PhotoFiltre and Photo Workshop comparision

[MightyKitten]

As I tried to point out, A nice tool to accompany a Pressure tablet. The
simplicity is the power of this package. It helpes inexperienced users to
understand the possibilities. If you will gie photoshop to someone who just
bought a tablet, chanses are he's gonna trow his tablet in the coner, and
goes to an other corner himself to cry.

Thickness can be achived by pressure of the tablet. I have to agree this
should be better adjusted, as small pressure changes doesn't seem to work
(the do, but barely visible).

I just think it is nice to have something simple and goodlooking for the
novice user, not for the intermediate or expert (Pixia will almost certainly
be more of service for the later two). For this sole reason I think it is a
good program.

MightyKitten

 

[William F. Adams]

Roger J. said:

I have already written about what is lacking in ArtRage in another message,
so I only reply to a few things in your message here.

All these pictures show the lack of detail, the lack of resolution, you can
see the paint strokes on everyone of these pictures.

What's wrong w/ seeing paint strokes?

The resolution angle is a limitation, though not so bad for those w/ a newer
tablet running at a very high resolution --- a tablet w/ a 1400 x 1050 pixel
display would allow one to create a print quality image roughly 3 x 5. Even the
800 x 572 which I can get on my older tablet is useful for an initial comp,
rough or even an expressive image.

That is the result if there is no zoom and position control, and no density
control of the brushes.

The brushes can be as dense or as light as one wishes to press.

When I was in school, at age 14, we had one lesson in art every week.
We had a limited assortment of brushes and paints, and most paintings we
produced looked exactly like all those paintings on that site do.

Big brush strokes, a lack of realism and detail, a lack of knowledge about
how to apply color in soft layers, like a fine mist when necessary.

I happen to enjoy watching people learn to express themselves artistically and
this program opens that up to a lot of people --- indeed, that was one of the
original intentions behind it.

I don't know how to express this, because I have no wish to offend you, but
we obviously have different demands and expectations on a paint program.

Uh, I said that a number of times.

I have a need for an immediate, direct, natural tool for quick sketches &c.
which will run on my pen slate --- if there's something else out there which
isn't keyboard dependent which is as useful as this, I'd like to know about it.

Sure, it'd be nice if there were a way to zoom in &c. but it's wonderful that
this free program does one thing so well, ``be as simple as can be, but not
simpler'' and all that.

William

 

[Roger Johansson]

(e-mail address removed) (William F. Adams) wrote:

A few pictures created with Pixia:

http://imnot.sinfree.net/cg-moonrose.jpg
http://www1.plala.or.jp/shalimar/cg2001/2000new.gif
http://www1.plala.or.jp/shalimar/cg2001/complexcolor.jpg
http://www1.plala.or.jp/shalimar/cg2001/tehe2.jpg
http://e.1asphost.com/pixia/gallery/TX_Desert.jpg
http://imnot.sinfree.net/cg-new-0bwyuicolr.jpg
http://www.tacmi.co.jp/pixia/pixia.files/gallery/index2.html

I don't think these pictures could have been painted in ArtRage, because of
the technical limitations of the program.

What's wrong w/ seeing paint strokes?

Well, sometimes there is nothing wrong with it, but often it is disturbing
and does not allow the picture to be realistic or give a certain mood.

The brushes can be as dense or as light as one wishes to press.

Okay, I don't have a pressure tablet, so I have no density control in
ArtRage.

I have a need for an immediate, direct, natural tool for quick sketches &c.
which will run on my pen slate --- if there's something else out there which
isn't keyboard dependent which is as useful as this, I'd like to know about it.

You talked earlier about the need to use the keyboard together with the
mouse in some programs. Let me tell you, I don't like that either.
I have used Pixia for some time now and so far have never used such a
combination. I work with just one hand, usually on the mouse, sometimes
moving it over to the keyboard. So I don't like programs which require you
to use both hands. Pixia is not such a program.

Sure, it'd be nice if there were a way to zoom in &c. but it's wonderful that
this free program does one thing so well, ``be as simple as can be, but not
simpler'' and all that.

Okay, sorry for not expressing myself diplomatically enough sometimes.
Don't let any emotions from this discussion hinder you from trying Pixia,
because it is a very good program, if you ever feel the need for a paint
program with more features and capabilities.

 

[Jim Daniel]

(e-mail address removed) (William F. Adams) wrote:

I have already written about what is lacking in ArtRage in another message,
so I only reply to a few things in your message here.



All these pictures show the lack of detail, the lack of resolution, you can
see the paint strokes on everyone of these pictures.

Roger J. (No Emails)

Roger,
Lack of resolution....visible paint strokes....something like this
http://www.artprints-on-demand.co.uk/noframes/monet/corn_poppies.htm?
Jim Daniel

 

[bloned]

I tried artrage myself.
My Thoughts About it

Use:
ArtRage is not about edition, but about sketching.

Interface
Think most advanced users don't care to much about this kind of interface,
though I have to say, it will awe most inexperienced users. I like it for
estetic reasons (MacOS X like, could be worse) And the positioning isn't to
confusing either. I think it is even much more convinient for those who
hardly ever see a computer program as all symbols are quite realistic. But
the palettes are quite big, even if you are able to hide it. This could be a
contra for more experienced users. The aditional options on a tool (Like
the glass of water) should be movable, in my opinion

Options
It does not have too much features, but for a starter, It is more than
enough. To much options creates fear of useing such programs by many people.
Experienced users quickly will miss options, tools and filters.

Tools:
I liked the texture of the oilpaint and other tools. The Program did a good
job keeping up with the speed of my Tablet pencil.Exept for the Felt pens,
that is. They seemed to skip some parts (more than the other tools at least)
The color weel is simply and good to understand except maybe for the option
Autoclean. You will have to read the help file for this. (By the way, it
would make that selection option circular, in consistence with the GUI)

Saving
One thing I don't get is the default file format ArtRage saves to. Why does
it have a specific format? Since it can also save PNG, whitch is lossless, I
would have chosen this for a default format.

Help
The Helpfile is clean and easy to understand, but in design very
disapointing when you got used to the interface of the program. But this is
not too ig of a problem.

Other things:
By Default, The name of the picture is hidden. Personaly, I would show it by
default, as people could overlook the small button in the corner if hidden.

I Used My Wacom Graphire II and found the pressure enabled fucntions quite
nice, but the difference in pressure might have been more obvious, in my
opinion.

Conclusion
ArtRage is focused on beginning users, prefeerably with a tablet. It would
indeed be a very gooo addition to the software package of the Wacom Graphire
series and its clones (by the way, most of them are also manufactured by
wacom (or use wacom technologie) but need specific drivers).

Experienced users my prefer Pixa above ArtRage for functionality and quicker
selection of tools.

MightyKitten

PS. I Keep the program for now on my freeware pc... Hope to see the offical
release soon. I have some people I would recomand it too. Notably my mother,
who always asks me to start and end internet explorer, or to close those
nasy pop up that slips to the pop-up stopper. I'm sure she will understand
the interface

Try Photoplus 5.5 (the last freeware version) from www.serif.com, it
runs fine on my pII 300 Mhz 128 Mb win98se system,

grtz R

 

[MightyKitten]

I already have. Like It a lot. Infact it is only 3rd freeware Photo editor
for me, after photoshop 4.1.5 and PhotoFiltre 5.5

 

[Roger Johansson]

Lack of resolution....visible paint strokes....something like this
http://www.artprints-on-demand.co.uk/noframes/monet/corn_poppies.htm?

Of course we could get into a discussion about the impressionist era and
the deliberate showing of paint strokes, if you want to become
argumentative and use every possible loophole in the history of art.

I actually though about Van Gogh and other impressionists when I admitted
that sometimes the artist wants the paint strokes to be seen.

But that would not change anything in my judgement on ArtRage and its
technical limitations.
The lack of zoom and position control is very limiting for a paint program.

 

[William F. Adams]

Roger J. said:

A few pictures created with Pixia:

I don't think these pictures could have been painted in ArtRage, because of
the technical limitations of the program.

I don't believe I ever indicated ArtRage could do all things --- I merely put
it forward as an interesting, innovative tool, w/ an interesting interface
which would be useful for ``painting'' on-screen and sketching.

I've already used it for a quick rough layout here at work (it was only
released yesterday), and found it quite useful / immediate. I'll be taking the
file home to use as a template in Altsys Virtuoso on my NeXT Cube.

Well, sometimes there is nothing wrong with it, but often it is disturbing
and does not allow the picture to be realistic or give a certain mood.

Right, and when one wants that, there're other tools in ArtRage (pencil,
crayon, pastel &c.), or other programs to use.

Okay, I don't have a pressure tablet, so I have no density control in
ArtRage.

I think you'd feel a lot differently about the program if you had a tablet or a
pen slate to try it out on. I was rather worried it wasn't worth my time when I
tried it w/ a mouse on a PC at work, it was a bit jerky and uncertain --- on
the pen slate w/ the stylus the difference was remarkable.

it.

You talked earlier about the need to use the keyboard together with the
mouse in some programs. Let me tell you, I don't like that either.
I have used Pixia for some time now and so far have never used such a
combination. I work with just one hand, usually on the mouse, sometimes
moving it over to the keyboard.

As I pointed out, my slate doesn't have a keyboard attached to it most times.

So I don't like programs which require you
to use both hands. Pixia is not such a program.

Actually, I like programs which work that way, for my desktop at work, or on my
NeXT Cube at home. Wonderfully efficient.

Okay, sorry for not expressing myself diplomatically enough sometimes.
Don't let any emotions from this discussion hinder you from trying Pixia,
because it is a very good program, if you ever feel the need for a paint
program with more features and capabilities.

As I noted, I've already got Photoshop at work, but as I noted, I've been
meaning to try Pixia, and am looking forward to that. I do want a more capable
program for using on my pen slate when it's docked.

William

 

[bloned]

I already have. Like It a lot. Infact it is only 3rd freeware Photo editor
for me, after photoshop 4.1.5 and PhotoFiltre 5.5

Decided to give Photofiltre a try, loving it. Didnt know photoshop
4.1.5 is freeware, do you have a url for that one ?

grtz R

 

[A.A. Fussy]

I'm sure it does on your system, but if I'm missing BBJPeg.dll (Whitch, if I
might elaborate on the filename, probably contains routines for saving JPEG
compression. If you don't add this to the installer, I don't have it on my
PC, thus not being able to use it. The result is a crash.

*NEVER* ever test only on a machine the program is written on. Testing it on
a clean system is the only way you can be reasonably sure the installer has
all the needed files.

Mighty Kitten

I have not found any site that lets you download BBJPeg.dll.

 

[MightyKitten]

I have not found any site that lets you download BBJPeg.dll.

So...? I guess you should have provided it, right?

 

[Burp]

I have not found any site that lets you download BBJPeg.dll.
They can have my BBJPeg.dll when they pry it from my cold dead clenched
pudgy fingers.