photoshop
 

having just subscribed to this really good mag there is just one thing that bothers me in every photo magazine i have read they all go on about adobe photoshop , Now dont get me wrong i know it is suposed to be probably the best editing program in the world but quite a fewppl like myselfe are on a limited budget and cannot afford to but this great program having just been given corel paintshop pro x3, my question is this can i still get great results like you do on photoshop being a complete novice at editing i would like to get the same sort of effects as photoshop ,is this possable :o

Yes, I find the emphasis on Photoshop annoying too. I use PaintShop Pro X2, and find that pretty much anything that I might want to do that I have Photoshop instructions for can be done equally well in PSP X2. It's just a matter of finding the right menus, as the two programs have different menu structures and different words for the same thing sometimes. It's an advantage, really, as instead of slavishly following instructions you get to learn more about the program and where to find and how to use the functions that are useful to you.

Chris

Hi Guys,
Like it or not Photoshop is the industry standard and if you're in the business of handing out advice and tutorials you're going to reach the largest audience by going down that road.

As for budgeting, Amazon have a special offer on Photoshop Elements 10 this week for £30. I would urge you all to get it while it's this cheap.

[QUOTE=jet_kit;68716]Hi Guys,
Like it or not Photoshop is the industry standard and if you're in the business of handing out advice and tutorials you're going to reach the largest audience by going down that road.

As for budgeting, Amazon have a special offer on Photoshop Elements 10 this week for £30. I would urge you all to get it while it's this cheap.[/QUOTE]

Amazon had the special offer earlier on Chris. I'm not sure if they will repeat it tomorrow. But at £30, it's a bargain!

[QUOTE=jet_kit;68716]Hi Guys,
Like it or not Photoshop is the industry standard and if you're in the business of handing out advice and tutorials you're going to reach the largest audience by going down that road.

As for budgeting, Amazon have a special offer on Photoshop Elements 10 this week for £30. I would urge you all to get it while it's this cheap.[/QUOTE]

It's not cost that stops me from using PS, Chris, it's the fact that I just can't get used to its interface and find it much easier to use what I know. I'm not a pro, so am not really in 'the Industry', so I feel able to choose what suits me rather than what someone says I must use. I think my gripe with the magazines et al. is not that they use PS, but they tell you how to do stuff using PS, rather than just telling you how to do stuff and letting you fit that into your own editor of choice - even if that's PS. Seems like a better way to teach & learn, to my mind.

Chris

Do we need a thread on NX2 which is whaat I have?

[QUOTE=BarryH1;68730]Do we need a thread on NX2 which is whaat I have?[/QUOTE]

It could be a very lonely place, Barry. I'd visit, I promise :)

[QUOTE=greenwing;68728]It's not cost that stops me from using PS, Chris, it's the fact that I just can't get used to its interface and find it much easier to use what I know. I'm not a pro, so am not really in 'the Industry', so I feel able to choose what suits me rather than what someone says I must use. I think my gripe with the magazines et al. is not that they use PS, but they tell you how to do stuff using PS, rather than just telling you how to do stuff and letting you fit that into your own editor of choice - even if that's PS. Seems like a better way to teach & learn, to my mind.

Chris[/QUOTE]

Hi Chris (do you get the feeling there are too many Chris' on this forum?).

I'm not pushing PS. I'm just stating the facts. If you buy a computer magazine it's going to concentrate on Microsoft products, simply because that's what most people use. Go your own way by all means, and I applaud you for doing so, but don't criticise the commercial world for going with the flow.

If you have an expensive camera then why not have expensive software? even PSE is not that expensive I am sure you can get it for around £65, what is that compared to a camera lens, yes I can understand some of you are on a budget but download the free 30 day trial and do the lessons which are on the internet and just see how fast you can pick it up, save for the program and get using it practice makes perfect, I am not an expert but I find my way round the software pretty easily now.

[QUOTE=Geoff I;69427]If you have an expensive camera then why not have expensive software? even PSE is not that expensive I am sure you can get it for around £65, what is that compared to a camera lens, yes I can understand some of you are on a budget but download the free 30 day trial and do the lessons which are on the internet and just see how fast you can pick it up, save for the program and get using it practice makes perfect, I am not an expert but I find my way round the software pretty easily now.[/QUOTE]

I don't have a camera that feels uncomfortable and awkward in use. I've trialled Photoshop & find it both of those things. As I said up the thread, it's not the cost, it's the fact that I don't enjoy using it. I see (from [URL="http://www.bythom.com"]Thom Hogan's site[/URL] that Adobe are looking to make sure you upgrade every year, or don't get the upgrade option.

Anyway, my point is that the mags should teach what to do, rather than how to do it. "create a layer" rather than "click on layer then click on create". I wonder if the writers/presenters can manage to present it in those generic terms, sometimes. Plenty of software can do what photoshop does. Give us generic instructions and let us use our own software to carry them out. After all, they can give us a generic magazine... :)

Chris