Software Poll Question: Which Do You Use

[Alanroseman]

Hello,

Curiosity getting the better of me, I decide to create an informal poll. You may choose more than one.

Which software package do you use most frequently?

The applications are listed alphabetically, not by personal preference, so no food fights....

If you select "other" please take a moment to expound if you would be so kind.

You could mention your favorite other in the message title when creating your reply. In this way viewing members could have a quick look at the workflow of others...

 

[mauve]

My workflow's still too confidential to make it in the poll's choices...

Repost:
It's in my signature... digikam most often. And solely for electronic publications, I sometimes add a couple of corrections on 8bits / srgb pictures with The Gimp..

Cheers,

 

[Alanroseman]

I wish more folks would expound on Other

Hi Mauve,

Any special reason for your choice of Digikam?

I'm trying to imagine what else the folks choosing "other" are using...

 

[f6cvalkyrie]

I'm trying to imagine what else the folks choosing "other" are using...

In my case, Alan, Corel PaintShop Pro Photo X2, NeatImage (noise suppression) and BDSizer (to resize the pics for websharing)

Have a nice day,
Rafael

 

[Alanroseman]

Thanks for sharing

Thanks for the enlightenment! I should probably go back and add Border FX to my vote.

Alan

 

[Alanroseman]

OTHER: BorderFX Aperture Plug-in

i'm guilty of not mentioning or even voting for my own 'other".

BorderFX Aperture Plug-in

I use this on nearly every image I upload to the board...

 

[Grant]

The pole is looking good now. While I use both Aperture and Photoshop on about a 50/50 bases. All my images go through Aperture and all my images that I plan on showing go through Photoshop. I also use two of the Nik products as well as Photomatix but on a less regular bases.

 

[Alanroseman]

Hi Grant,

Thanks. If enough folks take the time to mention the "other" applications they use we may have some helpful new threads to start.

Thanks for taking the time....

 

[mauve]

Hi Mauve,

Any special reason for your choice of Digikam?

I'm trying to imagine what else the folks choosing "other" are using...

Paramount : native linux build, 16 bits workflow, ICC aware.

Filing abilities above everything else. You can embed any tag you ever wish either into the pictures, or as a sidecar in the database - including GPS geotags ; and of course, all tags are searchable.

Most powerful export function : flickr, picasa, smugmug, standalone gallery ready to export to your personal website, and much much more (FB, piwigo, 23, even an ipod...) you name it, you've got it.

CA, optical distortion corrections; save your lens parameters and apply them to photo batches.

Extract pictures from raw files, with custom ICM no less.

Correct anything you want with powerful filter, sharpen, apply borders, whatever...

If you're not happy with anything and know a bit of C++, make a patch against the dev tree and submit it to Gilles Caulier, the lead developer. He's friendly and responsive. My patch to improve the black and white converter was added to the main branch in less than a month. As far as I know, nobody has complained yet.

Digikam is standing at a cross between Picasa for filing and Light Room for editing, with a few aces of its own up its sleeves... There are Windows and Mac OS X build too, for those sticking to lesser operating systems tongue: just kidding).

 

[Alanroseman]

Photoshop by a nose... Lightroom right behind

So far...

Photoshop by a nose... Lightroom right behind...Aperture coming up strong from the outside....

Increase the results... take a minute to vote!!

 

[Streetshooter]

Alan,
I use LR on an iMac. I have the Nik Suite that handles conversions etc.
I also have PS up to date but really only use the Image sizing and Canvas features.
I'll normally make a 8 x 12 image on a 11 x 14 white canvas.
That provides a mat look and keeps printing to a standard size without cropping the image.
Silver Effex2 is a great way to convert to B&W. It offers filters etc but the most important feature is, the control points. That allows burn & dodge anywhere on the image.
I catalog my images by a date setup that keeps everything organized and easy to find.
I hope this helps the thread....
Thanks for this, your pal.... Don

 

[pjohngren]

I use Photoshop - old version 7 - and love it for what I use it for. I also really like FastStone Image Viewer for downloading, viewing, naming, sorting etc - and it is free, though I ended up contributing to it, since it is so good as is their 90 page free tutorial.

But Alan - what about in-camera processing, which is doing more and more of my work? I guess that is not really 'software' - in fact it is probably hardware or part of the "firmware" perhaps. It certainly seems incredibly fast, efficient, effective, accurate, consistant, and hassle-free as well as taking absolutely no time at all and as part of the camera, it is also "free."

 

[Alanroseman]

Alan,
I use LR on an iMac. I have the Nik Suite that handles conversions etc.
I also have PS up to date but really only use the Image sizing and Canvas features.
I'll normally make a 8 x 12 image on a 11 x 14 white canvas.
That provides a mat look and keeps printing to a standard size without cropping the image.
Silver Effex2 is a great way to convert to B&W. It offers filters etc but the most important feature is, the control points. That allows burn & dodge anywhere on the image.
I catalog my images by a date setup that keeps everything organized and easy to find.
I hope this helps the thread....
Thanks for this, your pal.... Don

I feel a workflow thread looming on the horizon.....

 

[Alanroseman]

I use Photoshop - old version 7 - and love it for what I use it for. I also really like FastStone Image Viewer for downloading, viewing, naming, sorting etc - and it is free, though I ended up contributing to it, since it is so good as is their 90 page free tutorial.

But Alan - what about in-camera processing, which is doing more and more of my work? I guess that is not really 'software' - in fact it is probably hardware or part of the "firmware" perhaps. It certainly seems incredibly fast, efficient, effective, accurate, consistant, and hassle-free as well as taking absolutely no time at all and as part of the camera, it is also "free."

Hi Peter,

Good question. The "in camera" work flow would be centered on the cameras jpeg engine. That said, I was aiming at how we get them out of the camera, and into our respective computers.

Without those applications we couldn't post to the board, or display our work.

Thanks Pete.

 

[Streetshooter]

Ya think.....?

 

[deirdre]

i'm guilty of not mentioning or even voting for my own 'other".

BorderFX Aperture Plug-in

I use this on nearly every image I upload to the board...

I use BorderFX to add borders to photos exported from Aperture that I'm going to have printed by MPIX. Works like a charm!

 

[Krang]

I use Lightroom 3 for most of the time. I think it's brilliant. Powerful non-destructive editing, with by far the best interface.

I use Photoshop for major touch-up brushwork, and stitching multiple images together. Then I put the results back to Lightroom and do the image control stuff there.

 

[nursenicole]

I use BorderFX to add borders to photos exported from Aperture that I'm going to have printed by MPIX. Works like a charm!

never heard of BorderFX til today! thanks for the new toy

 

[Alanroseman]

never heard of BorderFX til today! thanks for the new toy

Hello Nicole,

I also use BorderFX on every image that I post, and many that I print. Excellent control of image size, for MU-43 and other uses.

Really really nice piece of software... I give it

 

[FOsteology]

I used Olympus Master for a couple years. Mainly to import images from the camera.

I've been using PSE 8 for a couple months. Recently acquired LR3, but haven't become comfortable with the software. PSE seems a little more intuitive for me.

Considering Aperature 3 as I hear it's easier to use than LR3, and a little more intuitive.