Any Good (Possibly Free) Alternatives To Photoshop Element..

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Hello:

New at this.

Might anyopne please recommed any (hopefully free or inexpensive)
alternatives
to Photoshop Elements ?

Heard about Gimp.
Is this a "good" photo-editing program ?
Opinions on ?

Much thanks,
Bob

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Sun, 6 Mar 2005 18:04:46 +0000, Pete Fenelon wrote:
> Robert11 <rgsrose@notme.com> wrote:
>> Hello:
>>
>> New at this.
>>
>> Might anyopne please recommed any (hopefully free or inexpensive)
>> alternatives
>> to Photoshop Elements ?
>>
>> Heard about Gimp.
>> Is this a "good" photo-editing program ?
>> Opinions on ?
>
> Gimp is very powerful (probably more powerful than Elements, in
> fact). It's extremely complex to use, in my opinion, and the learning
> curve is near-vertical. It feels more like a loose collection of tools
> and libraries held together by a scripting language than a coherent
> application.
>
> You can get astonishing results from it, but it is a frustrating and
> fiddly program to use. If you value your time at all highly, I'd
> recommend the (modest) cost of Elements. There's also a lot of good
> Elements books out there to help you achieve what you want....

I agree with the gimp comments. I'm using it (well, wrestling with
it) on my linux box here.

Over on my First Wife's winders box, she uses Picture Window. I have,
on occasion, used it on her machine (after which I wash my hands
thoroughhly). and it seems Very Intuitive.
Visit:
http://www.dl-c.com/pwintro.html

It is, IINM, less expensive that P$-E.

Jonesy
--
| Marvin L Jones | jonz | W3DHJ | linux
| Gunnison, Colorado | @ | Jonesy | OS/2 __
| 7,703' -- 2,345m | config.com | DM68mn SK

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

IMHO: "The GIMP' as essentially a 'rolling Beta.' If you are comfortable
working with that type of program, and have a lot of time and energy to
traverse the steep learning curve, it is actually capable of doing some
very good work.

I have to agree totally with Pete Fenelon's comment that "... It's
extremely complex to use, in my opinion, and the learning curve is
near-vertical. It feels more like a loose collection of tools and libraries
held together by a scripting language than a coherent application. ..."
Additionally, there is NO capability to work with 16-bit files, and many
other things that users of the full version of PhotoShop or Picture Window
Pro have available. Another limitation is that 'The GIMP' cannot use
PhotoShop plugins.

Additionally, most of the comments / postings I've seen in

comp.graphics.apps.gimp

have been MUCH more orientated toward 'programmers' rather than graphics
users. A typical posting would be something like "... how do I compile the
program for Mandrake (a flavor of Linux) version 47.3.9.a Release 2.3 ...
I'm having the following problem(s). Followed by 15 kB of error log
printouts. Or "I just re-wrote the 'Unsharp Mask' plugin ...

Don't ask a question over there unless you are prepared to re-write parts
of the program and re-compile it yourself. I've also gotten the feeling
that the committed users of "The GIMP" are using it more because

(1) It's NOT PhotoShop, and they're rebelling against the 'evil
empire' (Adobe), or

(2) They are actually (closet) programmers, and are simply astounded
that the program actually works as well as it does, or

(3) They are Linux users, and have no other option(s), or

(4) They are just so proud of what the "Open Source" "community" has
produced. (I am definitely *not* heaping ridicule here, they've done a fine
job, considering that there is no 'central project management.')

Regarding Allodoxaphobia's comment about Picture Window:
Picture Window, especially the 'Pro' version, is an outstanding program. It
was designed by a photographer for editing photographic images, and does
several things quite differently than PhotoShop. For some tasks (such as
color correction and 16-bit files, to name just two of many) it is
definitely superior to PhotoShop, or PhotoShop Elements. Now ... if it just
had 'Layers' and could use PhotoShop plugins ...

See
www.dl-c/Temp

Norman Koran has several high quality tutorials for Picture Window ... see
http://normankoren.com/#Tutorials

I have all three resident on this computer, and find that I routinely use
PhotoShop and Picture Window Pro. The GIMP gets started occasionally, but I
haven't really done any major work in it. Still, 'The GIMP' must be put
into the category of "shows a lot of potential" ...




"Allodoxaphobia" <bit-bucket@config.com> wrote in message
news:slrnd2mjg0.fm2.bit-bucket@shell.config.com...
> On Sun, 6 Mar 2005 18:04:46 +0000, Pete Fenelon wrote:
> > Robert11 <rgsrose@notme.com> wrote:
> >> Hello:
> >>
> >> New at this.
> >>
> >> Might anyopne please recommed any (hopefully free or inexpensive)
> >> alternatives
> >> to Photoshop Elements ?
> >>
> >> Heard about Gimp.
> >> Is this a "good" photo-editing program ?
> >> Opinions on ?
> >
> > Gimp is very powerful (probably more powerful than Elements, in
> > fact). It's extremely complex to use, in my opinion, and the learning
> > curve is near-vertical. It feels more like a loose collection of tools
> > and libraries held together by a scripting language than a coherent
> > application.
> >
> > You can get astonishing results from it, but it is a frustrating and
> > fiddly program to use. If you value your time at all highly, I'd
> > recommend the (modest) cost of Elements. There's also a lot of good
> > Elements books out there to help you achieve what you want....
>
> I agree with the gimp comments. I'm using it (well, wrestling with
> it) on my linux box here.
>
> Over on my First Wife's winders box, she uses Picture Window. I have,
> on occasion, used it on her machine (after which I wash my hands
> thoroughhly). and it seems Very Intuitive.
> Visit:
> http://www.dl-c.com/pwintro.html
>
> It is, IINM, less expensive that P$-E.
>
> Jonesy
> --
> | Marvin L Jones | jonz | W3DHJ | linux
> | Gunnison, Colorado | @ | Jonesy | OS/2 __
> | 7,703' -- 2,345m | config.com | DM68mn SK

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Pete Fenelon wrote:
> Robert11 <rgsrose@notme.com> wrote:
>
>>Hello:
>>
>>New at this.
>>
>>Might anyopne please recommed any (hopefully free or inexpensive)
>>alternatives
>>to Photoshop Elements ?
>>
>>Heard about Gimp.
>>Is this a "good" photo-editing program ?
>>Opinions on ?
>
>
> Gimp is very powerful (probably more powerful than Elements, in
> fact). It's extremely complex to use, in my opinion, and the learning
> curve is near-vertical. It feels more like a loose collection of tools
> and libraries held together by a scripting language than a coherent
> application.
>
> You can get astonishing results from it, but it is a frustrating and
> fiddly program to use. If you value your time at all highly, I'd
> recommend the (modest) cost of Elements. There's also a lot of good
> Elements books out there to help you achieve what you want....
>
> pete

And helpful people (albeit mostly Mac users) in the Adobe Forums at
www.adobe.com.


--
Ron Hunter rphunter@charter.net

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

I'll also chime in on GIMP's side. It IS more difficult to learn, the
documentation is poor, but especially the new GIMP 2.2 is stable, and
does the job well; it's recently undergone a bit of a GUI change. I use
it on Windows, it's available pre-compiled. I've heard that CinePaint
(an offshoot of GIMP 1) is able to do 16-bit color, but there's no
Windows runtimes (so it's Linix only).

I use GIMP as my main "Bigtime editing" program now (eg for masking,
curves, etc.); I use Irfanview for smaller edits (for example just
adjusting the saturation, contrast, or resizing, or converting from RAW
to TIFF). I'm on a strict budget, so Photoshop is out of the question;
and Elements is pretty expensive for me, too. I've used Photoshop in
the past (PS 7.0) so I was a bit conversant in editing techniques; it
wasn't really that hard to switch to GIMP. The controls are a lot
different, but the things you can expect the program to do are the
same.

I think that if you've got the $, the commercial programs are better at
helping you through things and of course you can't underestimate the
value of the support you'll get, but if you know what you want to do
and how to do it, and can't afford $500+ for PS, GIMP is a viable
option.

ECM

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

PSP is a good program, but so is the free French program "Photo Filtre"
someone else mentioned.

http://www.photofiltre.com/


"David J Taylor" <david-taylor@blueyonder.co.not-this-bit.nor-this-part.uk>
wrote in message news:1WJWd.29854$8B3.27026@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
> For a beginner, I think that Paint Shop Pro is a better alternative.
> Built-in it has:
>
> - red-eye reduction
> - perspective correction
> - pincushion/barrel correction
> - digital camera noise reduction
> - chromatic aberration reduction
>
> Get a trial version from:
> http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satel [...] ads/Trials
>
> It's not an expensive program, but not free.
>
> Cheers,
> David
>
>
>
>

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Everybody seems to be assuming you want the ability to manipulate down
to pixel level. If you want that, then the alternatives presented are
good. If on the other hand you're like me and only want the basics
with a great organization tool, I can't recommend Picasa 2 highly
enough. There's almost no learning curve and it's simply fantastic for
the price. It's free! Just do a search on Picasa 2 and you'll find
the download site.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

In article <1110144243.702607.68550@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>,
niteman3d@gmail.com says...
> Everybody seems to be assuming you want the ability to manipulate down
> to pixel level. If you want that, then the alternatives presented are
> good. If on the other hand you're like me and only want the basics
snip///////////////////
Or just download the freeware pgm Photofiltre

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Sun, 6 Mar 2005 12:47:23 -0500, "Robert11" <rgsrose@notme.com>
wrote:

>Hello:
>
>New at this.
>
>Might anyopne please recommed any (hopefully free or inexpensive)
>alternatives
>to Photoshop Elements ?
>
>Heard about Gimp.
>Is this a "good" photo-editing program ?
>Opinions on ?


I've heard a few raves about Picture Window Pro,
and there's a free 30 day trial:

http://www.dl-c.com

It costs $90 to buy, so that puts it roughly
in the same league (pricewise) as Paint Shop Pro
and Adobe Elements.


rafe b.
http://www.terrapinphoto.com

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

"ECM" <thedeepabyss@whoever.com> wrote:

> ... the documentation is poor ...

Well, I picked up a lot of "Grokking The GIMP":

http://gimp-savvy.com/BOOK/index.html

I think it does a very good job of explaining the GIMP, and is
quite extensive. There is a considerable amount of tutorials
online:

http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/
http://gug.sunsite.dk/

Note that I'm not a professional graphic artist, so my graphics
editing needs are quite basic. I can imagine that at one point, a
switch to PhotoShop could be very much appropriate.

> but especially the new GIMP
> 2.2 is stable, and does the job well; it's recently undergone a
> bit of a GUI change. I use it on Windows, it's available
> pre-compiled.

Agreed, the latest versions are very stable (using it on Win2K)
and IMHO the GUI is not nearly as bad as some people claim it is.
It think a lot of the "impossible GUI"-statements about GIMP are
based on older versions (1.2 anyone?).

> I've heard that CinePaint (an offshoot of GIMP 1)
> is able to do 16-bit color, but there's no Windows runtimes (so
> it's Linix only).

Never used it, but from comments here and there it doesn't seem to
come even close to GIMP in terms of stability...


Regards,
Wald

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

I downloaded a copy of Picasa2 and I must say that to me it is every bit as
good as ACDC for most of the basic editing and better at finding all your
photos and organizing, and doesn't crash. I like it a lot and will uninstall
ACDC.

thanks for the recommendation.

<clutch@lycos.com> wrote in message
news:112ngtn6sv3vpe1@news.supernews.com...
> "Robert11" <rgsrose@notme.com> wrote:
>
>>Heard about Gimp.
>>Is this a "good" photo-editing program ?
>>Opinions on ?
>
> It is excellent and other than time, it isn't going to cost you
> anything to test it out.
>
> You will need to download
>
> gtk+-2.6.2-setup.zip
> gimp-2.2.4-setup.zip
> gimp-help-2-0.7-setup.zip (optional)
>
> Install programs in order I listed. See www.gimp.org and look for
> link for a precompiled windows binary.
>
> It could turn out that picasa2 (also free) will do most of what you
> want but I've never considered having too many tools a burden.
>
> Wes
>
>
> --
> Reply to:
> Whiskey Echo Sierra Sierra AT Gee Tee EYE EYE dot COM
> Lycos address is a spam trap.