hugh_croft

ACDSee pro is very good. I use the image viewer/foto management, itself all the time. The editing features are high quality and do cover most basic needs. I've a/b'd the raw converter with the Photoshop one and would say they are equal. However: No way could I survive with acdsee alone as there is so much more to Photoshop which I use. I'd buy Photoshop Elements 4 in your case. But...many start out saying they don't need all the bells and whistles yet after getting into digital editing start noticing the limitations of PS Elements. Why not try out PS and Elements?

Yes, Scott, there is a slight chance of printing, so I'll shoot full-size.

Thanks for the answers. Regards. Hugh.

I've bought a back-up, take anywhere camera: A Lumix FZ5 and am busy

seeing what it can do to get the best out of it. Given that one

doesn't want to crop, for screen viewing only, is there any image

quality difference between shooting at near monitor size and not

resizing, and shooting at maximum size and resizing down?

CS2's Smart Sharpen is very good. However, Photokit sharpener has enough options to cover every need and I wouldn't be without it. Worth every penny. Do try it.

Having tried Raw Shooter, Capture One, and the PS built in one, and Bibble, I can tell you Bibble is easily the fastest, and to my taste produces the best results. You can trial-version it.

Emre. I'd love to hear the advantage for tonal manipulations. I do know that a wild curve adjustment will be produce banding or posterisation much faster with an 8bit jpeg than a 16 bit tiff/psd. Thanks, Hugh.

Thanks, Emre

Probably a waste of time, yes, for now. But I read that once monitors, computers and software can bring out the full depth of 16 bit images, a higher quality will be seen.

A number of members typically produce work which has been layered with

texture often resulting in a very old look, or where the colours

simplify or darken. In fact, I do it myself by adding for example a

foto of a concrete wall. However, others seem to use what looks like a

scan of glass which has been painted or made dirty in some way. Is

that how it's done; using a sheet of glass in some way? Or has a

layer simply been painted in Photoshop? Are there any standard

techniques you know of, or tutorials? Thanks.

Well, you can try PSP X for a month. I doubt if you'd be displeased.

Hi Gan. I find PS's tools fine as they are for converting to B&W. I use the channel mixer and curves. Pixmantec Rawshooter essentials is a free RAW converter and imo way better than PS's. The latest PS has great sharpening and resizing tools.

If you have version 6 or 7 I'd buy Resize Magic, for resizing. Photokit Sharpener has some great tools for sharpening and blurring.

I've been told the one to avoid is the compressed air/gas in an aerosol. But that's what the local store persuaded me to buy and it sure does blast away every last bit of dust. You have to be very careful to keep the can upright and use very short blasts having tried a few practice ones to check it's not spraying out propellant. Some say it just moves the dust to inside the body but that hasn't been my experience as the sensor goes months without a treatment.