photography software

[almostnormal]

hey up, i reckon this has probably been discussed already but i'm wondering if anyone has any advice about which photography/graphics software and tablets are most user friendly? at the moment we've got some incredibly complicated graphics/photo shop program from corel which, if possible, i'd like to avoid uploading onto my super shiny new laptop. budget for this is limited (say £300) as i have to get other software as well. any help much appreciated because the folks at pc world just stared blankly and tried to sell me some wierd animation software

[eeyore]

the three paid for programs that are generaly top of the pile are photoshop CS2 (or 3) (out of your budget but illicit copies can be limewired), photoshop elements 5 (50 odd quid), and paintshop pro (80 odd).

freebies that are almost as good are GIMP (careful how you google for that) , irfanview and picasa - tho the last is more of a catalouging programe with a simple photoeditor thrown in.

my choice would be photoshop elements if you want to buy one , or GIMP for a free download.

i also have a cd of photoshop elements 2 which you can have gratis (assuming i can find it) - if you want to go that route pm me an address.

[almostnormal]

cool. so that takes care of the photography. I can't belive there's photography software that cost's more than £300. thats obscene!

the paintshop pro...is that a pure graphics program??? i'm used to using pen and paper, but i think its high time i started putting my comic characters on a more durable medium, ie one that won't run when i spill tea all over it!

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by almostnormal

cool. so that takes care of the photography. I can't belive there's photography software that cost's more than £300. thats obscene!

the paintshop pro...is that a pure graphics program??? i'm used to using pen and paper, but i think its high time i started putting my comic characters on a more durable medium, ie one that won't run when i spill tea all over it!

paintshop pro is a photo editor like all the others (and incidentally PS CS3 costs a lot more than 300 notes - 585 last time i looked)

if you want a drawing programme I'd be inclined to look at serif draw plus - the most upto date one is about 70 notes either as a download or disk but older copies are available for arround a tenner on CD - rebadged as select software, or as a free download from serif.

the top line drawing packages are freehand (adobe I think) but that is a lot - probably well out of your budget , and corel draw which it sounds like you might already have.

that said if you have the drawing skills you might be better off drawing them on paper then either scanning or photographing them and using a photo editor to optimise them for display.

[almostnormal]

that would require me buying a better scanner i think....the one i have now doesn't really capture colour very well. sigh. we already have serif, but its a bit out of date.i'll have a looksee at the latest version though, thanks.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by almostnormal

that would require me buying a better scanner i think....the one i have now doesn't really capture colour very well. sigh. we already have serif, but its a bit out of date.i'll have a looksee at the latest version though, thanks.

if you already have serif then they can do you an upgrade for a lot less than the full price of the new one - email them and ask

[almostnormal]

sadly serif is registered to darling papa's computer, and is thus unavailable for me to pinch. i am however going to rob his spare copy of office, thus saving myself some ridiculous amount!

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by almostnormal

sadly serif is registered to darling papa's computer, and is thus unavailable for me to pinch. i am however going to rob his spare copy of office, thus saving myself some ridiculous amount!

you can also buy the student and teacher version of office - in theory you are supposed to be one or the other but they dont check.

it would still be worth contacting serif and asking about upgrades - because this is actually a bit of a misnomener - its not really an upgrade at all in the MS sense they just give existing customers big discounts on the new software - I bought web plus from them a while back and have since been bombarded with offers.

[almostnormal]

ok. i actually have student office, that's my dad's spare, but he paid for it when i was a lowly student with no money.

i might chat to pops about serif, he'll probably want the upgrades anyway...yey me free software!

[Chris_Johnstone]

I strongly suggest Adobe Lightroom for photos. It does all that I ask for when enhancing photos and I rarely use Photoshop anymore. I think of lightroom as photoshop stripped down and laid out for the photographer as well as including an integrated cataloguing system (as opposed to Adobe Bridge).

however, if you need a dedicated graphics program, you might find eeyore's advice more practical.

Chris