Loon-A-TiK Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 RANT one of my hobbies is fooling around with portraits. i like to see how different and young i can make people look using my "digital darkroom". i have nice equipment. what is really, really angering me is GIMP. it is free software that is virtually professional grade, save for a couple of minor irritations. i want to buy photoshop but it is so expensive, i just go wtih GIMP and save the money, because gimp is free. i can't figure out how to do half of what i want to do. the support for it is shady at best. there are resources on the net for the old version, but not really for the new one. i stil can't figure out how to get rid of undereye circles and make eyelashes look more emphasized and natural, for example. another annoyance is glare. sometimes there is glare across one part of someone's face and another area has too much red. i can't get it to balance. i also can't figure out how to soft blur to make the picture a little dreamy and fuzzy so i have an easier time with my "improvements" to the subject. i don't think half of these things would be an issue if there was actual support for it. seeing as how it is free, i understand that the support documents are vague and the internet sites haven't sprung up yet. i'm just frustrated that in the meantime, i'm stuck with something i can't use. since all these art programs i use are memory intensive on my pc, my pc crashes sometimes because it can't handle it. another rant! i need to go buy more memory just so my pc can keep up with stupid gimp. RANT OVER! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
null0trooper Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 i also can't figure out how to soft blur to make the picture a little dreamy and fuzzy so i have an easier time with my "improvements" to the subject. Filters-> Blur Try a Gaussian blur, 3 to 4 pixels wide, with maybe an "Enhance->NL Filter" ... whatever that does. It doesn't resharpen the pic. Anyway, it IS a bit like trying to swat a fly with a bazooka. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grousemouse Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 lots of software can be found on bittorrent..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Elvis Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 I don't know if this is better or not: http://www.photofiltre.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loon-A-TiK Posted February 2, 2007 Author Share Posted February 2, 2007 i'll try all your suggestions. thanks! i got ahold of a trial ver of photoshop cs2 today and i'm trying to make it work. so far it seems to be more intuitive. i did the softening i wanted to do, but it made everything too pale. i guess i'll have to work on that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loon-A-TiK Posted March 24, 2007 Author Share Posted March 24, 2007 i have a demo of photoshop cs3 now. it seems to do the job, but doesn't have directions, so i spend forever fooling wtih it. the gimp doesn't have directions either (i probably haven't found them yet). the directions it does have are vague and long. does anyone know how to turn portraits black and white in gimp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
django Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 i have a demo of photoshop cs3 now. it seems to do the job, but doesn't have directions, so i spend forever fooling wtih it. the gimp doesn't have directions either (i probably haven't found them yet). the directions it does have are vague and long. does anyone know how to turn portraits black and white in gimp? This might be overkill but here goes. Grokking The Gimp from gimp-savvy.com "covers the use of the GIMP's core tools, explaining methods for performing operations with layers, selections, and masks. The basic concepts of colorspaces and their uses in image editing are developed in detail, and in-depth instruction is given on the best ways to perform high-level tasks such as color correction, photo touchup, image enhancement, collage, and photo montage." Grokking The Gimp is available in it's entirety as an online guide. Happy gimping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatM Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Oh wow! Thanks for that link. I've been looking for a decent guide to the GIMP for ages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
django Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Oh wow! Thanks for that link. I've been looking for a decent guide to the GIMP for ages. Welcome, I'm more used to photoshop but the gimp has great possibilites & seems to be less of a resource hog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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