subject: quickier imaging software?

[adison]

Hi,

I have a question about imaging software and the rapidity of image editing. I see a photo operator working my images on a fuji frontier minilab in order to make prints on photo paper, and I was amased of how quick he adjusted every image, only with keyboard (without a mouse) and without open any "curves", "brigthnes/contrast/intensity", etc, window. He worked 200 images in less than 20 minutes. For this amount of work, I should spend an entire night (5-6 hours) and I mean there only basic operations for an image, such color chanel, curves, not sharpening or other complicated steps.

I wonder if such a software/program is available for home computer users. I mean an image editing software who lets you operate an image only by keyboard shortcuts, without mouse. I hope my question is clear for you, and I hope you will give me an alternative to adobe photoshop, or corel photopaint, programs that I don`t know to allow such operations. Thank you very much,

Adison.

[mark blackman]

Regardless of how he was doing it (mouse, keyboard, pen & pressure pad) he would still have to control all of the operations. The fact that he never used any seperate control panels (Curves, Levels etc) implies he was using pre-set operations. To be frank, for the average photo in a minilab, this is probably enough especially when you remember that the final print is probably smaller than the film many on here shoot.

(By the way, you can call up all of photoshop's menus, control panels etc with short-cut keys)

[Frank Petronio]

Just learn how to use Photoshop and get a fast Mac with lots of RAM. Then work on only 6mb files like the Frontier! You'll fly too...

[Paul Kierstead]

I haven't used a frontier, but spent many many hours (more then I care to remember) on a traditional mini-lab. On those, you are given 4 banks of buttons; one for each color and one for brightness. There are a bunch of buttons (9 IIRC) in each bank, one for neutral and several on the plus an minus side. This lets you go extremely quickly assuming those are the operations that you wish to perform. Of course on a traditional mini-lab it is all you could do. Simply because a frontier *could* do more doesn't mean they are going to expect the operator to do so. That would get expensive in training and time fast. Actually 200 in 20 minutes is quick but by no means super fast. Once you get good at it, most photo's (i.e. snapshots) can be nailed very quickly.

For Photoshop I have occasionally had to process a lot of photo's. About the closest I have come is a batch action that pauses at certain dialogs. It keeps the clicking down at least, but of course no where near the speed of a dedicated keyboard layout.

[Scott Walton]

In Photoshop, you can set up automated controls that are called "Actions". They can be set up as "hot keys" where in you hit a certain key on the keyboard, your "F keys" or just by taking your cursor to the Action Palette. There are a good number of Actions already preset but you can tailor each one or make a whole new set that does everything you need.