Is this forum dead or what?

I would think with at great photo editor like PhotoPaint there would be more 'Photo' chatter.

  • Hi Rikk,

    I'm a very new user of CorelDRAW X5 and am only starting to play around the edges with PP.  Before this, I was, and am a dedicated user of Corel's PSP X3 as this is their leading or specialist image editing program, over PP.  The are some feature differences between the two but from what I can gather, PSP X3 is the superior program.  Maybe many other users are also using the same program instead of PP which is why the chat so minimal for it. 

    In fact, with all my image editing I bounce between ACDSee Pro for my RAW processing, image cataloging and border/frame edges, and use PSP X3 for all my creative stuff.  If I do use PP, it would be for their additional creative filters that PSP X3 lacks.  But I'm happy to contribute along to this site as I get more involved with PP.  Just have to dedicate the time to it while learning X5 so I can be more familiar.

    Cheers. 

    • Hi ColorB,
      1. At one time, I used PSP X2 quite a bit. I still post in their
      photography group.
      2. However, I have returned to PP for one major reason. PP has the Lab
      color mode and a nifty Curves dialog. I use Lab Curves for just about
      everything.
      3. How about posting your pictures in the Illustration and Design
      Critique forum. Contrary to popular opinion, I do not own that forum.
      Phil


      "Colorblast" wrote in message news:93579@coreldraw.com...
      > Hi Rikk,
      >
      > I'm a very new user of CorelDRAW X5 and am only starting to play around
      > the edges with PP. Before this, I was, and am a dedicated user of Corel's
      > PSP X3 as this is their leading or specialist image editing program, over
      > PP. The are some feature differences between the two but from what I can
      > gather, PSP X3 is the superior program. Maybe many other users are also
      > using the same program instead of PP which is why the chat so minimal for
      > it.
      >
      > In fact, with all my image editing I bounce between ACDSee Pro for my RAW
      > processing, image cataloging and border/frame edges, and use PSP X3 for
      > all my creative stuff. If I do use PP, it would be for their additional
      > creative filters that PSP X3 lacks. But I'm happy to contribute along to
      > this site as I get more involved with PP. Just have to dedicate the time
      > to it while learning X5 so I can be more familiar.
      >
      > Cheers.
      >
      • Hi Phil,

        I've played a ilttle with the colour / tonal tools in the Adjust menu of PP which look impressive against X3 (is this your color lab mode?)  For all my image processing though, ACDSee Pro 3 impresses me the most by far, but for additonal creative effects I'll start playing with PP over X3 to compare and get a much better feel. 

        To be honest Phil, I'm actually reading through a multitude of PS magazines and tutorial sites applying/practising their tutorials in PS CS5 and PSP X3.  I'm trying to find the key differences, limitations & strenghts bewteen the two programs.  Although my comparisons are very early stage, X3 seems much better value for money over CS5 in what most people would use in their image editing.  I know CS5 is the inudstry standard and ducks-nuts for image editing, but unless you're a high-end designer and advertising professional, it's really not needed (that I can see so far).  My jouney will be fun though to continue comparing the two.

        Boy, I use everything at different times when adjusting my images: curves, light and colour equalizers (in ACDSee), exposure, temperature, sharpening etc.  The menus and slider controls in ACDSee and supurb, real time.  All my RAW shots though are processed in ACDSee and then creatively enhanced in X3.  ACDSee has fantastic border/edge and vignetting tools (easy and fast) while X3 is great with all else.  Bouncing between the two is a snap.

        Am always happy to post shots up for discussion and criticism.  In fact I have a recent wedding shot with two girls looking at the camera.  One of the girtl's eyes are quite piercing I think and I really struggled to bring that focal point that out in the shot.  I mucked around with all sorts of vignetting and cropping effects but still I'm not hppy with the variations I came up with.  I'm always looking to improve my knowledge and tecniques though so I'm always happy to post some shots up for criticism.  Some of the effects out there are just tremendous.  One shot on Rikk's home page of a swimmer is just terrific. 

        I've also put my travel shots together at www.myshot.myphotoalbum.com  Everything there was taken with a Canon 350D and a Tamron 18-200 zoom.  Yes, very low-end gear but by Christmas time I'll be upgrading to a D300 with a Nikor 18-200mm, Sigma 10-20mm and 120-400mm.  Weight and size are important when you're traveling, phil, let me tell you.   I'm heading back to Nikon as all my other full frame lenses are from my old F90X film camera.  

        Phil, I'll head on across too to the X2 forums later to read across in the posts there.  Cheers, mate.   

        • Hi ColorB,
          I agree that PS is the most popular of the graphics editors. I also
          agree that it has far more than I will ever use. Why spend over $1,500 for
          PS and Illustrator if I am not going to use 90% of its capability.
          If you do a lot of reading, let me recommend my three favorite books:
          1, 2 - The two books by Katrin Eismann
          3 - "PhotoShop Lab color" by Dan Margulis
          -- In X4, you get to the Lab color mode by Image > Convert to > Lab
          Color. Then you get to the Curves dialog by Adjust > Tone Curves.
          Unfortunately, neither the Lab Color mode or Curves are intuitive. It takes
          time and some reading to get used to them.
          -- My wife wanted to see how different color combinations looked. I
          used Curves in the Lab color mode to do it. I have no idea how to get such
          large swings in color with RGB.
          See attachment.
          Phil




          "Colorblast" wrote in message news:93786@coreldraw.com...
          > Hi Phil,
          >
          > I've played a ilttle with the colour / tonal tools in the Adjust menu of
          > PP which look impressive against X3 (is this your color lab mode?) For
          > all my image processing though, ACDSee Pro 3 impresses me the most by far,
          > but for additonal creative effects I'll start playing with PP over X3 to
          > compare and get a much better feel.
          >
          > To be honest Phil, I'm actually reading through a multitude of PS
          > magazines and tutorial sites applying/practising their tutorials in PS CS5
          > and PSP X3. I'm trying to find the key differences, limitations &
          > strenghts bewteen the two programs. Although my comparisons are very
          > early stage, X3 seems much better value for money over CS5 in what most
          > people would use in their image editing. I know CS5 is the inudstry
          > standard and ducks-nuts for image editing, but unless you're a high-end
          > designer and advertising professional, it's really not needed (that I can
          > see so far). My jouney will be fun though to continue comparing the two.
          >
          > Boy, I use everything at different times when adjusting my images: curves,
          > light and colour equalizers (in ACDSee), exposure, temperature, sharpening
          > etc. The menus and slider controls in ACDSee and supurb, real time. All
          > my RAW shots though are processed in ACDSee and then creatively enhanced
          > in X3. ACDSee has fantastic border/edge and vignetting tools (easy and
          > fast) while X3 is great with all else. Bouncing between the two is a
          > snap.
          >
          > Am always happy to post shots up for discussion and criticism. In fact I
          > have a recent wedding shot with two girls looking at the camera. One of
          > the girtl's eyes are quite piercing I think and I really struggled to
          > bring that focal point that out in the shot. I mucked around with all
          > sorts of vignetting and cropping effects but still I'm not hppy with the
          > variations I came up with. I'm always looking to improve my knowledge and
          > tecniques though so I'm always happy to post some shots up for criticism.
          > Some of the effects out there are just tremendous. One shot on Rikk's
          > home page of a swimmer is just terrific.
          >
          > I've also put my travel shots together at www.myshot.myphotoalbum.com
          > Everything there was taken with a Canon 350D and a Tamron 18-200 zoom.
          > Yes, very low-end gear but by Christmas time I'll be upgrading to a D300
          > with a Nikor 18-200mm, Sigma 10-20mm and 120-400mm. Weight and size are
          > important when you're traveling, phil, let me tell you. I'm heading back
          > to Nikon as all my other full frame lenses are from my old F90X film
          > camera.
          >
          > Phil, I'll head on across too to the X2 forums later to read across in the
          > posts there. Cheers, mate.
          >