good web graphics software for Frontpage

[Roma]

Hi everyone,
I was just wondering what would be a good web graphics
software to work with Frontpage (or a good web graphics
software period).
Thanks,
Roma

 

[Jim Cheshire]

You don't _need_ Photoshop, but it's certainly a good choice!

--
Jim Cheshire
Jimco Add-ins
Add-ins for FrontPage 2000-2003
http://www.jimcoaddins.com
===============================
Co-author of Special Edition
Using Microsoft FrontPage 2003

 

[Roma]

Thanks for all the good suggestions. I will look into them.

 

[Artemis LittleMoon]

Ive used Adobe, but in my opinion Paint Shop Pro 8 is a much better value
($99.00 with a $30.00 mail in rebate from Comp USA) and is easier to use
plus it does the same thing as Adobe. Not to mention, the online tutorials
for Paint Shop Pro are vast compared to the minimal Adobe tutorials. Of all
the graphic groups that I belong too, I would have to say that 95% of the
artists use Paint Shop Pro.

Here is just a sample of some nice graphics you can make for your website
(this is a PSP tutorial site, you can find graphic web layout design
tutorials there too) and the Dames are awesome!

http://www.prestigiousdames.com/category.html

A. LittleMoon

 

[Jim Cheshire]

My experience is with PSP 7.0. I have a picture of my grandfather in France
during WW I. The original picture was a bit damaged, so I used Photoshop 5
(latest version at the time) to repair and enlarge it. It worked fabulously
well (but sure would have been nice to have Photoshop 7's Healing bursh!).
My father, who is also a collector of family photographs, had some old
family photos that needed repair as well. He couldn't see spending $700 or
so on Photoshop, so he bought PSP 7.0. I went to his house to install and
work on it with him, and there was no comparison. While PSP did have a
cloning brush of sorts, it didn't allow for fine editing. Instead, it had
jagged edges and only allowed for very blocky editing. (This was on a 2400
dpi bitmap.) I was very disappointed, and for our purposes, PSP was not
only not as good as Photoshop, but was downright unusable.

What's the moral of this story? Well, if you're doing simple graphic work
for your Web site and you won't have the need to ever do any photo editing,
perhaps PSP will do the trick. However, if I had to pick on a budget today,
I would DEFINITELY choose Photoshop Elements ($99) over anything else. If
you have a few bucks to spend and want to help out the economy, for about
$600, you can get Photoshop 7 and have the greatest image editing tool every
invented in your arsenal; the healing brush.

--
Jim Cheshire
Jimco Add-ins
Add-ins for FrontPage 2000-2003
http://www.jimcoaddins.com
===============================
Co-author of Special Edition
Using Microsoft FrontPage 2003

 

[Roma]

As a followup to this discussion, I have another question.
Is it possible to find a good photo *and* a good web
graphics editor or is it better to just buy two separate
programs? ULead Photoimpact seems to be the closest I
could find to a good 2 in 1 (bear in mind that the budget
would be around $200). If going for the two separate
programs route, which two?
Thanks a lot,
Roma

 

[Jack Brewster]

As a followup to this discussion, I have another question.
Is it possible to find a good photo *and* a good web
graphics editor or is it better to just buy two separate
programs? ULead Photoimpact seems to be the closest I
could find to a good 2 in 1 (bear in mind that the budget
would be around $200). If going for the two separate
programs route, which two?
Thanks a lot,
Roma

I'd say try before you buy and see which works best for how you work. If
you ask us, you're just going to get a different opinion with every reply.

You can download trials of the products mentioned in this thread (watch for
wrapping on the URLs):
- Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0:
http://www.adobe.com/products/tryadobe/main.jhtml#product=40

- Jasc Paint Shop Pro 8
http://www.jasc.com/download_4.asp?prod=K-PSP8-USDIR

- Ulead PhotoImpact 8
http://www.ulead.com/pi/trial.htm

There are definitely others out there you could try, these are just the
names that come up the most. If you find something besides these that's
worth a look, be sure to share the info.

 

[Jim Cheshire]

Yes they did. From what I can tell, looks like PhotoImpact comes out ahead
in many areas for people who want to do image retouching or develop images
for the Web.

PI has 9 cloning tools compared to PSP's 1. This is a huge benefit for
photo retouching, especially since PSP's 1 cloning tool is not very good in
my experience. PI also has an editable Lasso selection tool that PSP
doesn't have, another huge benefit that all packages should have. Other
features that are surprisingly missing from PSP:

* Texture fill tool.
* UI image slicing inline.
* On screen text entry and editing.

That last item is a HUGE omission for PSP! I can't believe that it doesn't
have this feature. This is a MUST for anyone developing graphics for the
Web.

--
Jim Cheshire
Jimco Add-ins
Add-ins for FrontPage 2000-2003
http://www.jimcoaddins.com
===============================
Co-author of Special Edition
Using Microsoft FrontPage 2003

And did they compare to PSPv.8???
ETC

 

[Jack Brewster]

* Texture fill tool.
* UI image slicing inline.
* On screen text entry and editing.

That last item is a HUGE omission for PSP! I can't believe that it doesn't
have this feature. This is a MUST for anyone developing graphics for the
Web.

<disclaimer>I only used the PSP8 Beta briefly, and it's no longer installed
so I can't verify these statements, that said...</disclaimer>

I'm not sure what "On Screen Text Entry and Editing" means in this case.
You do have the ability to add and edit text, in raster or vector format to
your images. If there were more of a description, I'd give this particular
argument a little more weight, but as it reads, I call "marketing-speak
foul" and say disregard it.

As for the Texture fill tool, you can flood fill with textures in PSP7 (just
verified), I can't imagine this not being in 8. Again, without a better
explanation, another foul.

Finally, no, you can't slice your live image, but you can run a slicing
'wizard' that's pretty comprehensive and will downsample sections to reduce
total file size. Final foul.

Referee judgement, "Loss of yardage, loss of down for Ulead."

 

[Very Joyful \(Victoria\)]

What success have you all had with your respective recommendations
dropping out the background of photographs (i.e., masking)?

I find this quite tedious with IC (without terrific results even).

 

[Jim Cheshire]

Well, if they've used "technicalities" to try and make themselves look
better than the competition, shame on them.

--
Jim Cheshire
Jimco Add-ins
Add-ins for FrontPage 2000-2003
http://www.jimcoaddins.com
===============================
Co-author of Special Edition
Using Microsoft FrontPage 2003

 

[Joe]

While I am sure PSP probably still outsells PI by a fairly large
margin...IMHO PI is still superior in every category. Not up there with
PhotoShop...but much more value for the money than PaintShop. I have used
both extensively, but now no longer can find anything that PaintShop does
better.

--
Joe
Remove "AA" for email

FrontPage Users Forums at:
http://www.timeforweb.com/frontpage/

Well, if they've used "technicalities" to try and make themselves look
better than the competition, shame on them.

--
Jim Cheshire
Jimco Add-ins
Add-ins for FrontPage 2000-2003
http://www.jimcoaddins.com
===============================
Co-author of Special Edition
Using Microsoft FrontPage 2003