What Software? Photoshop?

rizla01

rizla01

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389
Name
Terry
Edit My Images
Yes
Has EVERYONE on this forum got Photoshop?​


Is there a free version or does it come with the camera that you bought?

Seems everyone has SOME software and in the past 'PS' was the generic term for all Photo manipulating Software but everyone (Except me) seems to be using Photoshop.

What other free software are people using?
 
you can get a free trial of photoshop elements, it last about a month i think then about £60 if you want to keep it.

i have herd others mention Gimp, which i believe is free
 
If you're on Mac, Pixelmator seems pretty cool at a low cost.
 
try lightroom first. Then if you need heavier editing use Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. I prefer PSe but to each his own.

I heard Aperture(for Mac users) isn't that bad either.
 
If your on a Mac you can get Aperture 3 for £45 at the moment. Photoshop elements is you next cheapest option, or if you want free try Gimp.
 
Does GIMP do most of what PS does?

I am using a PC - Not a Mac
 
If you've spent money on your digital camera/lenses, it doesn't make sense to skimp on your photo editing software. Photoshop Elements is the absolute minimum in my view. Don't bother with that free stuff.
 
Some of the free editors (The Gimp is a good example) are very good indeed. I wouldn't discount them at all.
 
I use ACDSee, and rate it highly. It is easy to use, cheap-ish and does all I have ever needed to do.
I do not believe that many of us keen amateurs need or use a lot of what Photoshop offers, and I have never managed to get my head around it. Now, this could be just me - I am an old fogey after all !
You can download a free trial, and I would suggest it is worth a try before you spend anything !
 
I've tried the GIMP in the past and decided it was worth exactly what I paid for it. Having used Photoshop CS, I now use Elements 8 which came bundled with a recent scanner purchase. Does all I need it to and even has a 1/2 decent B&W conversion system.
 
I have used both Gimp and Paint.net both free downloads.
Despite what others may say I found both very good for basic editing and learning about curves, levels, layers etc.
I prefered Paint.net as I found it easier to use, there are lots of useful plugins and a user forum.
Gimp seems to be mentioned more than Paint.net on the web so maybe it is better when you get used to the interface.
Download both, look at some tutorials and see what you like best. When you feel that you need more features you will have a good idea of what you need and can then buy whatever suits you.
 
I'm using Gimp and RAWTherapee which seem to do things well for a newbie like me. So far they've been able to do all the editting techniques that I've read about in magazines after a little bit of searching to find the equivalent tools.

I've not tried any £££ software, yet. Being free helps whilst I save for my first Dslr.

I'd be interested to know what it is that makes PS Elements or Lightroom better than the free equivalents?
 
Lightroom is often favoured for batch processing many pictures at once. PhotoShop is the standard by which other photgraphic products are judged by...as such, all literature/magazine tutorials offer advice in terms of what can be done in PhotoShop/PSe. Having used several applications PSe is slick and is not super difficult to use (unlike full PhotoShop). I started using a cheaper product but soon switched to PSe....its nice to try the tricks/tutorials in magazines I look at.

PSe costs more as it has an amazing array of features (most of use wont even use !), plus they know they are the market leaders in Photo Editing. Wouldnt go for Lightroom unless you are into volume processing/getting serious (partly due to increased cost as well). The free ones wont have the extra bolt-ons, slickness, editorial/you tube, forum support.
 
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I think people say that if you dont have it yet go for the latest version - if you already have one thats recent (ish), dont bother upgrading (unless you want a specific feature that isnt included on older versions).
 
Hmm, I just tried it. I think you were overcharged, no layers!
 
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In my local camera shop they have ps elements for £20 ish
 
There are 4 programs out that I know of that have the same stuff as Photoshop (Layers, masks, interface etc.). These are :-

Photoshop elements https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/tdrc/index.cfm?product=photoshop_elements&loc=en_gb Free trial
Paintshop Pro http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Content/1152796555406 Free Trial
Serif Photoplus http://www.serif.com/free-photo-editing-software/ Free version
Gimp for windows (Has been redesigned to look like photoshop, Crashes and clunky)

You will end up with one of these so take a look;)

(Edit) and I just found this link for the previous version http://www.serif.com/photoplus/phpx3.asp?MC=SERPPCPHP1&gclid=CMbelN2nqaYCFcoe4QodySSYYw
 
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I don't use Photoshop, although I have loads of different versions going way back and up to CS4. None of them are installed on my PC for the simple reason I'm not it's biggest fan in any of it's versions. In pretty much any of it's forms it's a huge drain on system resources and can be irritatingly slow even on a fast machine.I also find the working area restrictive. If you come by CS4 etc honestly then it's also.hugely expensive. Is it worth the money? Of course it is - it's an absolutely immense programme, but for photographic processing it's questionable if you'll ever use more than 10% of it's potential to be able to do anything at all in processing your images, and for that reason I'd never advise a newbie to spend hard earned cash on Photoshop which could be spent on much needed equipment - there are plenty of alternatives which wont leave you feeling short changed.

The problem is though that Photoshop was in there early in the market place and we now say an image as been 'Photoshopped' when it could have been done with any number of alternative packages- the name 'Photoshop' has become synonymous with digital editing to the extent that many people just dismiss the idea that there are any viable alternatives out there.

What I will say is that if your needs go beyond normal photography to the extent that you produce some of those fantastic images we see which are a blend of conventional photography and graphics, then you'll perhaps start to see some of what you paid your money for with Photoshop. If you're an out and out graphics designer then Photoshop is probably for you - it does have some great filters and effects which you're unlikely to use seriously otherwise.

I have to say there are some problems with going elsewhere, especially in the early stages when you may need help. Go on any photo forum and shout for help with Photoshop and you'll be deluged with the responses - such is the strength of it's popularity, and there are far more independent plugin applications available for Photoshop than any of the alternatives. Whether you actually need many of them is another matter, and the better ones tend to be available for Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro.
 
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Just something to be aware of, a lot of editing suites limit the number of computers it can be used on. Photoshop I think have a limit of 3 on most of their products now except elements 7 which is unlimited , I know elements 8 is only 3 so possible elements 9 is the same.

The big problem is its something thats not displayed on the packaging which I think is misleading and it should be clearly stated . You more than likely will have to pay more for multiple computer use above 3

Bazza
 
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artyman said:
Where and what version is that though?
Click to expand...

In Wigan and not 100% sure it was on a shelf I couldn't see properly just the label with the price on.
 
suggs said:
is the latest edition of Elements the best to go for?
Click to expand...

To have the bells and whistles, yes! However, until I upgraded my computer a few months ago (it came with PSE7 preloaded), I was still using PSE1 and 2 and they did most things I wanted them to fairly well. I did buy a copy of PSE7 to load onto the old computer but it died (slowly and I had always kept backups of all files) before I got around to it. Since my old flatbed scanner doesn't have a driver available for Win7, I bought a new one that came bundled with PSE8 which I now use rather than any of the earlier versions. Didn't really use 7 enough before upgrading to be able to pinpoint the differences

I'm sure the full Creative Suite does far more than Elements but so it should for the extra cost. For most amateur uses and needs, Elements is enough.
 
I use Paint Shop Pro X2 and it does everything that I want it to do. I have used an older version of PS in the past and really didn't get on with it. I am sure it has more functionality than PSP but if I can't use it then that's not much good to me. I find PSP much more intuitive...
 
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