Re: Good all in one inkjet?

Burt wrote:
"TJ" <TJ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:45fc0a13$0$16291$88260bb3@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(snip)
I have it on good authority that Photoshop Elements, at least the version I looked into years ago, doesn't work with layers. So if you went that route you'd still want to save the originals. The GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program), which is free for Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux, will work in layers and will do all you just described, except that it saves in its native xcf format. Jpeg formats won't save in layers; they must be "flat." The GIMP will convert to most of the "standard" formats, but they won't contain the layers as layers. The GIMP isn't as powerful as Photoshop, but it's closer than anything else in the consumer market, including Photoshop Elements. The interface does have a steeper learning curve than PS or PE, but if you're looking for power without the price, it's well worth it.

It's never a bad idea to save a backup copy of the original of any photo you think is worth keeping, whatever software you use on it.

TJ

TJ - PSE, from v.2 on, does use layers and they are quite easy to use. When saving an edited image in which layers have been used you can chose to save it in the photoshop image format (psd which is non-losey) with the separate layers intact. You can then reopen it and still have the ability to manage the layers you had originally created. The image layers can also be flattened and saved as a psd, jpg, or several other formats. Entire groups of images can be converted to the psd format prior to editing if one wishes. You do need lots of memory to work with these files and multiple layers.

My cameras save in tiff (non-losey) file format for highest quality and various levels of compressed jpg formats if less quality images are adequate for a desired print result. The highest quality jpg file from the cameras creates sharp, full detailed prints up to 20x30. You are right that multiple saves in jpg format will degrade images, and you are better off working in a non-losey format if you need the highest print quality your equipment will produce.

My preference, within a reasonable price range and with a reasonable learning curve to get up and running, is to use software that is suitable for my needs but also has additional strengths I can learn to use when necessary. PSE has been that kind of software for me. I learn new tricks to improve my editing ability evey time I use the program. I don't want dumbed-down software that has very limited capabilities. For the most part, software that comes with cameras or printers has very limited capabilities. They are great for people who want to, as easily as possible, get an image from the camera to paper. I am not putting down the people who lack either the interest or ability to progress further with more complex software - whatever works and pleases them is the right way to go. I just want equipment and software I can grow into.


I stand (sit) corrected. I looked at PE several years ago, before I owned a digital camera. The only photos I was editing at the time were those I scanned from commercial prints. Much of the work had been done by the processor, with cropping being the main thing I would do. That can be done successfully with almost anything. PE was much more than I needed or wanted at the time, and Photoshop itself was out of the question.

The GIMP was included with the first Linux distribution I tried - Mandrake 8.2 - five years ago. I started playing with it because it was here, and I'd heard many good things about it. Some of those things, at the time, were exaggerations, but each succeeding version has been more capable than the last, and many of those exaggerations aren't exaggerations any longer. It was difficult at first, as worthwhile things often are, but once I began to master the basics things became easier. Now, I still learn something new about the program and the things it's capable of almost every time I use it.

To each his own, eh?

TJ

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