Okay,

So another birthday has come and gone (36 and I am starting to feel old), and I got a digital camera that cost more than $30. Thanks mom & dad!

So, I was wondering if any of you folks who have had your adult cameras (my old digital was the macho version of the barbie camera) have any suggestions on photo programs.

I am looking for the ability to crop, adjust picture quality to file size (ie. get photos to less than 100kb in a jgp file) easily the first time, and also a good way to archive my photos.

I got one of those Kodak DX3600 cameras, getting the docking station this week, and I bought the rechargable NiMH batteries for reliability.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,

Andy

Andy - Your camera came with software that should do everything you are asking.

andy, give me a call. i have a spare version of photo shop 12, which will do everything you need to do.

I've got Photoshop, which is overkill, but it works. I've also got Adobe Phote Deluxe, which is much easier to use, and has some great features, like red eye reduction, that I haven't figured out how to do with Photoshop yet.

My camera (Nikon) came with some basic software to do sizing and printing, but it isn't adequate for some of the manipulation I want to do. Specifically, it doesn't give you a good way to manage the basic size of the image.

Photoshop gives you the most strength but it's most expensive. Photo Deluxe will probably be a good fit, and it should be findable for cheap.

Personally I use The Gimp , which is a free Photoshop clone, but the learning curve can be quite high so don't jump into it unless you really wanna get your hands dirty in it.

I'll bet that Sparkey has a copy of Photodeluxe that he'll give you for cheap.

There is a trimmed down version of Adobe Photoshop called Photoshop Elements that has gotten rave reviews lately. Very nice interface, very powerful program. I've also heard that Costco has it for a good price with a rebate, but I'm not 100% certain about that. If I were to choose a simple photo editing package right now it would be Elements.

Andy,

I use Paint Shop Pro, a nice middle of the road package for $100.00 Check out the web site, they have a try before you buy version...

http://www.jasc.com/products/psp/

I have an older version that I could hand deliver to you on some river some where...for free.

Thanks for all of the replies!

Wow, an endorsement from Dave? Now will you please let that whole registry mess with Sparkey die?

Photoshop Elements will be the easiest, and cheapest, solution for you for basic image manipulation out of the box. But I am biased. Click the link to get a free tryout.

Bruce

iPhoto will do everything you mentioned, Andy. It only requires a Mac running OS X and it's *free* from Apple!

Or, if you were like one of the many sheep and were suckered in to the PC world, you could always just *pay* for, and use something on the lines of Adobe Photoshop.

I use PhotoSlop on my computers. Like most Adobe products, it's palate based, not intuitive, not easy to learn, but *very* powerful.

Email me, and we can "talk".

Bruce:

I know, quit clutching your chest. If it makes you feel better I already got his home address so I can send him a \\@®3ž copy.

Parker:

Spend extra money on a Mac just to get software for "free"? For the price of a Mac you can get a better PC with Photoshop included. D'OH!

They'll tear up your old "Free Dimitry" fan club card if you keep this up, Dave.

And Parker, did they forget to tell you the Holy Wars are over? Don't you have some hooks to peddle?

The Holy Wars are never over! MacJihad!!!!

No, I have no hooks to peddle. That is The Kid's and Superfly's job, not mine.

Mine is to be a MacEvangelist!

Parker

Bruce:

I didn't think that you mud-hut folks cared. His name is spelled Dmitry. :p

Parker:

Careful dude. I worked in a predominantly Mac shop as one of the only PC guys for awhile. You DON'T want to go down the MacJihad path. I VILL CRRRUSH YOU!

Yeah, but then you're still stuck owning a PC...

I don't understand why people don't get this... it isn't a matter of what's better or worse, it's simply a matter that the whole PC/Windoze/Microsoft world is just a different business model than the Mac world... in the PC world, you pay less up front for the hardware, but then you run crappy Microsoft software on there, and pay some guy to come every week and "maintain" your computers... and people STILL think they're cheaper. On the Mac side, you buy the machine for a little more, and then they just run and run for years with little or no maintenance... but people still whine that "they're more expensive" If they would only try. I've been using Macs since 1985, I've seen a lot of people convert from PC to Mac, but I've NEVER seen anyone go the other way.

Let me guess, Dave... you were the one PC guy in that whole Mac shop... so you probably had one guy to maintain that one PC, and one guy to maintain the other 40 Macs, right? That's usually about the right ratio.

Don't get me started on the Unix thing either... sure, Unix is cool, it's damn fast, it's stable, it works great, that's the reason Mac OSX has a Unix kernel. But, until now, you basically had to be a coding geek to use it effectively... OSX will bring it to the masses.

Back to the topic at hand... Andy, I'm pretty sure I have a copy of Photoshop Elements at home that you can have. I'll check tonight. It came with my scanner, and I don't use it, I use the full-blown version... which reminds me, Bruce, how about a "Beta" of Photoshop v7.0 for the Mac?? Or maybe you'd like to trade for a snowboard or two?

-N.

Oh, stop Macin' off.

Ah, ScorninN:

Your arguements against Windows are pretty dated, bud. If you're going to reference Apple's flagship OSX instead of that POS OS9 that broke everything previously working with each revision (death to carbonlib!), then you have to reference Windows XP on the PC side. XP, when installed on a new out-of-the-box computer, is dead stable and easy to use. Most all of the applications that ran on previous versions of Windows 9X or NT run on XP without having to boot into a different "mode", which OSX cannot say with 95% of the Mac apps. How many everyday apps have been "Carbonized" now, anyway? And are they still painfully slow on anything but the top-of-the-line systems? And how much are those top-of-the-line systems, anyway? Spendy, huh? And the only time they beat a PC is in specially-scripted Photoshop filters. WhooooWheeee.

Sorry, Stormy. While Macs do have their place, that place generally is with people who are obsessed with Pantone colors. If I want a machine to get the everyday work done on a desktop machine at a reasonable price, I'll be running an NT kernel-based OS on a PC. For what you translucent-cased art majors pay for a Mac I can spec out a beauty of a system that'll run that Mac into the ground.

Obligatory fishing content: water clarity is really improving in the Willamette below the falls. Visibility is darned near 3' and the catches are improving daily, especially between Sellwood and Meldrum.

Have you applied the latest security patch to your NT kernel-based OS? Oh wait they haven't released the patch yet.

Sure wish I had some teknogeekbabble to add right here Just not on a par with some of you special people though

See what you started Andy!!! It's another hook debate for cryin' out loud.

Here's another one...which car is better? A new VW bug or a new PT Cruiser? Oh wait, they both suck and dare I say, so do Macs!

Forget about it boyz, it's all personal preference anyway.

Holy crap,

I go away for a 3 hour lunch and come back to find out I started "the mother of the hook wars".

I was only looking for picture info, but then again Dave, if you want to send me an archived file of your "art appreciation of the human form", that'd be cool with me.

Andy