PS7

[c_l4]

I understand that this has been debated quite a bit on various

forums, but many of them are outdated. Anyway, I am interested in

starting digital photography and many have pointed out that the

latest Photoshop 7 (I assume this works with Windows XP) is the way

to go. Before I spend the US$700+ and the numerous hours learning

it, are there other programs out there worth considering?

 

By the way, does anyone know where I can download a copy of the

manul for Photoshop 7 so I can familiarize myself?

 

THanks a million

[ellis_vener_photography]

There are a great variety of books for teaching yourself Photoshop. Some are

better than others. I like Martin evening's <U>Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for

Photographers</U>. <P>Perhaps you should start with Photoshop Elements

2.0 instead ofthe fullblown version of Photoshop 7.0.1? You'll save a very

large chunk of change ($400 to $500) and will have 90% of the day in /day

out functionality.<P>And while there are some pale echoes of Adobe

Photoshop but nothing really compares.

[marbing]

Also don't avoid looking at other very capable photo editing applications like Corel Photopaint (which is now up to version 11). These packages are much more affordable than Photoshop and have an easier learning curve and will do everything that Photoshop will do.

 

Corel Photopaint can, for example, use any Photoshop plugin.

[tom_suter]

The answer to your question about alternatives to Photoshop is - "It Depends". What is the intended purpose of your image editing? <BR>

<BR>

If you anticipate a need to do separations for color printing on a press, or if you are looking to do artsy distortions, Photoshop appears to be ahead of anything else on the market. If your needs do not include these types of capabilities and you "only" wish to produce good photographic output, Photoshop becomes a case of spending eight times as much as is necessary to spend to do the job as well - or better - than Photoshop can do.<BR>

<BR>

I suggest that you look into a program called "Picture Window Pro", which is available from <I>Digital Light & Color</I>. PWP is written for <I>photographers</I> by a very enthusiastic photographer who also happens to be the programmer that wrote "Lotus 1-2-3". It is as good or better than Photoshop - for its intended purpose - but only you can judge if that intended purpose meets <I>your</I> needs. (FWIW, the same company is selling a "plug-in" for Photoshop called "Color Mechanic" that received a Photoshop Add-on of the Year magazine award. It gives Photoshop <I>some</I> of the same capability that is already built into PWP - for about the price of PWP itself)<BR>

<BR>

FWIW, if you wish to see for yourself what the capabilities of PWP are like, you can download a fully functional copy from the DL&C web site. It will give you 30 days to use 100% of the program's functions without any "crippling", after which you will need to register the program ($89) for it to continue to function. You can find the DL&C web site at:<BR>

<BR>

<a href="http://www.dl-c.com/">Digital Light & Color</a><BR>

<BR>

BTW, if you are just getting into digital imaging, Norman Koren has put together an excellent web site on the subject. I think that it is well worth reading for anyone who is doing - or thinking about doing - digital imaging. Some of it goes much deeper into fundamental theory than anyone other than another techno-nerd would care about, but most of it is at a level that can be followed by the average person, and it is very interesting and informative - in <b>my</b> opinion. You can find his web site at:<BR>

<BR>

<a href="http://www.normankoren.com/">Norman Koren</a><BR>

<BR>

With best wishes,<BR>

- Tom -<BR>

[mbuntag]

Depends on how deeply your'e planning to go into digital imaging. As Photoshop is pretty much the standard in graphics software and digital image manipulation, it can do a lot of things your'e probably not yet aware of, and requires considerable time to learn. If all you're looking for is a quick and dirty way to produce web images or inkjet prints, you can get "Photoshop Elements" Adobe's Photoshop lite. Other possible alternatives are CorelDraw and the Gimp, but I don't have enough experience with those programs to do a comprehensive review, but the Windows versions of the Gimp is available for download at Gimp.org and other sites if you want to try it out.

[db1]

Most Universities sell Photoshop 7 for around $300. It is sold as an educational version but is identical to the full retail version. The registration states that it cannot be used for commercial purposes. So, if you are using it for personal reasons and have a Student ID, you should be able to get it for about 1/2 price.