How Do You Edit Yours?

TinySpark

TinySpark

Suspended / Banned
Messages
874
Name
Melissa
Edit My Images
Yes
I just want to know how you edit your images before you post them...
With a new camera on the way I want to be able to make my pictures the best that they can be, so I'm wondering... What software should i buy?

I've only used Microsoft Office Picture Manager, which is very simple to use but not exactly pro!
I downloaded GIMP, but I can barely get to grips with it!
Would the most of you have some version of Photoshop?
Which is the best/most affordable one out there?

Or should I just figure out how to use GIMP and save my pennies for something else? :thinking:
Does anyone know of any good informative GIMP sites, or have any tips? (And would it be almost as good as PS?)
I've been experimeting a little but I'm obviously doing it wrong and I'm a little intimidated by it lol, BUT willing to try and learn!

You know I'm desperate to learn how to add nice frames to my pictures and a logo/my name on them, I've looked for tutorials but with no luck.. [This is concerning Gimp]
I feel like such a firstie posting a thread like this but I'm just so confused lol.

Hope you can help :)

-also if i posted this in the wrong section i apologise, and feel free to move it
 
I use aperture 2 on the mac which is not available on windows. I also have Photoshop elements 6 which costs around £60 iirc. I haven't used elements 6 much at really as aperture suits all of my needs at the moment.

Im sure many others will give advice on what they use. But affordability wise Photoshop elements 6 is great value for money.
 
Hey Melissa! (I'm a County Antrim-er!)
I'm lucky in that I get access to Photoshop CS3, and Photomatix Pro through work - very expensive otherwise. However, just like an expensive camera will not turn you into a fantastic photographer overnight, neither will top of the range software. There are a lot of trial versions, and 'lite' versions of all sorts of software kicking around the net - I'd say try before you buy and see what fits.
And who's to say you need to edit before posting anyway?! Some of the togs on here post great results with little or no post production - I'm sure you'll be one of them! ;)
 
For me usually my RAWs just get a quick bit of levels, contrast and saturation in CS3 and thats your lot. Anyshots with a nice range of colours (sunsets etc) get opened in Capture NX and saved as a tiff as CS3 does odd things to colours with it RAW conversion.

Toying with bringing Lightroom in to the workflow...
 
hi kiddo slapo knows what he,s talking about if you cant use the gimp its just as likely you wont get the other stuff either check out the tutorials and get practising good luck and welcome to tp:thumbs: and dont worry your definately in the right place here
 
Really quickly:

Open
Levels (auto if I'm in a rush)
Saturation (depends, sometimes down sometimes up)
Resize (more or less to 800, 500 and then some borders)
Sharpen
Maybe add borders
Save and post

That's the usual.
 
Thanks to everyone who posted :) Very fast response rate here!

I think I'll check out some of those Gimp tutorials some of you have suggested, i might as well use it as it's free and gives me a chance a to develop at least some basic skills before i splash of something more extravagent.
 
Markk said:
Really quickly:

Open
Levels (auto if I'm in a rush)
Saturation (depends, sometimes down sometimes up)
Resize (more or less to 800, 500 and then some borders)
Sharpen
Maybe add borders
Save and post

That's the usual.
Click to expand...

Oh, this is good!
Thanks :D
 
You may get software with your new camera.

Low priced alternatives are:
Photoshop elements (£50 ish)
Paintshop pro (£20 to £40 ) depending on version. Version X is very versatile and at £20 from Amazon is a bargain.

Check out the publishing compay's web site, they often do deals for students.
 
A cheaper option is Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 which is highly rated and cost a lot less than PS. It has more functionality than you'll ever master.
 
Markk said:
Really quickly:

Open
Levels (auto if I'm in a rush)
Saturation (depends, sometimes down sometimes up)
Resize (more or less to 800, 500 and then some borders)
Sharpen
Maybe add borders
Save and post

That's the usual.
Click to expand...

Virtually the same as DuckyDoodle and you both create great images. What sharpen do you use?
 
I have now got into the habit of preparing all my shots as for uploading onto Alamy, (only 10-20% actually get uploaded).

Got it down to approx 15-20 minutes per shot now!



Open in Raw

Change light balance if required
Adjust exposure if/as required
Turn off auto sharpening
View at 100% and check/heal whole shot as required

Open in Photoshop

Change to 16bit channel
Save as TIFF
Crop, (although I try not to crop any more and compose the shot I want with the camera)
Adjust colour if/as required
Adjust brightness/contrast if/as required
Adjust Saturation if/as required
Adjust curve if/as required
Change image size, (enlarge)
Change to 8bit channel

Save as JPEG


Then if posting on here resave ‘file name-800’
Sharpen
Save
 
RAW from camera
Import into Lightroom
Tag and Organise
Quick adjustments in Lightroom, heavier work is done in Photoshop
Resize and post. :)
 
You could also try supplanting Microsoft's Picture Manager with Google's Picasa which is also free to download and is 10x better for importing and organising your photos. It also has basic adjustment tools which are simple but really quite good.
 
I use Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo x2 and I find it is everything I need and more, it even has an HDR simulator thingy on it :D

You can download the FREE trial here CLICKY

Or you could try the FREE trial of PS too. The full list of free trails can be found here CLICKY
 
I find Lightroom is all I usually need for any processing work I do to my images. The only area it falls down is in that of sharpening. If I feel an image needs some sharpening, I tend to output it to CS3, sharpen using that, then reimport back to LR.
 
Check in RAW editor (Canon's Software)
Convert to JPEG.
Open in Photoshop.
Levels - Varies on what I want from the shot, or what the shot needs, if anything.
Brightness/Contrast - Again, depends on what the shot needs, if anything.
Resize to 800x530 (landscape) or 627x470 (i think - portrait).
Sharpen.
Add boarder
Add watermark.
Save, upload & post.
 
OK, now I'm curious. Doesn't anyone find that resizing an image to 800 Pixels on the longest side brings the other side to 533 pixels? This is without any cropping mind. This is for both Landscape and portrait.
 
good lot of useful info here, thanks everyone!
Thanks for taking the timeto describe how you adjust your pics, or for leaving links/suggestions, I'll be needing both of those!
 
rh1944 said:
Virtually the same as DuckyDoodle and you both create great images. What sharpen do you use?
Click to expand...

Oh sorry Rh1944,

I posted here and thought I subscribed to the thread but something went bonkers I didn't get any emails ever since.

The tool I use is the Unsharp Mask in photoshop CS2.

As for settings it's usually a photo by photo basis. I do have three shortcuts set in the F2-F4 keys (high, medium, low) but I find that they rarely work as it's usually not enough or too much.

But an average setting is more or less:
Amount: 60-100 with a nice middle ground of 80
Radius:1 (very very rarely set it otherwise)
Threshold: An average of 5, max 10, sometimes 1
 
I'm still getting to grips with the GIMP, and the more I learn, the more I like it. It's often described as the free photoshop, and for the forseeable future I'll be saving my cash for other things. From what I hear GIMP is much the same as photoshop but it's volunteer developped, so updates aren't frequent and it's not as stable as PS. But I've seen a colleague of mine (he draws Manga and uses PS to put the finishing touches in before publication) tearing his hair out with photoshop...and he does know how to use it! Stick with GIMP for now, you never know, you might never change it!
 
I downloaded GIMP a few weeks ago, and while i'm slowly getting to grips to with it, none of the online tutorials seem to work properly for me. I don't know if its something i'm doing wrong but everytime i get towards the end of a tutorial I get a big case of "computer says no".:bang:

In contrast, last month I had a quick borrow of a friends Elements and within 2 hours I was looking at a pic of 2 me's drinking 2 pints in 2 chairs.

For me, PS just seemed to "click" with me easier and therefore I think forking out a bit of cash is worth it.
 
Melissa,

I've been away so only just able to pick up this thread.

The Sony disk supplied has some software on it which will allow you to edit and convert Camera RAW images. Not sure if there is any image editing software included but I'm sure some of the Sony users on this site will be able to help.

Try adding to this thread:
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=63189

Regards

Paul
 
I'd recommend GIMP too it's my main PP tool ... it's cross platform so no matter what OS you find yourself on you can still use the same programme and, of course, it's open source software (free) which also means that usually someone out on the interweb had developed a plug-in to achieve an objective, or if they haven't the source code is there for you, if you are up to it, to tweak or make your own...

I run Linux Ubuntu on my main PC (although we have Windoze and crApple in the house too) so my flow is usuall...
Import from Camera, Tag & Organise : Shotwell - this allows some simple tweaks to colour, red eye, crop & level etc ... it also has plugin to direct upload to various sites so is great fro sharing snaps with family & friends.

Main processing GIMP : complete with RAW plugin and a whole host of other add ons.

HDR pre processing : Lininance HDR

Batch Finishing : PHATCH : add watermark, borders, generate multiple size/format options.

All this software isopen source and free on Ubuntu ... some is available for other O/Ss ... meaning more to spend on kit!

Matt
 
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