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Tue 31 Jan, 2006 03:29 pm
I hear people talking about photoshop all the time...but I see there are a ton of products out there.
I don't know which to buy. I am not a professional, so I don't need the most advanced one. But neither do I want some cheesy version that won't let me do anything cool.
Specifically, I want to be able to take a colored item out of a picture and put it in the b & w version of that same picture. I want to be able to effectivly correct color and light problems. I have a Kodak camera and use the EasyShare software but it's so basic, it doesn't do anything. I hate it.
Help me, oh wise Photoshop veterans! Which version do I choose? And does it have to be the Photoshop brand?
I had Adobe PhotoDeluxe Home Edition that was free with my old scanner, so it can't be too expensive -- absolutely adored it. Did everything with it that people talk about doing with Photoshop. (Same maker, this was the cut-rate version but it had all the stuff I'd actually use.)
I'm still pining for it (used it on my old PC, now I have a mac), so am also looking to get something and will be interested in the answers you get.
I use photoshop extensively, and would highly recommend that if you're going to fork out cash for any version, you at least get Photoshop CS. The reason I recommend this is that once you start working with PS, you'll find that there may be a plethora of ideas you want to try out that just aren't possible with the more watered-down versions.
If you're looking for a free solution, then Phoenix has given you a great option.
Ooo, phoenix, will definitly try. It's free so if I hate it, I'm out nothing!
From what I understand Elements covers all of the basics and is really geared for the non-professional.
If I'm following you on the color/black and white thing it is usually called "colorized" and I'm pretty sure you could do it in Elements. It's pretty easy.
Thanks Questioner! That's the kind of answer I was looking for...I don't want to spend less and end up thinking I wasted my money because I can't do what I wanted to do.
boomerang wrote:From what I understand Elements covers all of the basics and is really geared for the non-professional.
If I'm following you on the color/black and white thing it is usually called "colorized" and I'm pretty sure you could do it in Elements. It's pretty easy.
You know, like taking a wedding picture, making it black and white and then having just the flowers in color.
It looks like you can get Adobe PhotoDeluxe Home Edition for about $5 (!!!), but they stopped making it in 2002 so there is no more technical support for it.
I did pretty much everything I wanted to with that, though -- cloning, removing elements, adding elements, etc., etc.
Hmmm.
I'm using Photoshop 7, Questioner, but I see I can upgrade to CS for $150.
Should I?
What extras do I get that I shouldn't be living without?
I only use a few things available on Photoshop 7 as it is.
boomerang wrote:Hmmm.
I'm using Photoshop 7, Questioner, but I see I can upgrade to CS for $150.
Should I?
What extras do I get that I shouldn't be living without?
I only use a few things available on Photoshop 7 as it is.
Oh, if you've got 6 or 7 you're fine. There's a few new features of CS (mostly with text, but a few filters that are somewhat nifty) but the others work every bit as well if you don't require such things.
I recommended CS since it's still current and supported.
Good to know. I'll keep my $150!
I'll bet I don't use 1/25 of the options available in my Photoshop version.
Really though, for the kind of work I do, I don't need too much.
Ok, I tried that program phoenix suggested and it does a better job of red eye reduction and lighting correction than my other two (iPhoto and the Kodak one). So, for that purpose, it works. I wasn't able to do some of the things I wanted to and the effects are limited. I didn't have a cloning option or the ability to grab color items to place in b & w, but it did have a neat b & w focus feature that turns the photo b & w and then allows a central point of color.
Bella Dea- Nice.
Yeah, there are some things that people want to do where you need a more powerful program. My brother went to Washington a couple of years ago. Through Photoshop, he created a picture where his son is sitting in a beach chair on the White House lawn!
Here's one I took and then altered.
This is that b&w with color center feature. It was my first shot at it so her hands have a little color in them. I would have liked it with just the roses colored but like I said, there isn't that option in this program.
Picasa2 is all I have and it makes me happy. If one day I need more, I will get photoshop CS.
Hate to spend money when there is something free on the web.
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