photoshop?

ANDS! · Dec 12, 2007

If you've used Elements, then you know the basics of Photoshop CS. CS3 (and the like) are just so much more robust - there are users of the program who still haven't discovered everything there is in it.

If you can get CS3 (with Bridge and Camera Raw included) - go for it. Of course you will need a pretty good computer so as not to be pulling your hair out from the sluggishness (on my Thinkpad R61 - its snappy).

Lightroom I found to be pretty useless for hobbyist photography, and offered no advantages over free Picassa (for me).

Just download the whole thing for free. Thats what i did.

Well, I mean. . .yea. But. I mean. No one admits it. At least not so brazenly.

Sideburns · Dec 12, 2007

elements and CS3 look exactly the same from a noob's point of view...you won't notice the difference until you get into it heavily.

Lightroom though...is amazing. Best app to come out of the woodwork in ages. I can't see a reason why every digital photographer shouldn't at least try it.

JerryPH · Dec 12, 2007

I tried Lightroom... paid for it, and when I went to CS3, I saw a very big difference in the quality of my pics. Much cleaner, clearer and I could recover a few pics that I would have had to toss using Lightroom or any of the other apps that I tried.

As a starter, Elements or Lightroom are ok, I guess. Once you get serious, even a little, there is IMHO no other better choice than Photoshop.

skieur · Dec 12, 2007

PaintShop Pro X2 is under a $100 and has more Photoshop features than Elements 6.0.

skieur

m3gaman · Dec 12, 2007

GIMP is a fantastic piece of software, many people say its just as good as Photoshop, and its free to boot...I have been using it for quite some time and love it.

Sideburns · Dec 12, 2007

JerryPH said:
I tried Lightroom... paid for it, and when I went to CS3, I saw a very big difference in the quality of my pics. Much cleaner, clearer and I could recover a few pics that I would have had to toss using Lightroom or any of the other apps that I tried.

As a starter, Elements or Lightroom are ok, I guess. Once you get serious, even a little, there is IMHO no other better choice than Photoshop.

Photoshop is great for doing one on one work with pics...but to do a bunch...I find it cumbersome. I will agree there is no tool more powerful.

curtiswheat · Dec 12, 2007

You might not know much about Photoshop now, but the first time you picked up a camera did you know what F Stop or Aperture was?
:wink:

Varuna · Dec 13, 2007

Another entry level option would be Paint.Net. It's a free app and has a lot of good stuff, plus tons of user-made plug-ins for different effects. Obviously Photoshop is going to have more features and is a little more professional, but Paint.Net is a great starter app. They also have tons of tutorials on their forums, with a link from inside the program. I use it over photoshop, but then I don't use these types of programs enough to justify paying for them. (Though, I'm sure I'll buy Photoshop once I get a new cam and start taking lots of pics)

Much love for Paint.Net! :mrgreen:

SPANIARD. · Dec 13, 2007

Im planning on getting elements 6 but looking for a good price on it, once i get the hang of it ill switch over to Cs3.

RacePhoto · Dec 13, 2007

Elements is neither simple nor basic. It does a good job for just about everything you would wish to do. Probably everything most of us would want to do, but just in case, I'll say, just about everything. :lol:

I don't know why people buy software that costs 4 times more and does very little more useful. Mostly I think it's the name and being able to say "I use Photoshop" (or CS3) when you can do the same things with Elements.

I have Photoshop 6, CS2, and Elements 5. (also Irfanview, Corel 9, JASC painshop pro, and others) For quick open and looking at things, maybe a quick crop or making web size images, I use IrfanView. For quality photo editing, opening and converting RAW files, and just about everything else, I use Elements 5.

That's just me. But you can learn with Elements and move up to Photoshop CS3 if you find you need more. I'd hate to see someone buy an expensive software package with all kinds of features that you'll never need or use.

You might spend the money you save on a nice prime lens. :mrgreen:

jeremy.photographer · Dec 13, 2007

corinnemily said:
yeah i can get student discount.
but why should i buy cs3 lightroom. im afriad that it will be to much for me to understand. i have some friends who are good with it but it will mostly just be me messing around on it without their help.
and are there any good learning programs that could help me? or books?

Photoshop and Lightroom are two different programs.

I have both of them; Photoshop is a really good way to fully-edit your photos in a really good way, you probably know that. You can do more advanced stuff. Again, if you have any questions or techniques, under the HELP part, the PHOTOSHOP HELP always helps. I'm going to not talk about Photoshop though since you probably know it (adobe.com).

Lightroom is a really good way to organize and edit your photos. You can enhance your photo's colour...etc. It's really good. You can download a demo and see if this is what you need; it's really basic and probably even a baby could use it well. Okay I'm exaggerating it.

There's a free photo editing program which is really basic, called Picasa, by Google. You can check it out, it's quite good too.

I hope that helped

Jeremy

antoine · Dec 13, 2007

hi there i'm new to this scene, but i'm fund of taking pictures, but i was wondering if PHOTOSHOP is really a "MUST" or just a "PLUS" in digital pics

?

corinnemily · Dec 13, 2007

thanks everyone that has given me input
:]]]
it all really helped
it turns out one of my photo teachers got photoshop elements 6.0 as a bunous programs in the package and he is giving it to me
im also going to download trials of photoshop cs3 and lightroom and a few other programs mentioned to get a feel of what i want and like
i love this forum cause people here really do help and have the best advice and a wide variety of it too
:]

so how about tutorial guides?
some have mentioned some but im looking around still

domromer · Dec 13, 2007

Go to adobe design centers tons of tutorial. Also do a google search for ps3 or lightroom tutorials. You will find lots. Also do a search for video tutorials. Those are my favorite. It's one thing to read about how to do something, seeing someone else do it first makes it so much easier.