Photoshop on the cheap
I've been using Photoshop since way back. I think it was version 3 when I came on board, but it might have been 4. However, in all that time I've never fiddled with any of Adobe's bargain versions, like the former Photoshop LE or the current Photoshop Elements. I'm curious whether any of you nice people are Photoshop Elements users. I know someone who neither needs nor can affford Photoshop in all its bloated glory but would like an image editor of Adobe caliber.
Would Photoshop Elements, should she purchase it, allow her the option of changing the resolution of photos, say taking one from 180 ppi down to 72 ppi? And when she saved off her file as a JPEG would she be able to dial up or down the quality of the JPEG (thereby having control of the file size)? Sorry if those sound like stupid questions, but if I tell her to buy Elements and it can't perform those simple tasks I'll be in a spot of trouble.
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Jen on Jun 18, 2007
I've not tested it out, but I've also heard good things about a freeware called Gimp, though I don't know the specifics that you're asking about - maybe someone here does?
jmnovak on Jun 18, 2007
I can say that the Gimp will allow you to resize images, and when saving as JPEG allows you a number of quality controls. I don't know how easy to use those features are compared to Photoshop, but they can be done; and the price is free, so that's nice too... :-)
If you're on Windows and just need simple resize/save, you might also look into IrfanView, another freeware tool; that's not a full image editor, but for simple operations on images, it's pretty convenient...
Dave on Jun 18, 2007
Google's Picasa is the best program in my experience for non-techies that just want to make small changes to their photos (crop, recolour, rotate, basic stylising, red eye removal, etc.)
Gimp is good if you spend the time to learn it, but if you're not used to it it's hard. (especially for me since I haven't used photoshop in years - fireworks for me :P)
soprano on Jun 18, 2007
Elements 2.0 has JPEG export quality, Save for Web, Image Size, Canvas Size.
Dave on Jun 18, 2007
oh, Picasa can't change the dpi of an image though (as far as I've seen) but it can change the JPEG compression (by exporting the image, not by saving)
but it is free, so nothing to loose
soprano on Jun 18, 2007
Picasa is more of a photo-management program, not a photo-editing program.
(Obviously, anything that PSE2 has, the later versions will too. You can get PSE2 for $10-20 on eBay. PSE1 doesn't work on Mac OS X.)
etherbrian on Jun 18, 2007
Thank you, knowledgeable image editors and editresses!
mik on Jun 18, 2007
PSE would do what you're looking for, and if needs get more complex than what PSE seems to be able to do then check out Richard Lynch's 'Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements' books.
Classicsmiley on Jun 18, 2007
I second the recommendation of Irfanview (www.irfanview.com). It's not an editor, but it is a very good viewer, converter, etc. If you need to batch resize, batch rename (or both), I would highly recommend it. You can change file types, set compression levels, set dpi, etc.
eury on Jun 18, 2007
Gimp is an excellent package for its price. What about Paint Shop Pro? No one mentioned it here
sloan on Jun 18, 2007
I like elements 3 it does enough for me and got it bundled free with wacom tablet (newegg), however I still use paintshop pro X most as I'm used to it.
christopher on Jun 18, 2007
i bought photoshop tho dont know how to use it yet! live trace on illustrator is useful though!
gswd on Jun 18, 2007
I have used Gimp and Photoshop, and it took an intro class in Photoshop to understand the Gimp interface. If you don't know what to do, both interfaces can be rather daunting. I used Elements a little bit during that class, when my free trial of photoshop had expired and I still had a couple of projects to complete. It was a class on photoshop for web designers, so most of what you were asking about is in elements.
And, adobe does still offer a free trial of Elements, so that they can make sure that it does what they need it to before buying it.
FallenAngel on Jun 18, 2007
I use Paint Shop Pro, and for me it does everything I need/want it to. I'm still using v8 though because I tried upgrading to v9 and just didn't like it as much, so stuck with v8. Picked v8 from Amazon for around £30.
I've got the Gimp, but the interface is very daunting, and being happy with PSP, I never saw a reason to learn more about it.
etherbrian on Jun 18, 2007
Yeah, gswd, I noticed the free trial at Adobe, but it was only for Windows. Who uses that? *snicker*
SpasticNate on Jun 18, 2007
I use Photoshop Elements 2.0 and I can change resolution.
KatieK on Jun 18, 2007
Yep - I just looked inside my PSE 4 and resolution and pixel size can both be changed in the Image Size dialog. The JPEG quality can be changed in the Save For Web dialog. PSE has layers, filters, and a whole lotta stuff in it's editor. I mostly just use the editor for cataloging all my digital photos.
Debi on Jun 25, 2007
Try looking into Paint Shop pro, Ulead PhotoImpact , Or Corel Draw Suite. Depending on what you want to spend, they are all much lest costly as the Adobe programs are. Corel draw gives you Photo Paint, Draw and another program either for animation or 3d depending on which version, the equivalent of Photo shop and Illustrator. I used it in graphics class instead of Photo shop and had no problems at all. Paint Shop pro was also used in place of Photo shop and worked great. And Photo Impact is what my daughter uses for her web design, it includes an animation program with the package. You can also download demos of all these programs to try them out to see which you like best or which will suit your needs. I like Adobe, but the problem is Adobe is the industry standard due to the fact they got a foothold into the market. But if you don't have money to burn there are so many more programs out there that are as good or better for half the cost. Its worth a little research to save a few bucks. And give the gimp a shot, free is always good! Currently I'm checking out Inkscape (http://www.inkscape.org/)
Blabby on Jun 25, 2007
Just thought it was worth mentioning that students get excellent software discounts. I bought CS2 suite premium for about $400 and Studio 8 for about $250. It was worth enrolling in the local community college for a semester - plus, I took Photoshop and Illustrator classes super cheap!
a2 on Jun 26, 2007
I was going to say the same thing Blabby said, check out Adobe's student discounts. Even a simple community college class will get you hooked up and the educational software is the exact same as the full price retail version. Plus if someone is new to the software a class on the basics of Photoshop will really help, especially if they aren't very tech savvy. I took a Photoshop class for $20 at my community college by the same professor who teaches at UC Davis. Beats paying UC Davis tuition!
edbrannin on Jun 26, 2007
I'll second The Gimp and Irfanview. Not quite for the faint of tech, but then again Photoshop isn't really either.
Rekutyn on Jul 09, 2007
LOL, I can't believe Paint Shop Pro is still around, I haven't used it since version 3.12 for 16-bit Windows :D
louiemctool on Jul 10, 2007
Paint.NET isn't bad, either. It made PCWorld's Top 100 Best Free Software...
it's what i use, anyway. i've have to check and see if it will save as anything other than a PNG file...
seanhussey on Jul 10, 2007
This might be nice when it comes out:
http://www.pixelmator.com/
louiemctool on Jul 10, 2007
BTW, Paint.NET will allow you to edit JPEGs, GIFs, etc.
check it out!
iqon on Jul 10, 2007
My one complaint about Paint.net is the lack of a real feathering tool. Otherwise its a sweet package.
mvisconte on Jul 10, 2007
Coming late to the party, but bringing a nice lima bean cassarole... I believe that the Gimp has a PSP-interface plug-in. Now you can Gimp along in all the PSP-ey wonderfulness...