Essential Tools/Plugins

[LeeBase]

Love my 300D picts, but am resigned to the fact of life of "retouching" to get the best picts. Other than Photoshop or Elements, was wondering what tools people feel are essential.

Here's my list:

1. Color Correction. Right now I'm considering ColorWasher ($50/$30)

2. Sharpener. I'm considering FocalBlade ($50)

3. Noise reduction NoiseNinja. This I have and like. Need to upgrade to the "pro" version so I can do batch processing.

4. Framer -- Open for suggestions

6. Gallery builder. I have BreezeBrowser, Irfanview, Ulead Photo Explorer. Not really blown away by any of these.

So -- what other essential tools should I consider? What other alternatives to the ones I've mentioned to you prefer.

Lee

 

[Blindman]

Love my 300D picts, but am resigned to the fact of life of
"retouching" to get the best picts. Other than Photoshop or
Elements, was wondering what tools people feel are essential.

Here's my list:

1. Color Correction. Right now I'm considering ColorWasher
($50/$30)

2. Sharpener. I'm considering FocalBlade ($50)

3. Noise reduction NoiseNinja. This I have and like. Need to
upgrade to the "pro" version so I can do batch processing.

4. Framer -- Open for suggestions

6. Gallery builder. I have BreezeBrowser, Irfanview, Ulead Photo
Explorer. Not really blown away by any of these.

So -- what other essential tools should I consider? What other
alternatives to the ones I've mentioned to you prefer.

Lee

--

Check out PhotoFramer by Pixlabs. You can try b4 you buy. It's very flexible - be sure to review all of the options.
http://www.pixlabs.com/product_info.htm

JC

 

[Bettina]

How about Genuine Fractals 3.0 - about $150, I think. It's for interpolation.

Bettina

 

[MissMouse]

1. Color Correction. Right now I'm considering ColorWasher ($50/$30)

Save ($50/$30) learn to do it yourself in Photoshop the education will be more valuable to you then a plug-in. Try:
http://www.gurusnetwork.com/tutorials/photoshop/curves1.html

2. Sharpener. I'm considering FocalBlade ($50)

Again save your money and learn edge sharpening and other methods in Photoshop: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/smart_sharp.shtml

3. Noise reduction NoiseNinja. This I have and like. Need to
upgrade to the "pro" version so I can do batch processing.

NoiseNinja looks very promising I would wait for the plug-in to be developed or use neatimage plug-in. A plug-in will give you better control overall.

4. Framer -- Open for suggestions

Costco has wood 8x10 frames with mats for under $5

6. Gallery builder. I have BreezeBrowser, Irfanview, Ulead Photo
Explorer. Not really blown away by any of these.

I use Photoshop Web Gallery because it integrates into a Photoshop work flow just add some file info and generate. It is by no means the best builder but it get better with each version. Hopefully it will allow you to include EXIF information in the future. You can create your own style within Photoshop framework. here is an example: http://www.mouseprints.net/ATripToOZ/

So -- what other essential tools should I consider? What other
alternatives to the ones I've mentioned to you prefer.

A mind willing to learn. Start here http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/instant_photoshop.shtml
--
JJMack

 

[LeeBase]

yourself in Photoshop the education

will be more valuable to you then a plug-in. Try:
http://www.gurusnetwork.com/tutorials/photoshop/curves1.html

Thanks for the link. I'm not so sure it's an "either/or" proposition, do you? Are not utilities helpful AND you can go on to learn how to do-it-yourself?

I mean, must I have to master all that there is to master all at the same time? Or can I get some utilities that will increase my pleasure and delve into particular areas later as my needs and skills improve?

NoiseNinja looks very promising I would wait for the plug-in to be
developed or use neatimage plug-in. A plug-in will give you better
control overall.

I agree, but neat-image was much slower and I didn't think it was as good. I totally agree, though that the "work-flow" is much simpler if all can be done as pluggins in the base photo software.

4. Framer -- Open for suggestions

Costco has wood 8x10 frames with mats for under $5

Now you are just being silly The matts/frames aren't for prints, but for presentation online.

I use Photoshop Web Gallery because it integrates into a Photoshop
work flow just add some file info and generate. It is by no means
the best builder but it get better with each version. Hopefully it
will allow you to include EXIF information in the future. You can
create your own style within Photoshop framework. here is an
example: http://www.mouseprints.net/ATripToOZ/

Thanks for the tips and links. I still think that, even as one skill improves, utilities that save time are usually good investments.

Lee

 

[LeeBase]

How about Genuine Fractals 3.0 - about $150, I think. It's for
interpolation.

It's pricey. For $20 look into: http://www.fredmiranda.com/Interpolation_Plugin/

It has comparisons to the results from this product and GF. Would like anyone's experience on their own comparisons.

Lee

 

[feivel]

was wondering what tools people feel are essential.

since you asked for "essential" i would agree with jjmack that the plugins for color correction and sharpening are not better or easier than native ps tools. but since you want the plugins:

Here's my list:

1. Color Correction. Right now I'm considering ColorWasher
($50/$30)

i agree

2. Sharpener. I'm considering FocalBlade ($50)

agree again

3. Noise reduction NoiseNinja. This I have and like. Need to
upgrade to the "pro" version so I can do batch processing.

i still prefer neatimage, but i think during the earlier stages of learning noise ninja is probably better. noise ninja is an excellent choice

4. Framer -- Open for suggestions

not quite as easy as dedicted framing plugins, you might want to look into buds frame actions located at atncentral.com, or many other framing actions (including buds) in the dpreview action collection downloadable at retouchpro.com

6. Gallery builder. I have BreezeBrowser, Irfanview, Ulead Photo
Explorer. Not really blown away by any of these.

dont use one but ive heard ACDsee is very popular, also Adobe Album is supposed to be excellent

 

[LeeBase]

since you asked for "essential" i would agree with jjmack that the
plugins for color correction and sharpening are not better or
easier than native ps tools. but since you want the plugins:

Thanks for indulging me I did follow up on the "Instant Photoshop" link on Luminous Landscape. Perhaps in time I too will be able to say "the pluggins are not better"

Explorer. Not really blown away by any of these.

dont use one but ive heard ACDsee is very popular, also Adobe Album
is supposed to be excellent

I looked into ACDsee a long time ago, but choose irfanview because it was free. But I wasn't evaluating the "gallery creation" feature at the time.

Your mention of Adobe Album reminded me that I have Microsoft Digital Image Pro 9 which has an "album" feature, but again, I forgot to look into it's web gallery feature.

Lee

 

[Zulabarr]

After a long search, I ended up choosing Arles Image Web Page Creator ( http://www.digitaldutch.com ) and Photothumb ( http://www.photothumb.com ). Both allow customization and make use of IPTC data. Another program to consider is ImageWalker ( http://www.imagewalker.com . For online galleries that you update a lot (and possibly want to enable people to order prints from) Smugmug is excellent. ( http://www.smugmug.com )

Love my 300D picts, but am resigned to the fact of life of
"retouching" to get the best picts. Other than Photoshop or
Elements, was wondering what tools people feel are essential.

Here's my list:

1. Color Correction. Right now I'm considering ColorWasher
($50/$30)

2. Sharpener. I'm considering FocalBlade ($50)

3. Noise reduction NoiseNinja. This I have and like. Need to
upgrade to the "pro" version so I can do batch processing.

4. Framer -- Open for suggestions

6. Gallery builder. I have BreezeBrowser, Irfanview, Ulead Photo
Explorer. Not really blown away by any of these.

So -- what other essential tools should I consider? What other
alternatives to the ones I've mentioned to you prefer.

Lee