Software that can be used by artists and tips on how to use them

I thought it might be a good idea to share some of the ways we use different programs to alter a photo in order to make it easier to paint from it.

I'll be focusing on free software that is readily available to everyone.

I'll be using the portrait from this months challenge as an example. Credit for this photo goes to Steve Evans (babasteve) from Flickr.



Fast Stone Image Viewer can be downloaded here: http://download.cnet.com/FastStone-Image-Viewer/3000-2192_4-10324485.html

Fast Stone Image Viewer is a programme I use often for cropping, enhancing colors, resampling etc. Reducing colors is a feature that I discovered that I feel can be very handy to be able to visualize the image in masses.

Here's the screenshot of how to get to this option. Edit>Reduce Colors



Here's the result of this filter:



Here it is grayscaled:

Gimp can be downloaded here: http://download.cnet.com/GIMP/3000-2192_4-10073935.html?tag=mncol

Gimp has several tools but the one that I discovered that also has the ability to create masses is Covert Image to Indexed Colors. Image>Mode>Indexed...

You'll get this screen:



Select the maximum number of colors. I selected 20 for this one. Here's the result:



Grayscaled:

Gimp has another tool that I think many artists are already aware of... posterize. Tools>Colour Tools>Posterize...

You'll get this screen:



Select the posterize level that you want. For this one I selected 8. Here's the result:



Grayscaled:

Excellent presentation, Janet. I've used Gimp minimally only because I'm more familiar with Photoshop (not free). I'll have to explore Gimp more to see what it has to offer in contrast to the other.
Thanks, Judy

Judy, Thank you! I have Photoshop as well but I rarely use it. It just has more then I really need. I find Gimp and Fast Stone Image Viewer more straightforward. I have several other programs that I would like to share but they'll have to wait until I have more time. Some of them are not free but well worth the money.

Thanks for the Gimp examples. I mainly use Photoshop, but Gimp came on my Linux netbook. I keep meaning to have a play with it; seems to have a good range of features.

For not free, I would recommend Paint Shop Pro (Corel) as an inexpensive choice. It's certainly full-featured, and easy to learn. You can do just about anything imaginable with your photos, but you can also "paint" with a variety of brushes. Overview here:

http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1207602307920#versionTabview=tab1&tabview=tab0

Thanks Callie,

I wish you had a link to a cheap version of Corel Draw....Anybody????
Judy

I don't have a link to a cheap version of Corel Draw but I did find a free software that I find comparable to Corel Draw called Serif DrawPlus SE. Here's a link to the download area for the software: http://download.cnet.com/Serif-DrawPlus/3000-2191_4-10000761.html?tag=mncol

I love Corel Draw - use it for most of my print work. I think I still have a version of Serif that came with a graphics tablet - never used it. This is a really nice program that works very much like Corel (vector drawing, photo editing, web graphics - all in one package), I've got the Pro version and find it a great alternative for the Corel Graphics Suite:

http://www.xara.com/us/products/xtreme/

Unless one is doing print work, the non-pro version is just fine - and quite reasonable price-wise.

For a Free vector drawing program, have a look at Inkscape:

http://www.inkscape.org/

Thanks both of you for the great info. I downloaded the paint pro free 30 day trial to see what it is about. I better hold off though, I was supposed to work on Christmas presents today and still haven't gotten to them and it is 5 PM.

Judy

Just checking my email and found this:

Artworks Basic is probably the programme I use the most. I would like to feature all the options but their are so many it would be difficult to do. Their site gives a great overview of the features and their is a trial version available. If you've never tried this programme I would highly recommend it. It's not free but for $50.00 I find it well worth the money. You can visit this site to get the trial version, purchase the software and preview what it can do: http://www.artellmedia.com/artworksb1.html

thanks janet,

I'll look into that one and Im going to look at inkscape again. Right now I am looking at Corel's PainterII as a free trial.
Judy

Janet - that looks very interesting. I'm intrigued by their color system. This has a lot of very nice features.

Judy - what do you want to be able to do with your software? That might help narrow down the best choice for you.

Callie, I find the color system very logical and accurate for CMY. The way you can knock a photo down to 8 values is what I use the most. Then in grasycale or color mode you can just look at the portions that are value 8, 7 or 6 etc. etc. For the grascale you need to save it first in grascale at 8 values. Let us know what you think of it if you have a chance to try it out.

Judy, I think Callie is rite if we know what you would like to do with it we might be able to give you some suggestions and point you in the rite direction.

I just downloaded the faststone and the serif draw plus. My laptop had no such applications, and my desktop still refuses to recognise the internet, so I wanted to be able to edit my photos from my laptop instead. The faststone is new to me, but uncomplicated enough for me to use easily, and the serif draw plus is the program I have on my other computer that I use for cards and flyers and posters when I need them. Thanks so much for putting the links up.

I just bought the Serif DrawPlus 3x. They had a good deal on it for $39 so I took it. It has a paint area that simulates using different paint brushes and media, some good graphics and manipulation of text and a vector drawing component. That pretty much covers what I was looking for.

I hate the text in Photoshop because it is so pixely especially if you try to rotate it at all. I wanted text that would look good in print and on the screen. I also want to be able to rotate text as if it is on thespine of a book for my e book covers.

I also want to be able to paint realistically if I want or do cartoon if I want. i have a lot to learn with the program, but i think I'll accomplish what i want.

Meanwhile, it is past midnight because I was doing some of the tutorials. better get to bed before it is tomorrow morning and I'm still playing on the computer.

Good Night...Judy

Sofie, I find the fastone one really easy to use as well. Great programme to do some things like cropping, reasampling and playing withe color, contrast etc. quickly and easily.

Judy, I'm glad you found a graphics programme that does what you want it do.

Just thought I'd share this free software with you, Photo! 3D Screensaver, that is a really fun programme. Here's how it's described on the site:

"Have you ever dreamed of having your pictures exhibited on the walls of a stylish art gallery? If so, you have an amazing opportunity to see your favorite photos in an exciting environment of 3D virtual galleries."

It's really neat to see your paintings or just inspiring to put some of your favorite paintings into it.

Here's the link: http://pho.to/screensaver3d/

They have the album that I have as well but I use the screensaver the most. They also have a web album that you might find useful to create a photo gallery for your website.

Just came across this free editor/painting program:

http://www.sumopaint.com/home/

Had a quick look around, it has a good assortment of tools/features (including layers).
Here's a screen shot:

Callie, that looks like a great program! I'm going to check it out for sure. Thank you for sharing!

I'm going to have to go try out the painting/drawing tools. This looks like a really nice program; similar to Paint Shop Pro (minus the $99 price tag)

I used the trial and like it so I did buy the software. Unfortunately, I really haven't had the time to try it out, but some of the work they show is unbelievable.

judy

I figured it must be a pretty good program when I saw what people were creating with it. Every bit as good as work I've seen done with CorelDraw or Xara Extreme. Of course, there has to be some talent there, too. But better tools make it easier to express it.