Does Picnik.com damage photos?

[MTVision]

I'm new to editing my photos and I was wondering if picnik.com damages your photos. I also have Photoshop Elements 9 but I don't really know how to use it yet. In your opinions, which is better - elements or picnik? Thanks!!

 

[GooniesNeverSayDie11]

Not familiar with Picnik, but any software can "damage" your photos if you don't know how to use it correctly.

 

[Quentin_Moyer]

ELEMENTS!

I wouldn't touch Picnik with a 2x4.

 

[clanthar]

Yes. Picnik trashes every photo it touches.

Elements can be used without harming your photos, but you must avoid some of Elements' standard features if you want you photos to stay intact.

The mass consumer market drives a lot of the design that goes into cameras and software. Top quality photography isn't a factor in those design parameters.

Joe

 

[MTVision]

I've used picnik on a bunch of pictures but I always use a copy of the original file. So, my original pictures should be OK right?

 

[MTVision]

Yes. Picnik trashes every photo it touches.

Elements can be used without harming your photos, but you must avoid some of Elements' standard features if you want you photos to stay intact.

The mass consumer market drives a lot of the design that goes into cameras and software. Top quality photography isn't a factor in those design parameters.

Joe

What would be the standard features of Elements? Sorry I'm asking a bunch of questions but I am new at all of this

 

[MissCream]

Not only will it damage your pictures but your reputation as well...

 

[Quentin_Moyer]

Use Picnik if you want your pictures to look like they were "edited" by a 12 y/o girl. That's all it's good for.

 

[MTVision]

Not only will it damage your pictures but your reputation as well...

LOL - Don't think that really matters since I'm not a professional photographer!

 

[Quentin_Moyer]

Not only will it damage your pictures but your reputation as well...

LOL - Don't think that really matters since I'm not a professional photographer!

It's just that from what I've seen on the net, Picnik is loaded with nothing but garbage features utilized by little kids.

They are often placed in Facebook albums entitled "edits!!!!"

 

[KmH]

Rule #1 of image editing is: Never edit the original photo. Edit a copy of the original.

There are only 2 ways you can edit a photo and not destroy pixels in the process.

1. By using a parametric image editor like ACR (Adobe Camera Raw. (used by Photoshop Elements (x) Camera Raw, CS(x) Camera Raw, and Photoshop Lightroom).

2. By using Photoshop adjustment layers.

 

[Village Idiot]

And any time you save a jpg, it loses data.

A jpg is a compressed image. Save a jpg image 50 times or so and you'll start to notice the overall quailty of the file degrading. There was an example of this on POTN with jpg shown that were saved at different amounts.

 

[subscuck]

I also have Photoshop Elements 9 but I don't really know how to use it yet.

This will take care of that.

Amazon.com: The Photoshop Elements 9 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter) (9780321741332): Scott Kelby, Matt Kloskowski: Books

 

[KmH]

I also have Photoshop Elements 9 but I don't really know how to use it yet.

This will take care of that.

Amazon.com: The Photoshop Elements 9 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter) (9780321741332): Scott Kelby, Matt Kloskowski: Books

That, and clicking on the 'Help' tabso you can access Adobe's tutorials and other learning resouces.


Add www.ElementsVillage.com to your favorites list. It's a Photoshop Elements forum.

 

[MTVision]

Thanks Keith and Subscuck! I have been watching some tutorials but I think the book would probably help me even more! One more question - I am planning on buying photoshop within the month - is it worth it to learn elements only to switch to photoshop? Does elements work the same as photoshop just with less options? I bought Elements a while back because Photoshop is so expensive and I didn't know at the time that I could get an 80% discount as a student!

I really appreciate all your help and advice! I've been going through the tutorial threads so I don't ask the same question that 100 other people have asked!!