Photo Editing Software recommendations

EddieWalker · Mar 9, 2013

Coral is real easy to convert pictures!!!

Eddie

J F · Mar 9, 2013

You may want to try this FotoSketcher | Turn photos into art for free for turning your photos into sketches, etc. I've played around with it a bit and it's very easy to use.

/pine · Mar 9, 2013

J F said:
You may want to try this FotoSketcher | Turn photos into art for free for turning your photos into sketches, etc. I've played around with it a bit and it's very easy to use.

Looks like a cool app...:thumbsup:

For anyone that does not already know about sites like "cafepress"...they will take images you upload and put them on just about anything...
Create a Personalized Gift | Photo Gift | Custom Gift - CafePress

There are also sites that will create (full size) wall murals from images...

tommu56 · Mar 9, 2013

look at paint.net

It is better than MS paint I use it at work.
There is a learning curve but not bad.

Download Paint.net - Download Paint.Net Free Image Editor

ozley · Mar 9, 2013

GIMP:
http://download.cnet.com/gimp/3000-2192_4-10073935.html

Here is a free open source software I haven't tried it but some like it maybe the fee part.

newbury · Mar 9, 2013

brin said:
Warning....Warning Wil Robinson - Have you read the user agreement on Gimp....no way I would agree to that...they want to track all the web sites you visit....read it very carefully...Eddie is right to be very cautious with these free programs....think about it...Nothing is free....follow the money always....

Could you actually point out where

they want to track all the web sites you visit.

jk96 · Mar 10, 2013

Hi Eddie,

just curious what type of camera you are using? Is it an DSLR or simple point and shoot?

Jeremy

brin · Mar 10, 2013

newbury said:
Could you actually point out where

I read it in the Gimp agreement you have to check you agree to....It basically said you agree they are going to tack all of the web sites you visit....If I misread it let me know...I know when I saw that I just stopped reading and cancelled the download.

jk96 · Mar 10, 2013

Here's a couple for you Eddie.

EddieWalker · Mar 10, 2013

jk96 said:
Hi Eddie,

just curious what type of camera you are using? Is it an DSLR or simple point and shoot?

Jeremy

Right now I'm using a Canon SX30 point and shoot camera. It's been a great camera and one that I highly recomend, but before I go on vacation in May, I'm going to buy the Canon SX50. Same camera, just a lot better. Bigger optical zoom and much better low light abilities.

What did you use to do those pictures? That's very close to what I'm wanting to do.

Thanks,
Eddie

jk96 · Mar 10, 2013

Hi Eddie,

I did these in photoshop using some of the picture filters. I was asking about your camera to see if it could shoot RAW photos. If shooting RAW I could do some nice HDR (high dynamic range) editing for you. If you can let me know what your after I may be able to play around with it a little more.

Below is an example of what can be done using a RAW photo file of my dogs. 1st photo - original, 2nd - photo HDR, 3rd photo HDR converted to B&W and background removed.

Original

HDR

HDR converted to B&W

Jeremy

EddieWalker · Mar 10, 2013

I never heard of RAW before and will look it up. I just take lots of pics for fun and delete most of them. Karen and I are going on a cruise in a couple of months and we thought it would be fun to make up some tshirts with Tyler TX on them and use pictures of Oscar, then post them on FB while we are in different places. I really like the black and white without any background, but your dogs look a lot better then the one of Oscar. I'm also wanting to see if I can convert a picture of him into a graphic of just one color. Solid and empty areas that look like him, but would be of any color, but just one color.

Thanks,
Eddie

jk96 · Mar 10, 2013

I looked up the specs on your camera. The current one doesn't support a RAW file but the SX50 does. Nothing you really need but does allow a lot more latitude when editing and also allows for creating HDR photos. The pic of my dogs in B&W are due to using a raw file and converting into HDR for more detail and highlights. Another thread would probably needed to get into all the details. I'll play with the photo of Oscar a bit tonight.

Jeremy

EddieWalker · Mar 10, 2013

Thanks Jeremy. Looks like another great reason to get the SX50!!!!

Eddie

jk96 · Mar 10, 2013

Here's a few more for you Eddie.

newbury · Mar 10, 2013

brin said:
I read it in the Gimp agreement you have to check you agree to....It basically said you agree they are going to tack all of the web sites you visit....If I misread it let me know...I know when I saw that I just stopped reading and cancelled the download.

I don't know where you tried to down load it from, but from the OFFICIAL site, GIMP - Downloads , I just downloaded it again and there was NO agreement to check.

This is the license:

GIMP is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

GIMP is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with GIMP. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

After I downloaded I just ran it, again no agreement came up.

J F · Mar 10, 2013

J F said:
You may want to try this FotoSketcher | Turn photos into art for free for turning your photos into sketches, etc. I've played around with it a bit and it's very easy to use.

This took 3-4 minutes total...and I have no idea what I'm doing. :laughing:

/pine · Mar 10, 2013

newbury said:
I don't know where you tried to down load it from, but from the OFFICIAL site, GIMP - Downloads , I just downloaded it again and there was NO agreement to check.

This is the license:

After I downloaded I just ran it, again no agreement came up.

Open source (GNU) software can be altered and re-distributed by anyone with the ability to do so...as long as they are not trying to sell/profit from it...that is why you see things like "tool bars" attached to the distributions...
on a side note...FWIW...Unless you actually write a program/script etc. yourself...you really don't own any software...when you "buy" software all you are really buying is a license to use it...

newbury · Mar 10, 2013

But once again someone makes a comment

brin said:
Warning....Warning Wil Robinson - Have you read the user agreement on Gimp....no way I would agree to that...they want to track all the web sites you visit....read it very carefully...Eddie is right to be very cautious with these free programs....think about it...Nothing is free....follow the money always....

and people seem to take it as gospel, without looking it up for themselves.

I suspect brin was not getting it directly from the Gimp homepage.

I've been using Gimp for editing since about 1998. My main use lately is a little resize script I run all my 4K by 3K pixels digital pics thru to make them 800x600.