Hello all, I hope you are all ok, I am wondering what re-touch software  people use most and find easier, if any?.

I myself find Photoshop fairly complex so I am trying to use Corel Paintshop Photo Pro x 3 (Phew), and I am curious  as to what if any people find easier.

Take Care

P


You Can't Depend On Your Eyes, If Your Imagination Is Out Of Focus!

Hi Like yourself I find Photoshop is a bit of a steep learning curve so at the minute I use Portrait Professional Studio 9 which is really easy and simple to use. You can do as little or as much re-touching as you want. Once I get to grips with photoshop I will probably use PP less except for a quick re-touch if the model wants to see how she looks. Others on here will/may disagree with this but I like it because of it's simplicity.

try cs3 i find that the easiest to master, and watch the youtube tutorials they really help a beginner

Depends what format your using on the degree of difficulty.
Jpegs simpler or RAW which take a bit longer but you have more control.


Photoshop elements is a good starting point. Many of the functions in the more sophisticated PS programs such as CS4 are not needed.

The basics for most programs are levels and curves.

I can't speak personally for Corel, as I haven't seen a copy in action for a few years now - but I would personally say try and give PS a go.

I would bet that there's so many more resources for tutorials and personal advice (as well as courses that you can go on) for Photoshop than any other package.

But at the end of the day, it's a personal preference for a tool - using PS won't make you a better photographer and it won't make your images better or worse - it's just a means to an end of achieving the images you set out to get...so it's whatever works for you.

As before jpeg - RAW and how you want to go.

I don't shoot jpegs but if you program your camera there is little work in image manipulation programs.

RAW comes out flat as it's linear hence you need a bit of work. The data's there it's just a case of extracting it.
Most programs have the ability to extract the information. It's just personal choice and what feels comfortable.

A strange mix of Picasa, GIMP and portrait professional. Mostly depending which machine I'm using at the time and how much needs doing

eek, Portrait Professional - I find that too fake looking but I guess if you use it in extreme moderation and you know what you're doing....

I use Capture One Pro for tethered shooting and I think the colour processing of RAW images is superior to PS/Bridge, Lightroom or Aperture; however it is damn complex to learn and after RAW conversion I end up switching back to PS4.

I tried Lightroom and Aperture for editing, but for whatever reason I seem to keep going back to Adobe Bridge. I really need to get to grips better with Capture One.

Photoshop is expensive, but if you take the time to get to know some basic techniques it is extremely powerful. I think the secret is to learn only what you need, not to try and learn everything, if that makes sense.

However, I do use some plugins. I find Portraiture excellent for skin, and onOne great for more creative processing. I tried Nik software but just can't get my head around the user interface.

Quoting post from danjpope
eek, Portrait Professional - I find that too fake looking but I guess if you use it in extreme moderation and you know what you're doing....

I use Capture One Pro for tethered shooting and I think the colour processing of RAW images is superior to PS/Bridge, Lightroom or Aperture; however it is damn complex to learn and after RAW conversion I end up switching back to PS4.

I tried Lightroom and Aperture for editing, but for whatever reason I seem to keep going back to Adobe Bridge. I really need to get to grips better with Capture One.

Photoshop is expensive, but if you take the time to get to know some basic techniques it is extremely powerful. I think the secret is to learn only what you need, not to try and learn everything, if that makes sense.

However, I do use some plugins. I find Portraiture excellent for skin, and onOne great for more creative processing. I tried Nik software but just can't get my head around the user interface.

I've never got on with plugins.

I use paint shop pro ultimate x2 for most of my shots, i have been using version 7 for years, i find it easier than photoshop 4/5/6/cs1 /2/3/4
i also use lightroom 2 but rarely.

nikonuser , Photographer  posted on 02/03/2010 23:02:28   Posted 223 times

Located:Middlesbrough & Rugby i commute!,Warwickshire, UK
Member Since: 20/12/2009

Firstly 'portrait professional' is the easy get out of jail option...it looks so fake!

I use Lightroom for all my workflow and minor edits / cropping - but if I require something a bit more like a major adjustment e..g removing an object etc then I would export from LR to Photoshop make my amendments, save and it returns the edit back to LR. My advice would be to make use of Adobe Tv tutorials, You tube etc to learn techniques etc.

Surely all TOGS should be using adobe products nowadays but hey this is what works for me!

Just a note Adobe are allowing you to download Lightroom 3 BETA from their website for free...its on a feedback basis but at least you can play around with it before you purchase etc.
 

I wasn't sure about plugins either - but I guess that was because, like many people, when you first get them you tend to over use them or use them too obviously. Now I use them a lot more sparingly and tend to prefer those actions that just optimize the image in some way, tending to drop the opacity somewhat to blend it in.

I've also started collecting PS actions for the same reason and have found some really great ones. So far, I'm still happiest with OnOne whilst I learn the better PS techniques.

If you want something reasonably priced and I found it to be very good, have a look at:

http://www.grygarness.com/photoshop/e-books/photoshop-books-main.htm

I have the retouching and colour optimization ebooks and learned a lot. Not that you cant find it all somewhere if you hunt around, but it's all in one place and reasonably priced.