Lightweight photo editor - recommendations please

[Nacoya]

hi,

I have an old pIII 500, 128MB ram dell laptop i've just got working again after years in the back of a cupboard. I wish to use this on my travels to store images from my media card and also have the opportunity to email them from where ever i might be. Now that part is easy and is set up.

I'm a Photoshop CS2 user but i feel that that is going to be too much for the old lappy to cope with (even though i'll get a bit more ram). What i'm looking for is a lightweight photo editor that'll let me crop/resize (std stuff) and retouch images before i send them. just basic stuff like colour balancing and noise reduction etc.

Anyone any suggestions ?

I may have PS 6.0 somewhere and i definitely have PS7. Would they be of use or is there anything more streamlined and resource friendly.

Any thoughts welcome...

cheers,

nacoya

ps. another consideration i will soon have (and just thought of) is that i'm going to buy a canon G6 (7.1meg) to replace my olympus 3020z(3.2meg) so initially the file sizes are going to be over twice the size but not much i can do about that.

[Kraellin]

hi nacoya,

couple of questions here. is that '500' a designation of megahertz (mhz) or just a brand name thing?

what operating system (o/s) does the machine have on it?

if the 500 is mhz, then the biggest drawback is the 128 megs of ram. if you can upgrade that to at least 512 megs, that would be quite a bit better.

if the o/s is win98, 500 mhz and you can even upgrade to as little as 256 megs of ram, your PS 6 shld work ok. i would even guess that PS 7 might work, albeit a bit sluggishly.

you could also go with paint shop pro (psp) up to about version 7 without too many problems, i would think. and, if you really wanted to streamline yet still do simple editing, you could even find an older copy of psp. i know there are still copies of the shareware version, 4.12 around on the net.

generally, if you go to a given editor's home page you can find a specifications/requirements page. but, since they tend to want to sell only their latest version, you may not be able to find a page on the earlier versions.

there are other image editors out there also, but i'm not too familiar with them, so maybe others will comment on those. The Gimp comes to mind, but not sure how 'weighty' it is.

i would think you could get something going. try your PS 6. if it's too much you can always uninstall it and try something else.

Craig

[rondon]

And it's free to boot.. a very small, fast viewer with the tools you were looking for.
This is a wonderful viewer also ... I use if much more often than PhotoShop's browser... after setting the preferences you can even right click a displayed photo (or thumbnail) and have it open in PS.
Be sure to checkout the Keyboard shortcuts. where you can for instance hit enter to make an open photo full screen then the mouse wheel to cycle through
photos in the same file. Also the letter "T" brings up the thumbnails with index tree..
I'm sure it has a fault I just haven't ran into these past 5 years...

http://www.irfanview.com/

[Nacoya]

thanks guys,

Sorry Craig, should have been a bit clearer.

The lappy is a Plll 500mhz, now with 384 meg ram (albeit pc100), only got an 8mb ati mobility graphics card, dvd/cd rom, 14" TFT.Running XP pro.

I'll give PS6 a whirl i think.

rondon, been using irfanview for years. Great application, but i was looking for something to do a bit more. Perhaps with layers etc....

I'll have another look around as well and see if anything catches my eye.

cheers,

nacoya

added : just downloaded the gimp to have a look at, but i completely forgot about PS Elements..doh!! I have 3 on my desktop and a copy of 2 as well but i generally just use it as a catalogue...that might actually be the best bet.........

[Panpan]

Take a look at XnView. It does some editing.

Pierre

[byRo]

Hi Nacoya,

I run PS 7 on a PII, 400MHz, 64MB (I won't even ask you not to laugh ) without any problem at all.
For RP size (600 x 800) stuff and internet images it's fine, just can't push the pixel count much higher than that.
In fact half of my posts here are done on this museum piece!

Why XP on a such a small machine? Do you really need it? I'd think that your machine would be much better off running Windows 98.

Rô
(PS When doing Art-History stuff, sometimes, I even prefer a slow machine - you can control the strokes better! )

[Nacoya]

Thanks guys ..

the question now is PS7 or Elements 3. Can't make up my mind which is the lighter way to go (i actually suspect it's PS7 as elements will try and catalogue everything all the time - although i could turn that off - and i like the thought of a catalogue of my images if eg i've been away for a week and transferred a lot to the lappy from my camera then i can review them better) Hmmmm ??????

Ro, the main reason for having XP on here is that all the other PC's on my home network are using XP and it just makes it easier. Also had problems getting 98se and my wifi set up working..switched to xp and it worked(a cop out i know but i was sick to the back teeth of trying to get it working with 98).

[mediatevictoria]

Originally Posted by Panpan

Take a look at XnView. It does some editing.

Pierre

Assuming that this Pierre is Pierre Gougelet, author of XnView, I say to him: don't be so modest about your work! XnView is an outstanding tool, my favorite viewer. It handles image files extremely well and is also very convenient for browsing through video and audio files. Its image-editing tools don't just do 'some' editing - they do many things and do them very well. Just yesterday, I was looking at a landscape shot which looked as if slightly out of focus [but wasn't]. With no fuss,I was able to try THREE successful remedies in XnView [Enhance Focus, Focus Restoration, Sharpen]. The original is attached, and so is the 'corrected' image [Sharpen @ 60, Gamma @0.8].

Do have a look at XnView - very lightweight and very powerful.

Mediatevictoria [aka Photoman]

[mediatevictoria]

Oops! Forgot to attach the attachments...

Oops again! I did not know about the 100KB limit for uploads. When compressed to meet that limit, my pictures look like garbage. So - never mind the attachments. Just take my word for it: quick application of some XnView tools produced a much-improved picture.

[Panpan]

Originally Posted by mediatevictoria

Assuming that this Pierre is Pierre Gougelet, author of XnView

Different Pierre. I just wish I had his talent.

Pierre

[Kraellin]

I run PS 7 on a PII, 400MHz, 64MB (I won't even ask you not to laugh

*snicker* how often ya feed the squirrels runnin that thing there, Ro? *grin* (*looks behind himself to see the pIII 333 mhz and shuts up*)



Craig

[byRo]

Originally Posted by Kraellin

*snicker* how often ya feed the squirrels runnin that thing there, Ro?

The squirrels quit the other day, somebody offered then more nuts.
Now I just have to wind it up four times a day, though I am thinking of upgrading to steam power.

Rô

[Kraellin]

hehehe

Craig