What is your favorite graphic/photo editing tool?

[StateDOG]

I'm as green as it gets in knowing how to design/develop a good logo/graphic/design/whatever. I want to begin to stretch my boundaries and maybe begin to flex my meager muscles and learn how to be decent, then good at it. So...what is your favorite program to create/edit your projects? I know Adobe Photoshop is king daddy of them all, but it also has a king daddy price. Paint Shop Pro supposedly has 90% of Photoshop's features with about 20% of the price. And then there's Macromedia's Fireworks which I've been told is actually the best to make graphics but not so good with photos.

Anyway, all of that is gathered in bits and pieces from here and there. What is your opinion on the best one to use, which has the best value, and what would be best for me, as a beginner, to cut my teeth on?

Thanks in advance for the help.

StateDOG

[Eric]

HI StateDog,

I'm pretty green myself at making graphics/logos/image stuff. I've basically taught myself how to use fireworks and try to do the best I can. I found fireworks to not be too difficulty to understand and find my way around, so I would recommend it. Though, I have limited or no experience with the other applications. When I first tried to create an image I got totally confused with all the vectors, slices, etc. Fireworks has some good tutorials too.

[matu]

Adobe Photoshop is my best software friend. ;)

[harmonic]

Adobe Photoshop, and Illustrator are the two best tools out there.

90% of the features and 20% of the price?

Well, would you rather have a video that has a black line through the center of it thats 10% of the screen for 7 bucks, or the complete thing for 10?

[TheVoidz]

I like Photoshop to make layouts and crap. If I want to make anything 3D on a site I use LightWave. After its all in photoshop I slice/optimise it with ImageReady then moslty build the site (HTML/PHP) by hand after that.

[rhino]

I use The Gimp. The GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program, and its free, runs on Windows, Solaris, Linux and a number of other platforms it has been ported too.

A very good challenger to those expensive packages out there.

[SmackDaddy]

I like crunchy peanut butter on plain bagels. :guess

Oh, sorry, wrong topic......uhm......I would have to say I don't use much right now other than PhotoDraw and ACDSee's included image editor. Don't have the time or patience right now to learn any other program......although I do use PaintShopPro on occassion.

[Sara]

I learned how to do graphics on Photo Shop, I think it was version 4 or 5? Anyhow, I use that along with PSP to make graphics. I have been leaning towards PSP for a couple of years now as I'm so comfy with it. I have played around with Photo Impact, but, it takes up a lot of resources on my laptop I don't have it installed right now.

[steviedifranco]

i personally use photo impact...it was very easy to learn and i think its pretty simple. i'm sure i haven't tapped in to its power yet, but from what i know of it, i love it. in addition to that, it is a very reasonably priced program.

[BuRn3R]

Photoshop 7 + Dreamweaver 4 or MX + Flash MX 6.0 = Great.

That's the programs I use =)

[Palmer]

Hey Blake! Welcome to IH :) So does this mean you took my recommendation?

Regarding the graphics program, you know my opinion is Paint Shop pro. I used the GIMP but it's just too buggy and has a few limitations. It's a great program for free but I would still recommend you spend money for the software you choose to do graphics.

Palmer

[rhino]

The windows port of GIMP does have a few bugs in it, but it is a bit behind the *nix version.

The latest version of GIMP is very good, but at the end of the day you get what you pay for. For the casual user it covers most needs.

What are the other options for graphics packages in Linux?

Cheers,

[Chick]

Adobe PhotoShop ... hands down. :cool:

[SmackDaddy]

Hmmmm......with Adobe Photoshop being soooooo expensive, I just wonder how so many people have that much money to buy it?!?!?!? ;) :happyface :dunno

[Sardtok]

I got Photoshop 5 LE (Limited Edition) with my scanner.
And yes it is quite limited, no vectors, oh let me correct that you have the line tool.
So it can't be used for that many things, but works well for image manipulation, which is the purpose of that version I think.
I have tested the Trial versions and I have read a few tutorials (They are no longer available on the web, but I have them locally) so I know how to use most of the tools in PS.
When I first started doing graphics I used DPaint on an Amiga, this was before the days of Windows, I used it mostly to make animations, which was not really what it was made for.
Then I started using PSP, and I thought PSP was great, very easy to learn and all, but the way they changed how you draw vectors between version 6 and 7 or was it 5 and 6 don't remember, I didn't really enjoy.
The GIMP is good, though I have only used it a little.
It has support for all the features you truly need:
layers, channels, paths (vector graphics).
It has an airbrush tool that is similar to the PS airbrush tool unlike PSP's airbrush tool which is a lot more like the paintbrush tool (You have a lot of control over the tools in PSP, but I have not yet managed making the airbrush tool work the way I like it to).

I guess that's all I have to say.
If I were you I would get some trial versions, and test them reading some tutorials so that you can see how you like working with the software.

[marce]

I believe each program has its strong features and therefore I use them accordingly.

Adobe Photoshop best for webpage graphic design.
Paintshop pro for fancy graphic manipulation.
Microsoft PhotoDraw V2 for quick graphics. Very simple and easy to use program.

[Mendo Man]

I just needed something basic but a little more feature-rich than the old Microsoft Image Composer I got with FrontPage 98 years ago. I went with Ulead PhotoImpact.

It's worked well for me so far. Here's a review from CNET.
http://www.cnet.com/software/0-429627-1205-7425930-1.html?tag=rating

[Inf the Novel]

i cant afford some of those

photoImpact gets the job done for me...

Dreamweaver has to be the best web designer in my book

[batwing]

i use paint... MS paint...

for everything...

[Magnus]

Personally, it's Photoshop. Of course, this is because I was trained with Photoshop 3.0 in middle school, but what's a little bias, eh? Photoshop and Dreamweaver, really - not Frontpage because it'll go about changing your code into strange things which summon Dagon to eat your computer screen, or something.

Uhm.. yeah. That.

[juniper]

Originally posted by marce
I believe each program has its strong features and therefore I use them accordingly.

Adobe Photoshop best for webpage graphic design.
Paintshop pro for fancy graphic manipulation.

I agree. I love using Photoshop to edit the photos that I took with my digital camera; they can appear very 'washed out' and dark at times.

I love PSP for its easy-to-use interface and effects. Especially when you jumble a few effects together — you never know what'll come out! :)

[tsarina]

I use Photoshop for most everything. I hardly use Paint Shop Pro anymore, though I still have it.

I'm in the process of saving money for 3Ds Max.

My brother uses mostly MS Paint. He can create some really nice stuff for that program. Check it out: justshortofsunday.com (http://justshortofsunday.com)

[Ticklepink]

Paint Shop Pro I've used almost extensively.

But I think its time to upgrade......Im thinking of 3Ds Max or PhotoShop ....=)

[tranquil]

I use trusty old Photoshop v5.5, but I'm trying to find the moola to buy the educational editions of PS7 and Illustrator 10.

[Cory]

I use Photoshop, but that's what learned with, and I'm more familiar with it now. Paintshop Pro I've also used, but I don't like it as much. It has an easier interface, but my images always turned out more "polished" in Photoshop and look better than the ones I make in Paintshop Pro.

[Justin3000]

Here's what I use:
Adobe PhotoShop 7.0
Dreamweaver MX (still new to that one)
Fireworks and Flash

[Aiyahh]

Adobe Photoshop has a steeper learning curve than Paint Shop Pro (PSP) so it'll probably take you longer to make what you want if you don't have any previous experience. If you have an older PC, it may take a while for adobe to load up because it has a *lot* of stuff.

Personally I don't need all the goodies for my graphics or site *heh* so I would recommend PSP .. after you've checked out the trial downloads and various tutorials online =)

Good luck!

[Julia]

I really love Photoshop. PSP, I could never get the hang of and I don't have Fireworks or anything else. And PS does me good so I like it.

[Sarah]

If you're only going to be doing basic image manipulation, then you can settle for PhotoImpact or PSP or even Ifranview (sp?) to get the job done.

I personally use Photoshop, but that's because it was the first graphics program (asides from MSPaint) that I've used, so it's become like a dear friend to me.

[Cerulean]

It has to be photoshop, its fair to say I couldn't survive online without my trusty copy. I like using psp for the odd bit of image manipulation but I always use PS to create the final results.

thank goodness for adobe!

[Sardtok]

Do people who are still responding to this post know that it was posted in February,
and that it was posted so that State Dog could decide what piece of software he was going to buy,
and do they realize that February was 5 months ago, and that he has probably already decided? ;)

Not that it really matters,
but kinda weird that people are still responding to this one... ;)

[Lily]

Photoshop 7 for sure, but PSP 7 ain't bad either. PSP7 comes in a close second, for me....

[geldin]

photoshop is my fave too. you can get it cheaper with academic discounts-- way cheaper. if you're a student that is. you can buy it through your school or online @ journey ed (http://www.journeyed.com). i guess you could fake it if you wanted to. but i of course don't recommend that.
://matt

[Rhiannon]

I use Photoshop 6, although when I had my macintosh I used Fireworks, and I found it much more flexible, been thinking about picking it up for the PC. Although, Photoshop has been rather kind to me. :D

[bekah]

Paint Shop Pro :D

[Michelina]

Can't go wrong with Photoshop. ;)

I'm actually partial to Paint Shop Pro - the price is great and I like the features enough. I tend to do my shading in Photoshop (gotta love its dodge/burn tools - especially when compared to those of PSP) and everything else in PSP. I think you get what you pay for with Photoshop... 7 is fairly amazing when compared to PSP. You do get many of the same features in PSP, but the quality in Photoshop is so much better.

Just my two cents. :D

[nadine]

Muwahahahaha. Photoshop in my weapon of choice. It does everything I need, and then some. ;)

[rowan]

Photoshop is my friend, along with a few KPT plugins and other filters.
:upside

[theduker]

me like Photoshop. (I think my favorite version is 5 (or 4!). Once they hit 6 they started changing a lot of stuff, but that's another story).

It is expensive. But, you can get photoshop really cheap on eBay. Full, legal copies of version 5 and 6 have gone for between $75 and $200. $150 seams to be the sweet spot for Pshop 6. (my work has been selling extra copies of pshop and office since we are downsizing, so I have been following these things).

I remember Painter was great. Just the coolest tools. Is that still around?

[Sardtok]

MetaCreations sold Painter to Corel,
Corel Painter 8 seems to be the latest version... ;)

Full version costs 300 dollars...
And upgrade $150...

Since you have Photoshop you can buy the upgrade (should be called sidegrade eh? ;) )...

[Aaron]

Originally posted by SmackDaddy
Hmmmm......with Adobe Photoshop being soooooo expensive, I just wonder how so many people have that much money to buy it?!?!?!? ;) :happyface :dunno
I kind of cheated to get Photoshop. I bought an unregistered version 4 on Ebay then got the upgrade with a $50 rebate from Amazon. Whole thing cost me $250. I didn't really cheat, I'm just very clever.

BTW Smackers, I don't think I ever officially thanked you for finally changing your avatar. Thank you.