Which package too use for post work?
SteveM17
Posts: 987
What software do people recommend for post work? Bear in mind it would have to be free, as I don't have many pennies at the moment.
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A lot of people use Gimp
The Gimp is free and it is a very good image processing and paint program. I don't use Photoshop but I do use Paintshop Pro, and I haven't found very many Paintshop Pro features that the Gimp can't do just as well.
From what I have read in reviews etc, currently there is not a huge functionality gap between Photoshop and Gimp (I use the latter). The main advantage of Photoshop is that a large number of people know it well, and for graphic professionals their clients often insist that they use Photoshop. If neither of these apply to you, then I would advise you to use Gimp.
Another vote for GIMP, it's what I use, though I'm not sure if that should be a recommendation or not :)
It can use Photoshop (.abr) brushes as is, though loading lots at the same time can slow the loading time of the main program when you launch it, you can manually add and remove brushes from the designated folder during use and simply refresh the toolbox window to reload them.
With the installation of the PSPI plugin you can use at least some Photoshop plugin's in GIMP, I use Optikverve's Virtual Photographer this way, http://www.optikvervelabs.com/ though I have found that using GIMP's 'Repeat Last' filter option causes GIMP to crash with this plugin, using 'Re-show Last' filter option does work fine.
So give GIMP a go, it's free and quite a few people here us it so if you get stuck just ask and hopefully somebody will be able to help.
If you are talking 'essential' plugins for GIMP...
http://gmic.eu/
There is also the possibility of using Blender compositor. Add a node to import the raw image, do whatever you want and then output it. There are several youtube tutorials on this process.
I use the GIMP with G'MIC!
Cheers for the info. GIMP it is!
Krita is a program I have heard more and more about.
I dropped by and the page has a link to Krita a free open-source painting program (with its own gmic interface). Man, it looks so much like Painter...the color wheel, the way brushes are displayed. Anyone use it or know anything about it? It looks beautiful and the gallery is amazing.
Edit: Oops. Had this page opened while I went over there and didn't refresh before I posted. Missed Cris's post.
I dropped by and the page has a link to Krita a free open-source painting program (with its own gmic interface). Man, it looks so much like Painter...the color wheel, the way brushes are displayed. Anyone use it or know anything about it? It looks beautiful and the gallery is amazing.
Edit: Oops. Had this page opened while I went over there and didn't refresh before I posted. Missed Cris's post.
Krita is nice...but I still go back to GIMP...more brushes/plugins for it.
Paint.net by way of FileHippo.
I use PaintNet to work on .png files.
I use Paint Shop Pro 9 to work on multi layer .jpg files.
Get old free trial versions of PSP.
...older versions of PSP (before PSPX6) do not handle .abr brushes. Gimp 2.8 does., it's free, and has no time limit or locked features like many trial versions of software do. I have a paid version of PSPX4 and I tend to use Gimp a lot more with the exception of adding text to an image or modifying texture files.
I actually have a 2 older versions of PSP installed, along with photoshop and Gimp, and I find I use Gimp more, just ease of use i guess.
Motiva Real Camera.
http://www.motivacg.com/en/real-camera/
Thanks for the turn on... wow... check out this beautiful creation made with this amazing little program:
https://youtu.be/JdWYgxasYEc
...so this programme has some nice drawing and paint tools.
Impressive.
I started out in GIMP because it was free. It is a powerful tool but it has it's limits If you work in layers or layer groups and need powerful selection tools I would go with Krita both are free but Krita has been moving foward alot faster than GIMP. If you ever get the money I would suggest buying a copy of photoshop cs6 it is the last version of photoshop without adobe hitting you up for $20 dollars every month without giving you something in return. Even here at daz they give you a free item with your monthly membership.
...word of caution here, be careful with used software. Most publishers do not allow for transfer of licence according to their EULA. Daz doesn't and I'm pretty certain that a big company like Adobe has the same policy..
Personally I'd rather pay 120$ a year just for Photoshop CC (not the full CS, don't really need that) than risk dealing with Adobe's legal department if I end publishing my work (like illustrations that go with my story for example).
Krita looks interesting but, unfortunately, there does not appear to be a stable version available for Mac OS X.
On the other hand there is a Mac friendly but quite cheap ($30) alternative to Photoshop called Pixelmator. This is probably a direct competitor to Photoshop Elements rather than the behemoth that is Photoshop CC (I can't figure out the Adobe pricing plans). Elements 13 is listed at around $80 on Amazon US right now.
I have Photoshop CS5 which was generously licensed for me - years ago, before I retired - by the company I used to work for. Even so, I don't know a tenth of what there is to know about that software. I have Gimp but, because I have CS5, I'm too lazy to learn what it has to offer. Pixelmator seems to have a lot of fans but it falls short by not having some essentials such as Adjustment Layers. I downloaded the trial version but found that the tiny fonts and icons used for the GUI are just too tiny on a 27inch iMac screen.
[EDIT] I suspect that most of the tools the average user would require are present in Elements or Gimp.
Ah, I didn't realize you were on Mac like me. This is one I've found interesting.
https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/
Yes, that is worth a look. I see it is produced by Serif. A long time ago I bought and upgraded the Serif suite (DrawPlus, PhotoPlus and PagePlus) and they were good apart from crashing with annoying regularity (Windows versions). PhotoPlus had better tools than PS Elements at the time. This Affinity release looks like a consolidated Mac version of the Draw/Photo apps and, assuming they have overcome the crashing problems, it could be a good buy.
EDIT: A closer look shows that Affinity Designer is a Vector art application as was DrawPlus. The PhotoPlus equivalent looks like being Affinity Photo but that is still in Beta. You can download the beta for free, however.
Adobe used to provide a mechanism/form/link/contact# for the licensed owner to transfer his license to a new owner. But it had to be initiated by the current owner of the license. I don't know if they still do that. I would hope so.