Adobe Photoshop--Observations, Questions & Stuff

[Raymond Bleesz]

I have noticed that there are very few postings on this site re: Adobe Photoshop manipulations of images--which is perhaps good.

I have just finished another photoshop class & perhaps know a little bit more bu t..... . It is mind taxing if you are not a nerd or if you do not utilize Adobe on a constant basis, imop. I also feel it is more usefull if one is into color r ather than traditional bw.

For my work, which is 99% bw as a fine art, I really do not utilize Photoshop as I do my work in the traditonal darkroom--I may use photoshop manipulation for s ending images (snaps) via email but that's about it.

So where are the rest of you re: photoshop???? I have a digital snap camera, sca nner, read reviews, attempt to keep current in the profession and on occasion w ish for this & that and wish I had a more talent re: manipulation. I still plan on utilizing Adobe for this & that but tha t's about it, for now.

Do you have particular suggestions for a very good Adobe book which is a cut abo ve the rest if one is a "dummy"? I have utilized the "Adobe classroom in a book ".

Obviously, if one were a commercial shooter, digital is where its at.

[Donald Brewster]

A slight detour to your question, but check out Norman Koren's web site, particularly: http://www.normankoren.com/makingfineprints.html#Imageditor for alternatives to PhotoShop. I too have been frustrated with trying to learn and use PhotoShop -- a memory hog and full of tools that are for graphic artists rather than photographers. Yes, PhotoShop is an industry standard, but for non-commercial users it is overkill and I don't use it for my day job. Norman uses and recommends Picture Window Pro from Digital Light and Color. The author is Jonathan Sachs who developed Lotus 123. It's made for photography, and it's "professional" version only costs $90.

[Tony Galt]

I don't use PhotoShop. I consider it too expensive and over-bloated with graphic arts features I really don't need for straight photography. So I use an unsung program called Picture Window (see http://www.dl-c.com/) which is designed expre ssly for photoediting and works more directly with photographic metaphors (it ev en has a color to b&w function that allows you to simulate the effect of placing colored filters over the lens). It also costs about $100.

I really don't want to establish a wet darkroom in my house for a variety of rea sons. So an Epson 2450 scanner and 1270 printer do the job for me at an amateur level. The scanner reopened medium format and newly opened large format photogra phy for me, and so far I've been happy scanning both color (6x6) and b&w (4x5) a nd printing them on the printer. I feel that at my stage of development I can ma ke prints that are far better than any I could ever make in a wet darkroom, alth ough I will concede that, especially with black and white, a master printer can, at this point in technology, make better prints than are possible with inkjet m edia. The electronic technology keeps getting better and better, though, and by getting myself skilled at digital image manipulation, I will be ready to go when that is not the case anymore. That is my take on it. I would, however, be sorry to see film go and with LF I think it will be quite awhile before that happens given the expense of digital equipment.

[Matthew Runde]

<a name="1">Raymond,</a>

Some of my opinions and experience:

I think that the easiest way to learn how to use Photoshop is to play. That's how I've done it. Create a big, blank file, add a photo, and create something that you think is funny.

I like to move/change/add/remove things such as trees, cars, shadows, text, etc. Changing the wording of signs can be a challenge, especially if I need to correct the perspective (I once had to add logos to about a million products for an ROTC web site). The techniques that I discover in creating these weird images are very useful when I'm touching up photos and/or building web sites.

A long time ago I created a folder called "silly" on my computer. It is perhaps the most useful folder that I have. It has sub-folders and tons of experiments. Files currently in this folder include a test of a layers technique, a futuristic design for a web site, a carefully-planned ad campaign for a central-American country, an examination of the history of designs of American transportation, and tests of techniques to use with Macromedia Flash. Sometimes, I may open the folder and play around with things that strike my fancy. I recommend this approach.

One thing that I think is important to remember when learning to use Photoshop, is that you really can't break it. Go ahead and push all of the buttons and see what they do. Change settings, invert this and that, play with all of the tools... If, somehow, you manage to make it very hard to use, you can reinstall the program.

Life's short. Have fun!

[Scott Walton]

I use it on a daily basis and have since version 1.0 (quite a few years). To be honest with you, there are alot of good books on the subject RE Photoshop and you will learn numberous things from different books. I too believe in just fooling around with it or take some more courses. If you have specific questions, email me here or at scotlynn@shore.net. Cheers

[Ellis Vener]

Try <U>Adobe Photoshop 6.0 for Photographers<U> by Martin Evening (Focal Press, 2001). It is a pretty good, well written --i.e. a maximum of understandable English and a minimum of geekspeak-- guide to what you can do with Photoshop, also a a very well written explanation of various Color space(s), calibrating your work flow so what you see on your film, what you see on your monitor, and what you see in your output, matches; as well as what the various tools can do. It is also loaded with good illustrations to help you grasp the concepts being discussed. From the point of view of a commercial photographer, the underlying photography is also very good.

Now how do I use Photo Shop/ Much as I would a darkroom either in color or B&W: dust busting, cropping, dodging & burning, and sizing for specific needs.

I agree with the point that the full powered version of Photo Shop is a huge, and hugely complex machine and is as much overkill for non-commercial photographers as would be using a Sinar P2 for backpacking nature photographers. That is why Adobe makes the "lighter weight" Photoshop Elements program.

[Matthew Runde]

</u>Underscore off?

[Matthew Runde]

</u>This time?

[Michael Chmilar]

Photoshop 7.0 should be shipping in the next week or two. Books updated for PS 7.0 should follow shortly after (the authors have had the beta pre-release of PS 7 for months). You might want to wait for the updated books, although most of the material in PS 6 books is still valid.

I have found the "Real World Photoshop" book to be most useful.

[David R Munson]

Though I still wholeheartedly embrace every aspect of traditional photographic processes, I absolutely love the tools I have at my disposal in Photoshop. I used to have the light version, but bought full 6.0 once I had the funds because for what I do, Photoshop LE just doesn't cut it. I pretty much learned by doing, as well as reading some reference material, but more than anything else what has helped me has just been playing around with files making simple goals for myself like editing poles, wires, etc out of photographs. The more used to it you get, the easier it is to do more advanced thigns. Kind of common sense, but a lot of people seem to see it as being a lot harder to learn than it really is.