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 Replies: 31 / Views: 7,491 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
830 Posts |
I've used a few: Photoshop Elements 2.0, Photoshop Elements 3.0, Photoshop Elements 4.0, Photoshop CS-1, and Picasa. I like Elements 3.0 (or the new 4.0 version I don't own yet, but have used in class) because they are capable of doing a lot of stuff, and they are not expensive.
That said, I agree with others here, that it's best to take the best pic you can with the camera rather than relying on manipulation with software. There are times that's not possible though, so good editing software is a necessity.
For a free program, I've found Picasa to be the best. But for cropping a circular shape (like I do: I "cut out" the coin and move it onto a black background now) the Elements programs are excellent and won't break the bank.
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Valued Member
United States
421 Posts |
I generally use an old copy of Microsoft Picture it because it does the few things I want to do pretty well and I am familiar with it. I do very little processing either. Sometimes a very fine tweak to the white balance that my camera might not have got exactly right and combinging obv and rev pics into one. I also usually paste the coin onto a standard background. That's about it.
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Valued Member
United States
344 Posts |
You have to have microsoft xp or better to use it. Though the program is the best bang for the buck. It is ulead photo impact 12. The price is inexpensive compared to adobe but is in my opinion the best user friendly there is. They have a trial version to use try it it is amazing,. http://www.ulead.com/pi/runme.htm |
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Valued Member
United States
143 Posts |
I use PS CS2, but all you need is Elements. It does most stuff but doesn't have the IPTC control (that you do not need).
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2254 Posts |
For some reason I can't seem to resize/crop my photos and post without taking the "save as" quality down to nothing. Hence, my pictures are stuff. I am using the Irfanview software, and haven't had luck with microsoft photo either. How exactly do I resize and crop to get a 900kb file down to under 100 and keep its detail. Very frustrating right now. Also, all of my photos post to the site as links. How do I just imbed the photo right into the post? I'm sure it's on the forum somewhere, but there are a lot of threads...lolol. Thanks all, Tighe |
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Rest in Peace
United States
2684 Posts |
Tights, welcome to the forum! There's plenty of folk here with lots of expertise who are very happy to share experiences with all. No easy answer to your question since each editing application handles compression or resizing differently. As a very general rule of thumb, an image's byte size can be changed through two modes: image compression or image resizing. For example, a 2592x1944 pixel resolution image right off the camera (set for high resolution) of, say 2.7 megabytes isn't very good for uploading to ebay (it won't upload) nor to send via email. It needs to be chopped down to manageable size, say 80 to 100 kilobytes. With my Graphic Converter (30 bucks at Lemke http://www.lemkesoft.com/en/index.htm ), a click on Save As produces an options window which permits me to choose whether to select the size down to 640x480 (or whatever size I type in) pixels reducing the byte size down to about 200 kb OR to compress it (lower quality) down to whatever byte size by reducing the quality of the image. Depending on the purpose of the image (e.g., email, ebay, website, upload to the forum), I may stop with image pixel size (which maintains the image's high quality) or I may make it a two-step process by next compressing the smaller image to make it even smaller in byte size. (With Graphic Converter, I can do both in one step). GC also presents a target size (I usually choose 100kb for ebay) and does everything needed in one step. It's a compromise, no doubt about it, but necessary to get a camera image down to usable size. I have never considered Photoshop due to the cost (about $300), its size (400+/- mb?), and memory demands. Graphic Converter does everything PS does that casual users like us would need for image manipulation. |
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Valued Member
United States
57 Posts |
I use Photoshop 7 and love it!!! You can get some real good deals on E-Bay for PS7. It has more than you will ever need and it's just outstanding once you get the 'hang" of it! I still probably only use 30% of it's potential! Check it out! It's an older version, but like I said, it's all you will ever need! Hope this helps  Frank |
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Pillar of the Community
Egypt
3470 Posts |
I usually use Photoshop 6 Mill. You dont need more than that for crop and resizing pics. For anything else I use a software that came with my Canon, its called zoombrowser.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
My main computer has 2 hard drives of 200 gigs each. One of the folders for photo working contains: Microsoft Picture It, Photoshop CS2, Photoworks, Darkroom, Photo Explosion, Infanview, Presto! Mr. Photo 3, MGI Photosuit, Google's Picasa 2. Most are to complicated for me except the one called Photoworks. However, the company that made and distributed it doesn't do that anymore. They also made Darkroom and that one to is simple. Both only cost shipping and handling.
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Valued Member
United States
270 Posts |
What exactly are you trying to do with the photos. I mean is it just resizing them or what other types of edits are you wanting to do with the photos?
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by imanangel0686
What exactly are you trying to do with the photos. I mean is it just resizing them or what other types of edits are you wanting to do with the photos?
Primarily most people on coin forums just want to crop and downsize photos. Some want to use them as a magnification tool. For coins most web sites restrict the size of photos so if you take a digital photo that is to big for a particular web site, you can scale it down. Many people on miscellaneous web sites like to show their skills at manipulations of photos such as making a coin appear as a double die, clipped, etc and all with a photo program. Then there is the just having fun with photos by changing people's heads, putting people in a place where they've never been, showing a coin with 3 sides. This is why you always have to be careful of what you see in photos today. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1767 Posts |
OK what editing software do you guys use. Also I am looking for a software that makes it easy to put pictures side by side. and what software has it were you can crop a circle. *************************** dj, I have been using PhotoFiltre. I especially like the 'circle crop' feature. An example pic of what this program can do is posted in Metalman's new contest. Check it out. http://www.photofiltre.com/Edited by Mila_cent
01/19/2007 02:27 am
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New Member
United States
9 Posts |
As a Semi-Pro Photographer I use PhotoShop CS2 for work pics but for easy stuff Check out Irfanview |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
830 Posts |
quote:
what software has it were you can crop a circle.
Photoshop Elements 3.0 or higher, and regular Photoshop. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
891 Posts |
Pretty much the only thing I use is the zommbrowser program that came with my camera to crop and xp paint to resize. Don't need anything else for simple posting on the web. Now I do use Paint shop pro to do side by side and make backgrounds and such. It does pretty much anything I can think to make but I think it is a little pricey. I have an old version don't know what it goes for now.
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Posted 09/24/2006 11:49 pm
