photoshop or something of the like

[Photography~girl~]

Okkkkay, guys. Before I was getting serious into nature photography, I was going to get Adobe Photoshop Elements. The guy at Best Buy said it was good for photo editing, but is it?
Do any of you use it? Would it be good for me?
Is there another program that would be better?

Also, what about GIMP? some people on this homeschool forum I'm on recomended it, but I'm not really sure if it's good for what I'll be doing with photos. What do you guys think of it?

oh annddd, mise well ask here instead of making a new thread. I know theres a lot between PC and Mac, but is one better then the other for photos?
My brother got the Mac book, and he's trying to convince me to get a mac....not that the Mac book will be best for me[I think a bigger screen is better for photography]
Right now I am planning on getting the Toshiba.
Anyway, thought I'd ask you guys these questions.

[Tom B.]

Photogirl -

My 2 cents worth here:

1) I use Elements 6 and really like it. For the time that I have to spend on editing photo's (not much), this software does everything I want it to do. Plus, the cost is cheaper than the full fledged versions of Photoshop...(I know nothing about GIMP...)

2) I bougtht a Toshiba laptop strictly for my photo hobby. (I did not like the idea of other family members using the same computer I was using for my photo work. I was afraid of hearing that someone messed up and deleted any of my photo's - so I bought a Toshiba)...I like the one I bought as it does what I want it to do at the speed I also wanted. Plus, I am the only one who uses it!

3) I know nothing about the Mac's - probably what you prefer or are used to...

Hope this helps...

Tom B.

[Photography~girl~]

hmmm, okay. can I find Elements 6 at the local Best Buy or Circut City?
and what can you all do with it?
see I also like to edit photos as in, make funky colors and add words and such.[like icons 'banners' and the like.]

Okay! that makes me feel really good about the Toshiba!!!!

thanx for your two cents. =]

[Tom B.]

Best Buys has E-6 on sale from time to time. You might also find it at Amazon.com at a fair price...

I use it to edit and add a little spice to some of my shots. Adding text is possible, but i don't find first hand working knowledge of that as I don't add titles to my pictures...Someone else might be able to address that question...

Tom B.

[CG415]

PhotographyGirl,

I use photoshop elements 3 and it does everything that I need it to do. I would start with the Elements series and then when you have masted that, or you feel that you need to get more out of you program you can move in to the CS series.

As far as the computer goes. I would look long and hard at both computers. Both are going to do any thing that you need them to do. How ever one may have some opitions that the other doesn't that may work for you and your style. I have found that computers are just like cars, cameras and everything else. You are going to have you PC people and you will have your Mac people. How ever both platforms have their fair share of problems. So, like I said if you can look at both of the computers side by side and play with them a bit you should be able to make you desision pretty easy. I know that Best Buy is now selling Mac. So you should be able to go there and look at both of them at the same time.

I hope this helps,

Chris

[Photography~girl~]

AHHH, all these photoshop elements!!!!!! which one!!!! Okay, soooo, like do they photoshop elements 1? would that be good to start with?
okay and now this just poped into my head: what do I do in photoshop anyway?[like with editing the photos] Do I tweek the color? make it sharper?

Okay, I'll deff be checking them out. I was kinda hoping there was at least one person on here that has used both a mac and pc. then they really have a side by side compearison.
I'll have to go to best buy sometime and really check em out for which might be better for photos.
My main thing on there will be photos, but I'll also have itunes, instant messaging, word doc and all that fun stuff. So yeah...

[CG415]

The different version of photoshop elements is just that versions. I have version 3, I think the newest version is 6. So when you go to buy it they will probably only have one version, just look for my most up to date verson and you will be fine. Yes, photoshop is a photo editor. There is so much you can do with it it's not even funny. Let's see some of the basics: lighten color, darken colors, crop, take out color (convert to Black and White), add differnt filter effects, merge photos (panoramas), etc.... The list goes on and on. Once you start learning how to use photoshop and really get good at it, now this is my oppinion, the sky is the limit with what you can do to a photo.

As for the Mac, After the first of the year my wife and I are going to be switching to Mac. I have built and worked with PC's most of my life and have just started getting interested in Mac's. One more piece of advice, I would wait to get Photoshop untill you figure out witch computer you are going to get. That way you can either get the Mac version or the PC verson.

Peace,

Chris

[NWGA_dispatcher]

AHHH, all these photoshop elements!!!!!! which one!!!! Okay, soooo, like do they photoshop elements 1? would that be good to start with?
okay and now this just poped into my head: what do I do in photoshop anyway?[like with editing the photos] Do I tweek the color? make it sharper?

Each number on elements is a new version. Kind of like you have windows 95, 98, ME, XP and so on. I think elements 6 is the latests and most up to date version out there now. As for what you do with it, yeah you do that. I've only ever used CS2 so I don't know whats available in Elements, but I use it to adjust exposure, shadows, crop, and fix pictures. There is a lot you can do once you start experimenting and learning how to use it.

[Photography~girl~]

I would wait to get Photoshop untill you figure out witch computer you are going to get. That way you can either get the Mac version or the PC verson.

Peace,

Chris

yes, I will deff do that. I can't download anything on this computer....it's like OLD[it's a mirical it even works] and might freak out by a new program.
So there is a version of Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac?

Thanx for ALL the help you guys!!!! Dad and I are going to look at computers tonight and we'll see which should be better!

[Bonish Photo]

Just a question because I've never actually gone out and bought a computer from the store, doesnt most new computers come standard with one of the Elements versions already on the cpu?

If you're having your dad go out and get a new one, see if you can get one that already has the program included. If you've never used any of them before, then anything you get is going to be great. No need in spending hard earned money on something that is way over your head like CS3 or Lightroom. That would be like being 16 years old and your first car being a Ferrari. Just a tad bit of overkill!

[Stan Z.]

Pat, et al-

Any new computer- laptop or desktop will have only the Microsoft Vista stuff installed on it. I'm not sure what the Macs come with, but I assume it's Apple's version of an operating system and not anything like Windows stuff. However, Elements must be purchased separately.

One thing to keep in mind with a windows machine- get as much dynamic RAM as you can afford- Vista supposedly takes up much of a 2 gig RAM, and Elements (when it's running) uses up quite a bit, too- slowing your system down in the process. So- I would go for a 4 gig ram. I've seen a laptop with 4 gig advertised in Best Buy and Circuit City here in AZ for around $700-$800.

Stan Z.

[gldiana]

Stan,

4 GB of RAM or more is useless unless you have a 64 bit Operating System. 32 bit O.S. can only see up to 3 GB.

[stephaniekscott]

Here's my two cents, first, depending on what kind of computer you buy, it may already have a BASIC photo editing program installed... As Stan said, it will NOT come with Elements however. You are a student, no? If that is the case, you can get a student discount and get elements for far cheaper online than if you get it through the store. MUCH cheaper.

I would advise you go that route if you decide to get Elements...and YES, there is a Mac version of Elements as well, and it's the same price as the PC version. Again, no matter what kind of computer you buy, I advise you to go through Adobe, as a student you can get it for much less $$$.

As for the PC vs Mac debate, like many have said there are pros and cons to both PCs and Mac's and depending on who you talk to, they will tell you why they like each kind, depending on what they use.

I know many of the folks on here use PCs and love them.

As for me, I use a Mac and love it. And with a Mac you do get iLife, which has their iPhoto program already installed. In iPhoto, you can do some very basic photo editing including adjusting the crop, exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, saturation, temperature, tint, sharpness and noise (the noise adjustment is basically worthless, I will admit.)

This program isn't quite as powerful as elements and it won't let you (for example) remove something from an image or blend two images together, but for basic RAW and JPEG image processing when you are just learning, it's a pretty nice little program. And it comes already installed on the computer, which is nice.

And again, you can also Elements for a Mac and the cool thing is, it will work with iPhoto, so if you start with iPhoto and then upgrade to Elements later, they can work together and you won't lose all the work you did in iPhoto. (This is what I did.)

Again, there are pros and cons to both kinds of computers. The con to the MAC- they are usually more expensive and you have to buy software from the Apple store or Best Buy because their software is harder to find.

Apple also does provide a student discount OR they have refurbished and/or last year's model computers that come with a complete warranty that can be purchased through their website. We have done this, and have been very happy.

Whatever you get, I am sure you will be happy in the end. Just make sure you look in to that student discount, I'd hate for you to pay extra money if you don't have to.

[Photography~girl~]

Stephanie,

thank you!!! I have decided on a Macbook pro. I've been playing on my bro's macbook.....luv it! so the pro it is.

I was planning on geting Aputure 2. The guy showed me what it could do and it looked great! I couldn't make things such as icons, banners, collages etc. But it looked AWESOME! like when I get my Canon it'll read the info for each photo.[I say that will help me and my paper notes!]
Have you ever used this though?

Uhhh, yeah I don't think i can get the student discount. I'm a homeschooler, and things like that usually don't apply to us.[weird, I say, we still learn, but I don't make the rules] but thank you for mentioning it for me!!!!

[stephaniekscott]

Hello again.

I have aperture, and I do enjoy it, but I would say that you may want to start with iPhoto first. Aperture has a big learning curve, (something I have learned) and much of the editing, until you get into the (really, really fine-tuning stuff) you can already do with iPhoto (like adjusting crop, exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, saturation, temperature, tint, sharpness and noise. If you are just learning, I'd say save your money and play for a while with iPhoto. And iPhoto should read your metadata off your camerac as well. I have an old version and it could pick up the info off my Canon; I'm not sure about the new version, but I'm 99% positive it can. I'd check with the folks at the Apple store about that.

Of course, if you want to get Aperture, I'm not going to stop you, it's awesome. But like I said, it's a massive program and it takes a long time to learn it...I have much to learn myself. But I'm also a mom and a teacher, so I don't have as much time as I might like to play with my photo stuff.

Know that Aperture is huge, so it will take up a lot of memory...plan ahead when you decide which Mac to buy. I have an older powerbook G4, which is still a great machine, but once I put Aperture on it, it slowed wayyyyy down. (Of course, it also has a full library of photos eating up space because I've been too busy to transfer everything to my external hard drive and wipe the computer's hard drive, but that's me.)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Stephanie