[NiteOwl]

Thanks DJ, I will try to remember who everyone is as time goes by. I think you are all well worth knowing!

Great site.

NiteOwl

[DannyRaphael]

PJ:

Let me add my welcome to this forum, too!

DJ and Jak are two of my favorite people at this site -- among many others. I don't hold a candle to their knowledge and expertise in this dimension of image trickery, so be assured they'll take good care of you, especially as you graduate beyond PD2K.

I know at some point in time when you're ready to spread your wings further, you'll dive back into the Photo-art forum with GUSTO... and will be welcomed with open arms!

If you think your kids like standard photos, wait until they see themselves in "watercolor" -- or combination photos... part "standard" images and part "arty." Their friends (and hopefully their parents) will beat a path to your door... hopefull with checkbook in hand.

~Danny~

[NiteOwl]

The welcome is appreciated! I can see already there is tons to learn here and wonderful people to interact with.

Glad I decided to take your advice and check out the site!

As far as Photo Art, I'll be seeing ya soon,....I just opened a package and believe it or not a wonderful person decided to send me Photo Shop,...hmmm, imagine that!

Thanks for the help and the software, I am ready to rock and roll with digital manipulation!

Take care,
Nite Owl

[Jenny Wood]

Dear Jak,

Last night I posted a reply and submitted a photo to the Salon forum part of this site and wanted to definitely say a big THANK YOU to you Jak for your great tutorial on colourisation.

I have so much more I want learn and this site has been great
(even though I know this has been written by countless other newbies too)!

Thanks again for your help Jak!

Cheers,

Jenny

[suz4x4]

Hi All,

It seems I have finally found the right place for all the information I have been looking for. I look forward to comments on my work from people that actually do photo retouching and restoration. My Boyfriend has talked me into doing this on the side. He seems to think I am good! Now I will really find out if I have what it takes!
So where do I start? I have never joined anything like this and hope you even get this message!

thanks in advance!

[Len]

Well I just signed up this evening and got to say I'm already impressed by the site.
Ok about me. Well I'm a 53 year old guy living in dear old England. The North of England to be exact and I am a real and total newbie to photo restoration etc.

Ok so I know my way around a computer but when it comes to digital photography then I am bottom of the class.

So what made me start. Well two things. I have a lot of old photos of my parents taken during and before the war that I've always wanted to restore but because I've always been too busy with my job (Self employed) I've never had the time. My new years resolution this year was that I would make a start otherwise I knew I'd keep puting it off.

The other reason I want to get into digital retouching etc. is that come August I'm going to be a grandad for the first time and seeing as how my daughter lives in the South of England the only way I'm going to get those cute baby pics is over the computer so I've really got to know how to retouch them etc.

I've got to say that I am one happy guy that I found this site and I know I'm going to learn a lot from everyone so any help in any shape or form would be appreacited. As a matter of interest I'm going to be using photoshp 7 (which my wife bought me for my christmas and birthday present) so I guess that will help me a little. I hope

Cheers to everyone

Len

[d_kendal]

Hey Len,

Welcome to RetouchPro! you're not the only member here from across the pond, you'll notice quite a few other (see the Regards from the UK thread)
for learning about digital retouching, I'm sure you'll learn a lot very quickly around here, this is where I learned most of the stuff I know about photoshop.

- David

[Len]

Thanks Dave I appreciate that. I'm sure I'll pick things up soon enough. There's plenty of tips to go at that's for sure.

Many Thanks


Len

[ArtistColumbus]

I'd like to introduce myself as well. I found this site about a week ago and have been completely engrossed in everything there is here. I can't stop searching around and looking at what everyone has submitted. There are some phenominal artists out there!

To let everyone know about my history, I have been a graphic artist for screenprinting and transfer companies for the last 13 years. With the birth of my son approaching, I decided a year ago to work from my home (he's now 8 months old). It was great for a while, but I think I was just getting too burnt out from that industry all together. During that time, my Mom and I have been tracing our family history and had several old photos that were in desperate need of repair. I had a blast and have found my new calling!

I've just submitted one photo (Restoration Challenge #5) and am asking for any and all feedback I can get. This was a lot of fun and I'd like to start up a restoration business.

I hope I get to know everyone soon. Until then, stay warm!

[Dave St.]

This is a great site! So many things to learn and so little time in life!!!!

[MKStudio]

Hi Jak,
I am te newest of the new. For starters, I can't figure out how to download the color charts - would love to have them! I am finding that your text is behind the charts and I can't read it, the same is happening on other pages. I'm using a Mac with Netscape. Would appreciate your help. Thanks.
MKStudio

[Jakaleena]

Hi MKStudio! Welcome to RetouchPRO!

To answer your question, I don't have the color charts "downloaded". I just have them saved to my hard drive. I open them in Photoshop whenever I need them and use the eyedropper tool to choose the colors I want.

As far as text being behind the charts, you might want to change your screen resolution. I have mine set at 1024x768 and that seems to work fine.

And don't forget suggestion #6 at the beginning of this thread. You might want to post your questions in a new thread if my advice doesn't work so you'll have a better chance of getting a good solution from someone.

I'll look forward to hearing more from you! Have fun...

[hidesy]

Good Morning all! Wll, I seem to have stumbled upon a lovely place. I've been pretty involved in photo manipulation and enhancement for a while now and have just taken the big plunge of quitting my job and starting up a business. I am after all the help I can get on topics including photoshop, particularly restoration (which I'm fairly new to) and possibly some marketing ideas for my business... as well as lots of tips and tricks I haven't found on my own

If you want to check out my new website go to http://www.designtangents.com.au...

Once again, thanks guys

Hidesy

[K. Johnstone]

I've found THE site, can't really tell you how excited I am by this place, it's exactly what I was looking for. Member supported site, retoucher community. And you are all quite competent!

I've been a retoucher for the past ten years or so, traditional print retouching with dyes on prints and negs as well as Photoshop, working for everybody from Olan Mills to Playboy. Right now I'm a contractor for a pro lab, and it's very frustrating. I think you people would be shocked if you see what I see. Nobody was trained, the lab sends their fleet of artists on Photoshop and just assumes they'll figure it out by trial and error. The other day, my supervisor was upset because she was looking at a restoration/color correction I had done, and she was angry because she saw some funny "things" I put on the picture. I was color correcting, using the eyedropper to find the white/black/grey spots. I mean, this is fairly basic to the workings of Photoshop, right? But she's upset about this, thinking those strange markers are going to print! I assured her they wouldn't, but I just don't think she believed me. Finally I tricked her by hiding the extras. This is the woman in charge of retouching for the lab, one of the largest pro labs in the United States. How would they have sent out the order if I hadn't brought the actual colors back? Colorized, sad. I'm not sure how they keep their customers, honestly.

And they all think they're experts! The egos I'm dealing with, the ignorance, surrounded by it day in and day out. Hacks. I suppose I've strated ranting (but gee it feels good) and it may sound harsh... but trust me on this. Nobody even works in layers, all artwork is done directly on the background layer. I've tried helping (even though this really is not the place for a contractor), but it's hard to help someone learn the basics when they are certain they are an expert already. There's just something about retouching in general, I think, it can be very empowering, almost give one a God Complex. But with Photoshop, it's almost the more you learn--you eventually reach a point when you realize you are no expert, and not only that---probably never will be. And what do I find here, lurking in another thread? Folks here saying we aren't experts, you're still learning. Yes!

Must say, those of you who don't do this professionally and those who may feel new and intimidated by others around here, remember this: You know more than people being paid to do it, professionals, just by being here you know so much more. I've often felt alone, the only guy bothering to learn the basics, no one to turn to when I needed help. You just can't know how happy I am to find this site!

[ArtistColumbus]

Welcome K!

I, as I'm sure everyone else here on this forum, agree with you. The true "experts" are the ones who have learned so much about Photoshop that they realize there is so much more to learn. It's an endless, wonderful, exciting cycle!

I hope you love this group as much as I do.