Editing Software

[Dasiavue]

It would be nice if we can talk about the software we use: where we can get it, is it free as a download online and the URL, what can be done with it with examples, do you use more than one, how to do the watermark or signature, etc.

I wanted to let people know that Photobucket just added editing to its features. It even take wrinkles out of faces! You can do a lot of special effects too and resize photos. Check it out!

I will add some info later, but we are going out soon. Feel free to add your own info about software you use and what it can do to photos (with examples).

[sjasis]

That's great to know about Photobucket - I will have to try it out!

Mostly I've been using Adobe Photoshop for doing special effects on my photos and to sign them (it has a typing feature), and there is a full range of special effects and filters you can play with. Problem is that Photoshop is not free (in fact the newest version, with tons of bells & whistles, costs $hundreds) - but I "borrowed" an older version of Photoshop from my son to download on my PC.

I have also used Microsoft Paint to sign photos, it also has a typing feature - I believe Paint comes with all Microsoft programs (can be found in "accessories").

My PC also came with a Microsoft Editor which has some features, including a few special effects.

I recently downloaded Picasa2 from Google: http://picasaweb.google.com/home?tab=mq
but I haven't really had a chance to explore it yet.

Problem with all of these programs is that they are on my old computer, which is very slow and often has problems connecting to the internet. I recently got a new Mac, so I've been editing photos on my old computer and then transfering them to the Mac with my flashdrive, so I can upload them onto internet sites. When I got my new Mac, my son set it up for me using an administrator name and password that he now can't remember, so without those, I haven't been able to upload or install any new programs on my Mac :-( What a pain! But I am now working on trying to figure that out...

[sjasis]

Here are a couple of things I've done with Adobe Photoshop:

1) I used a smudge feature to smudge the background - a colored tablecloth - and then used a texturizer on the whole photo:


2) I used a "glowing edges" feature on this photo of Lady Liberty:


3) I used a special effect on this old photo of my son playing baseball - I think I used a paint-dabbing feature on the background, then used a "glow" feature on the figure:

[Ron Kruger]

I use PhotoShop, and although I use it for every exposure I send out, I don't use it much beyond cropping and formatting to meet the email requirements of print publications. Every magazine and newspaper I deal with strongly suggest that the photographer NOT alter the image with any editing software programs. There are many sound technical, ethical and logical reasons for this (and they can tell if you have done something "creative" to the image), but I don't feel like getting into them. You would probably find them boring anyway.
The only reason I mention it, is in case some of you would like to see your digital images published somewhere other than the internet some day.

[sjasis]

Thanks Ron, this is good advice to keep that in mind for possible publication someday - it does make sense. But for purposes of posting to this group, it's fun (for me at least) to see how I can alter the images in creative ways; for now it satisfies that creative urge!