Photoshop retouching programs, for pictures.

J

Journier

[H]ard|Gawd
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Mar 29, 2003
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could someone point out some really good ones, for doing some basic things to pictures.

Also my A-80 Really likes red... ive had to go use photoshop 6 times for 6 pictures i took out in the sun, everyone i took a picture of in the sun just made the red glare they looked like... they were pink :)

and some other cool programs would be nice also, if you use it let me know :)

thanks,
 
I really like CorelDRAW's Photo-Painter program (I believe the latest is 12)

Also there's Jasc's Paintshop Pro, which is really good.

But, if you're an Adobe fan, Photoshop + plug-ins would suit ya fine, too. :)
 
Photoshop Elements is a lot more affordable than straight Photoshop and more than sufficient for digital camera use.
 
KevC said:
Photoshop can be quite pricey. Try GIMP.
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You'll probably want GIMP for Windows. Don't be fooled by a Google search; you can get it on Windows for free. I'm not sure exactly what places like WinGIMP.org are selling, but it isn't all that cheap (compared to free, at least).

Anyway, GIMP is great if you've got the patience to learn the interface and if you're not already accustomed to another interface like Photoshop's. I've tried twice now to make a serious effort to use GIMP, and both times just ended up insanely frustrated. I think it's mainly because I'm used to Photoshop's Windows-like interface paradigms. GIMP is built for *nix / X / Motif / whatever, so don't expect it to behave like a Windows program.

Slightly O/T, but if any out there is looking for a vector graphics program, I started using Inkscape on my Linux box a while back. It's a very full-featured program, and is more attuned to a modern interface concepts (in contrast to programs like GIMP). I found it very easy to work with.
 
the learning curve for photoshop can be steep for some users...I might suggest getting a copy of JASC Paint Shop Pro first. PSP can be a good starting point for getting into photoshop because the programs are becoming more and more similar by the upgrade.... I used to use PSP a lot for doing graphic design rather than photo work. I swtiched over to Photoshop after version 5 of PSP came out, which I guess was in about 1998 or something, and have been using Photoshop ever since. Now I use Photoshop exclusively for all my photo work. I haven't used PSP very much for photo work but I find that the image and color adjustment tools in Photoshop are unparalleled.
 
hmmm thanks :)

already got photoshop just wanted to know some plugins for it that you guys liked, :)
 
Journier said:
hmmm thanks :)

already got photoshop just wanted to know some plugins for it that you guys liked, :)
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I don't know where you are, but I'd suggest learning a great deal about the built in features and options of Photoshop before venturing into the world of actions and plugins. There are some very good actions out there from FredMiranda.com -- he has particularly good black and white conversion actions and sharpening actions. Those actions are going to run you about $10 each, and they tend to be adjustable with hue/saturation layers and curve layers. These are very high quality pieces of software. Free actions may do the trick but not as well. Many of them apply a basic set of adjustments to a shot and many times those adjustments need to be tailored to the particular aspects of a shot. Some are good, you just have to know where to look, and I haven't found very good depositories for high quality free actions. Check google.

Plugins are not really something I deal with, except for the EyeCandy filterset, if you can call that a plugin.
 
If you just want to do fairly basic stuff, you can't beat IrfanView and it's 100% free. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty capable program for what it does, it's just not as "full featured" as Photoshop or PSP.
 
well, im just looking for something that will fix the color, my new canon A80 is giving a very red color to my family members in the sun... to much red, they arent that color if there were wed be called the pink people not the white people :/

i can do it in photoshop, but it takes a bit to adjust to correctly, and was wondering about a program that could do it INSTANT :)

photoshop has alot of great stuff, but some of it truelly is hard to get used to.
 
Using manual W/B might fix your color problem in camera. IMO the full Photoshop is overkill for just touching up photos (~$700). I use Paint Shop Pro (~$80) for most things. I have Photoshop Elements, but I hardly touch it.

If I just need to do a quick resize or file type conversion I use IrFanView as someone pointed out earlier. I also use that alot for batch resizing/renaming, even though PSP has batch options. PSP has some more advanced bath processing and scripting, but for just resizing, IrFanView is alot faster.

You can also give Picasa a try, which is also free. It does some basic color touching up and redeye removal.
 
Journier said:
i can do it in photoshop, but it takes a bit to adjust to correctly, and was wondering about a program that could do it INSTANT :)

.
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There really is no such thing -- each shot is different and there is no magic adjustment that can be applied to make every shot look "good." Since you already have photoshop, the two most important things to try to do are make your shots look good coming out of the camera (it just takes practice) and learn how to use Photoshop.

But try the "Auto Levels", "Auto Color" and "Auto Contrast" features in the Image Adjust menus in Photoshop.
 
Journier said:
well, im just looking for something that will fix the color, my new canon A80 is giving a very red color to my family members in the sun... to much red, they arent that color if there were wed be called the pink people not the white people :/

i can do it in photoshop, but it takes a bit to adjust to correctly, and was wondering about a program that could do it INSTANT :)

photoshop has alot of great stuff, but some of it truelly is hard to get used to.
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Definately sounds to me like you've not got the white balance set correctly, have a play with any manual WB options and see what you can get then, now-a-days I always use the manual WB and EV settings on my Fuji :)
 
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