Photo editing program suggestions?

[justanormalgirl]

I am looking for a photo editing program that will edit the background out of a picture. Is that just a simple cut and paste to a transparent background? I have no idea how to do that.

I currently have Microsoft Picutre It 10 (I think) in my desktop and my laptop has Picasa3. I use the Microsoft program more so I'm not familiar with what Picasa has to offer or how to use it yet.

Does anyone know if the programs I have offer that option and I'm just not finding it or is there a different program I need?

Teri

[l2ridehd]

I don't believe either one of those will do that. You need photo-shop elements and some time working with it to do that.

[justanormalgirl]

Is that the name of the program, Photo Shop Elements? Is it one you purchase in the store or is there a download online?

Thank you,
Teri

[bkcunningham1]

As far as I know, you have to purchase Adobe Photoshop. I have used Photoshop. It can be a little pricey.

I haven't used Corel Paint Shop. It is about half the price of Photoshop. I have heard good things about it though.

Have you heard of Fotoflexer? It is a free and might do what you are looking for. Here's a description of it. See what you think.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-9766535-2.html

[elevatorman]

Picasa is free from Google and a good program. If you want to take a class, they have one at the Lifelong Learning College or there are tutorials on the net somewhere.

[justanormalgirl]

Thank you bkcunningham1, I bookmarked your link so I can take a better look at it tonight.

elevatorman, I'll see if I can find the tutorials online, thank you.

[kb8tpw]

You can purchase Photoshop Elements - I'd try Best Buy in The Villages. It is in the $100 range, perhaps a bit less. You do not have to buy Photoshop - it is several hundred dollars and designed for pro use. Photoshop Elements will do the same things but a bit less in the way of features and sold by the same company. There is another recent thread on here which also speaks of a free program called GIMP. It can be downloaded for free. Based on that thread I downloaded it and it looks fairly robust, but I may be a bit more experienced than the average bear and Photoshop Elements has a lot of tutorials, support and the like for the beginner or novice. Probably a lot easier to learn and be able to rely on, IMHO. Might add that TV LLC has some Photoshop Elements classes comin up in future weeks too.

[tony]

Its worth mentioning that there are tutorials on the web for GIMP.

[K9-Lovers]

Do you plan to use the software often, or do you just need to eliminate the background on a photo or two?

If you just need it done on a couple of photos, I can do that for you as a free favor. I work with photo editing quite often, and was recently a professional pet photographer.

Let me know if you'd like my help.

[justanormalgirl]

Thank you kb8tpw and Tony, I'll take a look at the GIMP program.

K9-Lovers, I appreciate your offer to help me, thank you. I am looking for a program to download though because I do a lot with pictures and I'm getting into creating some of my own designs right now.

Teri

[K9-Lovers]

Corel is easier to use than Photoshop. I use both.

[TVMayor]

I downloaded GIMP yesterday and this is the result of my first attempt at creating a picture. My only background for this type of program is paint and that’s not a lot of help.

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii199/The_Villages/TheKing_zpsbc5eb57a.jpg

[Bavarian]

I use Photoshop Premieme Elements for movies and Photoshop Elements for stills. Main problem Adobe keeps coming out with new versions. Had to upgrade computer to dual processors fpr latest ones, but they burn Blu-Ray.
A lot of fun.

[Midvale]

Yes The GIMP is quite powerful and if you search on youtube for what you want to do with it there are many useful tutorials aimed at all levels of users.