Photoshop Alternative?

[CalKidd]

Well I am trying to take that leap in to taking and making more creative pictures. However, I can not afford a $600 Photoshop CS2. Can I get everything done with Elements? I have a bunch of pictures that need to be fixed.

Example:
My wife (photography challenge) took a bunch of pictures all at +2 E.V. which over exposed everything. She is very upset since these photos are for a project.

[Andy]

Elements 4 is a great package. You can do quite a bit with it. Go for it!

[ChrisJ]

Elements can do quite a lot for very little money. I've used it and also Corel Photo Paint which is part of the cheaper-than-Photoshop Corel Draw package.

Photoshop is the standard (which is why I switched to it), so Elements is a step in the right direction if you think you have a long term hobby.

Chris

[CalKidd]

Can it fix this?
http://www.calkidd.com/images/IMG_5274.JPG

[DavidTO]

It could improve it, but never fix it. Once the highlights are blown there's only so much you can do.

[DavidTO]

Here is a 3 second fix, setting the black point and adjusting the gray point.

[cmason]

Can it fix this?


over exposure is very difficult, esp with digital, since it blows out the detail, meaning that essentially there is no detail to recover.

I recommend Paintshop Pro X. I have both Photoshop CS2 and Paintshop, and I usually go into Paintshop first to do quick fixes of pictures. It is very powerful, rivaling CS2, but it is very simple to use, with lots of easy steps and guidance for essential tasks. I use CS2 for complex things, like detailed sharpening and masking and the like.

go to Corel (http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Corel3/Products/Display&pid=1047025487586), download the demo (http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Corel3/Trials/Login&pid=1047025487586&cid=1047025490241), free for 30 days. From the demo you can buy it for only $99.

[pathfinder]

Here is a 3 second fix, setting the black point and adjusting the gray point.
You can add density by blending layers in the multiply mode in Photoshop.

But data that is absent - pixels of 255,255,255 are simply gone and not coming back. If ONLY the sky is blown, the rest might be salvageable.

[behr655]

Dtto on the Paintshop Pro X. I've been using Paintshop since version 3 and love it.

Bear

[HeldDown]

While you're making your decision, here's a fix you might be able to use. Only the sky was ENTIRELY blown to 255.

EDIT: I know it looks REALLY processed but, c'mon, it's not bad for a five minute fixup.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a51/HeldDown/Calkiddsfixedshot.jpg

[jfriend]

Can it fix this?


Pretty tough to fix something that overexposed. Here's one shot at it:

http://jfriend.smugmug.com/photos/59245868-L.jpg

[wxwax]

Jeff, that's a pretty darned good effort.

[DavidTO]

Jeff, that's a pretty darned good effort.


:thumb

[HeldDown]

Three hundred points to jeff! :D

[CalKidd]

Bravo guys:clap . Thanks, I have several of those photos so I will download the demo of Paintshop and try to fix them. Thanks for all the input.

[flyingpylon]

I agree that $600 is a lot for Photoshop, but you can get it (legally) for less than half that price by buying an older, unregistered version on eBay and then upgrading to CS2 for around $150 (or something like that). It still may not be an option for you, but I thought I'd mention it. Of course there are ways to get it for even less, but I'm not gonna go there...

[photocat]

I would try it with the layer blending mode on multiply, but I have to agree with the others that blown out highlights are the pits...
With a bit more of fiddling you might be able to glue in another sky... How important is the photograph? Is it taken on a once in a life time trip on the other side of the world without a chance to go back? Keep it...
Otherwise toss it and shoot again...

[Shay Stephens]

You can also keep an eye out for sales. Years back when I was in want, Adobe had a three day sale for something like $300 for the then latest PS7. I jumped on it right then and there.

I agree that $600 is a lot for Photoshop, but you can get it (legally) for less than half that price by buying an older, unregistered version on eBay and then upgrading to CS2 for around $150 (or something like that). It still may not be an option for you, but I thought I'd mention it. Of course there are ways to get it for even less, but I'm not gonna go there...

[Art Scott]

there are also the european oem sales sites...they work but when a friend tried to actually register it a pop up from adobe came up and said that it was the wrong region for that key code....but the product works fine and they only paid $85 US and then downloaded the software and there has never been a problem.....any all updates are available also.

[photodoug]

MS Paint.Net

free

http://fileforum.betanews.com/download/PaintNET/1096481993/1

[CalKidd]

I was able to get ahold of CS 8.0. I did some RAW shooting today, but I can not get PSCS to open the files. It gives me "Could not complete your request because it is not the right kind of document".

I was messing around with PSCS and now I have a headache:bash. This program is so involved I am becoming dicourage.

[gefillmore]

ps can be a very difficult program but after about a year a lot of it is second nature to me-

I believe if you want to go far with your photos ps is the way to do it-

I don't know the camera you're using but some cameras come with software that will allow you to upload your raw files and then convert them so that you may move them over to ps-

you may need to update your ps-it might not have the most recent version that would convert your camera's particular raw file- I just recently got a new camera and had to go to the adobe website to update for raw conversion-

more than likely, there will be someone on this forum that can help you with this question-

don't get discouraged with it--there are many on this forum that will help--if joe doesn't know it, tom does-also, search this site and google your questions; there is a lot of info on the net-

best
george

[gefillmore]

ps some cameras you can shoot raw plus jpeg-you might try that until you can get into the raw files-you've got your jpeg pics you can work now on but you've got the raw files available once you can get them up and you will have them available for indepth pp-

george

[huckr]

I agree with Andy... Elements 4.0 is nothing short of awesome... I actually own both (CS and Elements 4.0). I rarely, if ever, use CS2 because Elements 4.0 does virtually everything I ever need. I am very impressed with this software. Go with Elements, you will wonder what the big deal is regarding CS.