Decent Graphics Program for Mac

Stuart Ablett

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Tokyo Japan
I know, I know Windows vs Mac blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada..... :rolleyes: :D

Until now, on the Windows, I've been very happy with a product called "Ulead PhotoImpact" I think the latest version I have installed and paid for is #11 :huh: :dunno: Of course this is not made for Mac. I know that Adobe PhotoShop is kind of the standard, the yardstick, but it is not cheap, and I'm sure I'd never use even a small percentage of it's capabilities, and I understand the learning curve is quite steep.

Thus, before I go and spend $200 or $300 on PhotoShop, I'm looking for some other options. :D

Sure FREE would be great, but I don't mind paying for a good, easy to use piece of software. In the end, if I cannot find anything to fill the need, I will shell out for PhotoShop.

Cheers!
 
iPhoto is basically a program for looking at your photos, you can so some "VERY" basic editing, but nothing that really counts, what the heck, it is free with the OS after all :rolleyes:
 
Thanks guys, that looks like it would fill my needs, but Amazon won't ship that to me here in Japan, and I bet the Amazon Japan only sells the Japanese version of it.... :doh:

I'll have to look around and see what it what.

Cheers!
 
Hi Stu

I have bought software from these guys before. Pretty cheap usually it might be a version or two out of date but hey most of the time i dont get to use the full features anyhow.

Take a look here for $37 bucks you get Elements

http://www.royaldiscount.com/adphel7oem.html

Best of luck in this endevour.:thumb:

Edit" Oops just checked the shipping polcy and they only process non us orders of $1000 so i guess if you want it from them we can purchase it here and ship it to you. I find that strange cause i bought from them and I have yet to buy $1000 worth of software in one package.Very weid they accept Canadian credit cards.
 
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Hi Stu

I have bought software from these guys before. Pretty cheap usually it might be a version or two out of date but hey most of the time i dont get to use the full features anyhow.

Take a look here for $37 bucks you get Elements

http://www.royaldiscount.com/adphel7oem.html

Best of luck in this endevour.:thumb:

Edit" Oops just checked the shipping polcy and they only process non us orders of $1000 so i guess if you want it from them we can purchase it here and ship it to you. I find that strange cause i bought from them and I have yet to buy $1000 worth of software in one package.Very weid they accept Canadian credit cards.

Common problem with software for me, I want the English version of "XYZ" software, but here in Japan, they only sell the Japanese version, so they send me to the home office in the US. I contact them, asking to buy the English version, and they tell me that cannot sell it to me, because of licensing problems, I have to buy it through the Japanese branch of the company. I reply that the Japanese branch does not sell the English version, and sent me to the guys in the US........ :bang:

Stu,

I don't know if they have The Gimp for mac, but if they do, it's worth a look...

http://www.gimp.org/

Thanks,

Bill

Thanks Bill, there is Mac version, I'm giving it a go right now! :wave:
 
The advantage of Gimp is that it is free and quite powerful. There's nothing to lose by downloading it and trying it out. It's available for all operating systems. It should be able to handle anything you're trying to do.
 
I just thought I'd explain why I need a better graphics program.

I'm playing with the new iCarver, and found a way to make cool 3D carvings using the software they gave me (PhotoVCarve) by manipulating a basic black and white picture. In this way I can easily make signs etc from any basic black and white image, or clip art, and little work with a graphics program. I'm stuck in the L shop right now, and I don't have a Windows machine out here in the shop, in the back I do, but as I'm by my lonesome, I can't use that machine.

For example, take a look at this......

Deer_clip_art.jpg
That is the basic B&W clipart

Deer_gray_scaled.jpg
Here it is after applying a 20% Gaussian blur (Gray Scaling it)

Deer_3d_carving.jpg
Here is a preview of what the 3D relief carving should look like in wood.

Neat stuff eh :D

I need to work on my skills of running a graphics program, especially the mask function, this is the key they say.

Here is the procedure that is suggested.....

*****************************
Start with a piece of black and white clipart.

Copy it to a new photo paint window using the copy function. This will give you 2 images that are the same.

Then using the Guassian blur function in Corel Photo paint blur the black and white together


To get to the level you see above do this:

1. Run the blur effect. (At about....say 20 pixels)
2. Overlay the second copy you made.
3. Mask off the black color and delete the second copy leaving the blurred image and the mask.
4. Use your paint or fill tool to sharpen the edges back up to the mask you created.
5. Remove the mask.
6. Run the blurr again at a smaller number to blend the edges slightly. (At about 6 pixels)

Then load the image into PhotoVcarve and grayscale machine it using a ball nose cutter. Check out this thread for instructions on how to set up the grayscale machining.
*****************************

Honestly, I'm not even sure of some of the things being said there,:huh: but I'll learn! :thumb:

Cheers!

PS the deer example I got from the web, I did not do that.
 
I don't know if they have The Gimp for mac, but if they do, it's worth a look...
http://www.gimp.org/

I've used Gimp on Linux for years for my very basic needs. It works fine.

There is only one annoyance about the Mac version and that is that it also launches the X environment when you run it. So it is not quite a fully native mac program. But it still has that magic "free" price... :p

Now longtime photoshop users can have a hard time because gimp does not copy all the photoshop menu layouts. So if you're really used to doing things one way, it can be hard to do it another.

I've heard of a version of gimp known as "Gimpshop", where they take gimp and try to make it look more like photoshop, but I've never used it.

And as for Photoshop elements... I've actually bought that for my wife's mac a few years ago. But she generally just sticks with iPhoto for her needs, and I'm too used to gimp to bother with it. It has come in handy a few times. But one huge annoyance with Elements is that the Mac version lags a lot behind the Windows version. I just checked and they're selling Elements 7 on Windows, but only Elements 6 on the Mac.

ttfn
...art
 
OK, I think I'm figuring this out, I just did this............

the_abletts.jpg

VERY basic, but I think you can see how this will be used with good effect for making signs etc, should work fine with Japanese too! :D
 
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