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Image editors other than you-know-what

Doug Kerr

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
For quite a while, I've been using Picture Publisher 10 as my main image editor. It is a very capable program with an excellent (and customization) user interface.

However, it bungles the handling of Exif metadata (I have to use a workaround to "rehabilitate" files it has corrupted, which means any that it has handled) and has no cognizance of IPTC metadata in either the IIM nor XMP forms.

Largely for this reason, I am looking for a new image editor. I don't want to adopt Photoshop as my main tool for a number of reasons (some of which may be silly, but that's how I am).

Has anyone had good luck with other serious image editors? I took a look at PhotoPerfect, and it looks intriguing. But I am put off by its lack of a Multiple Document Interface (that is, I can't have more than one image open at a time).

I've been afraid to get into Paint Shop Pro because of all the concern over the "malware" that seems to attend it.

So I'd be glad to hear of the thoughts of my colleagues here.

Thanks for any insight you can give me.
 
K

Kathy Rappaport

pro member
PS and LR and Paintshop Pro

Doug,

I haven't had any issues at all with Paintshop Pro. I use mostly CS4 and Lightroom, but, I have Paintshop Pro and it's been okay to use.
 
Alain Briot

Alain Briot

pro member
I wish they were competitors to Photoshop but to my knowledge there isn't.

I'm afraid it is a case of market domination. Anything else offers less than Photoshop, if there is anything else available.

Truth be told, I never looked for an alternative. Part of the interest of Photoshop is that it has been there for so long it has become part of the wall decor so to speak, or of the furniture! How can one does serious image editing and not use it is beyond me, but then there's much that's beyond me in that regard.

It is a free country after all!
 
Asher Kelman

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Doug,

To me it's Photoshop 7, LOL! It users layers and the only thing important missing is the shadow/highlight tool. I happen to use this very capable earlier version of PS on my wife's iMac. (It's in the kitchen and near my source of tea!) Almost everything can be done with PS 7.0 except opening RAW files from the latest cameras, but for that one can use the free software from the MFR.

PS 7 is a very low cost item and I give it 5 stars! CS3 to CS4 have little increased value for many camera owners, IMHO, to match the increased investment in hard-earned money. If you can find it for sale from someone honest, it would cost about $25 I expect. For CS4 there are downloads of OEM software like this, but I wonder if it's legal for them to sell OEM software.

Asher

I do humbly admit to having CS4, (legal copy), on my Macbook Pro for speed, RAW translation and extra tools for my big shoots, especially in low light or high dynamic range stage light.
 
Doug Kerr

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Asher,

Asher Kelman said:
Doug,

To me it's Photoshop 7, LOL! It users layers and the only thing important missing is the shadow/highlight tool. I happen to use this very capable earlier version of PS on my wife's iMac. (It's in the kitchen and near my source of tea!) Almost everything can be done with PS 7.0 except opening RAW files from the latest cameras, but for that one can use the free software from the MFR.
Click to expand...
A very interesting proposition.

I have PS CS2, by the way. Of course, it won't work raw files from my EOS 40D, either!

Thanks.

By the way, I now have an almost-fully automated rehabilitation of the metadata area in files hosed by Picture Publisher 10! Takes about a minute to do it to a collection of files in one directory.

Best regards,

Doug
 
S

StuartRae

New member
Cem and Doug,

I have PWP v3.
Pros: It's fully colour managed and works entirely in 16-bit.
Cons: It's 'different'; doesn't have layers; and doesn't allow Exif/IPTC editing.

Personally, I use PSE3 which does everything I need. It opens 16-bit files and performs basic functions on them like cropping, re-sizing, levels, contrast and shadows/highlights. For clone, spot-healing and layers you have to convert to 8-bit. I use it as a platform for Photoshop plugins (Shadow Illuminator, Light Machine, Focal Blade, Noise Ninja, etc.) all of which run in 16-bit. It doesn't (officially) support Actions. Downside is that it's not fully colour managed.

For printing I use Qimage.

I might consider GIMP or GIMP Shop if they supported 16-bit.

Irfan View and Faststone will also run PS plugins but only in 8-bit.

Regards,

Stuart
 
Asher Kelman

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Something Really Basic for your notebook!

Daniel Buck said:
Pixel Image Editor looks interesting, like a photoshop clone :)

http://www.kanzelsberger.com/pixel/
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, the author seems sluggish as a snail in getting things to the next level.

For something really basic but with a remarkable capability, there's Picasa from Google for borth PC and Mac platforms. This means that if you are out and about using a lightweight note pad Atom chip computer, then the free software from Picasa as well as Picnik, the free addon here can deal with even sophisticated straightening, sharpening, cropping and choice of color filters for B&W conversions. It uses a paint brush paradigm for applying and removing effects locally, but of course, no PS like layers.

Asher
 
K

Kevin Stecyk

New member
Doug Kerr said:
Well, they include:

• Very slow to open
• No ability to customize toolbars
Click to expand...

Regarding Photoshop...

My understanding is that you can build your own customized panels and largely do away with all the other stuff you don't want.

Here's some links:

  1. http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/configurator/
  2. http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2010/04/using_a_dialog_box_to_edit_a_curves_adjust.html
  3. http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2010/04/polishing_the_adjustments_panel_in_cs5.html
 
D

Daniel Buck

New member
Nuke, http://www.thefoundry.co.uk/products/nuke/

A hard core compositiong program, available on windows, mac, and linux. Many major movies that you've seen in the theaters for the passed 10-15 years, are made using Nuke as their compositing package.

I use it at work, and it's wonderful! Probably not my choice for working on single-frame photography stuff when I have photoshop available (for a still-frame photography workflow that I'm already familier with in photoshop), but it's certainly very robust and can handle about anything you throw at it. It's completely different from most other layer based image editors. This one is Node based, a very different way of thinking in terms of image editing. I've done some photography stuff in Nuke, and it's quite usable for photography, but I'd still opt for tried and true photoshop for photography since photoshop is more geared towards that, unless I was on Linux.
 
Doug Kerr

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Kevin,

Kevin Stecyk said:
Regarding Photoshop...

My understanding is that you can build your own customized panels and largely do away with all the other stuff you don't want.
Click to expand...

I hadn't realized that. I need to look into it. I just got spoiled by most of my other Windows (non-Adobe) applications.

Here's some links:

  1. http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/configurator/
  2. http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2010/04/using_a_dialog_box_to_edit_a_curves_adjust.html
  3. http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2010/04/polishing_the_adjustments_panel_in_cs5.html
Click to expand...

Thanks so much.

Best regards,

Doug
 
Asher Kelman

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Daniel Buck said:
Nuke, http://www.thefoundry.co.uk/products/nuke/

A hard core compositiong program, available on windows, mac, and linux. Many major movies that you've seen in the theaters for the passed 10-15 years, are made using Nuke as their compositing package.

I use it at work, and it's wonderful! Probably not my choice for working on single-frame photography stuff when I have photoshop available (for a still-frame photography workflow that I'm already familier with in photoshop), but it's certainly very robust and can handle about anything you throw at it. It's completely different from most other layer based image editors. This one is Node based, a very different way of thinking in terms of image editing. I've done some photography stuff in Nuke, and it's quite usable for photography, but I'd still opt for tried and true photoshop for photography since photoshop is more geared towards that, unless I was on Linux.
Click to expand...

Daniel,

I just took a brief look and see that it is indeed node based, a new paradigm for me. I noticed that Primatte is one such node , so my interest is peaked. Have to find some basic intro tutorials and $$$ to pay for it. What advantages might it offer for compositing large still pictures as compared to PS?

Asher
 
D

Daniel Buck

New member
Asher Kelman said:
Daniel,

I just took a brief look and see that it is indeed node based, a new paradigm for me. I noticed that Primatte is one such node , so my interest is peaked. Have to find some basic intro tutorials and $$$ to pay for it. What advantages might it offer for compositing large still pictures as compared to PS?

Asher
Click to expand...

Honestly, strictly for Photography it's probably not the best, it's workflow isn't really setup for that. I've used it several times for photographs just because I'm very familiar with it already, from using it at work.
 
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