shop Pro over Adobe, but sometimes I use both for one image eg, if there are effects I can't get on PSP. PSP is win for me

 

As a Linux user, GIMP is the one for me! It is tricky at first, but very good image editing software when you learn its tricks. And it is free :3

 

I use PhotoShop CS2--I find PhotoShop very easy to use.

 

Adobe CS3 creative suite and Lightroom.

God I love those programs to death and you never know when a vector program like illustrator can come in handy. Some of the filters are particularly useful.

 

Photoshop CS1 and Picasa.

I'm a graphic design student and long time photoshop user, so I do my major editing in that program, and when I want to add borders/stroke images.

For regular image tweaking and batch exporting, I use Picasa because it's quicker and easier (and free! haha). Also because I use it to upload my images from my camera in the first place.

 

I use some version of Photoshop Elements that I picked up on Ebay. I don't know if Adobe even makes that product anymore. It's a trimmed down Photoshop and it does have layers.

At work I use some version of Serif Photo Plus which is also like a trimmed down Adobe Photoshop. It has features similar to Photoshop Elements.

I love layers. Layers let you copy from one pciture, paste into the other as a new "layer" and then move/edit/hide those layers independently. If you pre-scale your photos to the same size (example eyes or wig so they are the right size for the doll face) you can do tricks like try wigs on a doll, or select/delete the contents of a doll's eyes and slide layers of eyes underneath to try on eyes. I also use layers to create mockups of various dolls next to each other (first the photos must be carefully resized using measuring and ratios of their actual sizes).

Programs with layers, by default, usually save in a very large file format that remembers the layers, the editing history, etc. but only the editing program understands that format. To save a .jpg you may have to "flatten" or "merge all" layers then export or save as a JPG.

Carolyn

 

I am using Photoshop 7.0.1. It&#8217;s old, but so far I have not found anything I can&#8217;t do with it that would justify buying a newer version. For quick crops, I also use MS Paint that comes with XP. On the open source side, I just stated using GIMP. It&#8217;s free and now has a lot of capability. I have been finding that I can get 90&#37; of the usability of the bought products with the open source. I don&#8217;t know if I would pay what I paid for the Photoshop again with options like GIMP.

Bobby

 

I use Photoshop CS

 

I use photoshop CS. I haven't really used it for photo editing of my own doll as of yet though.

I also use IrfanView too for more minor color fixing/cropping work. It's a free image viewer. It can open nearly every kind of image file (including photoshop files). If you don't have a good image viewer, I recommend it.

 

I use GIMP as well. It's free, has a lot of the same tools as Photoshop, and I can get it just via download. It is difficult to figure out at first, but nothing a little experimenting won't help.
GIMP all the way.

 

I use Photoshop CS3, Lightroom and Paint Shop Pro 9. Ought to download GIMP. I used to use Corel Photo Paint years ago, but I stopped using it for some reason and haven't really missed it much since.

 

I use Photoshop 6 for photos. Though the newer versions have some features I'd like, PS6 is perfectly functional for me.

 

I started out using Photoshop 7 with Jasc Paint Shop Pro, then photoshop 7 on it own and now currently using Photoshop CS3.

 

CS3. It continue to impress me. I started use a Wacom tablet in some of my CS3 pictures and I love it. It great you can do very soft effects. I don't use the auto in CS3 because it sucks now but everything else works better. Also the camera raw converter is much nicer now. B&W converter is also very nice.

If I have no choice I will use CS2 but never for a final only for quick drafts. For quick drafts I will also use sometime Aperture(when I lazy). I also use it for organizing and storing my photos. Hopeful the new Leopard one will be out soon.

 

CS3 and Bridge

I really like the camera raw editor in bridge even though I shoot in Jpeg. It allows me to do the nitty gritty stuff before doing aesthetics in Cs3.

 

I have CS3, though I haven't gotten much use out of it, and for quick fixes, I've found that Microsoft Photo Manager works pretty well.

 

Photoshop CS2. And for quick editings, like rotation and sometimes to resize, I used ACDSee 5.0.

 

Photoshop 6, probably the oldest here XD
but I only need it for resize, cropping, rotation, color balance, contrast, levels, saturation...
and sometimes posterize and gaussian blur.. XDD

i like to keep my photos as "real" as possible

 

Photoshop CS2 and I are old pals. I can't think of a single photo that came out perfect right from the get-go.

 

I don't like using computers to re-touch photos - I prefer to be creative with my camera (film not digital!). However, when I need to use computer I use Gimp, because all of my software and operating system is open source. BUT, I think Photoshop is a LOT easier to get along with when doing major stuff to photos. Gimp is fine for scaling, rotating, adjusting levels, etc, but I find it slows down a bit when I start doing complicated stuff with lots of layers.

 

Photoshop CS2 babeyyyy!
Oh, and open canvas to tweak ganma..(it's not a conventional choice, but I like it, plus it's great for creating and colouring graphics )

 

I would totally appreciate it if members would also use the poll in this thread

http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=197495

if they are planning on attending Dollectable. Thanks!

 

Photoshop CS3 for me as well!

I don't use anything else.