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Thread: What to get: PS, Affinity, GIMP, ON1, other?

  1. #1

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    Smile What to get: PS, Affinity, GIMP, ON1, other?

    A lot of the discussion here is about digital capture/source and PS (or alternatives) processing. I'm a 4x5 film shooter, only B&W (forever), now moved to a much smaller home--a condo actually, a place w/o hope or space for a darkroom. To load film holders or my SP-445, there is just one closet which gets dark--bathrooms have skylights.

    I burned my bridge. I sold all my darkroom equipment to a young art student in Santa Fe. Extremely good darkroom equipment, at that.

    I just bought an Epson scanner V800; it's on its way. (Thanks to Pere Casals for the recommendation.)

    What should I get? PS, Affinity, GIMP, ON1???? I just want (1) 16-bit processing, (2) ability to adjust gray scale, (3) ability to repair negative boo-boos like scratches and dust marks. (4) Ultimately, the ability to manipulate Piezography inks. (Also, I'm not afraid of the cloud, but might like to avoid Adobe's.) But maybe I should want something else, too.

    Fellow film freaks, chime in!
    Peter Collins

    On the intent of the First Amendment: The press was to serve the governed, not the governors --Opinion, Hugo Black, Judge, Supreme Court, 1971 re the "Pentagon Papers."

  2. #2

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    Re: What to get: PS, Affinity, GIMP, ON1, other?

    I've been trying to confirm this (see my thread yesterday) but from what I can see so far, Photoshop is the only one that lets you set the working space to Gray Gamma 2.2. My reasons are similar to yours in that I've bought into the Piezography system and inks.

  3. #3

    Re: What to get: PS, Affinity, GIMP, ON1, other?

    I’m finally taking the step to Affinity Photo. After literally decades of PS use I don’t have to use it to make money. The subscription model has made me grind my teeth since they announced it. That and I bought a new machine that won’t run the old versions of PS that I own and so I’m off to Affinity world on the new machine. I’ll miss PS and miss the huge amount of built up experience that is flushed down the drain, but so be it.

    The old machines will keep running PS until they die or something breaks and then I’m done with Adobe.

    Affinity Photo is $50.00 and you own it. Its worth a small gamble to see if it will output what you need. Having no background or ingrained work habits means that you’ll have a learning curve no matter what you choose. Go Affinity.

  4. #4
    Steven Ruttenberg's Avatar
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    Re: What to get: PS, Affinity, GIMP, ON1, other?

    PS is the best. I have tried several, but I hey are hard to manuver around in and always seem to be lacking. LR is next best for me.

  5. #5
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    Re: What to get: PS, Affinity, GIMP, ON1, other?

    Henry Ambrose has always given good advice. I listened to him on Ugly Hedgehog years ago.

    I will try the Trial version for WIN.

    I anticipate a move to iPad Pro next year and Affinity for iOS is only $20.

    Testing

  6. #6
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    Re: What to get: PS, Affinity, GIMP, ON1, other?

    Hmmm

    Download keeps stopping. 283 MB full load, I get only as far as 36mb and it fails. Network Failure.

    Is it my crappy Internet or Affinity?

    That's a rhetorical question.

  7. #7
    Peter De Smidt's Avatar
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    Re: What to get: PS, Affinity, GIMP, ON1, other?

    I'd get Photoshop. It is the most powerful and comprehensive program that I'm aware of, and there are tons of great tutorials available, many for free. It deals with large images well, there are lots of "viewing layers" techniques that make spotting flaws or needed adjustment easy, and a subscription costs just a couple of sheets of film a month. The ability to manipulate Piezography inks....Other than QTR (or perhaps another RIP), I don't know what would allow direct control of that.
    “You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
    ― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know

  8. #8

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    Re: What to get: PS, Affinity, GIMP, ON1, other?

    I've used Darktable on Linux for a while. It's okay but I prefer Lightroom for the spotting tool. Spotting is a little hard and tricky on Darktable. I just checked out Affinity, and I'm not up-to-date on all the software but it looks just like Darkroom. I wonder if it shares the same backend code.

    I agree though, that subscription thing...it's not fun.... It's just an odd business model. "Software for rent"
    --

  9. #9

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    Re: What to get: PS, Affinity, GIMP, ON1, other?

    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Collins View Post
    What should I get? PS, Affinity, GIMP, ON1????
    Hello Peter,

    There is Corel PaintShop, it is a clone of Photoshop, it's way cheaper, I'd say that very compatible with it, and also coming from a 1st class brand, Corel .

    Here you have a comparison PhotoPaint vs Photoshop

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUHc5ryMXIM&t=3s

    Photopaint is subscription free, you pay only once...

    Photopaint is available for Windows but not for Mac.

    You can download a full 30 days free trial https://www.paintshoppro.com/en/free-trials/

    https://www.paintshoppro.com/en/free-trials/

    The Photopaint Pro 2018 is $50 (amazon) if you don't need the video edition of the $70 Ultimate version

    ... so you can download the trial version and do some tutorials from the learning center (you have the vido and the ) https://learn.corel.com/photo-home/?...hoC4JsQAvD_BwE


    IMHO a professional Ps user may prefer Ps. I use an old Ps CS4, but I think that if I had to purchase it I would get Photopaint.

  10. #10
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    Re: What to get: PS, Affinity, GIMP, ON1, other?

    I have PhotoPaint as part of the Corel suite, which I keep updated as my go-to vector graphics software. I was unable to get PhotoPaint to perform many operations with 16-bit color, including unsharp masking and other basics. That was a failure point for me.

    Peter, I recommend VueScan for running the Epson scanner.

    I don't use grayscale for black and white negative scans, but I understand those for whom it is a requirement.

    My new digital camera is demanding a more productive approach to raw processing than the one-at-a-time approach I have used in the past (using Adobe Bridge, Adobe Camera Raw, and Photoshop). I'm looking into On1 for that task, but DXO has software also highly regarded. Capture One is probably the preferred alternative, but they blackball medium-format cameras they don't sell. If you are only using scans, you don't need a raw processor--VueScan will do all that for you.

    Affinity will very likely be my editor if the raw processor doesn't do everything a photo needs.

    So, I'm starting down the same road as you but with a slightly different set of requirements.

    Rick "looking for companies big enough to be sustainable but small enough not to have Adobe-like delusions of grandeur" Denney

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