Hawaiian763 From Canada, joined May 2009, 239 posts, RR: 0 Posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 1 day 9 hours ago) and read 2902 times:
So this is the biggest thing that is annoying me since most of my photos get rejected due to being "soft". The program I use is Canon Photo Professional and I use the sharpening to the max and yet it still gets rejected. Photoshop seems to be the only way to go but just wondering if there is anyway use either the program I have right now or something different without having to plunk down a chunk of money on a Photoshop program?
Moose135 From United States of America, joined Oct 2004, 2009 posts, RR: 12 Reply 1, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 2890 times:
I'm not familiar with the Canon software, as I've never installed it (not sure if I even got it with any of my Canons) but you should take a look at Photoshop Elements - a fraction of the price of the full version, and for photo editing, it gives you virtually all of the tools you will need. There are also some freeware programs out there, Gimp being the one I hear mentioned quite a bit, but I've never used them. I started out using Elements, and eventually upgraded to PS3.
Cpd From Australia, joined Jun 2008, 4879 posts, RR: 44 Reply 2, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 2881 times:
Go for Photoshop or Photoshop elements. The manufacturer programs are not normally very sophisticated (with Nikon's Capture NX2 as a possible exception).
Apart from that, can you show some examples of the photos that you've had rejected as soft?
Nozilla From Switzerland, joined Dec 2008, 26 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (3 years 10 months 6 days 16 hours ago) and read 2748 times:
I think the reason for this problem is your equipment and that you haven't photoshop. Photoshop is the ultimate photo editor. With Photoshop you can do every thing.
I try to edit your picture in Photoshop. I sharpened it a little bit and corrected the white-balance. Now it looks good for me.
MHO From United States of America, joined Jun 2006, 209 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (3 years 10 months 4 days 12 hours ago) and read 2645 times:
I've been frustrated by the same thing. I then realized that the sharpen function in the SONY editor for RAW images wasn't cutting it, and used a more aggressive sharpening in Photoshop CS3. It really does make a difference. I toggle between preview and no preview, using the checkbox, and you can really see the difference.
Dvincent From United States of America, joined Jan 2007, 1719 posts, RR: 12 Reply 7, posted (3 years 10 months 4 days 11 hours ago) and read 2625 times:
Quoting MHO (Reply 6): I've been frustrated by the same thing. I then realized that the sharpen function in the SONY editor for RAW images wasn't cutting it, and used a more aggressive sharpening in Photoshop CS3. It really does make a difference. I toggle between preview and no preview, using the checkbox, and you can really see the difference.
Being able to mask off areas to be sharpened and not be sharpened is a big deal in PS, and the RAW converters don't really have that functionality.
A copy of PSE is a worthy investment and shouldn't set you back too far.
Dvincent From United States of America, joined Jan 2007, 1719 posts, RR: 12 Reply 9, posted (3 years 9 months 3 weeks 5 days 18 hours ago) and read 2368 times:
Quoting Hawaiian763 (Reply 8): So which would be better to purchase Photoshop Elements or Photoshop CS4?
Cvervais From United States of America, joined Sep 2003, 600 posts, RR: 3 Reply 10, posted (3 years 9 months 3 weeks 5 days 15 hours ago) and read 2345 times:
If you're just starting out, get Photoshop Elements and the following book....
You'll be all set and not have broken the bank to get CS4
Can I just add that the 7 Point System for Adobe Photoshop by the same author is also well worth buying. I have both.
And another that is worthwhile is Adobe Photoshop CS3 (or CS4) for Photographers by Martin Evening. That is a very weighty book, but it is well written and only contains the useful stuff you need - nothing you don't need. It starts off by assuming you know Photoshop already, but want to get into the more advanced editing of photos, or just learn the editing secrets.
Even if you do know what you are doing, this book is a valuable resource.
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