Software Help, which to buy?

Discussion of photography, editing and publishing techniques
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Dragon Master
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Software Help, which to buy?

Post by Dragon Master »

Hello, I'm a bit sad. My trial version of Microsoft Digital Image 10 is over tommorow. Now I will not be able to put pics online, without them being HUGE, and uncropped. It costs 95 dollars to order the full version. Is this worth it? Is there a cheaper alternative (the GIMP thing doesn't work for me I've tried, and I'd like to stay within the law) or is there a better, more expensive program I should go for?

Thanks in advance,

DM
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Robin Hood
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Post by Robin Hood »

Well if cropping and resizing are all you need, Microsoft Paint works. Cropping anyway. It can resize and not tooooo bad, but certainally not the best. Hope this helps.

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Drucifer
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Post by Drucifer »

For about the same price you can get Photoshop Elements, which is a trimmed down version of Photoshop. A full version of Photoshop can be "better", it just depends on what you want to do. I would recommend Elements over the MS Digital Image, simply for the fact that there's a lot of literature out about Photoshop, so those tips and tricks would be very relevant to Elements. There is a free trial version of Elements if you want to give it a spin.

If you want cheap I'll help you get the GIMP working, just send me e-mail or a PM with the problem(s) you're having. (This offer applies to anybody trying to get the GIMP working, if you're having problems PM or e-mail me and I'll try to help you out).
Last edited by Drucifer on Thu Feb 24, 2005 4:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by lemon_squeezer2 »

Now, your PC might be different, but if you just need to size images, can't you use the default program that comes with your PC? I believe it's called - simply enough "Microsoft Photo Editor"
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Lord_Of_The_LEGO
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Post by Lord_Of_The_LEGO »

lemon_squeezer2 wrote:Now, your PC might be different, but if you just need to size images, can't you use the default program that comes with your PC? I believe it's called - simply enough "Microsoft Photo Editor"
Well, my PC came with no image editing software, so I have to use the family iMac's! :? This might be the case with DM too. Also, defaut or free software usually doesn't pack the punch a serious photo editor like myself wants...

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Post by Drucifer »

lemon_squeezer2 wrote: Now, your PC might be different, but if you just need to size images, can't you use the default program that comes with your PC? I believe it's called - simply enough "Microsoft Photo Editor"
MS Photo Editor is a part of the MS Office suite, it should be in the MS Office Tools group on your start menu if you have MS Office installed. I don't think you can get it as a seperate program (or more accurately the separate version appears to be MS Digital Image 10 that Dragon Master has used).
Lord_Of_The_LEGO wrote:Also, defaut or free software usually doesn't pack the punch a serious photo editor like myself wants...
Do not under estimate the power of the GIMP. :wink:
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Dragon Master
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Post by Dragon Master »

:oops: Turn out that I got a program called microsoft office picture manager. It doesn't have all the nice feautres that photoshop have, but It will let me crop and resize my images. I think I'll be using this from now on, unless there is a major price drop in the pay programs.

Thank you all for your advice and help, I really apprciate it,

DM
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Post by porschecm2 »

I tried downloading and installing the GIMP, and I got an error message when I tried to install it. Is there a way to download it that's not mirrored, perhaps?

*EDIT* Ok, I've actually got the program installed, I think... But for the life of me I can't figure out how to run it. It didn't place an icon on the desktop, and when I access it through WindowsExplorer all I find is a bunch of files, no actual programs.

*EDIT 2* Got it working. Now I just have to figure out how to use this....*goes to read tutorial*

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Post by Drucifer »

porschecm2 wrote:I tried downloading and installing the GIMP, and I got an error message when I tried to install it. Is there a way to download it that's not mirrored, perhaps?
The GIMP is hosted on SourceForge which only provides downloads through mirroring. Glad to hear you got it working. :D

Here's my quick start guide to downloading/installing the GIMP:
1). Download the following three files (xx.xx.xx means latest version number) from SourceForge
gtk+-xx.xx.xx-setup.zip
gimp-xx.xx.xx-i586-setup.zip
gimp-help-xx.xx.xx-setup.zip
2). Unzip gtk+-xx.xx.xx-setup.zip and run gtk+-xx.xx.xx-setup.exe
3). Unzip gimp-xx.xx.xx-i586-setup.zip and run gimp-xx.xx.xx-i586-setup.exe
4). Unzip gimp-help-xx.xx.xx-setup.zip and run gimp-help-xx.xx.xx-setup.exe
5). Start GIMP from the start menu and enjoy 8)
6). Check the manual for more info
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