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What is the Best Software for Fixing Pictures?
loony wrote:
On 4 Sep, 16:22, Barry Goodthrall wrote: What is the best software to quickly fix photos. Before rushing to say Photoshop, while I agree for more complex digital photo manipulation it can't be beat, I want something that does common corrections the average novice often needs, such as red eye, bluring , dust removal, lighting adjustments, etc quickly. Ideally what program has the best "one step fix" function? I've been using the free program Irfanview for basic adjustments, but I'm looking for more functionality so I'm intersted in answers to this too. I'm currently looking at Paintshop pro X or XI. I've used a very old version (5) and it is excellent for graphics but poor for photographs probably because of it's age. However the new versions seem to be highly rated and geared towards photo editing and a LOT cheaper than photoshop. Not sure where you're from but I can pick up Paintshop Pro X for around £30 compared to around £100 for Photoshop elements (a cut down version of the full photoshop). You should be able to find PSE MUCH cheaper than that. The usual discounted price in the US is about $72, so your quoted price is way over that. |
#12
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Serif Photoplus free offer details....
"wohwagen" wrote in message ... Serif are currently giving away 5 of their older programmes for absolutely nothing (you pay 89p for the CD & P&P) They make a half-hearted attempt to sell you the latest version when you telephone them for the free software - but that's it. Among the freebies is version 7 of PhotoPlus (free web update available) which is a Photoshop clone (or maybe PS is a PhotoPlus clone Same tools,same layout etc (I believe that you can even run PS actions in it!) It's got to be just about the best free piece of photo software available at the moment - I got it because it was free, although I use Lightroom, and was very impressed. ------------------- For those in the UK who fancy the free Serif free package: PagePlus 8 PhotoPlus7 (web update available) DrawPlus 6 WebPlus 7 MediaPlus The Serif contact number (UK) is 0800 376 5472, quote code USC/CAC/FOC (from 'Out & About', the Camping & Caravanning Club member magazine) Offer closes 29th September. Dunno what the other programmes are like - but, as stated, PhotoPlus 7 is very good with all the usual Photoshop-type tools Worth 89p postage to try it, anyway. Cheers |
#13
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Serif Photoplus free offer details....
wohwagen wrote:
Serif are currently giving away 5 of their older programmes for absolutely nothing (you pay 89p for the CD & P&P) They make a half-hearted attempt to sell you the latest version when you telephone them for the free software - but that's it. The down side - and I have this verified here - is that Serif readily sell name and address details of applicants to junk mail outfits. If you do order the (mostly worthwhile!) software, make it clear to them that you don't want your postal mailbox spammed. -- Adrian C |
#14
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Serif Photoplus free offer details....
On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:41:03 +0100, Adrian C
wrote: wohwagen wrote: Serif are currently giving away 5 of their older programmes for absolutely nothing (you pay 89p for the CD & P&P) They make a half-hearted attempt to sell you the latest version when you telephone them for the free software - but that's it. The down side - and I have this verified here - is that Serif readily sell name and address details of applicants to junk mail outfits. If you do order the (mostly worthwhile!) software, make it clear to them that you don't want your postal mailbox spammed. -- Adrian C Hi The other downside in my experience is that whilst the software is very good and the retail products reasonably priced, the company itself is very, very, hard sell. The free offer (whilst genuine) is basically a ploy to get you on the end of a phone by giving away out of date software so they can try and sell you their latest offering. Phone the contact number and, far from being half-hearted, they will go to any lengths to persuade you to upgrade to the latest product - or perhaps I was just unlucky. The last couple of times I have phoned Serif for the activation code for a free download, the latest product started around £100 (special price as an existing customer, Sir). When I said I was only interested in the free product, the price dropped, eventually bottoming out at around £25 (I have just had a word with my supervisor and he is prepared to offer a very special price just for you...). When I still refused, they got quite abusive and came very close to accusing me of ripping them off by only ever using their free programs (not actually true - I have bought Serif software on more than one occasion in the past). When I stuck to my guns, insisting that all I wanted was the activation code for the free download, they eventually gave me it, after threatening to bombard me with sales calls for not upgrading (I never actually received any further sales calls from them, so obviously they were bluffing). I came very close to reporting them to Trading Standards. Having said that, I have been using Serif products from the mid 1990's and find them extremely good - especially the free ones!!!! Dealing with the company on the phone however is another matter - just grit your teeth and keep reminding yourself that the software is free. To be quite fair, I haven't had my postal mailbox spammed with the exception of a "special offer" letter from Serif a couple of times a year. By the way, if you visit http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/ you will find most of their earlier software as free downloads. Just remember, when you do phone for the activation code, stick to your guns and don't let them bully you. Regards KGB |
#15
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Serif Photoplus free offer details....
"KGB (KGB)" wrote in message ... On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:41:03 +0100, Adrian C wrote: wohwagen wrote: Serif are currently giving away 5 of their older programmes for absolutely nothing (you pay 89p for the CD & P&P) They make a half-hearted attempt to sell you the latest version when you telephone them for the free software - but that's it. The down side - and I have this verified here - is that Serif readily sell name and address details of applicants to junk mail outfits. If you do order the (mostly worthwhile!) software, make it clear to them that you don't want your postal mailbox spammed. -- Adrian C Hi The other downside in my experience is that whilst the software is very good and the retail products reasonably priced, the company itself is very, very, hard sell. The free offer (whilst genuine) is basically a ploy to get you on the end of a phone by giving away out of date software so they can try and sell you their latest offering. Phone the contact number and, far from being half-hearted, they will go to any lengths to persuade you to upgrade to the latest product - or perhaps I was just unlucky. Perhaps *!* was just lucky -;} I phoned for the CD and got a young girl on the other end who didn't make much of an effort to sell me anything - just 'special price' £49 upgrade. When I declined she made no further sales attempts - and the CD duly arrived a few days later. Perhaps I interrupted her doing her nails? -;} Probably worth setting up a throw-away mail address with Yahoo (or similar) so that if any spam does arrive from Serif or their 'specially selected partners' (i.e, anyone who pays for the info) you'll never see it. |
#16
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What is the Best Software for Fixing Pictures?
On Tue, 04 Sep 2007 18:03:51 GMT, Dennis Pogson wrote:
Faststone will probably do all you wish and it's free from- http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm I'm glad you suggested this. I've been using CompuPic for years, but it is seriously unstable on XP and hasn't been updated since 2003. I need a change. Unfortunately the first hour of using Faststone has exposed some defficiencies, including: 1. Very weak, minimalist help system 2. Can't select pages to print from a multi-page contact sheet job 3. The "superior" red-eye remover has no flexibility and is pretty well useless 4. Weird user interface in places. For example: double-click a browser thumbnail; make a change to the full size image; hit ESC to return to the browser; click on another thumbnail. Message pops up: "Do you want to save the changes you have made to this image?" The wrong image is highlighted! And why not ask the question as soon as you hit ESC? On the plus side, Faststone has been stable on XP... so far. Most of the functions I need work very nicely. And the price is right. Pete |
#17
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What is the Best Software for Fixing Pictures?
Barry Goodthrall wrote:
What is the best software to quickly fix photos. Before rushing to say Photoshop, while I agree for more complex digital photo manipulation it can't be beat, I want something that does common corrections the average novice often needs, such as red eye, bluring , dust removal, lighting adjustments, etc quickly. Ideally what program has the best "one step fix" function? You might find what you want at: http://lists.thedatalist.com/pages/G...nd_Viewers.htm -- Jeff (cut "thetape" to reply) |
#18
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What is the Best Software for Fixing Pictures?
"Marty Fremen" wrote in message ... Barry Goodthrall wrote: What is the best software to quickly fix photos. Before rushing to say Photoshop, while I agree for more complex digital photo manipulation it can't be beat, I want something that does common corrections the average novice often needs, such as red eye, bluring , dust removal, lighting adjustments, etc quickly. Ideally what program has the best "one step fix" function? Irfanview will do red-eye, blurring/sharpening, and has an auto-levels control which in one click will try to optimise the brightness/contrast/colour, however this somewhat hit and miss, sometimes it's great, sometimes goes too far, and sometimes not far enough. Usually worth trying though since you can always undo the result and fix the shot manually. Dust removal is a much trickier thing as it needs some intelligence on the part of the software. Polaroid did a free dust & scratches removal program which can be used by itself or as a plugin from within photoshop. It highlights what it thinks is dust and lets you deselect the stuff it got wrong before fixing the image. That's about as good as it gets I think unless you have a scanner with an infra red channel. Unfortunately I don't have a specific URL for the program but their site is http://www.polaroid.com and the program is also known as PDSR. Here's the URL for it: http://www.polaroid.com/service/soft...r/poladsr.html |
#19
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What is the Best Software for Fixing Pictures?
On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 03:09:22 -0500, Ron Hunter
wrote: loony wrote: On 4 Sep, 16:22, Barry Goodthrall wrote: What is the best software to quickly fix photos. Before rushing to say Photoshop, while I agree for more complex digital photo manipulation it can't be beat, I want something that does common corrections the average novice often needs, such as red eye, bluring , dust removal, lighting adjustments, etc quickly. Ideally what program has the best "one step fix" function? I've been using the free program Irfanview for basic adjustments, but I'm looking for more functionality so I'm intersted in answers to this too. I'm currently looking at Paintshop pro X or XI. I've used a very old version (5) and it is excellent for graphics but poor for photographs probably because of it's age. However the new versions seem to be highly rated and geared towards photo editing and a LOT cheaper than photoshop. Not sure where you're from but I can pick up Paintshop Pro X for around £30 compared to around £100 for Photoshop elements (a cut down version of the full photoshop). You should be able to find PSE MUCH cheaper than that. The usual discounted price in the US is about $72, so your quoted price is way over that. I recently got PS Elements 5.0 AND Premiere Elements 3.0 together for under $70. |
#20
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What is the Best Software for Fixing Pictures?
On Sep 4, 10:22 am, Barry Goodthrall
wrote: What is the best software to quickly fix photos. Best is an elusive term. A friend of mine swears by Picassa (free download from Google) I really like Paint Shop Pro (I have version 8) I've also used Paint.Net (Also a free download) HTH, Chris |
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