What Is Your Favorite Graphic/photo Editing Tool?

StateDOG · #1 01-30-2003, 10:50 PM

I'm as green as it gets in knowing how to design/develop a good logo/graphic/design/whatever. I still think I may have to come in here to ask you guys for some help on projects for a while.

But in the meantime I want to begin to stretch my boundaries and maybe begin to flex my meager muscles and learn how to be as good as yall. So...what is your favorite program to create/edit your projects? I know Adobe Photoshop is king daddy of them all, but it also has a king daddy price. Paint Shop Pro supposedly has 90% of Photoshop's features with about 20% of the price. And then there's Macromedia's Fireworks which I've been told is actually the best to make graphics but not so good with photos.

Anyway, all of that is gathered in bits and pieces from here and there. What is your opinion on the best one to use, which has the best value, and what would be best for me, as a beginner, to cut my teeth on?

Thanks in advance for the help. :blink:

StateDOG

Palmer · #2 01-31-2003, 04:35 AM

Hi Blake, since you're not doing this to earn a paycheck I would highly recommend buying Paint Shop Pro. It does everything you'll need at a fraction of the cost. I bought my copy at Best Buy less than a year ago. At the time (and maybe still) they were offering a $30 dollar rebate off of their already low price of $99. Click here, then click "Take the Tour" on the right. It does some pretty neat stuff.

Good luck, (and get a book too)

Palmer

StateDOG · #3 01-31-2003, 05:38 AM

Right now Paint Shop Pro 7 is for sale at Amazon for about 98 bucks with two mail in rebates totalling $50. So I could get it for just under $50 plus shipping and handling. Thanks for the reply, Palmer.

Blake

Palmer · #4 01-31-2003, 05:41 AM

Just make sure you look carefully at the rebate, I know to qualify for one of them you have to also own one of their competitor's products.

Have fun

Palmer

beetle · #5 01-31-2003, 01:25 PM

I'm not sure if Paint Shop Pro REALLY has 90% of what Photoshop does. I've never really used Paint Shop Pro so I can't be sure, but that figure, I believe, is a stretch. Photoshop costs $700 for a good reason.

Anyhow, I've always used Photoshop and will keep using Photoshop until they stop making it. Right now I have version 7.0 which is pretty new. I started with Photoshop 3 about 6 years ago.

crimsondesigner · #6 01-31-2003, 06:49 PM

I would definitely have to say that Paint Shop Pro is my favorite. I love the fact that I can create/manipulate raster and vector images with it. I know a lot of people prefer Photoshop and think little of PSP but I don't think that I'd ever take that stance. Even if I did get Photoshop, I'd still use PSP.

I just picked up Fireworks not too long ago and found that I'm still not able to fully tear myself away from PSP. I guess it's because I'm so cofortable with the interface and how to get things the way I like them with it.

I also use Dreamweaver (sparingly), I prefer Homesite but haven't been able to a hold of it lately. Corel Draw and PhotoPaint round out my graphic toolbox but as I said before, I tend to neglect them in favor of PSP.

Erika

**cre8or** · #7 01-31-2003, 08:32 PM

My preference is PhotoShop. I've been using it for a loooong time now
and I think I'm just stuck in my ways.
As far as vector programs go I flop between CorelDRAW and Illustrator.
A bit of a fence-sitter there. (I DON'T LIKE Corel Photopaint. 'Nuff said.)
I like MM's Flash AND Dreamweaver. Although I've only recently been
using Flash. I like the WYSIWYG-ness of Dreamweaver.
Other than that, I guess you can say I generally like the ol' standbys.

beetle · #8 02-01-2003, 11:53 AM

The only truly valid case I could make for the benefits of using Photoshop is this:

If you are trying to get employment, no employer will care how good you are with Paint Shop Pro or whatever else. If you can't use Photoshop and/or Illustrator, then fougeddaboutit. Very few prospective jobs will look for something besides Photoshop, and for those that don't the employer is looking for Fireworks experience. I have never seen a job saying "Must be good with Paint Shop Pro"

Of course, if you are just working for yourself or doing contests like this forum, then it doesn't matter at all what you use.

Just some food for thought.

StateDOG · #9 02-02-2003, 08:52 PM

So...some clarification:

PSP is okay if I'm doing personal work or not aiming for a professional career anytime soon, right? What about the learning curve if I were to make the jump from PSP to PS? Getting PSP for under $90 right now vs. multi hundreds for PS is a big factor to my wallet and wife.

How does Fireworks compare to PS and PSP? Is it more graphically oriented vs. photo oriented? If I became well versed in FW would I have a need for PSP or PS?

Thanks for everyone's help so far.

Palmer · #10 02-02-2003, 09:17 PM

Not aiming for a professional career with a design firm yes, but as a professional web designer myself, it is a very worthy opponent to Photoshop for pretty much any task you'll need done. I have yet to say, "Gee I wish I had PS so I could do that". Make your wife happy, buy PSP and with the money you save, go to Aruba

Regarding the learning curve, I've tried Photoshop, it was very frustrating. Honestly though I didn't give it a thorough try before giving up. You would definately need to read the owners manual and go through some tutorials before you dive right in.

I have no experience with Fireworks.

platinum · #11 02-03-2003, 04:51 AM

Paint Shop Pro is pretty good, I used to swear by it - I do like a lot of the 'little' features in Photoshop, but then again I miss some of the ones PSP has <_<

Heh - anyway, it's not really the tool that matters, so much as to how you use it :blink:

StateDOG · #12 02-03-2003, 05:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by platinum@Feb 3 2003, 07:51 AM
Heh - anyway, it's not really the tool that matters, so much as to how you use it  :blink:

Great point.

Adam P. · #13 02-09-2003, 06:16 AM

I have used both Fireworks and Photoshop, but never PSP. Anyways, in my opinion Fireworks is the best for web design - it's what it was orignally created to do. The new Fireworks MX does have some additional photo editing tools (i.e. blur, sharpen, smudge, dodge, burn), but overall, Fireworks's photo editing capabilities don't compare to those of Photoshop. Photoshop is the industry-standard program and it can do almost anything. The only down-side is that, with Photoshop, it's much harder to design basic, everyday graphics for the web because it's vector capabilities don't match those of Fireworks.

In the end, I would say it depends on what you're going to use the program for the most. Good luck!

StateDOG · #14 02-10-2003, 10:20 AM

Someone has suggested Photoshop Elements to me as a less expensive alternative to full blown Photoshop.

Can anyone tell me how Photoshop Elements compares to Paint Shop Pro? I know that they are both fairly well respected eventhough subordinates of Photoshop (to a degree). But how do the two match up?

beetle · #15 02-10-2003, 01:12 PM

Adam...
I wish I could test-drive Fireworks, because Photoshop these days has some fantastic vector tools. I'm not sure what can be done in Fireworks vector-wise that Photoshop can't. Care to share?

I think people here have made a very valid point. Yes, Photoshop can do web-design, and yes, it wasn't originally intended for such tasks. But for 99% of the sites you design, you'll maybe use 20% of Photoshop's muscle, if that. Photoshop has come a long way for graphics creation since version 4.

I oftentimes have to remind myself that I've been using Photoshop for so long (6+ years) because it seems remarkably simple to me. I've really lost perspective on how it could be difficult

From what I've heard, PSP should be better than PS Elements, but I have no personal experience with either.

Palmer · #16 02-10-2003, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by beetle@Feb 10 2003, 05:12 PM
Adam...
I wish I could test-drive Fireworks, because Photoshop these days has some fantastic vector tools. I'm not sure what can be done in Fireworks vector-wise that Photoshop can't. Care to share?

You can download a 30 day free trial here...

http://www.macromedia.com/software/fireworks/download/

That's what I did a few days ago as well as Flash. I haven't tried either of them yet though.

Palmer

Dan · #17 02-12-2003, 11:07 PM

Fireworks is for more flat images, such as logos and web sites.

Photoshop is better with image manipulation with its lighting effects etc.

PSP is sweet for its price.

TwistedNewMedia · #18 02-13-2003, 09:12 PM

ULEAD photoimpact 8 , imo is the best one out there

imageconstrux · #19 02-14-2003, 03:15 AM

I'm not sure I'm a good person to answer this question, but there this was the only place there were new posts, so here I am.

I can't compare Elements to anything but PS7, because those are the only ones I have. PS7 is more powerful than Elements, but IMO Elements has an easier interface. The online manual is better, too. The PS7 manual presumes a certain level of PS proficiency before you even ask for help.

But for price, don't walk away thinking you need to spend $500-700 to get PS7. I got the whole enchilatha for about $200-250 through Ebay. All legit software. Just go there and buy an old copy of Photoshop, V 4.0 or less - they aren't worth dirt, thus are dirt cheap. Then buy the upgrade. Less than $150 in retail shops or online. The PS7 upgrade will take any version of PS and take it to 7. I bought version 4.0, and with it I got 3 big manuals, the Adobe tutorial plus another CD tutorial. The PS7 CD tutorial (again) assumes previous knowledge of PS, so it's not quite as useful.

The funny thing about all the Adobe photo editing software - There is only one version that let me outline anything - text, graphics, etc. really quickly and easily. And that was PhotoDeluxe V1.0. For the money (none) that was the best, lean, stripped down software I ever had. Got it free with a scanner. Even the upgrade to that, V2.0, wasn't as good - they removed the outline feature along with a few others, and piled on lots of pretty graphics. Junk you just don't need. Y'know - I should load up V1.0 on this XP machine, see if it works.

beetle · #20 02-14-2003, 01:31 PM

Outlining? Not in Photoshop? Are you kidding? The Stroke command has been there since PS3 for sure, maybe since the beginning. PS4 introduced Layer Effects which became Layer Styles in PS5.5 (I think). Layer Effects had a stroke effect, and Layer styles (since 5.5) do too. 5.5+ Even lets you save style presets and drag & drop them onto and between layers.

Palmer · #21 02-14-2003, 01:37 PM

Yes, I think it's edit > stroke if I'm not mistaken.

imageconstrux · #22 02-14-2003, 01:47 PM

And of course, if you wanted to outline something, the first word that comes to mind is 'stroke.'

I appreciate the tip. But the user interface and help sections do just what I said earlier, and you proved quite nicely: If you haven't been involved with PS since 3.0 or so, you're left to hunt and peck all over the place for every thing you do, until after a long while you begin to understand that words like 'stroke' don't mean the feeling you get after trying to find simple things like an outline feature. :blink:

Don't get me wrong - it's powerful software. Just that a new user has to discover that the ignition for this machine is not beneath the steering wheel; it's under the left cushion of the back seat.

Sorry for the rant. It's been a frustrating day today....

Jeff

Shadow · #23 02-17-2003, 05:33 PM

I mainly use Photoshop 7 but also for more complex designs use 3DStudio Max, and Maya. Maya and 3DStuido Max are hard to operate and take a lot of time to get what you want in the 3D rendering, but they are great tools for abstract images, 3D models and web designs. I also use Flash sometimes which is great and easy to use.