Posted: 9/1/2011 4:57:17 AM EDT
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OK lets say I don't know squat about photoshop or editing and I don't. my daughter has taken up photography and wants to edit her pictures.
I read through the intro to photography and photoshop and think that photoshop elements looks good. I am looking for a good easy to use editor will she be able to copy items from one picture and insert into another with elements 9 or do I need something else? |
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Elements has a lot of functionality in common with it's more expensive brethren - it's a good program that will work for most people. It will do what you mentioned and a lot more, so she can grow her processing skills over time as she grows with photography. I'd recommend it if she wants to learn to actually post-process her photos and do more than just cut-and-paste. I'd also suggest the following books - they've helped me out quite a bit. I think they're written in a way that's easy to follow and understand, and they'll take her step-by-step through specific actions. The Photoshop Elements 9 Book for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby Layers: The Complete Guide to Photoshop's Most Powerful Feature by Matt Kloskowski The Elements 9 book covers layers a bit (specific to Elements), but the Layers book covers them in more detail... and a lot of the techniques can be used in Elements. |
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Before signing up for a bunch of expensive software, take a look at the free, open sourced offerings. http://www.getpaint.net/download.html (Paint.net) http://www.gimp.org/ (GIMP) Also, learning the fundamentals of how images, image processing, what all the terms mean is key. (Really, start on Wikipedia for that.) What happens when a JPG is compressed? What is an Alpha Channel? How to manage DPI through the process for printing vs. web based viewing. Etc. Photoshop Elements IS a powerful program, however the editing model is not all that easy to learn. There is a lot of information about it out there about it though. Doing high quality photography work, there IS no "easy". You gotta learn a lot no matter what. I assume there are digital photography / editing forums out there too.
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Quoted: Thanks for the advice as I have no clue I will get the books You're welcome. However, I'd let this thread sit for a while before making a decision. I gave you my opinion, and there will be others with differing opinions (as evidenced above). Nice thing is that we have so many available options, and people willing to share their opinions and experiences. |
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Quoted:
Before signing up for a bunch of expensive software, take a look at the free, open sourced offerings. http://www.getpaint.net/download.html (Paint.net) http://www.gimp.org/ (GIMP) Also, learning the fundamentals of how images, image processing, what all the terms mean is key. (Really, start on Wikipedia for that.) What happens when a JPG is compressed? What is an Alpha Channel? How to manage DPI through the process for printing vs. web based viewing. Etc. Photoshop Elements IS a powerful program, however the editing model is not all that easy to learn. There is a lot of information about it out there about it though. Doing high quality photography work, there IS no "easy". You gotta learn a lot no matter what. I assume there are digital photography / editing forums out there too. I believe she is using photoshop cs5 in school but don't want to spend that much for something she may not be that serious about. a stripped down should work for know. As for no easy you are correct about that I was looking through tutorials and was just wow lot's of learning to be done. I am a old dark room & filter kind of guy. Thanks for your advice as stated above everyone has a different look on things so good to hear them all. |
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Quoted:
I believe she is using photoshop cs5 in school but don't want to spend that much for something she may not be that serious about. a stripped down should work for know. As for no easy you are correct about that I was looking through tutorials and was just wow lot's of learning to be done. I am a old dark room & filter kind of guy. Thanks for your advice as stated above everyone has a different look on things so good to hear them all. A good and cheap alternative to Photoshop is Corel's Paint Shop Pro. It will run most (all?) of the Photoshop plug-ins. |
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If she already has familiarity with cs5 then elements won't scare her. If you look around you can get deals on elements 9. I got mine from newegg for $50 !!! There are other editors out there but frankly the industry standard is Photoshop so I'd suggest she just get used to using it. I have both of the books recommended and they're just what I need. I also recommend them.
When you get the books read thru them yourself. You can't imagine how easy it is to do darn complex things to photos these days. I forgot to mention that since she's a student, look into adobes student discounts. They are incredible deals. I thing cs5 may go for around $150 or so. |
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Quoted:
If she already has familiarity with cs5 then elements won't scare her. If you look around you can get deals on elements 9. I got mine from newegg for $50 !!! There are other editors out there but frankly the industry standard is Photoshop so I'd suggest she just get used to using it. I have both of the books recommended and they're just what I need. I also recommend them. When you get the books read thru them yourself. You can't imagine how easy it is to do darn complex things to photos these days. I forgot to mention that since she's a student, look into adobes student discounts. They are incredible deals. I thing cs5 may go for around $150 or so. Thanks I will look into the student discount at Adobe website the local walmart has elements 9 for $60.00. lots of good advice thanks guys. |