Graphic/Imaging Software

[entertaintoday]

What does everyone use?

I use Paint.net (it's free and looking at my site you can tell haha)
I've heard of Gimp aswell, but wondered what you're all using, and does it cost the earth?

[Dave]

We use Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 which Amazon is currently selling for around £62 ish

[stripey]

I did the free trial on Elements and Paint shop Pro, i chose Paint Shop to buy in the end because i found some parts were easier for me to use.

[petad]

We use Paint Shop Pro, as we had it bundled with a PC a while ago, so it was effectively "free". It does most of what we want, and is more intuitive than what I've seen of Photoshop, though Photoshop looks to be the better product in terms of functionality.

[Gillf]

Hi,

We've previously used a number of graphics software including Paint.net and Gimp and found both produced good quality images, but Gimp has more features. Looking at one of your zoom images it looks like you might be starting with an image that is too low a resolution or you are resizing upwards a smaller image. The trick, I've found, is to get your supplier to provide the highest res, largest images possible and then you can optomise and down size without losing quality... that said, I know some suppliers don't seem to understand the importance of images to an online retailer! Would you believe two of our suppliers have products without any images!!! We don't put those on the site, obviously, and wonder if we are ever going to be asked why we have no demand for these items. :)

Cheers
Gill

Luxury night dresses and pyjamas (http://www.loves-lingerie.co.uk)

[entertaintoday]

The images I use on the site are taken from the zoomed images on the supplier's site, so I can't control that so much, but I was wondering what to use for editing banners for xmas etc and generally changine the "feel" of the site. Thanks for all your feedback guys and gals :)

[Lew_M]

I mainly use Photoshop and Fireworks. I am not very skilled but i am learning at the moment.

[mikeyred]

Hi.... me I favour paintshop pro and have used it on all sites and it does all that I need in regard to sizing white-ing out the backgrounds and the banners. I have the new CS4 Photoshop but I decided to take an airline navigation course instead....... in otherwords paintshop pro spoilt me but I still can not work out how to get it to wipe my nose for me....... yet! :)

[Robin]

For simple re-sizing & cropping see http://www.bluepark.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=683&highlight=irfanview .
Irfanview also now has a plug in that is "save for web". You choose the file size you want and it will make is so ! Also removes all author & camera info from files !
No good for making banners etc. but free and easy to use.

[petad]

Hi.... me I favour paintshop pro and have used it on all sites and it does all that I need in regard to sizing white-ing out the backgrounds and the banners.
Hi Mike

I'd be interested in how you do the whitening out of backgrounds with PSP, as this is always problematic for me. Do you just use the Flood Fill tool, or is there a better way?

Regards

Pete

[mikeyred]

no probs but as i have two left thumbs when it comes to typing.... it will be a lot easier for me to phone you and explain - send me a pm with a contact number and preferred time and I will give you a call.....

[Paul S]

Hi - I'd take a look at Vertus Bling-It for easy isolation of items. It does it all for you and you can add all sorts of backgrounds (if you want). There's a free trial available.
http://www.blingit.us/
I used it, then got the full version (Fluid Mask) as a Photoshop plug-in. Often quicker to use than cut out something in Photshop with the normal tools.
Paul