Question: What Photoshop program is the best choice?

[dbrodhagen]

I looked in the tips section and did not find a recommendation as to what type of computer program is the best for engraving applications. I have heard that Adobe Photoshop was good, but for engraving?
Appreciate your assistance.
Dave

 

[Sam]

It depends on what you wish to do with the software. For editing digital photos Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard. If you want to use the computer to make designs that can be scaled small enough for transferring and engraving, then either CorelDRAW (Windows only) or Adobe Illustrator (Mac and Windows) are your best choices as they are vector programs and not paint programs. To learn the difference between vector and paint (bitmap) softwares, read this article on About.com as it's very important to understand why one is better than the other for certain applications.

There's also a free vector program called Inkscape that some people like. I have not tried it.

Cheers / ~Sam

 

[kcrutche]

Coreldraw or Photoshop

Dave

I use Coreldraw and Photoshop.

I use Coreldraw for designing making transfers Etc. and all around use.

I use Photoshop for manipulating images that I sometimes import into Corel or post on the forum

I would recommend you start with Corel and then check the bookstores for some of the Photoshop How to Books, sometimes the have a free version that will do every thing I use Photoshop for anyway.

Whatever you do not don't purchase the Coreldraw X4, X6, x8 versions on Ebay, (I just checked they wanted $89.95 for X4 which is twenty years old) I just checked you can buy-it-now, CorelDRAW X3 Graphics Suite, which is version 13, only one or two versions old for $79.95.

It says it is the Full Version, not academic or upgrade Brand New in Sealed DVD Case.

Complete 4 CD Set

I purchased this about two years ago and it was as he says.

Do as Sam says educate yourself on the two programs before you make your decision.

Could save you a lot of money.

Ken

 

[Roger B]

Ken,

Re the Corel Draw programmes. I think you will find X4 is in fact version 14 (it follows the pattern where the X replaces 10 - as in X3). That is a pretty good price - I paid about $120- for X3 academic version about 12 months ago.

Roger

 

[jlseymour]

I changed to MAC's and have Corel 11 and it will load on Windows or MAC, a friend gave me a copy a few years ago...
It does everything I need...
Inscape is free and it works great...
Jerry

 

[Marcus Hunt]

MAC ALERT; Something I read in a photography magazine yesterday. Apparently the new Snow Leopard OS for Mac is compatible with PhotoShop CS4 but not CS3 and below at the moment. Might be worth considering if you plan on upgrading your OS - luckily I have CS4 but I'm waiting for any bugs to get ironed out before getting Snow Leopard.

 

[dbrodhagen]

Thanks for all the great info. I think that I will go with the Coreldraw program. I do want to have the ability to shrink a drawing to fit a project. Again thanks, Dave

 

[bobkeyes]

Thanks for all the great info. I think that I will go with the Coreldraw program. I do want to have the ability to shrink a drawing to fit a project. Again thanks, Dave

Dave,

If you get the X4 I think it will come with CorelPaint. That is a photo program, not quite a powerful as PhotoShop, but it will do all you need. I have used X3 for quite a while now and I think it's great. I draw my plan out by hand, scan it, import it into X3 and then trace it. The curves that can be made are beautiful. Someone posted a tutorial about using it. Might search for it on the forum.

Good luck!

 

[dbrodhagen]

Thanks Bob for the information, you are right, from what I have seen online for this product (the more expensive one) does contain CorelPaint.

 

[kcrutche]

CorelDraw

Dave

You will not be sorry, Coreldraw is a great program.

Corel can be overpowering at first, but many people on the forum use it, you will not suffer from lack of help.

All you have to do is ask.

Remember the only Dumb question is the one you don't ask

Ken

 

[tbear]

What Photoshop Program.......

Dave,
Corel is a very good program. I would get the latest version. I use Photoshop CS3 & 4, Adobe Illustrator latest version, latest Corel and I downloaded Inkscape, it's pretty good and it's FREE !!!

http://www.inkscape.org/

Look at the upper right hand corner as shown in the jpg I uploaded and download it from there on the web site.
Try it before you buy something it might just be what you want and no cash outlay. :yes