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Author: Robert_Ferguson, Contributing Editor
| INTRODUCTION
Some artists in Wet Canvas! appear to be very interested in image software and members are using various kinds. But some have simply asked, "Where do I start?" This article briefly discusses the range of image software available and their current street prices. It also provides some advice on "good deals" that probably aren't good deals some tips on how to be careful in selecting freeware. I will discuss image software by putting these programs into one of two types: (1) image managers/viewers and (2) image manipulators. These are my terms and I don't think you'll find them elsewhere, but they are useful for this article. Image managers/viewers are mostly for viewing your images and moving them around into logical folders. They can do other things like rotating or flipping and image, linking with a scanner, emailing images, and even do a little image manipulation. Image manipulation software can usually do all that image managers/viewers do but are more complicated in that they include many extensive tools which allow users to create or modify images in ways the manager/viewers can not. Publishers and digital artists use these to create art and illustrations. Photographers use these as a digital darkroom to improve photos or even create images that have never seen the insides of a camera. My discussion will start with a discussion about how artists might use these programs and then compares two of the most popular image manipulation programs. I'll then talk about freebies, which are usually the simpler image manager/viewer type. I’ll also talk about some cautions in selecting free software. Finally I'll introduce one remarkable free image manipulator called GIMP. |
| WHAT DO ARTISTS DO WITH THESE PROGRAMS?
By "artists," I mean non-digital artists since digital artists already know all about these programs - a lot more than I do. The rest of us will use image software in two ways. The first and easiest use is to view, sort, and save our personal and art reference photos. I will call this type of software an Image Manager/viewer. Image managers/viewers don't cost much and are often free. If you aren't into extensive image modifications, then seriously consider buying or downloading an image manager/viewer. I will only discuss two free programs of this type because the free ones are as good or better than the not free ones (my opinion). Before we move on to Image Manipulation software, there is one area where image manipulation overlaps with manager/viewer software. Image manipulation software usually includes an image browser which does the same functions of image manager/viewer for the viewing, sorting, and saving functions. My opinion is that none of the browsers in image manipulation programs are very good at managing and viewing images. The image managers/viewers generally do it better. They display better thumbnails, they fill the monitor's screen so you see more thumbnails, they are more flexible in sorting and moving files, and they load much faster. Image manipulation software is designed to do more complicated things with photos and other kinds of images. They are not usually free. I will shortly list the broad categories of image manipulation, but artists would be interested in the following: 1 - Adjust specific portions of an image (open up shadows or tone down highlights, change the hue or brightness of a selected area, increase contrast near the focal point, and so many other things). 2 - Adjust the sharpness of your subject or blur the background. 3 - Through a variety of selection tools, select a portion of an image and paste it into another image. 4 - Apply special effects to simulate pastel, charcoal, oil and other painting techniques. Artists can also use image manipulation software to play with values, hues, edges, and contrast before committing to paint. It's sort of like thumbnailing and sketching in the studio. Often, the things you can do get so complicated that you'll want to organize your photo into layers which allow you to make your changes on specified parts of the photo. Layers also allow you to combine multiple photos or parts of photos. I recently completed a pastel painting with a mare and her new foal and, wanting to expand on the theme of a mother's protection, I needed an approaching storm in the background. I had my mare and foal photo, but the foreground was distracting and there was no storm in the background. Using layers, I combined three photos and adjusted them to fit the viewpoint, relative sizes, and values. My approach was quick and dirty, not spending time with the finer points of extracting and combining image parts. I just needed a rough draft to guide my pastel painting. Those of us who sometime do plein aire will be frustrated when painting from photographs because the latter never contain all the data our eyes can see. Aside from color shifts, photographs will compress the highlights or shadows, depending on the exposure setting. Digital photography's recording techniques usually include more shadow detail than will be seen in prints. Your image manipulation software can open those shadows that are not recorded as total black. Sadly, the same does not hold true for washed out highlights. |
| WHAT IS IMAGE MANIPULATION?
I have divided image manipulation software into seven categories of manipulation so that I can give you some idea of just what manipulation means: ● File viewing and management, usually with a browser. ● Whole-image operations, usually on the menu as “Image.” Here you can mirror, flip, resize, change color depth, etc. ● Tools such as paint brushes (or air brushes), color palette, gradients, patterns, clone/retouch brush, vector shapes, etc. ● Selections tools where you can select a part of the image to change that part's color, brightness, sharpness; or you can copy, move or delete the part. Selections can be made by hand, by using computer algorithms to follow shape outlines, or by computer selection of nearby pixels based on color, hue, opacity, etc. ● Photo adjustments, usually on the menu as “Adjust,” include many individual methods; some simple, some very complicated, to adjust brightness & contrast, color & hue, sharpness & blur, and other characteristics. ● Tools to change the image from a photograph to something else – usually on the menu as “Effects.” Some effects are good, most not too useful to artists except to possibly get an idea of a finished painting before committing to canvas and brush. Effects simulate watercolor, oil, pastel, charcoal, etc., but the key word is “simulate,” not “paint.” Another fairly useful effect is the "Find Edges" or "Trace Edges" tool which can create a sketch from a photograph. ● Layers, which you add to do more extensive operations. The value of layers is never obvious until you learn how to use them and then you can't work without them. Layers are like a stack of 35mm slides with a light shining through. You see the cumulative effect of each slide. Think of the bottom slide as your main photo and the other slides as modifiers of your main photo. These other slides, or layers, may contain something you want to paste into the image, but also move around. They may contain adjustments to brightness, contrast, or color. By now you might be getting the idea that image manipulation software is complicated, and it is. You can jump right in and use the browser and do the easier photo fixes with little time spent in the learning process. Some programmes have automatic functions for adjusting brightness and colour which can be very useful. There is a steep learning curve for all other features in these programs. The internet is filled with free lessons, tips and tutorials, but you first need to become acquainted with your program before you can understand these lessons, tips, and tutorials. The quality of each program’s help file should be a consideration in selecting an image manipulation program. |
 | ONE IMAGE MANIPULATION PROGRAM
Here's a picture of JASC's PaintShop Pro 8 (PSP 8) which is on my studio laptop. The newer Corel PaintShop Pro X (Ten) has a few improvements but also prevents you from installing it on more than one computer (I have it on my desktop). PSP 8 has enough features to illustrate image manipulation software. The image/photo sits in the middle, with a vertical row of buttons to the left. called Tools, and a panel on image controls (terribly named "palettes") on the right. Image manipulation options are reached via the Menu Bar at the top (below the PSP title bar), or via the row of buttons in the Button Bar just below the Menu Bar. |
| The are several kinds of "palettes" the user can show on the right. Shown in the image are, top to bottom: Materials, Overview, and Layers.
The Materials palette is the one that's close to an artists concept of a palette. The Materials include a color picker and gradient and pattern selectors. The Overview palette shows the entire image (helpful when you've zoomed far into your main image) and it is one way to move around the image and select zoom levels. The Layers palette, as shown, is simple since the image contains only one layer. As layers are added, the Layers palette shows each layer and allows you to select the kind of layer and whether a layer is visible or not, along with several other layer adjustments. |
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