Graphic Software
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TV ClubHouse: Archives: Graphic Software

Hillbilly

Saturday, October 19, 2002 - 12:24 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Okay...I'm looking into getting some graphic software to start doing graphics for websites and other things and I was wondering if anyone out there could offer some advice on which software they would recommend.

I know that there is Paintshop and Photoshop. Which is better? Are there other software packages that are better than either of these?

Draheid

Saturday, October 19, 2002 - 01:28 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Hillbilly: Depending on your specific needs, you might want to consider Photoshop Elements a package by Adobe which borrows many of the features of the more expensive 'full-blown' Photoshop without the sticker shock ($99 vs $599). While I don't personally use it, I have heard many good reviews and reports about it.

PC Magazine Review of Photoshop Elements

Complete listing of PC Magazine reviews of Digital Image Editing Software

Hope this helps.

Grannyg

Saturday, October 19, 2002 - 02:01 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
HB, I have both and really the only one I really use is Paintshop Pro 7. It comes with the animation shop. To me it is much more user friendly than Photoshop 6. Below are the links to the Trial Version of each and you can download them and see which one you like best. They are not the full version but it might be enough to play with and see. Hope this helps some.

Trial Version

Photoshop 7 Trial Version

Jo_5329

Saturday, October 19, 2002 - 02:05 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
You might want to also check out Paint Shop Pro.

Max

Saturday, October 19, 2002 - 05:24 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I use a program called PhotoImpact from Ulead Systems (http://www.ulead.com). It's designed to produce images for the web and is much less expensive than PhotoShop. It has less features, too, but for what I do, it's got enough. :)

Draheid

Saturday, October 19, 2002 - 05:34 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Oh, btw, if you don't already have a digital camera, keep in mind that most (if not all) come with some photo editing software that can be used to edit other types of images. :)

Twiggyish

Saturday, October 19, 2002 - 07:06 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I use Paint Shop Pro 7. It's easy to use. I also have Photo Shop, but find Paint Shop Pro the best.
There are tons of tutorial links out there, too. I've been using Paint Shop Pro for at least 5 years now and have never had a problem with it.

Granny, I LOVE animation shop. It is so fun to use.

Grannyg

Saturday, October 19, 2002 - 07:33 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Twig, for me it's the easiest one. I just started using them both and I love them.

Whit4you

Saturday, October 19, 2002 - 08:19 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Yup - I've been doing graphics for years and I swear by Paintshop Pro - you'll need plugins...lots of them I have a ton of them so after you set up PSP holler and we can hook you up with the plugins :)

You can never have enough plugins...or fonts LOL.

Lurknomore

Saturday, October 19, 2002 - 10:07 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Hillbilly I run all of them discussed here and a few others (except Photoshop Elements and that's cause I have Photoshop 6 and 7). Each have their pros and cons, depending on your level of expertise, what you want to do, and personal taste. I would strongly suggest you start out with the trial of PhotoImpact from Ulead. It is by far the easiest of all of them to use, and there does most everything if you know how to use it (so sorry but I respectfully disagree with whoever said it has much less features). And most plugins for any program work with it.

Feel free to email me if I can help you out with any of this or go into any more details on pros and cons. But my biggest suggestion is to try them all out then decide. Nothing like a test drive to see what you like. Good luck.

BTW...I have most every plug-in out there too so ditto on Whit's offer. Just don't ask me how to use Autofx Dreamsuite series. Damned if I can figure them out LOL. I may have to do something downright desperate and read some instructions one of these days hehe.

Sia

Thursday, November 14, 2002 - 12:58 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I'm right with you on that one, Lurknomore; I sometimes have to resort to reading the booklets that come with my high-tech equipment. I would rather have someone TELL me what to do than figure out what to do because it takes me a while to find the time to do the reading, and then I don't understand what I'm reading the first time or two. Does this make me lazy?

Or just stupid?? smileytoiletclaw

Jagger

Thursday, November 14, 2002 - 01:16 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Sia if it makes you lazy or stupid than it does the same thing to me. I can't stand reading manuals, I read them and than I am usally more lost than I was before I read them. I like it much better if someone tells me step by step how to do something.

Draheid

Thursday, November 14, 2002 - 01:27 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Well, FWIW, I almost always read the manuals to any equipment, software, etc. .... AFTER I've already figured them out. Mainly to see if I missed anything or just to see how useless it would have been to spend time reading them beforehand! rofl

Wargod

Thursday, November 14, 2002 - 01:39 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Manuals come with techy equipment?? I know for a fact I've never seen my hubby reading one!

Sia

Thursday, November 14, 2002 - 02:55 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Wargod, why would your hubby read his own manual? Husbands aren't supposed to know that there are motor-manuals that come with them. My husband's manual says he can be expected to go into Meltdown Mode on a regular basis if he doesn't receive Regular Maintenance.

This maintenance is in ADDITION to the Special Maintenance I'm supposed to provide on an intermittent basis. I get tired of all this maintenance and can't keep straight the schedule for Regular and Special Maintenance and so sort of put off ALL maintenance until the situation reaches Crisis Level.

At that point, after the huge Overload and ensuing Argument, Regular Maintenance isn't enough to fix the problem. Usually, though, a couple of doses of Special Maintenance is enough to straighten everything out.

Zachsmom

Thursday, November 14, 2002 - 03:04 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Sia..your post reminded me of this "Joke"

Dear Tech Support:


Last year I upgraded from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0. I soon noticed that the new program began unexpected child processing that took up a lot of space and valuable resources. No mention of this was included with the product information. In addition, Wife 1.0 installed itself into all other programs and now launches during system initialization, where it monitors all other system activity.


Applications such as Poker Night 10.3, Football 5.0, Fishing 7.5, and Motorcycling 5.0 no longer run, crashing the system whenever selected. I can’t seem to keep Wife 1.0 in the background while attempting to run my favorite applications. I’m thinking about going back to Girlfriend 7.0, but the uninstall doesn’t work on Wife 1.0. Please help!!!!!!


THE REPLY:


Dear Troubled User:


This is due to a very common problem that generates many complaints. It is due to a primary misconception generally by male users. Many people upgrade from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0 thinking that it is merely a “Utilities and Entertainment program”.
Wife 1.0 is an OPERATING SYSTEM and is designed by its creator to run everything! It is also impossible to delete Wife 1.0 and return to Girlfriend 7.0. Hidden operating systems files cause Girlfriend 7.0 to emulate Wife 1.0, so nothing is gained.
It is impossible to uninstall, delete, or purge the program files from the system once installed. You cannot go back to Girlfriend 7.0 because Wife 1.0 is designed to disallow this.
Some have tried Girlfriend 8.0 or Wife 2.0 but end up with more problems than in the original system. Look in your Wife 1.0 manual under “Warnings - Alimony/Child Support.” I recommend that you keep Wife 1.0 and work on improving the situation.
I suggest installing the background application C:\YES DEAR to alleviate software augmentation. Having installed Wife 1.0 myself, I also suggest that you read the entire section regarding “General Partnership Faults (GPFs).” You must assume all responsibility for any faults and problems that occur, regardless of their cause. You will also find that GPF’s are cyclical. The best course of action is to enter the command C:\APOLOGIZE. Avoid excessive use of C:\YES DEAR because ultimately you will have to give the APOLOGIZE command before the system will return too normal anyway.
Wife 1.0 is a great program, but it tends to be very high maintenance. Wife 1.0 comes with several support programs, such as Clean and Sweep 3.0, Cook It 1.5 (which replaces Burn It 1.0), Trash 4.0, and Do Bills 4.2.
You must, however, be very careful how you use these programs. Improper use will cause the system to launch the program NagNag 9.5. Once this happens, the only way to improve the performance of Wife 1.0 is to purchase additional software. I recommend Flowers 2.1 and Diamonds 5.0 should this happen.

WARNING!!!!! DO NOT, under any circumstances, install SecretaryShortSkirt 3.3. This application is not supported by Wife 1.0 and will cause irreversible damage to the operating system.

Sia

Thursday, November 14, 2002 - 03:06 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
That's a good one, Z'smom!!

Mssilhouette

Saturday, November 16, 2002 - 02:04 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Hillbilly,

First off you gotta ask yourself. Do I want to edit bitmaps (photos basically) or create Vector graphics?
Without getting too technical about the differences between Vector graphics & Bitmaps. It just boils down to this:

Bitmaps are a computers interpreation of what an image looks likes. The comp create a duplicate of a picture or scanned image using tiny little squares (pixles).
Pro: Photographed images retain their quality.
Con: Large files, and loss when enlarging picture.

Vector graphics are created using mathmatical corridinates.
Pro: Small files, no image loss on enlarging or scaling.
Con: Does not render scanned images or photographs.

If you just want to create banners and buttons for a website then any bitmap editing program (Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, Macromedia Fireworks, Corel Photo-Paint. Microsoft PhotoDraw) Most printers or scanners come with a trial or scaled down version of a bitmap editor. If not, you can easily download one.

Since you're creating something for the web, I think you should check out the programs which include a feature for reducing the size of your graphic file, without too much loss to the clarity of the image. This will help out a lot when you're doing things for the web. I know that photoshop, fireworks, and MS Photodraw have this feature. I'm not sure about Paint Shop Pro.

To make vector graphics you'll need another program. Here are the 2 big boys: Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand.

Now you might be wondering what you can do with these vector graphics. Well, the big deal about vector graphics is that they do not lose any quality no matter what you do to them. Blow em up, shrink em down, the picture will remain the same. Plus the fact that the file size for vector graphics is pretty small.

Also if you get yourself a little program like Macromedia Flash. Then you can just about create your own little movie using Vector graphics AND Bitmap images...heck Flash will let you throw in some video if you want. Of course the price for Flash isn't on the low end, and it might not be what you want to do anyway. So just consider that FYI :)

Overall, if you just want to alter a few photos that you have scanned, create some banners and buttons for a website, well then any bitmap editor will do.

Sorry to ramble on so but I hope this helped!

Oops I almost forgot one important detail: Once you know the basics of how to manipulate bitmaps it won't matter what editor you have. It's like cooking, once you know the basics you can make a meal out of anything :)

Hillbilly

Friday, November 22, 2002 - 07:59 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Wow Missilhouete...i's jest wanted to make some of my own little cute animated gifs! So which one is that? bitmap or vector?

Whit4you

Friday, November 22, 2002 - 04:51 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Hillbilly - be warned - it's exxxxxxxtremely addicting :)

Use Paintshop pro (try to find a much earlier version .. like 5.0) and Ulead Gif animator and your all set. You'll need plugins for Paintshop pro - I can help you with that I have 5 billion plugins lol.

Hillbilly

Friday, November 22, 2002 - 06:53 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Cool..thanks everyone. Whit, I downloaded Paintshop Pro a couple days ago but it seems a little confusing. I'm gonna go see if there's a 'paintshop pro for dummies' book at the bookstore tomorrow.

Whit4you

Sunday, November 24, 2002 - 07:38 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Hill what you need is an older version - the last few versions have gotten really convoluted and a pain to use (even for me) Paintshop pro 5...or any dirivitive of that would work well. If you know hwo to FTP I have 5.3 on my computer I think.

Hillbilly

Sunday, November 24, 2002 - 05:29 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Thanks, Whit...I'll look for an older version then. Glad to know it wasn't just me who thot it was complicated. I really liked the 'tubes' tho and would like to try making some of those on my own. Really nice feature.