New S45 -advice needed re Zoombrowser/Arcsoft

Cottam · Apr 7, 2003

I am new to d photography. My S45 came with Zoombrowser EX 4.0.2 and ArcsoftPhoto Studio 5. Is Zoombrowser just a photo organizer program into which you download your photos from the camera? Is "image editor" a phrase for a program that allows you to doctor photos? Why does Zoombrowser not recognize Arcsoft as the default imagine editor? Can I download directly into Arcsoft and not use Zoombrowser?

As a beginner, all I want to do is crop, remove red eye, and add text and allow photos to be printed or sent by email. Will Arcsoft do that? Is it considered a good program to start with or can I do better?

David Gard · Apr 7, 2003

Zoombrowser allows you to download, keeps a data base of your images, converting raw files, allows some basic resizing (and cropping?), and printing. It also includes a remote utility for controlling your camera from a computer.

I think the concensus of people on this site is that the software shipped with Canon cameras is (much) less than satisfactory. Many use alternates for all of the various functions... Breezebrowser for downlaoding using a CF reader, Photshop Elements or Photoshop for editing/printing for example (there are many other alternatives).

I continue to use Zoombrowser for downloading... I haven't yet got a card reader (so Breezebrowser is out) and I use the remote component when I attach my camera to a telescope.

I never loaded the Arcsoft ware... since I already had Photoshop 7... the "gold standard" of photo editing. PS has a pretty steep learning curve, and PS Elements would probably do most of what you need to do.
--
Dave Gard
http://www.pbase.com/gard

noisebeam · Apr 7, 2003

ArcSoft photo editor can do a lot and all of the basics you are looking for including crop, redeye remove and resize for email friendly file sizes. And it can do a lot more including selecting subjects by pixel levels (magic cut), color balance, contrast, brightness, similar functions as adjusting levels, sharpen, blur, average, and a lot more. I'd use it for a bit before deciding on what package to buy.

Al

Roger Nordin · Apr 7, 2003

David Gard said:
I continue to use Zoombrowser for downloading... I haven't yet got
a card reader (so Breezebrowser is out) and I use the remote
component when I attach my camera to a telescope.

BreezeBrowser 2.6 allows you to view and process the images (including superior support for the Canon RAW format utilizing it's fuller color depth). For downloading from either the camera or a card reader instead of ZoomBrowser, use the free Downloader 1.5 program, also available from http://www.breezesys.com .

David Gard said:
I never loaded the Arcsoft ware... since I already had Photoshop
7... the "gold standard" of photo editing.

Perhaps you have use for it - however, most people doesn't use a percent of what Photoshop offers. ArcSoft PhotoImpression offers ease of use for the beginner (unlike PhotoShop) and is probably much better suited in this particular case. The red-eye removal tool in PhotoImpression works great and is really easy to use.

To begin with, I suggest, to keep it cheap and simple, using ZoomBrowser to download the images and ArcSoft PhotoImpression to put in text, enhance the tonal balance and put in any text wanted. That'll do just what the topic starter asked for, at no extra cost.

When you feel you want to go one step further, check out BreezeBrowser and learn more about the RAW format. For low light shots usinger higher ISOs (such as outdoor night scenes or indoor non-flash photography) a tool like Neat Image is simply invaluable (BreezeBrowser offers some noise reduction, but it's nowhere near Neat Image). Highly recommended!

But there's no need to learn it all at once!

Take it one step at a time.

For a cheaper alternative to PhotoShop but still offering a lot more than PhotoImpression, I suggest checking out Ulead PhotoImpact 8.0, which is (imho) good value for money.

Regards,
Roger

Roger Nordin · Apr 7, 2003

Or make that ArcSoft PhotoStudio5, not PhotoImpressions. poof

Regards,
Roger

Roger Nordin said:
David Gard said:

I continue to use Zoombrowser for downloading... I haven't yet got
a card reader (so Breezebrowser is out) and I use the remote
component when I attach my camera to a telescope.

Click to expand...

BreezeBrowser 2.6 allows you to view and process the images
(including superior support for the Canon RAW format utilizing it's
fuller color depth). For downloading from either the camera or
a card reader instead of ZoomBrowser, use the free Downloader 1.5
program, also available from http://www.breezesys.com .

Roger Nordin said:

I never loaded the Arcsoft ware... since I already had Photoshop
7... the "gold standard" of photo editing.

Click to expand...

Perhaps you have use for it - however, most people doesn't use a
percent of what Photoshop offers. ArcSoft PhotoImpression offers
ease of use for the beginner (unlike PhotoShop) and is probably
much better suited in this particular case. The red-eye removal
tool in PhotoImpression works great and is really easy to use.

To begin with, I suggest, to keep it cheap and simple, using
ZoomBrowser to download the images and ArcSoft PhotoImpression to
put in text, enhance the tonal balance and put in any text wanted.
That'll do just what the topic starter asked for, at no extra cost.

When you feel you want to go one step further, check out
BreezeBrowser and learn more about the RAW format. For low light
shots usinger higher ISOs (such as outdoor night scenes or indoor
non-flash photography) a tool like Neat Image is simply
invaluable (BreezeBrowser offers some noise reduction, but it's
nowhere near Neat Image). Highly recommended!

But there's no need to learn it all at once! Take it one step at
a time.

For a cheaper alternative to PhotoShop but still offering a lot
more than PhotoImpression, I suggest checking out Ulead PhotoImpact
8.0, which is (imho) good value for money.

Regards,
Roger

Search

New S45 -advice needed re Zoombrowser/Arcsoft

Cottam

New member

David Gard

Senior Member

noisebeam

Senior Member

Roger Nordin

Senior Member

Roger Nordin

Senior Member

Keyboard shortcuts