Topaz

[arith]

Has anyone used Topaz before inparticular Vivacity and Detail because I've got a trial version with hundreds of sliders and I haven't got a clue how to use it. It is a plugin for my photoshop elements and being much cheaper than CS4 which I will never be able to afford might be the way to go.
Is it any good? What does DeJpeg do? Is there a plugin for elements to convert from RAW and save to 16 bit tif?
At the moment the only program I have that can read RAW is Helicon Filter and this will save to 16 bit tif but I noticed photoshop doesn't.

I did this from Vivacity clean and Detail using a 16 bit tif converted from RAW by Helicon Filter, what would be good sharpening settings? A bit vague but I don't know what I'm doing.

[Dave Humphries]

~
Is there a plugin for elements to convert from RAW and save to 16 bit tif?
At the moment the only program I have that can read RAW is Helicon Filter and this will save to 16 bit tif but I noticed photoshop doesn't.
~

Arith,

I am confused (it ain't hard these days ), what is wrong with Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) that is included with Elements?

Tell me (again?) which version of Elements you have?

If you have (presumably) a ".CR2" RAW file in a Windows Explorer view and you right click and choose Open With > "Adobe Elements (Editor)", Elements should open, followed by ACR.

Just ensure the little drop list (centre bottom below picture) is selected at "16 bits" and when finished tweaking in ACR, click the most right hand "Open Image" button, it transfers into Elements, and from there you can save as a 16 bit Tiff. Job done.

I don't understand why you need anything else unless you have a really old version of Elements and a very new camera.

Cheers,

[arith]

No I've only got elements 2.0 which came with the camera. I don't want to pay loads of dosh for something I can't afford and probably don't need. I would like CS4 until I saw the rip off price but then CS3 is over £350 and I'm not keen on paying for anything older.

Lightroom is £200, and the only thing I want really is a top notch cleaning and sharpening tool, oh it would be nice to have a smart cloning brush because I find fine work difficult. cheers Dave

[Dave Humphries]

~ the only thing I want really is a top notch cleaning and sharpening tool, oh it would be nice to have a smart cloning brush because I find fine work difficult. cheers Dave

So what is wrong with Elements 8 at about £70 then?

It'll basically do what you ask, it is a huge advance on versions earlier than 5, I'm told.
Sure, it's not without issues, and only being able to clone in 8 bits is one of them, but I really think it'll help and not break the bank.

Anyone else got a view?

[arith]

Amazon want more than that and it is top class stuff I want for cleaning my dirty pics, and sharpening without halo which I can do with Helicon Filter but when I was editing a photo I did a couple of days ago of a 5 stitch landscape it crashed and wouldn't raise shadows beyond very dark.
That is when I noticed elements would not only raise shadows but darken the sky, great stuff. Helicon Filter has got a haze slider to darken skies but also darkens everything in the sky and is really difficult to use.
So I'm going down the plugin route at the moment and these two complex applications only cost $89 and must be good cos they say so.

No actually I was wrong and it is on offer for £58, but still it is basic and I would have to buy topaz as well.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Arith,

Amazon want more than that

really?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Adobe-Photos...7363298&sr=8-1 - £58.72 and free delivery! and that is the full product. The upgrade is priced at £55.39, but given the age and OEM status (i.e. from Camera manufacturer) of your Elements 2, I wouldn't risk the hassle for the sake of £3.33.

The only thing I can see that is more than my guess of £70 is the package with Premiere Elements, that has Video Editing too - which I assume you don't need.

You could try Elements 8 free for 30 days off Adobe's site, but then it may cause problems if you don't buy at the RRP of £75.81 from them when the trial runs out.

Once you have a pukka retail Elements, you may find they'll offer you CS4 half price after a few months, so under £290 for CS4, plus the £59 for Elements, which is still less in total than CS3 price you gave.

Cheers,

[Dave Humphries]

I must feed myself and go shopping (all before 4pm), so I'll stop nagging for a couple of hours now

[arith]

Cheers Dave.

[Dave Humphries]

... so I'll stop nagging for a couple of hours now

"Hi Honey, I'm home"

[Donald]

"Hi Honey, I'm home"

You're late

[arith]

I'm thinking both at the moment and starving for two weeks. The Vivacity is extremely hard to use but is cheaper than DeNoise, but I seem to remember another suggested by somebody; I think it was called 'Neat Image'. I wonder if that is a plugin.

However I am impressed with Topaz Detail and will buy this as it is the cheapest.

Well I noticed 'Neat Image' isn't 16 bit except in the pro versions and only the most expensive of those is a plug in; so can the stand alone version save to 16 bit tif?

[PopsPhotos]

I picked up a replacement copy of my PSE6 a couple of weeks ago from ebay at $10.00 in the door. Then I picked up a copy of PSE7 for under $30 in the door. Just sayin'.

Pops

[arith]

Its all hard stuff isn't it Pops. Gimp is free and that is really hard to use, then there is the cheap stuff that has a trillion settings. Topaz do a couple noise control programs and the cheaper one Vivacity is a nightmare but I've just tried DeNoise and it's a doddle but $20 dearer.
This was a defunct image because of noise and no definition actually much too dark to see the top of the bottle, DeNoise got the rubbish out and Detail brought out the top of the bottle, so I could make something of it although I already did with a better image, this was just to test the programs.

______________________________________

[arith]

I picked up a replacement copy of my PSE6 a couple of weeks ago from ebay at $10.00 in the door. Then I picked up a copy of PSE7 for under $30 in the door. Just sayin'.

Pops

I had a look at Ebay and one trader guarantees genuine sealed PSE8 for £48 while another for £32 but says it is OEM. The reason I didn't use PSE2 was because it is slow and doesn't have smart brushes or perspective tools. However the plugins are great but I don't want to spend if I don't use it.
cheers still looking.

[arith]

I've been on the adobe helpline for an hour to try to find out if PSE8 works on raw files and nobody knows. In fact somebody from there technical department said it definitely doesn't until I mentioned ACR then cut me off. So if I get PSE8 do I have to buy yet more to work on RAW files and will it save to 16 bit.

Too hard for Adobe.

[Dave Humphries]

I've been on the adobe helpline for an hour

Why???

So if I get PSE8 do I have to buy yet more to work on RAW files and will it save to 16 bit.

No!!!!

(Like I thought I had said in Post #4 above)

Added later:
Buying PSE8, you will open RAW files (using ACR which starts automatically) and they can be passed to PSE8 as 16 bit, from where they can be Saved as 16 bit Tiff, or psd, or jpg, etc.

There are some processing limitations within Elements, whole picture things can be done in 16 bits, but layers and selective stuff like cloning, only works in 8 bit mode (at least, that's how it is on PSE6). I don't find this a huge quality issue, but IF you get a retail boxed version from a reputable source and register activate properly at Adobe, you will probably get offers to buy CS4 at half price (I have had 3 now).

Hope that helps,

[Dave Humphries]

I had a look at Ebay and one trader guarantees genuine sealed PSE8 for £48 while another for £32 but says it is OEM. The reason I didn't use PSE2 was because it is slow and doesn't have smart brushes or perspective tools. However the plugins are great but I don't want to spend if I don't use it.
cheers still looking.

I'd be very wary of these, use Amazon, or go to a shop (may cost a bit more).

They may be counterfeit, and/or, if OEM, won't be properly supported by Adobe or get you those offers I mentioned above.

Cheers,

[arith]

I considered a trial download but found it was over 1GB; the reason why it took an hour on the phone was because I was being passed around to somebody who might know. In fact they was more interested in if my PSE2 was licensed and kept asking dumb questions.

So I had a look at Paint Shop Pro X3 and the download without warning was 500 MB, but this wouldn't even install and probably because of my security, but I didn't get warning of the install either.

So it has been a lovely sunny day and I've been stuck in front of a computer.

What's important is I don't have to buy any more than PSE8 or download anything else to open RAW files. cheers

[PopsPhotos]

I open RAW with my PSE6 and my PSE7 and my PS7. The update to the ACR software is free for download from Adobe.

Pops

[arith]

PSE7 looks a lot like PSE8 but without video. I can already make HD movies with the software I've got (CyberLink) but I'm not interested in that stuff. I asked the Ebay reseller if his stuff is OEM and he said no it is ORM, but what is that? I absolutely hate buying things.