Step.ok Post processing software

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Charles
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Hi all. Has anyone used or is using Step.ok software. is it any good?
 
Kodiak Qc said:
I didn't know it exists!

I found this
  • 2003 Company formed in China
  • 2013 Company relocated to New Zealand
Help and start guide here:

http://www.stepok.com/Help/index.html
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Thanks Daniel I have downloaded the free raw converter from them and was thinking about buying their processing software £60 hence the post. I read your post on Affinity for windows but cannot find any dates for the launch. I am completely new to post processing but slowly finding my way around what can be done on a very very limited funding. The link you provided is very helpful. Thanks again
 
charlychuckchuck said:
I am completely new to post processing but slowly finding my way around what can be done on a very very limited funding.
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If you can find a copy of last months Black+White Photography (new edition only came out yesterday) they did a very brief overview of the leading six processing software packages.
 
charlychuckchuck said:
Thanks Daniel I have downloaded the free raw converter from them and was thinking about buying their processing software £60 hence the post. I read your post on Affinity for windows but cannot find any dates for the launch. I am completely new to post processing but slowly finding my way around what can be done on a very very limited funding. The link you provided is very helpful. Thanks again
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If you are thinking of spending £60 then if you have not already done so I would take a look at Photoshop Elements 14. This comes with a version of the Adobe Camera Raw Converter (ACR). It is a cut down version of ACR but it has everything that is in the Basics and Detail sections of Lightroom, and that is enough to get you a long way with the raw file. (With Lightroom I often use little else apart from cropping, which incidentally you can also do in ACR.)

After using ACR, with one click you can then load the ACR-processed image into Elements where there is a wide range of functions available. (ACR delivers a 16-bit file to Elements for you to work on. You have to drop down to 8-bit to use some of the Elements functions but by then you should have done, mainly in ACR, the things for which 16-bit working is most important such as dealing with highlights and shadows. Your JPEG output is going to be 8-bit anyway.)

Elements gives you three approaches ("modes"), which you can switch between as much as you like. One gives you a limited range of options with a very easy "point at what you want" interface. The second mode guides you through a number of common (and some not so common) processing tasks. The third is "Expert" mode and that is more like using Photoshop, where you have a very wide range of tools but you have to use tool palettes and menus to get at them. Once you are using a tool you can click on a "Tool help" button to get help for the tool you are using.

You can also use Elements to help manage your photos, using keywords etc. Unlike with Lightroom, you can ignore this side of things completely and just use Elements as an editor.

Today Amazon UK is showing Elements 14 for £50. I think this is cheaper than usual. (They are showing an upgrade to Elements 14 for £62. I seem to recall a usual price for Elements is around £70.)

You can get a free 30-day full function trial version of Elements.
 
GardenersHelper said:
If you are thinking of spending £60 then if you have not already done so I would take a look at Photoshop Elements 14. This comes with a version of the Adobe Camera Raw Converter (ACR). It is a cut down version of ACR but it has everything that is in the Basics and Detail sections of Lightroom, and that is enough to get you a long way with the raw file. (With Lightroom I often use little else apart from cropping, which incidentally you can also do in ACR.)

After using ACR, with one click you can then load the ACR-processed image into Elements where there is a wide range of functions available. (ACR delivers a 16-bit file to Elements for you to work on. You have to drop down to 8-bit to use some of the Elements functions but by then you should have done, mainly in ACR, the things for which 16-bit working is most important such as dealing with highlights and shadows. Your JPEG output is going to be 8-bit anyway.)

Elements gives you three approaches ("modes"), which you can switch between as much as you like. One gives you a limited range of options with a very easy "point at what you want" interface. The second mode guides you through a number of common (and some not so common) processing tasks. The third is "Expert" mode and that is more like using Photoshop, where you have a very wide range of tools but you have to use tool palettes and menus to get at them. Once you are using a tool you can click on a "Tool help" button to get help for the tool you are using.

You can also use Elements to help manage your photos, using keywords etc. Unlike with Lightroom, you can ignore this side of things completely and just use Elements as an editor.

Today Amazon UK is showing Elements 14 for £50. I think this is cheaper than usual. (They are showing an upgrade to Elements 14 for £62. I seem to recall a usual price for Elements is around £70.)

You can get a free 30-day full function trial version of Elements.
Click to expand...

Thank you Nick for the consideration time and effort in this post. I had thought of elements 14 but decided on having a look round. I have joined Oldham Photographic Society and a member who uses Elements has taken me under his wing and has promised to give me some tuition. So for the time being my purchase is on hold until I gain a little more knowledge on use.
Thanks again Nick, Daniel and Alastair. Great respect. Charlie.
 
charlychuckchuck said:
I have joined Oldham Photographic Society and a member who uses Elements has taken me under his wing and has promised to give me some tuition.
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Good move. It's great to find someone who will help you get started. On which subject, there are lots of videos about Elements on You Tube. You might or might not be interested in a 10 minute video I made about the three "modes" in Elements 14 and the help available from within Elements. It is here if you are interested. There is a longer video I made here (an hour long) in which I look at a number of examples of processing mainly raw files in ACR and Elements 14.
 
GardenersHelper said:
Today Amazon UK is showing Elements 14 for £50. I think this is cheaper than usual. (They are showing an upgrade to Elements 14 for £62. I seem to recall a usual price for Elements is around £70.)

You can get a free 30-day full function trial version of Elements.
Click to expand...

Abode has released a new version of elements in September each year since Ver.8 so I wonder if the trend is to continue and Amazon are getting rid of their current stock?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Photoshop_Elements
 
huffy said:
Abode has released a new version of elements in September each year since Ver.8 so I wonder if the trend is to continue and Amazon are getting rid of their current stock?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Photoshop_Elements
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Could well be. I think the price at Amazon goes up and down sometimes in addition to any end of line clearance they want to do. For example I got my PSE 14 for £40 (new, sealed box), from Amazon, in May.
 
GardenersHelper said:
Good move. It's great to find someone who will help you get started. On which subject, there are lots of videos about Elements on You Tube. You might or might not be interested in a 10 minute video I made about the three "modes" in Elements 14 and the help available from within Elements. It is here if you are interested. There is a longer video I made here (an hour long) in which I look at a number of examples of processing mainly raw files in ACR and Elements 14.
Click to expand...


Well Nick I have spent about three and half hours on these links and another of your you tube videos today. Very informative and well worth my time, it appears that elements 14 will do what I want. Thanks again I have now got a clearer understanding about post processing and work flow. Charlie.:):hug:
 
charlychuckchuck said:
Thank you Nick for the consideration time and effort in this post. I had thought of elements 14 but decided on having a look round. I have joined Oldham Photographic Society and a member who uses Elements has taken me under his wing and has promised to give me some tuition. So for the time being my purchase is on hold until I gain a little more knowledge on use.
Thanks again Nick, Daniel and Alastair. Great respect. Charlie.
Click to expand...

There is a series of FREE lectures online by a Stanford professor released by Google:

https://sites.google.com/site/marclevoylectures/home

This course appears to have been so popular it has now gone viral so you can also view each part of the course here:

https://sites.google.com/site/marclevoylectures/home
.
 
Petersmart thanks for your posts. The free downloads come with to much baggage can.t be bothered trying to sort this out. The links to the course however are very interesting and useful thanks again(y)
 
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