I am looking for a photo program with more power than iPhoto for editing. I was looking at Pixelmator as my external editor, is it worth the money for the features provided. I used Gimp many times on a pc and never really liked it. Also I was looking at Adobe Photoshop Elements. Which do you have, use or recommend for the average Joe? Thanks.
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Pixelmator - Is it worth it
- Thread starter claimed4all
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I have no experience with Pixelmator other than reading a recent (good) review. I do have Elements, which costs a few bucks more than Pixelmator, and I can recommend Elements 6. Of course, I've been using Photoshop and Elements for years, so there's no doubt I'm biased.
Is it in any way similar to Photo Shop Elements for windows? I did have some time on Elements 4 (I think) for windows. It was ok, but I am sure it has come strides since.
Well, I have almost zero Windows experience, but I'm sure the Mac and PC versions are very similar. Version 4 was good, 6 is an improvement. Elements 6 for Mac is 72 bucks on Amazon and Pixelmator is 59 bucks on their site. And BTW, as the owner of both the full version of Photoshop and Elements 6, Elements will do pretty much all the important tasks the full version does at a small fraction of the price.
I don't use it a lot simply because it's not what I'm used to so I go back to photoshop, but I think Pixelmater is pretty snazzy. It's quick, it seems pretty logical and it has a really nice interface. I can't imagine you'd go wrong with it. Having said that I've never tried Gimp so I don't know how it compares.
I read a little about sea shore and that it does basic photo tasks, is this program going to express my creative side? I guess since it is free I could just download and try.
If I am remembering correctly, I think that Pixelmator gives you like a 2 week or maybe a 30 day trial period. Just download it and try it out for a while and see how you like it. I use Photoshop myself, but I use it for work so it's just easier to use the same tool. Pixelmator looks really nice.
The main problem I have with programs like Pixelmator and Gimp is the lack of shape tools. I can draw shapes with MSPaint for pete's sake.
i have photoshop on my work computer which is a windows machine and this can do most of the things that i can do in photoshop using seashore, just give it a try
When I get home tonight I will give seashore a try for a few weeks being that the price is right. If I need more power I will wait for the Pixelmator 1.3 trial. Thanks.
The Adobe software does two things that I concider "essential" (1) 16-bit per channel color and (2) managed color. Gimp can't do either of these make ure that any software you get knows about color spaces and can handle 16 bit color.
The best way to buy Adobe Elements is to buy a Wacom graphic tablet. The software is included "free" with the $99 version of the tablet. You really do need a tablet for any serious image editing. If the included software is not the current verson Wacom has a program where you can get updates at discount call "privileges" so add up the prices and see if it's still not a good deal.
When I did the math buying the Wacom tablet and then upgrading was the best way to get the full up Photoshop CS3 package.
Elements and CS3 versions of Photoshop share the same user interface. What maters more than price is the time you invest in the learning curve. In takes many hours and weeks to come up to speed. But once you to learn the Adobe interface that skill is portable, photoshop is widely used and there are a million books and on-line tutorials and even real classes yu can go to. I'd recommend Adobe simply because of the wealth of available training
I read that on their website and thats one of the reasons that I was so immediately intrigued.
Pixelmator's UI is very slick and nice. It has the basic photo manipulation tool set. It would compete with Adobe Elements but definitely not Photoshop. For me it's a no go because it doesn't have basic vector based manipulation that I use all the time. They might have it eventually but it's a little way off.
photoshop or illustrator?
ChrisA reply sounds like a good way of doing it and that's what I intend to do.
Does anyone know if the Update discount from Wacom is applicable to other Adobe softwares like Illustrator?
I have had some experience with Photoshop 7 on Win platform a few years ago and it is great but wanting to do more illustration/painting work, so would Illustrator be the package to go for?
Cheers
Merc
ChrisA reply sounds like a good way of doing it and that's what I intend to do.
Does anyone know if the Update discount from Wacom is applicable to other Adobe softwares like Illustrator?
I have had some experience with Photoshop 7 on Win platform a few years ago and it is great but wanting to do more illustration/painting work, so would Illustrator be the package to go for?
Cheers
Merc
So what did you end up going with? I am in the same boat as well and have been researching for a good photo editor tool. Since i've read this, i am curious as to what other people have learned and decided.
So thanks for any info you can provide!
