# Next best thing to Photoshop?



## Sarah23 (Mar 21, 2008)

If you cant afford Photoshop? (like CS3) what is the next best thing? I have been using Photoshop Elements 30-day trial, but its about to expire. 

Im looking for something under $100. There is no way in hates I could spend hundreds on CS3...lol! I just dont have that kind of cash on hand!


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## GreenGhost (Mar 21, 2008)

http://www.gimp.org/  --- free





http://www.ulead.com/pi/features.htm    - this is under $100 and pretty user friendly


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## JimmyO (Mar 21, 2008)

Gimp is awesome. Takes a little while to get used to but for most people theres not advantage to buying for something that has stuff they will not use.

And you could just get elements 6.0....
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=205769458&listingid=19201173&dcaid=17902#


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## Socrates (Mar 21, 2008)

Sarah23 said:


> If you cant afford Photoshop? (like CS3) what is the next best thing? I have been using Photoshop Elements 30-day trial, but its about to expire.
> 
> Im looking for something under $100. There is no way in hates I could spend hundreds on CS3...lol! I just dont have that kind of cash on hand!


 
Photoshop Elements...
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopelwin/
90% of the power at 10% of the price.


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## JimmyO (Mar 21, 2008)

^^^^Exactly


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## memento (Mar 21, 2008)

+1 for Elements.

I got 6 for x-mas.
it's around $90 usd..


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## Socrates (Mar 21, 2008)

memento said:


> +1 for Elements.
> 
> I got 6 for x-mas.
> it's around $90 usd..


 
I got my current version a while back from Amazon. The listed price was US$89 but Adobe had a US$50 rebate (because I owned a prior version) AND Amazon had a US$40 rebate. I made a US$1 profit to take the software off their hands!


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## memento (Mar 21, 2008)

Socrates said:


> I got my current version a while back from Amazon. The listed price was US$89 but Adobe had a US$50 rebate (because I owned a prior version) AND Amazon had a US$40 rebate. I made a US$1 profit to take the software off their hands!


 

awesome! 

there's awlays deals out there, if you're patient. 
my problem is the patience part..


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## sabbath999 (Mar 21, 2008)

GIMP is great for windows users. Macs... not so much.


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## Socrates (Mar 21, 2008)

sabbath999 said:


> GIMP is great for windows users. Macs... not so much.


 
Do real photographers use Windoze?


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## sabbath999 (Mar 21, 2008)

Real photographers use CAMERAS...


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## ChrisP (Mar 21, 2008)

You're not a Nikon shooter, but I use combo of Nikon's CaptureNX and Elements.  CaptureNX for my RAW processing and the usual white balance, exposure, levels, and sharpening, and then Elements for the creative stuff.


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## Bigcity (Mar 21, 2008)

I have Elements 6, it is great for everyday editing. I would like CS3, but unless you're making money off it - it's hard to justify the cost.


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## skieur (Mar 21, 2008)

PaintShop Pro Photo X2 has more Photoshop features than Elements at a cost of less than $100.

skieur


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## B192734 (Mar 21, 2008)

Generally any brand name software out there has an open source "equivalent".  Like Photoshop and Gimp.  You may have to dig through a bunch of different programs to find the one that matches what you want the best, but they are normally out there.  You can try looking at places like Sourceforge.net.


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## Lyncca (Mar 21, 2008)

Jasc's Paint Shop Pro is good.  I used to use it for web design before PS, but I haven't tried it for photography.


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## Mystwalker (Mar 21, 2008)

Sarah23 said:


> There is no way in hates I could spend hundreds on CS3...lol! I just dont have that kind of cash on hand!


 
Same here.

Another vote for Elements.  I have v5.0 - v6.0 is currently available for less then $100 (CostCo)

I read "how-to" books written for Photoshop CS and have no problems using Elements to do same thing - yet.  Am assuming eventually something will come up, but will probably be something on a pro level.


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## Mystwalker (Mar 21, 2008)

Couple days ago, I signed up for a Google photo account - wanted to explore other sources to print photo.

They gave me something called Picasa.  Have not pushed all the buttons yet, but it looks easier to use then Elements.  It's FREEE


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## RKW3 (Mar 21, 2008)

Picasa is horrible at editing photos.. Lol..

I recommend Photoshop Elements 5.0 that you can get for under 50 bucks on ebay.


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## TCimages (Mar 21, 2008)

PAINTSHOP PRO X2


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## usayit (Mar 21, 2008)

sabbath999 said:


> GIMP is great for windows users. Macs... not so much.



Why not?

You just have to make sure the Xserver software package is loaded.  Is there something else?


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## schuylercat (Mar 22, 2008)

Hi Sarah,

I posted an almost identical question on the General board.  I have PS V6.0, and it's incredibly limited (digital photography was an embryo...well, an infant in 1999).

I have the demo of paintshop pro photo X2, and I am loving it - I'm tweking the hell out of everything I shoot and coming up with a lot of wierdness and goodness.  The demo goes 30 days, and even though I've only had it a week I'm just going to buy it.  It's $100.

My $0.02...


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## ladywings (Mar 22, 2008)

I have to agree with those who are saying Paint Shop Pro X2... I love it.


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## christopher walrath (Mar 22, 2008)

Next best thing to photoshop?  A darkroom.  You can't smell pan-merging software.


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## Rick Waldroup (Mar 22, 2008)

christopher walrath said:


> Next best thing to photoshop? A darkroom. You can't smell pan-merging software.


 

Haha!! I worked in darkrooms for several newspapers years and years ago and I had my own darkroom for over 30 years and I do not miss the smell at all. I thought I would miss having a darkroom when I went completely digital. I got over that in about 30 seconds when I saw what I could do with a digital image in a computer. :mrgreen:

Sarah, I was using Capture NX and PS Elements 2.0. I have just now started using Lightroom and I really, really like it. It is a bit over your price range, but it is really nice. You can find it on ebay for around 250.00, or, if there is anyone in your family who is in school, you can get an educational version of it for just a little over 100.00.


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## Lacey Anne (Mar 22, 2008)

skieur said:


> PaintShop Pro Photo X2 has more Photoshop features than Elements at a cost of less than $100.
> 
> skieur


This is what I ue and it's awesome. I can even translate all the photoshop tuts into PSP. All photoshop plug-ins work in it too.


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## Lacey Anne (Mar 22, 2008)

Mystwalker said:


> Couple days ago, I signed up for a Google photo account - wanted to explore other sources to print photo.
> 
> They gave me something called Picasa. Have not pushed all the buttons yet, but it looks easier to use then Elements. It's FREEE


I use Picasa to quickly organize photos and show clients right on the spot. I do NOT use it to edit though. It's kind of crappy for editing.


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## TCimages (Mar 22, 2008)

Good Advice Lacey


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## Sandspur (Mar 22, 2008)

Stick with Elements.  6 is the current version.

If you're a Mac user (like me), 6 will be out in a couple of days for us.

I've already pre-ordered mine.

BTW, I also use Photoshop CS ... and haven't yet found a good reason to upgrade to CS3.


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## table1349 (Mar 22, 2008)

Rick Waldroup said:


> Haha!! I worked in darkrooms for several newspapers years and years ago and I had my own darkroom for over 30 years and I do not miss the smell at all. I thought I would miss having a darkroom when I went completely digital. I got over that in about 30 seconds when I saw what I could do with a digital image in a computer. :mrgreen:



Amen my brother.  Can I get a hallelujah???  :bigangel::smileys:

Been there, done that and I gave the t-shirt away.  The only thing I miss about my darkroom was the solitude from the wife on occasions.


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## sabbath999 (Mar 23, 2008)

usayit said:


> Why not?
> 
> You just have to make sure the Xserver software package is loaded.  Is there something else?



Xserver?

I assume you mean X11... 

Have you actually used it on a Mac? If so, I am surprised you ask me why not.

It is slow, ugly, buggy and VERY, full of unexpected quits and very un-mac like. The menus, when they work, are all goofy, and it is right-click city... hard to do with a single mouse button (not that I use one of those, I hate single button mice).

Any time you have to install a bunch of runtime stuff on a Mac, and then open terminal and type in "defaults write org.x.X11 wm_ffm -bool false" and
"defaults write org.x.X11 wm_click_through -bool true" just to get the program to behave nicely, then the program is crap.


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## Rick Waldroup (Mar 23, 2008)

gryphonslair99 said:


> Amen my brother. Can I get a hallelujah???  :bigangel::smileys:
> 
> Been there, done that and I gave the t-shirt away. The only thing I miss about my darkroom was the solitude from the wife on occasions.


 

Now that is one thing I do miss about not having a darkroom- being able to get away from the wife and kids for a while. :mrgreen:


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## JerryPH (Mar 23, 2008)

Elements is ok, Lightroom is a little better, but after having had all 3 and a few more, CS3 really gives me the results that I want.  I know its not what you want to hear, but my CS3 cost me exactly $209 dollars.

$10 for the CS2 original CD that I found in a garage sale, and $199 for the upgrade.  You cannot beat that.


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## Mav (Mar 24, 2008)

I use DxO for 99% of my post processing.  It's great.  It's truly rare that I need anything else, and it's only about $150.


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## Mike_E (Mar 24, 2008)

If you are using Picasa, you will want to read this.  :/

http://www.freepress.net/news/25906


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## tbstimp (Mar 25, 2008)

Download the free trail of Lightroom. After 30 days of use I think you'll be convinced you need to spend the $300, or track down a $99 student copy.


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## Emerana (Mar 25, 2008)

I bought DxO but it crashes alot on my computer...I am sure it is my computer though, I am stuck on a tiny laptop.  So I do batch processing with it and then finish editing on paintshop pro x1.  I am going to get an upgrade to x2 I think.  

I worry though that to really have seriously good products, I would have to switch to PS at some point so I am debating taking a class and getting it at a discount, getting it from another source (not illegal) and starting now before I get really used to it.

I, like Lacey, LOVE picasa2 for organizing my photos and even cropping or minor things on SNAPSHOTS that are just sentimental.   I also use it to upload to my smugmug, scan my work for ones I want to fully process.  Its a great program for those things but I wouldnt use it to edit an important photo.


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## KevinDks (Mar 25, 2008)

ladywings said:


> I have to agree with those who are saying Paint Shop Pro X2... I love it.



Interesting that a number of people are recommending this. Does it have Curves and Channel Mixer controls? When I had the 30 day trial of CS3 I thought those were the two most useful features, but I just couldn't justify the enormous cost. I have free plugins for Elements for both of them, but they are nowhere near as good as the real thing.

Edit: found a reference to Channel Mixer on the Corel website, but no details about how it works. Also thought of another question - I like the Adobe RAW converter you get with PS Elements; is there a Corel equivalent packaged with Paint Shop?

Kevin


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## TCimages (Mar 25, 2008)

Yes it has a channel mixer and Curves tool. You can process RAW right in the application itself. I choose to use the software that came with my camera for RAW tho. Just my personal choice. 

It has very much the same things as PS. Both have certain things they do better.


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## snaremop (Mar 25, 2008)

Elements has all of what you need for photography, but CS3 is more for graphic design.


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## Phranquey (Mar 25, 2008)

Another vote for PaintShop Pro X2...I love it.

But, mine cost me a little more than $99.  I bought it, installed it, only to find I had the minimum amount of RAM....:er:.  BACK to the store for two RAM chips...figured I may as well do it right.  I went from 512Mb to 2Gb, and it runs smooth.


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## TCimages (Mar 25, 2008)

snaremop said:


> Elements has all of what you need for photography, but CS3 is more for graphic design.


 
I kind of diasagree with you here. It can do some graphics, but its not really a graphic design tool.  Illustrator is for sure.


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## TamiyaGuy (Mar 26, 2008)

Mike_E said:


> If you are using Picasa, you will want to read this. :/
> 
> http://www.freepress.net/news/25906


Oh, my God. That is REALLY worrying. Seriously, I'm going to read the Windows Live Spaces service agreement right now...

Because I'm a cheapskate, I wholeheartedly vote for The Gimp (2.4). If you're basing the programs on a dollar-for-dollar basis, the Gimp kinda snatches it . Once you've got used to it, it's stupidly easy to use, and I love it.

And, of course, if you DON'T like it (which is probably never going to happen) you haven't lost anything at all!


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## Arch (Mar 26, 2008)

TCimages said:


> I kind of diasagree with you here. It can do some graphics, but its not really a graphic design tool.  Illustrator is for sure.



Na, photoshop is a must for any graphic designer. With the latest versions of CS it is even more of a must since it is so easy to export files to the other programs. Photoshop has always been a serious graphic design tool.


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## TCimages (Mar 26, 2008)

Here is a great write up on the comparison of PS, PSP, and Elements

http://paintshoppro.info/tutorials/paintshoppro_vs_photoshop.htm


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## Emerana (Mar 26, 2008)

I am going to upgrade to paint shop pro x2 I have decided, but I would love to really learn how to use it...layers, curves, etc.  Any idea where I can go to do that?  Everything is photoshop


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## TCimages (Mar 26, 2008)

You can use most PS tutorials as reference once you use learn PSP.  
Here is a site you might find some info on:
http://www.pspug.org/


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## Emerana (Mar 26, 2008)

gracias


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