Adobe Photo Shop - Can I watch you?

[ccsimpson]

We will be in Livingston on Oct. 28 and will stay a month. I have heard mixed reviews about Photo Shop. I have been using Print Artist and Faststone with pretty good results. But I am wondering if I have the ability to learn Photo Shop and take my photos to the next level.

 

So I was wondering if any one who has Photo Shop will be in Livingston the same time we are and wouldn't mind letting me see how you use it to see if I could learn it. I know the program isn't cheap. I have heard it is pretty complicated and I am a real novice. Please send me a private message with your contact info if you can help me. I would appreciate it.

Carol

[lenp]

Carol,

 

You might want to look at GIMP a free and very good photo editing program. Might not do everything Photo Shop does but it does a LOT.

 

Lenp

[docj]

I've been using Photoshop for years and even though I'm a rank amateur I have been able to do some remarkable things with it. I don't know what you mean by "mixed reviews" about it; my daughter-in-law is a graphics artist and a Photoshop professional and she can do absolutely amazing things with it.

 

I will be honest that for 90% of the pictures I upload to our blog I still use the picture manager that came with Microsoft Office because it does what is needed for most of that kind of work. But even for a blog post, if I want to something like brighten shadows I will open Photoshop because it can correct shadows with a single button push far better than I can do with the other program.

 

There is (or was) a Photoshop for dummies book, You might want to order a copy; that's what I started with.

[skp51443]

Gimp is not a bad place to start, it has a lot of features and options that you can work with and see if that is what you really want to do or if a simpler tool is going to meet your needs. I use about 5% of Gimp myself on a regular basis and once in a blue moon I do something complicated. For that free is a good price, if you are really going to use a lot of the features often then maybe spending the money ($600 on the old versio9n ??? on the new one) on PhotoShop would be worth it.

 

Gimp: http://www.gimp.org/

 

PhotoShop: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html

 

Reading this leaves me a bit confused, it looks like the $600.00 version of PhgotoShop I'm familiar with is being replaced with a new Cloud version that I don't have the time to try to sort out.

 

 

We're reinventing our desktop apps to make your creative process seamless, intuitive, and more connected than ever. Our newest release — including Photoshop® CC and Illustrator® CC — is available only in Adobe® Creative Cloud™. Try Creative Cloud now, and get access to more connected tools and services with hundreds of all-new features.

 

While Adobe Creative Suite® 6 products will continue to be available for purchase, Adobe has no plans for future releases of Creative Suite or other CS products.

[theeyres]

Hi Carol. I know your question was simply asking if anyone will be in Livingston that can show you some things about Photoshop. Certainly can't answer that. But I can say that as a former owner of a print shop and having hired graphic designers that used Photoshop, you really have no need for it unless you really plan to do high end manipulation of photos into designs or something other than what they are. If you plan to sell your photos for hundreds and hundreds of dollars and have a top of the line camera, then Photoshop is well worth learning. Otherwise stick with the freebies. They will do all you need to do. Gimp does most of what Photoshop does and I wonder if anybody on this forum can claim they have mastered it! I certainly haven't.

[docj]

Hi Carol. I know your question was simply asking if anyone will be in Livingston that can show you some things about Photoshop. Certainly can't answer that. But I can say that as a former owner of a print shop and having hired graphic designers that used Photoshop, you really have no need for it unless you really plan to do high end manipulation of photos into designs or something other than what they are. If you plan to sell your photos for hundreds and hundreds of dollars and have a top of the line camera, then Photoshop is well worth learning. Otherwise stick with the freebies. They will do all you need to do. Gimp does most of what Photoshop does and I wonder if anybody on this forum can claim they have mastered it! I certainly haven't.

 

I had never even heard of Gimp until this discussion; I just downloaded it and it sure looks a lot like Photoshop. Lots and lots of controls; lots to learn. Thanks for the tip.

[Newt]

I have an old version of Photo Shop. Just doing a few basic things does wonders for a lot of photos. I have never tried to master the whole thing. It's like a lot of the controls on the camera. If you don't use them, you forget what they are far.

 

Newt

[desertranger]

I use the Corel draw suite, GIMP and Inkscape.. Why spend that kind of mooney when you don't have to.

[ccsimpson]

Thanks everyone. I had no idea it was that expensive! Sooo..I will stick with what I have. I rally like faststone.com, also a free download, and it does a good job of adjusting shadows, contrast, blur, and even clones mistakes or things you don't want in your photo. I will also take a look at GIMP.

Carol

[vermilye]

The latest version of Photoshop (and most of Adobe's software) has moved to the cloud. Lightroom is still available as a stand alone product, and they were offering a pretty good deal on a combination of Lightroom & Photoshop for awhile. You might want to take a look at Photoshop Elements. Not as flexible as Photoshop, but easier to learn and a lot cheaper.

 

By the way, since I started using Lightroom a few years ago I have found the need for Photoshop to be less & less. I do about 90% of my work in Lightroom, only using photoshop fot some actions I have developed over the years, and for a few tools that don't work as well (or are not available) in Lightroom.

[Newt]

Thanks everyone. I had no idea it was that expensive! Sooo..I will stick with what I have. I rally like faststone.com, also a free download, and it does a good job of adjusting shadows, contrast, blur, and even clones mistakes or things you don't want in your photo. I will also take a look at GIMP.

Carol

 

If you're unaware of the Photoshop price, it will give one sticker shock!

 

Newt

[ccsimpson]

Isn't there also an Adobe Photo Elements software? The one I am thinking of is at Sam's Club for about $70.

[SWharton]

I have used Elements for years and am a semi-professional photographer. Elements has pretty much everything you will need unless you are a graphics artist. Ver 12 has just come out and Costco usually has it on sale in Nov. for around $60. Rather than look at pricey Photoshop I would start with Elements, everything you learn in Elements you can transition to Photoshop. In addition, Elements has an Organizer. I love the Organizer, some people do not. Depends on how entrenched you are in your ways.

 

Go go www.elementsvillage.com and they can answer any of your questions on Elements and Lightroom.

[rv-voyager]

Buy a slight older verison of Photoshop and you can have a great photo editor and save a bundle.

[mptjelgin]

I agree on the recommendation for Photoshop Elements. I do a lot of nature photography and use it extensively. It has all of the tools that I've ever needed, and quite a few that I've never used. Lots of good on-line help and even courses on how to use various functions. You can get Elements for around $60 if you shop around.

[cldevonshire]

My husband found this on a blog that he reads. It is an older, free version of Photo Shop. I did download it but have not worked with it a lot. Looks like a pretty good tool to me.

 

If you’ve ever wanted to check out Adobe’s Photoshop but didn’t want to shell out the big bucks, you can now download a legacy version for free.

With CS6 the current version, Photoshop CS2 was released in 2005, and replaced by CS3 in 2007. And now you can have a copy of CS2 for your very own.

The reason for the freebie is that Adobe no longer wants to maintain the authentication servers for a 9 year old version, and so decided to release it into the wild.

http://www.techspot.com/downloads/3689-adobe-photoshop-cs2.html

Just click the above link, select Windows or Mac on the right side, and set back and wait, because it’s a 340 MB download. The program works fine up to Windows 7, but will not work on Win 8.

Below you will find the serial number needed to register the program.

Windows Serial number: 1045-1412-5685-1654-6343-1431
Mac OS X Serial number: 1045-0410-5403-3188-5429-0639

[Tony G]

I also have the Adobe Photoshop Elements 12, but I don't have the Adobe Elements, but I do have the One on One Photo Suite 8 which works very well on photographs with the Adobe Photo shop which putting it on Photo Suite 8 it helps by selecting which photo effect you want to choose which makes a well combined and refined photos whether you taken a photo of an RV an 18 wheeler or your favorite bird or your favorite pet, I would advise and use the Adobe Photoshop and the One on One Photo Suite. Both photo programs are the best and if combined; you will have the perfect photos by combining both programs by saving it in a file in your computer.

[SWharton]

I am confused about what you own. There is no Photoshop 12. I think the Photoshop highest number is 6. 12 is Photoshop Elements. To verify this please go to Help/About to confirm what you own. That will make a difference if you are looking for help. Gimp and many of the free programs are perfectly adequate for most editing. Elements contains sufficient to do a more major edit. Additional programs are generally not required unless it is something specific you are planning to do.

[j. Michael]

As a professional photographer, I use both Lightroom and Photoshop extensively. With the new pricing programs, you can use both programs for only 9.99 a month with the Creative Cloud program from Adobe. There IS a steep learning curve, however, if you want professional quality in your images, Adobe is the gold standard of imaging software. Add ons, such as OnOne Photo Suite are also magnificent tools.

No atter what software you choose to use, it all starts with knowing how to use your camera effectively. I offer tips and tricks on my blog @ http://jmhillphoto.blogspot.com/

[docj]

The program works fine up to Windows 7, but will not work on Win 8.

 

 

I happen to own a legitimate copy of Photoshop CS2 and it most definitely does run on Windows 8/8.1. I wonder what the difference is?

[SWharton]

If you are interested in learning lynda.com has some very good vidseo tuts for both Photoshop and Photoshop elements.

[j. Michael]

If you are interested in learning lynda.com has some very good vidseo tuts for both Photoshop and Photoshop elements.

They are very good @lynda.com (Deke McClelland rocks it!) Also @www.kelbyone.com they have tutorials on anything Adobe.

[rv-voyager]

Photoshop is very the best photo editing software available,that is the good news. The bad news on Photoshop is, it has a very long learning curve and is quite expensive. Depending on what level of editing is required. Elements is a nice inexpensive option if you are just starting or have basic requirements. Element can be purchased for $60 to $80 depending where you shop. I have been using Photoshop since 1997 and will never go back to any other software. I had use several other editor prior to Photoshop, they were decent but did not hold a candle to Photoshop. Today all my selected image are edited before they are uploaded to my photo site and stock agencies.

I tell everyone I am a good Photographer, with Photoshop I am a great Photographer.

 

 

[Tony G]

I recently bought a Canon Rebel 500 for $600.00 and I started to experiment with the lighting effect by putting two of model scale trucks as an experiment. So I'm going to put some pictures and see how they came out.

[docj]

I recently bought a Canon Rebel 500 for $600.00 and I started to experiment with the lighting effect by putting two of model scale trucks as an experiment. So I'm going to put some pictures and see how they came out.

 

Did you buy a Rebel 500 or did you mean to say you bought a Rebel T5i? The 500 is a several year old design. I have a T5i which replaced my old xTi and it is quite an impressive device. It has a lot of image processing capability built in that can be used to "post process" a photo that has already been taken. It's sort of like a simple Photoshop built into the camera.