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The Photoshop thread

Discussion in 'Archive: Fan Design - Sites and Graphics' started by Grimby , Aug 11, 2009.

  1. Grimby

    Grimby Technical Consultant & Former Head Admin star 7 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Apr 22, 2000
    In this thread, we discuss all things related to Photoshop. Share your tips and tricks, or ask a question about something you're stuck on.


    To start things off, here's an interesting tutorial I happened upon the other day: Masking out difficult images.
     
  2. Jedi Gunny

    Jedi Gunny Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    May 20, 2008
    I wish I had Photoshop. :(
     
  3. Grimby

    Grimby Technical Consultant & Former Head Admin star 7 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Apr 22, 2000
    If you do not have Photoshop and feel like downloading the 30-day free trial would just be a waste, there are some free alternatives. GIMP or GIMPshop are definitely worth checking out, as they have many of the same features Photoshop has. GIMPshop is actually a variant of GIMP that re-arranges the user interface to mimic Photoshop. Try googling them.
     
  4. Jedi Gunny

    Jedi Gunny Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    May 20, 2008
    Is there a tutorial for using GIMP to create a JC banner?
     
  5. Grimby

    Grimby Technical Consultant & Former Head Admin star 7 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Apr 22, 2000
    No, but I can guarantee there are tutorials showing how to use the basic functions of GIMP.
     
  6. Kev-Mas_Colcha

    Kev-Mas_Colcha Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 15, 2002
    I used GIMP to create a JC Banner, and its really not too different than on Photoshop. I can say this having used both.
     
  7. Grimby

    Grimby Technical Consultant & Former Head Admin star 7 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Apr 22, 2000
    Kev, have you ever used GIMPshop?
     
  8. Tyi-Maet_Nefer

    Tyi-Maet_Nefer Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 17, 2005
    I've used Flash and Windows Paint to create a banner for these forums before, so anything is possible. :p

    I own Photoshop as of the beginning of this year and find it very ... useful.
     
  9. Jedi Gunny

    Jedi Gunny Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    May 20, 2008
    I guess I'll give GIMP a try eventually.

    I'm using a bit of Photoshop at school for publications staff, but not much.
     
  10. Vidina

    Vidina Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 11, 2006
    is gimp as plugin-friendly as photoshop? I recently purchased CS4 master collection, but gimp ain't bad. pixelmator(mac) is also a great alternative, albeit, not free.
     
  11. Kev-Mas_Colcha

    Kev-Mas_Colcha Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 15, 2002
    I have, but it was too glitchy for my tastes, as it always crashed, on my desktop, which is actually pretty fast (3.0 GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, XP Pro). Besides, I'm on Linux now (no GIMPshop for Linux), and the default GIMP interface isn't too bad once you get used to it. In fact, the selection tools beat photoshop hands down. The only thing that detracts from it is the lack of functionality with the text tool, and I can always just import an svg from Inkscape for that.

    I also am able to work with a tiny 1024x600 resolution (netbook) just fine.

    Oh, and GIMP actually has a whole boatload of plugins out there, as it is actually pretty easy to code your own with some basic programming knowledge (I believe it uses either C++ or Python).
     
  12. Lexi

    Lexi Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 9, 2002
    I don't like GIMP, but I guess it's because I'm so used to Photoshop.

    If you don't want to download anything and you want to fix something really quick in PS, I recommend Pixlr. It's an online photo editor that looks like PS and has a lot of great functions.
     
  13. Ludo_Kressh

    Ludo_Kressh Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Jun 30, 2005
    I don't know about banners, but I've been using GIMP 2 to create icons and I really like it... and here's a link to some GIMP tutorials if anyone interested.(I think they are for GIMP 2, but I think they may work for earlier versions)[face_peace]

    And GIMPShop? That sounds interesting...is it free?
     
  14. Fire_Ice_Death

    Fire_Ice_Death Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Feb 15, 2001
    GIMPshop is free. Granted I've become a bit of a snob toward it.
     
  15. bluesaber70

    bluesaber70 Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    May 25, 2007
    I do not have a talent for photoshop. But, I like to look at what others can do.
     
  16. Dark_Jedi_Kenobi

    Dark_Jedi_Kenobi Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2004
    I either use Photoshop or Jasc Paint Shop Pro.
     
  17. Dunc T'racen

    Dunc T'racen Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 11, 2000
    I tried a bare-bones Mac take on GIMP (Seashore) because the real thing wouldn't install and I really only needed the basics on my laptop, and it drive me batty. Photoshop or bust.

    I plan to get a cheapie Windows laptop in the next couple of years to replace my aging Macbook, so maybe I'll try GIMPshop then.

    If you only need basic image editing tools (cropping, color correction) Picnik is a decent web-based (Free!) application I've used occasionally. It's rather kindergarten but it does the job.
     
  18. LittleMissNightsaber

    LittleMissNightsaber Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    May 2, 2009
    I have photoshop. I'm slowly learning, but I know there is so much mores such as adding images to others to make a banner or something. What is that called?:confused:
     
  19. LittleMissNightsaber

    LittleMissNightsaber Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    May 2, 2009
    Okay here's what I want to do. How do you merge images?
     
  20. Kev-Mas_Colcha

    Kev-Mas_Colcha Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 15, 2002
    Its called blending.
     
  21. Darth_Meanders

    Darth_Meanders Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 23, 2004
    Our FanForce banner was done using GIMP. It does the job :D
     
  22. Tyi-Maet_Nefer

    Tyi-Maet_Nefer Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 17, 2005
    Neat stuff, Meanders. Was that yourself who created it and used Gimp?
     
  23. Sebulba-X

    Sebulba-X •X C2 C3 MW RSA• star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Mar 11, 2000
    I'm self taught on Photoshop, which has meant that I can do quite a bit, but there's probably plenty I'm doing wrong, or taking the very long way to say the least. Anyway, looking forward to what I can learn from this thread. :D
     
  24. DarthXan318

    DarthXan318 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 12, 2002
    [obligatory]How do you make lightsabers???[/obligatory]

    ... Kidding. :p

    I used to fool around with making Livejournal icons in Photoshop, but that was several years ago, and I've been thinking of trying my hand at it again. I there any advantage to getting the latest version, for an amateur dabbler? I have CS2 - we're up to CS4 now, yes?
     
  25. Kev-Mas_Colcha

    Kev-Mas_Colcha Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 15, 2002
    CS3 completely redid the interface, thanks to Adobe's acquisition of Macromedia, and CS4 added in GPU acceleration for NVIDIA Graphics Cards, and other goodies. Although, IMO, CS2 is fine, especially since they dumbed down the animation in CS3+ with the removal of ImageReady, and integration of basic animation tools into Photoshop itself.