Whats your ultimate software processing setup?

iosion

Leading Member
Messages
648
Reaction score
0
Location
US
For me at least, Photoshop CS is a wonder and worth every penny.

I know we all use alot of different Software to do different things.

What is your current software setup? What are you using and WHY?

What is your 'fantasy' software studio setup? If you had unlimited funds to setup any and all software for processing, what would it be?

I am sure there are alot of great softwares out there that many of us dont know about, but should!

Thanks for posting!
 
For me at least, Photoshop CS is a wonder and worth every penny.

I know we all use alot of different Software to do different things.

What is your current software setup? What are you using and WHY?

What is your 'fantasy' software studio setup? If you had unlimited
funds to setup any and all software for processing, what would it
be?

I am sure there are alot of great softwares out there that many of
us dont know about, but should!
I am currently using PS CS and like it. I agree with you that it is worth its cost. I use it because it works well and I am a long-time customer and tend to stick with Adobe. This type of software has a steep learning curve and switching now does not seem like a good idea. I still have yet to use all of the PS features and tricks that are floating around out there. Oh, yes, the plug-ins! The free PS plug-ins and actions are often awesome.

My fantasy/wish is a really, really intelligent magic wand selection tool that would allow me to quickly alter and fix shots. A second wish is intelligent noise reduction and a third is intelligent up sampling for making large prints.
 
I also use Photoshop CS and love it. I agree also that I love to stick with the adobe products. Although I never have thought Photoshop had a steep learning curve. I know a lot of people do, but I am not one of them. I guess it just depends on how much time you spend with computers and working with stuff like that. but photoshop will always be my choice of software to use :)

Shannon
http://www.shannonhowell.com

--
Never assume anything!
I'm a guy (shannon) , not a girl (shannon) :o)
 
iosion wrote:
What is your current software setup? What are you using and WHY?
For image processing I use:
  • Photoshop CS for RAW conversion and general image processing
  • Noise Ninja for noise reduction
  • PhotoZoom Pro for uprezzing
  • Fred Miranda's IntelliSharpen II for sharpening
  • Panorama Maker for stiching panoramas
So far I am happy with this kit.

--
© Steve Mattan
http://www.stevem.smugmug.com
 
yeah actually I do computer networking and software programming. I also create 3D graphics for magazines and books :o) So I guess it does depend on how much you are into stuff like that.

Shannon
http://www.shannonhowell.com
--
Never assume anything!
I'm a guy (shannon) , not a girl (shannon) :o)
 
  • Photoshop CS for RAW conversion and general image processing
  • Noise Ninja for noise reduction
  • PhotoZoom Pro for uprezzing
  • Fred Miranda's IntelliSharpen II for sharpening
  • Panorama Maker for stiching panoramas
Steve,
I use Protoshop Elements 3 because I just can't justify the price of CS.
I don't make good use of layers and always shoot JPEG.

I think I'm missing something without Curves though. Also the "Actions" I read about seem to work only with the full blown PS. Is that what the Miranda sharpening thing is?

I plan to look into Noise Ninja. I assume it is a stand alone program that will work outside PSE3.
Thanks for any advise you can give.
Sincerely,
Alastair
 
The intellisharpen ii is a photoshop plugin. This particular one works with elements 3. (and 1 and 2.) It works very nice. I like it a lot. If you buy fm plugins you want to make sure they work with elements. Some don't. (Depends on whether the features they use exist in elements.)

Also check out neat image for noise reduction. Very nice. That said, photoshop elements 3 has a decent (no camera profile) noise reduction tool.

You might want to check out the Canon Digital Photo Pro software. It now works with the 300d. I find it does a much better job with the shadows than the camera raw software. Phase One's software is also very nice, gives you exposure compensation and curves. But unlike DPP it isn't free.

I like photoshop elements 3 a lot. I'm just getting frustrated with the adobe raw converter butchering my shadows.
  • Photoshop CS for RAW conversion and general image processing
  • Noise Ninja for noise reduction
  • PhotoZoom Pro for uprezzing
  • Fred Miranda's IntelliSharpen II for sharpening
  • Panorama Maker for stiching panoramas
Steve,
I use Protoshop Elements 3 because I just can't justify the price
of CS.
I don't make good use of layers and always shoot JPEG.
I think I'm missing something without Curves though. Also the
"Actions" I read about seem to work only with the full blown PS. Is
that what the Miranda sharpening thing is?
I plan to look into Noise Ninja. I assume it is a stand alone
program that will work outside PSE3.
Thanks for any advise you can give.
Sincerely,
Alastair
--
Makinations
http://www.smrlabs.com
 
  • Photoshop CS for RAW conversion and general image processing
  • Noise Ninja for noise reduction
  • PhotoZoom Pro for uprezzing
  • Fred Miranda's IntelliSharpen II for sharpening
  • Panorama Maker for stiching panoramas
Steve,
I use Protoshop Elements 3 because I just can't justify the price
of CS.
I was able to obtain a copy through work, v 5.x, and later upgraded to CS. Much cheaper that way :-)
I don't make good use of layers and always shoot JPEG.
I have only started shooting RAW. And am still learning when and why to use layers.
I think I'm missing something without Curves though. Also the
"Actions" I read about seem to work only with the full blown PS. Is
that what the Miranda sharpening thing is?
Intellisharpen is an Photoshop plugin. The web for it says it works with Elements 1 and 2, and I suppose it would work with 3, but check before buying.

The site:

http://www.fredmiranda.com/shopping/fmmIntellisharpen
I plan to look into Noise Ninja. I assume it is a stand alone
program that will work outside PSE3.
There is a standalone version, which is what I use, as the Mac OS X plugin is not yet available (although a beta version is, but I just haven't downloaded it, as the standalone works for me).
Thanks for any advise you can give.
Sincerely,
Alastair
Hope this helps. Good luck and have fun.

--
© Steve Mattan
http://www.stevem.smugmug.com
 
It's made by Nova/Ulead software and is called PhotoImpact Pro Suite.

It's editor has more abilities than Photoshop and Paintshop combined. The suite includes one of the finest photo organizers I have ever found called Photo Explorer, and a wonderful photo cataloging program called Photo Album. Even though this program suite is not well know, it is highly respected by the pros. Do a search for reviews on it if you get a chance. The price for the whole suite is under a hundred bucks. I love photoshop and I love paintshop and I own them also, but I would give up both of them before I gave up PhotoImpact.

--

Once in a while, please check back several pages in the forum, for posts that may have been overlooked. Thanks!
 
I found you could do anything with photoimpact but it was brutal to use. Course I thought that about photoshop but every tuturial on the planet tells you how to work in photoshop. Paintshop pro seems to be the easiest to pick up.
It's made by Nova/Ulead software and is called PhotoImpact Pro Suite.
It's editor has more abilities than Photoshop and Paintshop
combined. The suite includes one of the finest photo organizers I
have ever found called Photo Explorer, and a wonderful photo
cataloging program called Photo Album. Even though this program
suite is not well know, it is highly respected by the pros. Do a
search for reviews on it if you get a chance. The price for the
whole suite is under a hundred bucks. I love photoshop and I love
paintshop and I own them also, but I would give up both of them
before I gave up PhotoImpact.

--
Once in a while, please check back several pages in the forum, for
posts that may have been overlooked. Thanks!
--
Makinations
http://www.smrlabs.com
 
Ha!
Had to laff... I still use Ulead's PhotoImpact 4.0!
It's great for web stuff.... still. Mighty good stuff Ulead makes.
Their Smartsaver program rules for saving for the web.
Used their products from their beginning up to 4.0 until
I discovered PS and learned it.

PS is my main photo editor and printing program.
It's so darn antiquated, but once the basics of using layers
are learned, it's hard to go back.

Ron.
=======================
It's made by Nova/Ulead software and is called PhotoImpact Pro Suite.
It's editor has more abilities than Photoshop and Paintshop
combined. The suite includes one of the finest photo organizers I
have ever found called Photo Explorer, and a wonderful photo
cataloging program called Photo Album. Even though this program
suite is not well know, it is highly respected by the pros. Do a
search for reviews on it if you get a chance. The price for the
whole suite is under a hundred bucks. I love photoshop and I love
paintshop and I own them also, but I would give up both of them
before I gave up PhotoImpact.
 
RAW conversion - C1 Pro 3.5
General retouching - Adobe Photoshop CS
Noise removal - Neat Image 4 Pro Plus (as Photoshop plugin)
Lens distortions - PTLens (as Photoshop plugin)
General image organiser - Picasa

I recommend Picasa to anyone who hasn't find a photo organiser / album software. It has a great feature set, the interface looks very nice and it's free! http://www.picasa.com

Greg
 
For me at least, Photoshop CS is a wonder and worth every penny.

I know we all use alot of different Software to do different things.

What is your current software setup? What are you using and WHY?

What is your 'fantasy' software studio setup? If you had unlimited
funds to setup any and all software for processing, what would it
be?

I am sure there are alot of great softwares out there that many of
us dont know about, but should!

Thanks for posting!
--
http://ndeb.smugmug.com/
 
My current software setup is:

Photoshop 7.0 for image editing. I haven't seen enough of a benefit for CS to pay the $169 for the upgrade...yet.

Noise Ninja 2.0 for noise reduction. I used to use NeatImage, but found that Noise Ninja's results are more natural looking, produced fewer artifacts, and kept the detail better than NeatImage. That said, the results are not quite as 'smooth' but I like the overall look better.

Right now I use DPP for RAW conversion, because I don't use RAW enough yet to justify the cost of something like C1LE.

I use PS7 for pretty much everything, though...I have actions to zap the few hot pixels I have in long exposures (and a separate action to zap the one that is present in most every exposure (though very, very slight at faster shutters). I also have actions to resize and mark for my website. For quick resizing to share with people, I just use the Windows XP Resize Powertool, which makes resizing an image a right click away.

Dream Setup:
The above with PS CS, and C1 Pro.
For me at least, Photoshop CS is a wonder and worth every penny.

I know we all use alot of different Software to do different things.

What is your current software setup? What are you using and WHY?

What is your 'fantasy' software studio setup? If you had unlimited
funds to setup any and all software for processing, what would it
be?

I am sure there are alot of great softwares out there that many of
us dont know about, but should!

Thanks for posting!
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.jordansteele.com
 
Something tells me there are a lot of photos that you have that are good now, but could be spectacular with the proper curves adjustment and well applied sharpening, but that's just been my experience. While I don't need to post process to nearly the extent with the Rebel as I do with my PowerShot, a little tweaking can go a long way. That said, the DRebel does to an amazing job of getting good contrast and color balance right away.
The only photo on my galery that I did post process was just to
show someone what can be done with PS Elements version 3, and I'll
remove it this weekend cause the original looks better. :)

--
My gallery: http://www.pbase.com/dalantech/root
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.jordansteele.com
 

Keyboard shortcuts

Back
Top