Celebrating Spring

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We’re between rain events here in California and the bulbs are in full bloom and in some cases getting ready to end their display for the year. I’m ta
[See the full post at: Celebrating Spring]

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Mark, lmacri, Lars220, opti1, geekdom, Myst

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https://www.photofiltre-studio.com/pf7-en.htm

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On my phone (PS Express and Lightroom apps for my iPhone and iPad are basic and easy to use) and on the PC/Mac I use Adobe Photoshop Elements and Lightroom for pretty much everything photo/graphic arts related. Don’t mess with anything too much, but Adobe is always first choice when I do.

MacOS iPadOS and sometimes SOS

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‘ I’m taking a slight break from tech tonight to share spring with you.’

You are NOT taking a break because you are talking about the tech of photography and how it’s changed over the years lol.

You are a true geek Susan 👍🏻

Happy Spring to you.

Cheers

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Happy Spring time! 🌸

Regarding programs to edit photos, I actually use irfanview mostly as a viewer and only from time to time to do edits. When I need to do some (major) editing of pictures or photos I use Paint.NET. Alas, I suspect that if irfanview has been labeled “a bit too geeky“, then Paint.NET will receive a similar label if not the “too geeky” label… 🙄😄

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https://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm

Great for editing AND organizing.  Enjoy!

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As a postscript: for the few RAW photos I take-make with my G11 and GX5 PowerShot, I may use Canon’s native DPP (Digital Photo Professional 4) program for editing-enhancing.

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I agree with CBA about FastStone.

I use FastStone Image Viewer (poorly named because it is an editor as well as a viewer) for most of my basic photo editing needs. Latest version is 7.7. Website https://www.faststone.org/.  It is freeware (send them a donation if you use it). No adware or spyware. Updated once or twice a year. It’s been around 20 years or so.

Since your sister is interested specifically in photo editing, I’ve made a list of some of  FastStone Image Viewer’s editing capabilities:

• Open more than a dozen image types.
• Rotate and flip.
• Straighten.
• Resize.
• Change canvas size.
• Change DPI.
• Crop (presets, percentages, or freehand).
• Fix red-eye.
• Adjust lighting (shadows, contrast, brightness, saturation).
• Adjust colors (auto-adjust and manual).
• Swap, count, and reduce colors.
• Adjust levels.
• Reduce noise.
• Sharpen and blur.
• A few artistic effects like lens, sketch, oil painting.
• Change to sepia, grayscale, negative.
• Add borders, shadows, frames, watermarks.
• Add text (with shadows, backgrounds, opacity).
• Add lines (with/without arrows).
• Add boxes, circles, ovals (with borders, backgrounds, shadows, transparency).
• Line highlighter.
• Add “callout” bubbles and other shapes.
• Add watermarks.
• Create contact sheets, collages, and image strips.
• Batch convert, rename, resize.
• View jpg metadata.
• Save as different file types.
• Make a slide show.

FastStone doesn’t work in layers. It has a few limitations that I sometimes bump up against (eg max text font size of 150 points). The file sizes of edited JPGs and PDF collages seem considerably larger than those of similar JPGs and PDFs made by other software.  I am sure a professional graphic artist needs more features. But, for me, the limitations are unimportant compared to all the software can do and how easy it is to use.

I use several other image editors in addition to FastStone, including Corel PaintShop Pro  and a version of PaintShop from the 1990s that has a few simple features that I find easier than in the newer programs. But almost invariably, my starting point to edit a photo is FastStone Image Viewer.

Dell XPS17, 11th Gen Intel I7, 64gb RAM, Windows 11 Home 23H2

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I’m also a Faststone user.  Many years.

Desktop Asus TUF X299 Mark 1, CPU: Intel Core i7-7820X Skylake-X 8-Core 3.6 GHz, RAM: 32GB, GPU: Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti 4GB. Display: Four 27" 1080p screens 2 over 2 quad.

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I spent years with black and white 35mm film chasing light and shadow, literally thousands of frames developed in my own darkroom, learning the technique of framing in the viewfinder.  After development I would print a contact sheet, then go over it with a magnifying glass to see if any frame was worth printing.  At first, most were not.

Eventually I got to the place I wanted to be; if I frame the right picture in the viewfinder, all I have to do is develop it and print it.  It’s a finished product.  Only then did I switch to color film.  Developing color is a lot more tedious than black & white, and everything about it is more expensive.  That’s why my learning curve was spent in black & white.

Now, about the only multiple images I might take are of sunrises or sunsets, when the colors are constantly changing.  The only image correction I do now is a little cropping in order to reduce file size to put something online.

Instead of spending time looking for the right editing software, invest the time in capturing the right image.  It can be very satisfying.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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Myst, Fred, RetiredGeek, opti1

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Nice strategy. What are you using for a camera these days?

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opti1 wrote:

Nice strategy. What are you using for a camera these days?

I have a Kodak Z990 (12 Mega Pixel) that I bought several years ago.  It has 30X optical zoom and a plethora of exposure/aperture controls.  I also use my Samsung Galaxy S21 5G as it’s always handy, but I’ve never forgotten my “frame in the viewfinder” training, and I very seldom bracket shots.

Using the Kodak at 30X optical zoom, image is 4000 X 2256,  not cropped.

Using my Samsung at 3X optical zoom, image is 2889 X 1635, not cropped.

Kodak again, 30X optical zoom, long exposure, image is 4000 X 2256.

 

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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opti1, Myst, RetiredGeek

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“Along the way we moved to faster photo processing, even to the point that we could get our photos developed in an hour (or less).”

One of my all-time favorite advertisements was a two-page spread Fotomat ad in magazines (remember those?), with the banner “A snapshot shouldn’t be a crapshoot”. 🙂

http://www.jumpingfrog.com/images/magads6/mzd8261.jpg

 

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Myst, Cybertooth

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I have never found one app that does it all that doesn’t cost an arm and two legs. My main go to photo app is XnView (free version) at the link below:

XnView

It very easy user interface for numerous functions and lets you experiment and see what some changes will look like before you make the changes.

It handles over 500 different file formats so is a very good file format convertor and has many batch functions. There is a ton of support (manual, forums, Facebook, etc.) and many users to help you, although I have found it very easy to use. My favorite function is to resize photos which allow you to resize in inches to what the print size would be and correlates that to screen size automatically. It is also great at layering a photo on top of another photo. Example take a photo of something (building, mountain, etc.) and a photo of the sign identifying and explaining the object. Final photo will be the building with the sign for it in the corner of that photo. It also has very awesome screen capture functions that Windows screen capture can’t do.

I should post a photo that shows timing of taking the photo is more important than photo editing.  Cactus in the desert only bloom for a short time in the early spring.

 

HTH, Dana:))

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Personally, I really do like Irfanview. It’s cheap and easy to find and download. It includes basic functions like resize, red eye corrector, and cropping. It can be simple, quick, and easy to use, or you have the option to be as detailed and “geeky,” as you wanna be. I also use Gadwin Print Screen, which you can’t leave running in the background because it becomes a resource hog. However, I can have Itfanview running in the background snd csn even add it to the right click context menu and make the default for photo and video editing and viewing, or one of my photo editors. Some people have more than 1. With that said, let’s explore the shady side of easy, modern photo taking. Friends, Romans, Countrymen, I love seeing and hearing about what you’re up to; however, it’s not necessary to take pictures of every meal you eat. At the very least, just post the pictures 2 your FB. Stop sending it to Everyone you ever met. Besides, I already know what a hamburger, fried chicken, or tacos look like, so please stop b4 it’s 2 late. I’m beggin you. . . LOL!

EFL, ELA, History, Civics, and Social Studies Teacher

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To me, there is no such thing as a student who cannot learn. All students can succeed, and as a teacher, it is my place, my goal to give them the tools to succeed....

Our problems are man made; therefore

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Cybertooth

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There is an inverse law at work here: as the cost of something (email, photos) drops toward zero, its quantity rises toward infinity.

 

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

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We use the Corel suite of graphic tools including:

• CorelDRAW
• PaintShop Pro
• AfterShot Pro

We also use Nikon View a simpler (but possibly out dated) suite photo editing software that was shipped with one of our early digital cameras.

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Try using http://www.picwish.com for editing pictures. It is all done on-line. Lots of features.

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Charlotte2023

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My wife really liked google picasa, but like typical Google they roll stuff out then get tired of it and it fades away.  I like XnViewMP over IrfanView, but I don’t use it for real editing.  For that I use GIMP.

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After years putting up with Adobe I switched to Ashampoo Photo Optimizer

Very happy with it, also use IrfanView for quick touchups

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bbearren wrote:

Instead of spending time looking for the right editing software, invest the time in capturing the right image.  It can be very satisfying.

In the early days this did save conciderable time in the darkroom too

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I used Photoshop for years until I discovered Alien Skin’s Blow Up (resizing images) and Exposure (editing). I can take a 12MP image from my old Canon SLR and turn it into a 24MP image without loss of quality and then work on it with Exposure. Suits my work-flow perfectly.

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Myst

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I use two editors for most work – Paint.net and Photoshop Elements.

I reviewed Paint.net last January. It’s available as freeware, but it’s also in the Microsoft Store at the absurd price of $10 (up from $8 a year ago.) I say absurd because it’s worth more. As I said in the review, I use Paint.net almost daily.

I use Photoshop Elements ($100) for more serious work, such as editing images for the newsletter. I also use it in my Web work because it produces excellent compressed JPEG files (i.e., small file sizes) even at low quality settings.

I recently purchased Corel Paintshop Pro 2023 Ultimate ($100) as part of a promotion for the Paintshop Pro/Video Studio bundle (no longer available). I’m anxious to see if it can do as well with JPEG images as Photoshop Elements. (And I wanted to try the video editor, too.)

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We have also used Photoshop Elements.

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too geeky for my Sister

How can she want to edit photos if she does not want to be geeky?

What is level of computer savvy?
0=no computer skills. = No edit program to recommend.
1=little computer skills=MS paint
2=medium computer skills=Google Pisca
3=high computer skills=Infraview, Photoshop
4=extreme computer skills=GIMP with extra filters from slicer website.

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I’m still struggling finding a nice, easy photo editing software program.

nothing overly complicated but IceCreamapps Photo-Editor seems simplistic to use for Win7-11
(Disclaimer: Haven’t used it and no affiliation with developer etc)

If debian is good enough for NASA...

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Just my tools and opinion(s)

Best for RAW files:  DXO Photolab and then Exposure Software

Best for Editing:  Affinity Photo (best in class for price) and then Photoshop Elements (worst in class for bloat)

Best upcoming:  Topaz Labs Photo AI  (if you like paying for development)

Best for one click adjustments:  Exposure

Best for a quick fix and best in price:  Faststone

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Paint.NET was my go-to in the Windows days. I never did anything other than light duty editing, and PDN (as it is often called) worked well. The magic wand is particularly appreciated.

When I migrated to Linux, I tried PDN’s cousin, Pinta, but it was unbelievably buggy, to the point where it was unusable. I then discovered KDE’s Kolourpaint, which I have used ever since. It’s not as powerful as PDN, but it’s still quite a bit better than the barebones MS Paint.

Pinta has apparently been updated since then, and I have it installed, but I am a creature of habit, and Kolourpaint is what I am most familiar with. I hope Pinta is decent when I get around to trying it again!

 

Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
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Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)

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Seeing the Spring flowers starting to come up in the middle of Feb. was incredible!  Now, the Spring flowers are all out and blooming which is nice to see and smell.  But I’m also seeing the grass starting to grow and in some places it’s already needing to be cut.  I’m personally not looking forward to that chore.

Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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