My Dad

[Sandysandy]

Hi Tomkin... That GIMP sounds good ,, I will give that a go, my bro told me last night her can get me photoshop ,,, fingers crossed... but I will still try the gimp... I did have photoshop a while ago on my old laptop .. but now only have a desktop and I haven't got it on here,,, (I wasn't very good with it anyway Ha Ha )
love Sandy

[McGroger]

Sandy, just wanted to tell you of my experience with different software. I started (about 2 years ago) with an old copy of Photoshop Elements that had been preloaded on my Macbook (PSE version 5, I think). I was quite happy with this but lost it when my hard drive died. I tried GIMP but couldn’t get used to it; it seemed unintuitive after using PSE. (This is not said to denigrate GIMP but to explain that I found it hard because I was by then hardwired to PSE’s way of doing things.) If you start with GIMP and stick with it (practise, practise, practise) it will serve you very well indeed.

So I bought a new PSE (v. 15)

In the last half of last year I had some problems with PSE. Every time I left what I was working on for a few minutes it became unresponsive when I came back to it. I had to do a forced shut down before I could resume. I put up with this for a few months but when it seemed Adobe weren’t going to do anything about it (there were several posts by other people having the same problem) I started researching alternative software. I downloaded a few trial versions of supposedly alternative programs up to say Au$140, but discarded them all as either being too primitive (toys) or too unintuitive/eccentric/clunky .

I was left with buying a new PSE or downloading a new version of GIMP and trying harder to understand it. Then I found that even people buying the new PSE were having the same problem as I was.

So I downloaded a new GIMP and found it easier than I had the first time around (I guess because I was a bit more experienced, and they have been actively working on improving GIMP's interface). I did a few restores early this year using it.

But then when the Macbook nagged me to update its operating system yet again I found that my PSE worked properly again - so I returned to my first love .

(Sorry, this is getting longwinded.)

In short, I liken restoring photos to carpentry. If you get quality tools and take the time to learn them the brand doesn’t matter. PSE and GIMP are quality tools. Get both 

Peter

[Sandysandy]

Hi Peter,,
Awesome advise ,,, good to know .. thank you for the sound advise. I will try both as the photoshop will be free, I might as well have it ,, even though the only thing I used to do with it was clean blemishes and scratches off my old ancestral photos, it was fantastic for that and easy for a thick head to use ,,, ha ha,
But I will def try both, ... but for me if something can go wrong it will lol. I will let you know how I go eventually, 
Love Sandy

[McGroger]

Good on you, Sandy.

Two tips:
Learn the tools, tool by tool, from tutorials and from lots of practice (and the "Dummies" and "Idiots" series are good practical books for learning the basics - I have "Photoshop Elements 15 for Dummies"); and
Give the archives on here a workout. Look for restores of increasing difficulty, experiment with different tools/techniques, try to intuit what tools/techniques previous restorers of each photo have used to achieve the results/effects they have.

Then start working on current ones and start showing us your wares.

Cheers,
Peter

[Sandysandy]

Hi Peter,,, I downloaded GIMP this arvo ... looks good, I also recorded a couple of tut's on utube,,, as for showing you my style,,, Ha Ha ,,, you might have to wait quite a while on that one ha ha.  I will be having a go at it this coming weekend ... excited I am.!!!!
Love Sandy

[Treetotal]

Hi Sandy...A colour version from me.
Carol

[Treetotal]

...and an alternative warmer version.
Carol

[McGroger]

Wow! Lovely work, Carol.
Peter

[Treetotal]

Thanks for the feedback Peter, it's much appreciated  I did spend a lot of time on it.
Carol