PBase

Hello everyone I am new to this photo editing stuff.... well not really I've been using picasa for a little over a year now... but I want MORE out of editing... I want to learn how to edit like the professional magazine editors that remove pimples & dark spots/circles around eyes... and make peoples skin look SMOOTHer then what it really is... and things like that.... I've seen soo many of the beautiful photos that people have edited & uploaded here... and am kind of out of the loop on how it's done... so if someone can please let me know how to edit step by step would be great... and also I read that photoshop cs2 is a good editing program for what I'm looking for does anyone agree or disagree??? Please let me know

-Newbie

Picassa is OK but I think the price reflects its worth!!!!

Photoshop is the product to use, but I wouldn't invest in CS2 (now 3) until you know what you need to do. Abobe Lightroom is a good product and on offer at the moment for $200, but again takes A LOT of learning. Personally I'd start with Elements (now 5.0) and get the supporting book for the version by Scott Kelby until you figure out what to do. The book will give you the step by steps you need.

Basically don't invest more in the software than the camera. The software will help improve what the camera takes, but it won't turn a bad picture into a good picture.

There are too many variables to say do this and do that. You need to spend time with the product and learn what to do and how you want to do it.

With the software, concentrate on levels, unsharp mask and maybe saturation and cropping, otherwise spend more time learning your cameras capabilities. The more you do in camera, the less there is to do post processing.

PhotoShop7 was an excellent photo editor, not much different from the CS series. I would advise looking around, maybe on Ebay, for an older PhotoShop version at a greatly reduced price, and if you see you're really getting into it, you can always upgrade.

If you're taking a class at a California community college that is covered
by special student licensing, you can currently get Adobe Premium Suite
2.3 for $195. Full software.

It includes CS2 for
Adobe Photoshop
Illustrator
InDesign
GoLive
Acrobat 8 Pro
Dreamweaver 8

Go to http://www.uscollegebuy.com
and click on "Adobe Student License Purchase Program" ...

You need to fax them proof you're a current student. Only one class
is needed. This deal is of course popular with those taking photography
and photoshop courses.

photoshop is the bomb