What to Look for in a... Photo Editor

By -
Everyone is talking about Photoshop, right? That sounds like the industry standard and the de-facto tool that guarantees success right out of the box. Maybe. Just to be clear, the point of this review is not to bad-mouth Photoshop. It is a powerful tool with a long history of innovation for photo work. Alongside Photoshop, many alternatives, open-source and commercial, have risen in stature and feature-set to openly compete for artists. At the crux of a good photo working application, there are some core things it should have to make it not just useful, but valuable. 

Intuitive Design

  • Tools should be foremost functional, which depends heavily upon the ability to effectively use its features. Designs should be built with logical positioning, allowing for optimal use of the space and giving users options to customize the overall layout according to their unique style and workflow. If too much time is required to find features or they are too deeply buried in menus, then it's best to look for a better tool. As a minor caveat, some good tools do have a learning curve, but these should also have the benefit of a simple, logical progression that can be adopted and repeated easily. 


Customizatable Workspace

  • Widgets, dockers, or windows should be a default option, giving the opportunity to place controls were most natural. While the standard layouts provided by a tool are generally a good place to start, it should give freedom to customize and or limit the features needed most. Lack of layout flexibility suggests the tool is immature and will likely be a bottleneck for time. 


High Resolution Support

  • Some tools will offer powerful features, but will lack in ability to work in high resolution graphics. An example would be RAW photography images, which store large amounts of data within the image. Another would be creating a full-size poster graphic. The tool should support both importing and exporting in high resolutions (4k \ 3840x2160, or better). Without it, the creative and meaningful output is terribly hamstrung. 


Community Input

  • Developers who receive feedback from users and apply favorable changes are what distinguishes a tool for greatness. Before trying a tool look for respective user forums that can help gauge community involvement. The ability to influence and shape the usefulness should not be underestimated. 


Photoshop Alternatives (Tool, Link, Type, Free or Cost, Notes)


Your first question probably is, “Who is this Nate guy?” I’m a husband, father, system administrator, photographer, and general DIYer. If I can do a task myself, my first inclination is to fire up the trusty Internet and ask if anyone else has figured out how to do that thing. As I continued to problem-solve my own challenges this way, I realized there were opportunities for clarity and questions that weren’t being answered. Tools and processes were SO difficult to track down. Hence, I embarked on another role in my life: to create content not just for myself, but for a growing community of people I discovered were facing similar frustrations. I wanted to give hope to others working a day job and raising a family, which are tremendous blessings, but seeking something more to accomplish.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

RAW Images and Paint.NET

By -
Image
TOOLS I've been making good use of the Paint.NET tool for basic photo work and felt like it was time to give it a plug. It is a well made, FREE, open-source tool, and has served me well for the past year. It also has a healthy following of users who create plugins. If interested, download from here -  https://www.getpaint.net/download.html  RAW IMAGE EDITING After a ton of reading, experimentation, and testing ideas from the Paint.Net community, I found a combination of dlls and add-ons that allow editing of Nikon RAW images! Please note that I did not create these solutions and am not responsible for any adverse effects of using them (use them at your own risk), but I've found this combination to consistently work with NEF pictures (Nikon RAW images taken on a D5300). I've created a share of the needed files (which is a compilation of different solutions from multiple Paint.Net forum users). Do give them credit for their work! Download these to the "FileTyp
Read more

It's OK to Feel Deflated

By -
Image
THE RAT RACE Here's a simple truth that sometimes hits hard in the entrepreneurial world: Some will reach profitability sooner than others. It can be discouraging to watch others reach a place in their business that generates returns with seemingly just a few months of effort while yours survives only by your personal drive to see it through. It can feel like your attempts at creating opportunity are failing. It can appear that nothing you do brings you any closer to feeling like what you do makes a difference or produces enough to justify the continued sacrifice. When you encounter disappointment, give yourself permission to have feelings. Trapping emotion within yourself doesn't make you stronger; It will actually weaken you. Remember that diligence and persistence will always beat out a meteoric rise. SET MEASURABLE GOALS I'm not suggesting to set low expectations, but instead that reasonable, realistic, and measurable goals should be set. If your definition of s
Read more

Where to Find Content Creator Tools and Resources

By -
Image
How to Start The beginning is a bit bumpy when taking first steps into content creation. For me, I knew I wanted to create and had some experience telling stories through video as a wedding videographer, but had no idea what equipment to use or what software to try. It was incredibly intimidating to start from square one without knowing how to create. The one thing I knew, is that I wanted to build a community of learning, to help people start and enhance their own content creator journey by making plain the tools of the trade. That's my reason for doing what I do. Have a reason, otherwise you'll quickly discover that you'll be wandering without a mission to achieve with your content. Still, I had no idea which tools Where is the Audience? Believe it or not, the answer is simple but can be a hard truth to swallow early in the process. They are waiting for you to attract them. Focus on speaking and delivery - Worry later about gear. An audience will follow someone on a genui
Read more