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We don't do a whole lot on the computer, pretty basic stuff mainly. We have Corel X3. I find working with photos extremely difficult if not impossible. Example...you have a picture of a motorcycle tank, the customer wants to see what it would look like with barbed wire on it. You have a picture of barbed wire. I can print out the picture, draw the barbed wire and scan it in 1/10th the time it takes to do it in CorelPaint, if in fact I can pull it off at all
I had a customer send me something his wife photoshopped, it looked great. I see stuff folks on Facebook do all the time. I'm wondering do I need this? Is it that easy to use? If the answers are yes, which of the many versions would I need. I do NOT buy the most recent version of any software. I'm pretty behind the times myself so something three or four years old fits me just fine. $45 sounds much better to me than $900 if you get my drift.
[ February 12, 2011, 12:37 PM: Message edited by: George Perkins ]
-------------------- George Perkins Millington,TN. goatwell@bigriver.net
"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left"
posted
What version you can run depends on what version of operating system you use. Older versions of PS can be loaded on as many 'puters as you'd like, so you could 'borrow' someones copy and install it. Now, Adobe has tightened up on this, and you have to pay up for each unit it is on.
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George - download a free trial of Photoshop Elements and see if it works for you. The learning curve is so much easier that that of Photoshop. It currently sells for $79. I have both but 95% of my photo editing is done in elements.
Here is an example of it's capabilities on a mural proposal I'm working on. This was done with photos of a brick wall, a postcard, and a gray building. While I could have spent more time on the edges of the brick etc, this is just to run an idea by the client so it was done pretty rough, that had nothing to do with the program capabilities.
[ February 12, 2011, 01:39 PM: Message edited by: Kelly Thorson ]
-------------------- “Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?” -Winnie the Pooh & A.A. Milne
Kelly Thorson Kel-T-Grafix 801 Main St. Holdfast, SK S0G 2H0 ktg@sasktel.net Posts: 5496 | From: Penzance, Saskatchewan | Registered: May 2002
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George, Software is like everything else. Its all in what you're used to. You simply have to learn it.
I have both CorelPaint X5 and Photoshop CS5. I can tell you from experience that one is just as difficult as the other. You simply have to learn how to use it.
I strongly suggest checking out www.clicknlearn.com. Its a great set of Corel tutorials and they're very inexpensive. I found them very helpful.
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I use an older version of PhotoShop CS2 at home and I use CS5 at work and prefer the older version....until I learn the newer version better...I'm sure.
You can pick up an older version of CS on ebay for a reasonable price.
You can also pick up used help books for photoshop to match the older versions which will show you the technique you describe above. It is a fairly easy thing to do.
Personally I use Adobe CS because it is more widely used....AI files (Illustrator) can be used in more outside design software...3D packages and such. Just try and look for a job in Graphic Design and see which software is more often used?
I applied my art concept to a photo of the wall below using the CS package and then presented it to the good people of Danville last summer for approval.
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George I have cs2, but fins I often go back to an older PC with P'shop 7 on it- as it boots up pretty quickly, & it does the job well for basic things like that.
Sure, CS2 has certain brilliant features when you find them, but version 7 is still adequate, in my opinion, as a cheaper alternative, and a magnificent step forward from versions 5 or 6.
You'll have to 'play' with it - invent projects, make collages of family members, do stuff like that after hours to build your confidence & experience.
There are scores of good books, all geared differently. Some are general tutorials, some are about specific features (like channels or text effects), and others are more reference.
Personally I got the most use out of the various P'shop Bibles for nitty-gritty explanations of what the extreme ends of some sliders do, & WHY YOU'D USE THOSE EXTREMES, (OOps sorry about the caps lock) and why one approach to editing a picture is better than another approach-if you have the time to take the longer road; and then a few tutorial books for specific lessons on certain features I wanted to read up more on.
I did buy a lot of books slowly, via Ebay, when out internet connection was really slow, so online lessons were not an option. Besides, I like reading!
Practise is still the main solution to whichever version you end up getting.
-------------------- "Stewey" on chat
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 7014 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
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here is a good link to learn Photoshop/ Corel Photopaint and any other graphics program you want to learn...it is 15$ a month and you can turn it on and off when you want...also i recommend the Photoshop wow book from amazon well worth the read, i always by used.
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Like Chuck, I would recommend working with PhotoPaint- there are several things that it does easily that are kinda tricky with Photoshop- don't get me wrong, Photoshop is great- but it does come with a steep learning curve.
I haven't found much difference in the capabilities between PP and PS, but PP is a little easier to navigate around and is integrated with CorelDraw. (I still use CorelDRAW X3)
-------------------- Michael Clanton Clanton Graphics/ Blackberry 19 Studio 1933 Blackberry Conway AR 72034 501-505-6794 clantongraphics@yahoo.com Posts: 1735 | From: Conway Arkansas | Registered: Oct 2001
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here's a simple trick- for example: take your photo of barbed wire, grab the magic wand tool and select everything except the actual barbed wire- take the eraser tool and erase all of the extra stuff, so that it is just the checkerboard background (which means it is transparent) - then invert the selection, so that just the barbed wire image is selected, copy and paste directly onto the photo of the gas tank- the barbed wire image can be scaled or stretched however you wish...
-------------------- Michael Clanton Clanton Graphics/ Blackberry 19 Studio 1933 Blackberry Conway AR 72034 501-505-6794 clantongraphics@yahoo.com Posts: 1735 | From: Conway Arkansas | Registered: Oct 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Michael Clanton: here's a simple trick- for example: take your photo of barbed wire, grab the magic wand tool and select everything except the actual barbed wire- take the eraser tool and erase all of the extra stuff, so that it is just the checkerboard background (which means it is transparent) - then invert the selection, so that just the barbed wire image is selected, copy and paste directly onto the photo of the gas tank- the barbed wire image can be scaled or stretched however you wish...
Next time I'm over in the L.R. area I'm buying you lunch.
-------------------- George Perkins Millington,TN. goatwell@bigriver.net
"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left"
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definitely do the clicknlearn George, I bought it in Corel 4 I think, and took it out the other day to do something in Corel X5, same basic principles
If you take 3 hours to sit down with Photopaint (Corel) and the Clicknlearn you will have the basic concepts- the problem is actually sitting down with it and not being intimidated- software intimidates the h e double hockey sticks outta ya until u actually sit down with it
buy the oldest Corel your system can accommodate- you can probably get away with 8- and u will find it is a lot easier than u r thinking
-------------------- Deri Russell Wildwood Signs Hanover, Ontario
You're just jealous 'cause the little voices only talk to me. Posts: 1904 | From: Hanover, Ontario, Canada | Registered: Dec 1998
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One advantage I have found with Photoshop and illustrator is the vast amount of on line tutorials available. The way I learned them, and still do, is whenever there is a task Im not sure of,Ii google it and usually two minutes later it's done and I've picked up another piece of info free of charge. I'm not good at sitting for two hours at a time learning anything so little snippets every day or so, stay better in my old brain
-------------------- Kevin Gaffney Artistik Signs Kinnegad County Westmeath Ireland 044-75187 kevingaffney@eircom.net Posts: 628 | From: Ireland | Registered: Oct 2003
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