PhotoShop vs PhotoImpact

[sw2001]

My questions to the professionals:

Is it really worth to spend five or six times more money for Adobe PhotoShop than for Ulead PhotoImpact?

I want to edit my digital photos to make them look better (noise, sharpen, brightness, contrast,...).

What makes Photoshop so expensive? Is it only the name or is it really that better?

Thanks for your opinions.

[ShutteringFocus]

Noise Sharpen Brightness Contrast...I'd consider Paint Shop Pro. I do all that with Paint Shop Pro 6. I havent had a need for photoshop yet. I've been able to do all that I want with PaintShop Pro...and I downloaded Neat-Image for the noise reduction stuff.

[mfchupp]

Agree on the Paint Shop Pro recommendation, have used it 5 years. Version 9 has a noise reduction feature that, for myself, seems to allow better control than Neatimage and produces very nice images.

[tim]

I use photoshop because it's the industry standard. It's damned hard to learn to use though, moreso for PC users than mac users. Once you learn it you can do amazing things.

I look forward to reading comments from people who've used a few different packages.

[Jack W.]

While I have both PSP and PS, I use PSP 90% of the time (no experience with Photo Impact). PS was a gift, otherwise I wouldn't have it. While it's an amazing program, for my purposes it's overpriced.
If you're not a pro, and you just want a terrific image editor that probably is capable of more than you'll likely use, PSP is the one.

[Jesper]

For 99% of what you want to do, you do not need the full version Photoshop CS. Have a look at Photoshop Elements 3.0, which costs about $100 (approximately the same as Paint Shop Pro). With many Canon cameras, you even get Photoshop Elements (version 2.0) with the camera for free (but I don't know if you also got it with your Powershot A75).

[chris.bailey]

If all you need to do is tweak up a photo for printing then Photo Impact is fine (though a little unpredictable). Likewise elements. If you have a need for a precisely colour managed workflow and have a need for multi layer compositing or suchlike then CS is the only way to go.

[sw2001]

Thanks for all the answers so far.

@Jesper: With my Powershot A75 came ArcSoft PhotoImpression 5 and to tell the truth I never checked it out, I even didn't install it. Maybe I should give it a try one of those days.

I even don't print a lot of the pictures. I mainly create Slide Shows and share them on the web (Hompage and some postings).

Right now I am testing PhotoImpact 10 and the price is ok to me.

@Chris.Baily: I don't understand what you mean by unpredictable, unfortunately I don't have another program for comparison. But I surely will give PaintShopPro a trial.

[chris.bailey]

@Chris.Baily: I don't understand what you mean by unpredictable, unfortunately I don't have another program for comparison. But I surely will give PaintShopPro a trial.

I struggled to get what I saw on screen to match what came out of the printer. I had hoped it might be a suitable program for the wife and kids to use but was a little disappointed.

[JX]

I agree with Tim. Learning Photoshop is a long difficult process, but the results are worth the time it takes to learn it.

[PhotosGuy]

Try GIMP.org for a free & excellent software pgm. It has layers, lots of .doc, tutorials, & forum help, too. It has plugins to let it open Canon-RAW files directly, much like Photoshop (although not quite as slick).

[Lissa]

I'm loving PS Elements 3.0. I got 2.0 with my camera, but upgraded because of the organizer feature. I also have a full version (albeit older, version 5.5) of PS. However, unless I'm doing animations, I really haven't found a great need for the full version anymore.

[JATPhotos]

I have been using Photoimpact for many years (since Photoimpact 4.0) you can do a lot with it, I am up to PI Pro. I was given PS Elements 3.0 and PS-7, I am trying to learn both of them but they are pretty hard to master. Every time I learn something in PC I realize that PI can do the same thing if I follow the same instructions. Grant you PC is a better program and someday I'll get the hang of it.
In the mean time I use PI for most of my photo editing with no problems,

[sw2001]

I tried PI now for quite a while and I must say it's perfect for me, I don't need anything else.
Good program for a reasonable price.

[PJ Saine]

My questions to the professionals:

Is it really worth to spend five or six times more money for Adobe PhotoShop than for Ulead PhotoImpact?

I want to edit my digital photos to make them look better (noise, sharpen, brightness, contrast,...).

What makes Photoshop so expensive? Is it only the name or is it really that better?

If you are looking for simple software that performs basic image enhancement functions, something like Paint Shop Pro will work fine.

If you are looking for software that has so many different options that you may never be able to fully explore them all, then consider Photoshop.

This software choice represents a difference in standards as well as a difference in imagination. Photoshop is built to provide images that reproduce predictably in a variety of professional reproduction settings: monitor, web, print, and 4 color. Photoshop weaves all of these standards and reproduction methods together to provide a tool that many different image professionals use.

At the same time, Photoshop provides the ability to make changes that are limited only by your imagination. Simple image manipulation software limits you to basic image changes.

So it really depemds on what you want to accomplish - simple straightforward editing? Or flights of fancy? Where do you want your creativity to blossom: behind the camera or on the computer?

PJ
www.pjsaine.com

[PacAce]

My questions to the professionals:

Is it really worth to spend five or six times more money for Adobe PhotoShop than for Ulead PhotoImpact?

I want to edit my digital photos to make them look better (noise, sharpen, brightness, contrast,...).

What makes Photoshop so expensive? Is it only the name or is it really that better?

Thanks for your opinions.
For what you say you want to do with your photos, PhotoImpact will be more than adequate for your needs. Another thing good about it is that it's got some neat built-in effects and features like being able to put different types of borders around the image with a click of a button, a process that's a little more involved with PS.

I used to use PI all the time, for editing scanned images, for creating graphics, and even for editing photos when I first got my 10D. However, as my photo editing technique matured, I switched over to PS for the simple reason that PS is sort of the industry standard for image editing. But I still use PI when I want to work with graphic images made from scratch because PI is much for user friendly in that area than PS is (I also have Illustrator CS but I haven't gotten that proficient with it yet).

[BernBennett]

If all you want to do is post processing of digital images, then give Pic Window Pro a try!
Download a free 30 day trial from www.dl-c.com. Full version I believe is $100.

[ejwebb]

I struggled to get what I saw on screen to match what came out of the printer. I had hoped it might be a suitable program for the wife and kids to use but was a little disappointed.

This is a color management issue which is dependent on many variables besides your software. The type of printer, ink and paper as well as the calibration of your monitor and software settings all come into play in resolving color management issues to get prints to match the monitor. It is a very involved subject and I just want you to know that software alone will likely not provide a solution.

Additionally, much of the editing software out there is not color managment "aware" at this time - including Paint Shop Pro - so some of the color management issues cannot be easily solved using them. I do know that Photoshop supports full color management and Photoshop Elements supports limited color management. For this and a few other reasons (like the more functional RAW converter and the Organizer) I recommend Elements over Paint Shop Pro - and I have used both. Also, contrary to what others have said, Paint Shop Pro is not a "basic" software - its functionality and complexity rivals that of Photoshop much more than it resembles the more basic programs - it is probably not for beginners or kids.

If you are truly interested in matching prints to the monitor you should do some research on color management - otherwise it is a hit or miss, trial and error sort of process to achieve great results. There are some free software monitor calibration tools that may help you get better results. I also recommend you experiment with printer settings and paper types to get comfortable with your printer. It is possible to good results (maybe not great) without dealing with color management but it will take some effort.

Hope this helps.

[tupe]

Ulead PhotoImpact (I'm using 7) is a great product for editing your digital photos. Most of the features are intuitive, and there are lots of them. About the only thing it doesn't do well is sharpen pictures. (I use MicroGrafx Picture Publisher for that.)

[tupe]

Here's an example of what an artist (it wasn't me!) did with PhotoImpact 6:

before:
http://typelogic.com/photos/dress_before.jpg

after:
http://typelogic.com/photos/dress_after.jpg

[tim]

That's a pretty simple thing to do in just about any image editor. In PS CS I'd use the magic wand to select the person, not sure how i'd do the graduated background but i'd work out a way with google or one of my books.

[Persian-Rice]

Photoshop is by far the best program out there, period. But in terms of photography only, it's really for professional use, and probably has a million feature you might never use. Photoshop is not only used by photographers, photoshop is probably used more by other graphic artists that have nothing to do with photographs. It is worth it, but it depends on who is buying it.

[Volatile]

A used copy of PS 7 can be had on ebay for about 50-60 USD.

PS 6 is only 5-10 USD.

[tupe]

A used copy of PS 7 can be had on ebay for about 50-60 USD.

PS 6 is only 5-10 USD.

Is 7 that much better?