A Welcome Note To New Members (and anyone else who wants a warm welcome)

[justcallhoward]

Hi Everyone,

I've just spent the last 3 hours going through this site and then felt compelled to register so that I could be a part of this great group of fellow ENTHUSIASTS. I've enjoyed very much; reading through many of the posts, examining the challenge entries and looking at tutorials. What I enjoyed most however was the warmth and encouragement shown to one another throughout this site. That, in my mind, is what it's all about.
It's never too late to learn and the love of learning is alive here.
Glad to be here.

Howard

Very late in life, when he was studying geometry, some one said to Lacydes, “Is it then a time for you to be learning now?” “If it is not,” he replied, “when will it be?”

[CJ Swartz]

It's never to late to learn...

That's the truth! I was in my early 50's when I first learned about Photoshop, and when I first joined here -- I thought I knew a good deal about it. After seeing what some others could do, and what they knew, I understood that I still had lots of happy learning to do.

Welcome, Howard! There certainly is lots here to learn from and practice with -- and even better -- to enjoy!

[Ken45140]

I would like to say hello and greetings; I have just registered after looking around this great and wonderful site---I actually have been checking back for days waiting for the server change to be completed.

I am a relative newcomer to graphics programs but have been involved with digital photography and now am getting deeper and deeper into photo compositing and restoration, as well as "adjusting" exposure errors on current phtotos. I have been using PSP7 but have just switched over to version 8 and will be continuing my learning on that version.

This group and the resources seem "ideal" and "ready made" for someone in my position. My abilities and opportunities to contribute will be limited as I climb various learning curves, but I hope to share back as soon as I can.

The "insight" I am interested in hearing more about is whether this is really considered (in an unspoken fashion) a Photoshop board/site? I realize that various other programs are mentioned in some of the titles of subject areas - and I see some PSP users who have recently left messages - but in all candidness, if the vast majority of users are Photoshop users, is the likelihood smaller (even if willingness is there) for PSP users to get help with software specific questions?

In partial answer to my own question, I was browsing at the bookstore through Scott Kelby's book "The Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers", and had the impression (I am still too new to know for sure) that many many techniques and commands are very similar between PSP8 and Photoshop (ver?). While this may be blasphemy to PS users, may I ask if it is not true to a large degree?

Any comments or reactions to my "insight" question? I hope I have not offended nor talked too long.

Ken

[jeaniesa]

Hi Ken,

Welcome to RetouchPro! You certainly have not offended anyone with your question - it's a good one:

is this really considered (in an unspoken fashion) a Photoshop board/site?

This site was created as a resource for anyone interested in photo restoration and retouching regardless of the application they use. That said, I think it is true the majority of us are using Photoshop. However, we do our best to give "generic" advice so that people can "translate" steps to their specfic application. Sometimes we forget and write in application specific terminology, but you should never feel bad about asking questions if you don't understand something!

I do not have a lot of knowledge about PSP functionality vs. Photoshop, but it is my impression that the two are quite similar. I think the terminology may differ more than the actual functionality.

We have a few accomplished PSP users as members, so perhaps they can speak to whether they feel included in our discussions most of the time or not.

HTH, Jeanie

[justcallhoward]

Hi Ken,
Welcome to the site. I'd have to agree that most members use Photoshop but speaking for myself (and I'm sure for many others),
I started out using Paint Shop Pro. I also did a brief stint with Ulead PhotoImact and MGI PhotoSuite. All in all I'd say you can accomplish similar results with each program.
The reason I switched was because of what you pointed out. The vast body of literature from books to web sites to video learning tools focus on Adobe's product. It's still difficult to find tutorials dedicated exclusively to any of the other above-mentioned products.
There will always be die-hard fans of each I believe because of having to learn "new tricks". I am one old dog who got tired of trying to remember how to do the tricks in each program.

I see this site as an excellent resource for learning from each other in the huge study of digital manipulation no matter what tools we choose to use. In the end, it's all about pixels and shaping them to your taste.

I have visited the site many times now and always learn something new. I've come away gratified every time. Hope your expeerience will be similar. Good Luck!

[mrblake50]

Hi Jeanie,

Thank you for the very warm welcome!

Maureen

[sage150]

Hi Jeaniesa and Member's,

I joined the board last night and have been looking at
the various pages on it.I am very new to photo restoraton
but I find it relaxing and lots of fun.I love to colorize all my
old pictures.I am a senior and have many of them.When I
complete a picture of a relative it makes me happy to see it
because it's almost like that person is close to my life again.
Most of the black and whites I have contain folks who are
long gone.I am not very good at doing the techniques to
restoration because I am mostly unknowledgable about them.
This is the kind of forum I know I will be happy in because I
can see that you folks share your expertise with other's.
Any assistance I can receive will be deeply appreciated.
Thank You.

[CJ Swartz]

This is the kind of forum I know I will be happy in because I can see that you folks share your expertise with other's

Sage -- you got that right! You're in a good place, and should be able to improve your knowledge base and your skills at photo editing by reading some of the tutorials, tips, and many helpful threads located here AS WELL AS submitting your work on mini-challenges and the big Challenges. I have learned tons since joining, and I'd already been using PShop for years when I joined.
Welcome to RetouchPro - now pick a place to jump in - the water's fine!

[sage150]

Thank you for the kind welcome C.J. I'm a slow starter but
usually pick up some speed as I go along.

[LidoBlu]

Thanks for the welcome and answering my question. Thanks to everyone else also. This is my first day and for the past hour or so I've been in this forum instead of working. But it's great! I'm happy to be here.

I want to post a photo that I like very much and have anyone and everyone work on it. My question was about file size.
I will be posting it soon with particulars.

I can't go back to get the name correct but I see someone from Italy. Hello from France! Molto lieto I hope I said and spelt that right...

Blu

[caroled]

Hi Jeanie,

Have joined the forum... glad you pointed me in the right direction....

I have started work on my restoration... a rather difficult one for my first try but I am going to plug on... started as you suggested on the green channel.

I was thinking of showing the forum the problem mainly the dark stains that show on the dresses and especially the ties.... some kid painted over the original, or it may have been colored and worn off... I think the former.

Don't know how to up load, what size, etc. On Janee's site I uploaded to my webshot page. Should I do it that way here as well.

I am trying, after starting about 3 times to get some method of what to do first etc... have been reading a lot and trying out various methods...all and all having a lot of fun...

Thanks again


Carol

[CJ Swartz]

Originally Posted by caroled

...I was thinking of showing the forum the problem - mainly the dark stains that show on the dresses and especially the ties.... some kid painted over the original, or it may have been colored and worn off... I think the former.

Don't know how to up load, what size, etc. On Janee's site I uploaded to my webshot page. Should I do it that way here as well....
Carol

Carol,

To post a question about your photo, you can go to the main page of this Help Requested forum and click on "New Thread" (located near the top of the page on the left hand side above the title "threads in forum"). You will need to title your thread, and then explain about your photo -- what problems you want people to look at, and/or what info or assistance you are looking for.

To upload your photo, you need to have a file that is less than 100k in file size -- if it is larger than that, the system won't upload it. You can upload it here instead of having to post a link to another webpage. After you have written about the photo, look down that page (before you press "Submit Reply" to the little tan box on the left side of the page that says "Manage Attachments" -- click on that (a new small window will pop up) and then click on "Browse" to look for your image on your hard drive. Then click "Upload" and see if it is successful -- it will show the name of your file once it has uploaded. Then close that little window, and you can hit "Submit" to finish off.

If you have any questions, lots of us are willing and able to help -- we've all been there at the beginning, trying to figure out where everything is -- in fact, with this new website upgrade, I'm still a bit lost.

[DannyRaphael]

Hi Carol:

Welcome from me, too.

Something that I find helpful in keeping images below the 100KB size threshold is using Photoshop's File > Save for the Web option. With it you can easily see (and adjust) the output file size.

Hope you have lots of fun here. CJ is about the best tour guide you could ever ask for!

~Danny~

[Lucky13]

Well hello all. My name is Barry and I just logged on to the site for the first time about 15 or so min ago. I will poke through forums a bit latter but right now my two little girls are claming on my back “literally” to get me out of the house and start our day.

Please take care,

Barry

[Leah]

Hi Barry - good to have you on board! We're a pretty friendly bunch here - have a poke around in the forums, ask some questions, share some of your own ideas and before you know it you'll be part of the family...