I need to get some advice on what I should get as an alternative to Photoshop 7? All I need the program for is to do some post work on my Poser 5/6 figures makeup and skin. Photoshop 7 or CS is $500 and I don't see the need to spend that kind of money just for what I want to do. Is there an alternative to it that would only cost maybe $200 or so? I was thinking maybe Jasc Paint Shop Pro or something. Any advice on what to choose? Thanks.

Attached Link: http://www.gimp.org/

have you tried Gimp?

Attached Link: http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Corel3/Products/Display&pfid=1047024307383

I love paint shop pro for it's ease of use. I use version 7 and it was under 200....I believe. They have free trials of version 10 at the site.

Paint Shop Pro all the way. It has almost everything Photoshop has, for a much better price.

Attached Link: http://www.serif.com/photoplus5/index.asp

Definitly Paint Shop Pro. I still use Version 7, and sometimes version 8. Excellent program and can do about 90% of what Photoshop can do. Plus it's Adobe compatible which means that any plugin Photoshop can use, can be used in Paint Shop Pro. Also, Paint Shop Pro has a far lower learning curve than Photoshop does. Paint Shop Pro has a huge number of users and there are a huge number of tutorials out there to learn from too. Here is a link to a 100% free graphic program. I know people who have used it and have compared it to Paint Shop Pro. Whether that is true or not I don't know because I haven't tried Photoplus5. I suspect that you can use Adobe plugins with it, but again, I'm not sure about that. You can try it with some of the free filters around before investing money into any filters/plugins.

Attached Link: http://www.download.com/Deep-Paint/3000-2191_4-10398243.html

Deep Paint 2.0 is available as a free download. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles the 3d version has, but it is very cool. I am up to Paint Shop Pro 9.0 and still am faithful to that program (though I've been reluctant to upgrade to X). My only concern is that Corel may not provide future support and upgrades, so it may lose ground over time; however, right now it is a terrific program for the price.

If you upgrade to the corel version X, according to their terms you need to include their copyright on images you make using their included content. With the Jasc versions of 9 and below you don't need to do that.

Attached Link: http://park18.wakwak.com/~pixia/

I vote for Pixia :)

I would definately go for PSP. I have version 10 and it pretty much does most of what PS does! :) I got it from Corel for 145

I use Paint Shop Pro 9 - does the biz for me - I'm sorry to offend any PS users but I find PS rather unwieldy and a bit high end for li'l ol' me ;-)

I'm a recent convert to Corel Photopaint. I picked up a copy of Corel 9 (Draw, Photopaint, etc) on Ebay a couple of months ago. I bought it for Draw, in fact, which I use for work - and found that Photopaint is an excellent program. Corel 8 and 9 are regularly on Ebay at around the 10-15 mark.

I had (still have) PSP 8 prior to that. It's a good program, and has a few more modern bells and whistles, it's true, but Photopaint doesn't choke on large images in the way PSP tends to.

For free, though, GIMP and Deep Paint are amazing.

I'm using PSP7 too - it's old but quite easy to learn and has almost everything I need :)

There is also Photoshop Elements, up to v4. It's only about 80 bucks. The wacom tablet I bought last week (from best buy) came with version 3, and 2 other programs and the whole package was $100. ~E.D.

Attached Link: http://www.ulead.com/pi/runme.htm

Try Uleads PhotoImpact. http://www.ulead.com/pi/runme.htm

Attached Link: http://www.photofiltre.com/

I recently found PhotoFiltre. It seems to have all the 'Poser-needed' features of PhotoShop or PaintShop, but it's much faster-starting and much cheaper.

Thanks to everyone for all the replies. I tried today Coral Paint Shop Pro X, but am having trouble loading some of my custom brushes made by the artist "lisbeth". It says the file format I'm loading is NEWER than what is supported. However, I know the artists brushes are compatable with Photoshop 7 because it said so in the readme file. So, can anyone tell me what I may be doing wrong in Paint Shop Pro X? It's the "trial version" of the software, so don't know if that matters (shouldn't). The brush files are ".abr" and are stated to work fine with Photoshop or a compatible program like it. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Paint Shop Pro 8, 9 abd X are much pickier about accepting Photoshop brushes than PSP 7 and earlier versions were. The two programs are not as compatible as they used to be.

Paint Shop Pro, now a Corel product (why did they ruin a good product by selling out to a lousy company) is very good and comes with most of the tools Photoshop has. Also Corel Painter might be a good fit they can both be found at http://www.corel.com. Microsoft is releasing a new graphic package called Expression (I've played with the beta, but not enough to offer any opinion) can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/en/default.asp

If true 3-d painting is needed then either Deep Paint 3D (http://www.righthemisphere.com/products/dp3d/Deep3D_UV/index.htm) or Body Paint (http://www.bodypaint3d.com/) are your choices (Exprensive and steeper learning curve)

Hope this helps!

Message edited on: 11/07/2005 10:18

Message edited on: 11/07/2005 10:20

I believe that Brushes made in Photoshop 7 cannot be used in PSP. I think Photoshop 6 brushes and below can. I think it's only a matter of time before Corel fixes that though :) It's always a good idea to buy PDF files instead of brushes, that way you can make your own brushes for whatever graphic program you use.

Acadia means PSD files :) PSD files can be opened in PSP. Try renaming the .abr extension to .jbr and see if they work for you. PSP uses .jbr for brush files.

Are there any free 3d paint apps? Has Deep Paint 2.0 some 3d funktion. I realy want Body pait for my C4D but ca not aford.

If you are on E-Bay I have found copies of the older Metacreation Painter 3D available for under $50.00 .. It is based loosely on the current higher-end Paint 3d apps..

Attached Link: http://www.mediachance.com/pbrush/index.html

Not sure if this is what you're after, but an interesting program that I thought deserves a mention anyway.

This little company makes some really cool stuff. Check out their hybrid drawing/painting program. It's rather unique & very impressive.
http://www.mediachance.com/realdraw/index.html

Also, they have a nifty multimedia program builder and a bunch of free photo retouching tools.