picture editing prob

[Eagle]

hi all i dont really no if this is the correct place for my problem but ill tell you anyways...

when im editing pictures after i save them and come back to them they have blured in some places so when i change the background colour i get big blotches that wont change

any tips on this? ive added a screenshot of the prob to help you out!

could it be the software i use? to say the sadest thing around i still use m$ paint i have paint shop pro and adobe photoshop but i still find paint the easiest to use!

[glc]

That pixelation is due to resizing and JPEG compression. You need to use one of your premium editors - Paint isn't a good JPEG editor at ALL.

[Eagle]

but sadley what i have found with my "decent" editing software is that when i select it to fill the background it will fill more that i want it to! instead of it goin round the border like paint does and fill in any "white" bits my other software will "hunt" out any white bits and fill them in!

[Kov-Ice]

It will take a bit of time to become familiar with the tools you need to use, but it is well worth it. Adobe is probably the standard when it comes to photo editing (I wish I could afford my copy...). Even tho it has a ton of options, you don't need to learn them all. Just read up on the ones you do need, and you will begin to become more familiar with the interface. For fills, there is probably a scale that sets the sensitivity of the fill. You should be able to reduce that number so it doesn't pick up everything. Good luck.

[Eagle]

(I wish I could afford my copy...).

lol buy a copy lol

anyways i will give it another go soon

[Kov-Ice]

Oh, I'm saving up. Not easy to find a spare $500 laying around tho... I may get Adobe Elements, as it apparently has alot of the oft-used tools in it, but I've got my heart set on a full version...

[TwoRails]

Well, first, the best thing is to learn generic editing technics. One of the very first things in editing 101 is to Not edit jpegs, and for that very reason. The easiest way is to convert to a TIFF or BMP and do the editing in that format, always keeping it in that format. When you think you have want you want, then save a copy to JPEG. That way, if it's not what you want, you still have the TIFF or BMP to work with.

If you want to upgrade to a better program, look at Jasc's Paint Shop Pro. It is very serious competition for Photoshop, but at a fraction of the cost. You can check it out here:

http://www.jasc.com/products/paintshoppro/?

Note that it is often on sale and can be had for $59 - 79 at places like Best Buy and the like, if you can wait for a sale.

HTH

TwoRails

[Eagle]

yer i have paint shop pro aswell

[Eagle]

so if i save my work as a tiff or a bmp it should keep the original quality?

[TwoRails]

What version do you have? If you use the PSP format, then that's all you need. If you start with a jpeg, then save it with PSP's format, you'll be OK and then you can use all the fancy stuff like layers and the like.

Also, a lot depends on the compression level you save jpegs at. Say, for instance, you know you will only make a simple edit and most likely will never edit the photo again, it might be OK to use the jpeg format, but just save it with low compression instead of high compression. I typically use about 5% which works good for my needs. You can play with different settings to see what works good for you. Another example is I use about 45 - 50% compression for pics I post here at the forum.

[Kov-Ice]

TIFF is good to work with because it is lossless format. JPEG uses compression every time you open and close it. After a few times you begin to see image deterioration. You can open and close a TIFF countless times to edit it with no problems. Just be sure to always work on a copy.

[el_novato]

--Off Topic--

Kov-Ice, are you a student? If you are, you may want to look at the Adobe package for $379 at www.academicsuperstore.com.

e.n.

[Kov-Ice]

el_novato, I'm actually a teacher. I wonder if they'll swing that deal for educators, though... Thx.

[el_novato]

They will...Check out the "Who is eligible" link on the upper right corner of the homepage. Lists what the requirements are.

e.n.

[warren_wade]

Hi Eagle nice to meet you !
Try to play with your image editor settings or just use few different editors and you will see differences among their capabilities

[Jaggannath]

Yup, definitely
That's what demos are for... check them out and find which one does it for you