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. 

    • I wouldn't necessarily put PSP X3 over PP X5.  They cater to different markets but I still think the power lies in PP. 

      Each has strong and weak points. 

      In a CYMK (or LAB) workflow, PP kicks PSP's butt.

      • 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.
            >
            • Phil, thanks for those tips, I appreciate that.  I'll track those books down.  I've just finished processing a wedding I shot so I'll have free time this weekend to get into X5 and PP to learn and start playing with.  I've received X5 unleashed so I'll start looking at that Friday night.  I noticed on the surface too that PP doesn't appear to support layers.  I could be wrong but I'll look more into that on the weekend.  I'll also take a much closer look at the color Lab and curves from the menu path you've listed.  Thanks, phil. 

              I poked my head too into the illustration & design forum last night, so i'll post up that wedding shot of the girls I mentioned above for any ideas and will do the same in the X3 forum for some feedback. 

              Those pics above too are a great job showing the colour variations of the jacket.  Great job, Phil.  Very impressive. 

              Will post again Sunday night after I've played a good deal more with X5 and PP.  My mate is designing a product brochure too and has asked me to design a background with heraldry-like designs.  I'm thinking of using a standard clip art image then changing the colour scheme and tiling it to make the background.  I might also put this up for discussion in the illustration and design forum.  Cheers, Phil.      

              • Hi ColorB,
                1. Thanks for the compliment on my picture. I owe it all to the Lab
                color mode -- and Ellie.
                2. If you are new to PhotoPaint, an old book by David Huss called
                "Corel PhotoPaint 10" can get you well underway. It's $25 at Amazon.
                3. Unfortunately, the terminology is somewhat different between
                PhotoShop and PhotoPaint. (Even more unfortunately, there is confusion
                between the terminology of DRAW and PhotoPaint for the words "layer" and
                "object".) The thing called "layer" in PhotoShop is called "object" in
                PhotoPaint. The thing called a "layer mask" or at times simply "mask" in
                PhotoShop is called a "clip mask" in PhotoPaint. Very poor choice of words
                on the part of Corel.
                Good luck on your photography.
                Phil


                "Colorblast" wrote in message news:93866@coreldraw.com...
                > Phil, thanks for those tips, I appreciate that. I'll track those books
                > down. I've just finished processing a wedding I shot so I'll have free
                > time this weekend to get into X5 and PP to learn and start playing with.
                > I've received X5 unleashed so I'll start looking at that Friday night. I
                > noticed on the surface too that PP doesn't appear to support layers. I
                > could be wrong but I'll look more into that on the weekend. I'll also
                > take a much closer look at the color Lab and curves from the menu path
                > you've listed. Thanks, phil.
                >
                > I poked my head too into the illustration & design forum last night, so
                > i'll post up that wedding shot of the girls I mentioned above for any
                > ideas and will do the same in the X3 forum for some feedback.
                >
                > Those pics above too are a great job showing the colour variations of the
                > jacket. Great job, Phil. Very impressive.
                >
                > Will post again Sunday night after I've played a good deal more with X5
                > and PP. My mate is designing a product brochure too and has asked me to
                > design a background with heraldry-like designs. I'm thinking of using a
                > standard clip art image then changing the colour scheme and tiling it to
                > make the background. I might also put this up for discussion in the
                > illustration and design forum. Cheers, Phil.
                >
                • Hi Phil,

                  I've started digging into PP today by sussing our it's object / layer gallery, and am very impressed so far.  I have a sneaky feeling this program is going to be more advanced than PSP X3.  Not knowing anything about PP, I thought I'd open a PSD file (unsure if it would), and although no thumbnail image was displayed, it opened the file with all its layers in tact.  What impressed me though was as I drifted my mouse down over the different layer styles, my photo would dynamically change to that style in real time.  I was able to quickly run through all the layer styles seeing what ones looked good.  In X3, you can't do this.  You have to select, then apply the layer style to see its effect.  PP makes this selection process lightning quick compared to X3.  Even the slections tool had more options than X3 I noticed. 

                  One thing I don't get though: if layers and objects are the same thing, then why not just stick to the one term  Why have two different words for the same thing?  I don't get Corel or the graphics community on this.  I know the photographic world is used to knowing what layers are, so why not carry this through into Vector programs as well.  The whole "object" thing was starting to throw me a little.  Not now though.

                  I'll keep playing.  Cheers.