PS vs PSP

I agree with Jeffrey about Painter. It's great!

Not something that I use for a lot of stuff in SL, but it's how I do the mosiacs (such as the one on the floor of the Texture tutorial,) and the fabrics for many of my shirts.

For some stuff, such as laying down a row of ornaments that exactly follow a line, Painter 9 simply can't be beat, in my experience.

Not to mention that it's simply the best I've ever used, if you need to emulate traditional media. It's practically impossible to tell a "pencil drawing" that I've made in Painter from one I've made with actual Prismacolor Pencils and paper. (I've shown them, side by side, to countless people at conventions, and even those who claim to be able to "always tell" can't, until I tell them. Then, of course, they "really knew." )

As I said, different tools have different strengths and weaknesses. That's why a lot of us have so many of them. (It's not just greed, honest! )

Just a short article by Buxton regarding tools and drawing.
Buxton used to be the chief scientist at Alias for some time.

http://www.billbuxton.com/tapeDrawing.htm


The rest of his articles are here.

http://www.billbuxton.com/

The reply to this may belong under your PS Tips and Tricks thread Robin, but any chance you could sometime do a lil tutorial on this? i've been trying to play with this aspect of PSCS2 for weeks but my objects come out looking not so smart and extremely warped!

Most professional digital artists (check out cgtalk) use a combination of Photoshop and Painter which I find preferable. The blending system in Painter is the least resource consuming, and has many simple ready-to-go options. Also as a host to many forms of 'fake' natural media there is a great advantage in designing textures.
I believe the best program is the one that the artist finds the best for their own work method. For someone who is amatuer, it is whatever they find comfortable. I also think the program should best suit the imagination of it's user. To know how to do the concepts in one's own head is very important, not only for results but for satisfaction as an artist.
I could never learn PSP because I've been using Photoshop since 3.0, but I have seen the advantages it possesses. In fact, many professional texture sellers in the Poser market work exclusively with PSP, and their work is nothing short of amazing.
Anyways, I find that arguing over which program is superior to be quite pathetic. It is the artist that makes the program work, and all those mentioned in this thread are quite capable. It is the users responbiliy to learn the tools they own.
As for the cost, I received an offer to purchase CS2 for $200 when I purchased my wacom graphire tablet. I'm not sure if that is an on-going thing or not, but it was certainly a steal.

Hi kalli!

Have you checked the short explanation I gave of using the Warp function in this thread?

If you have, and you are still having problems with it, let me know.

Serafina, I agree; but I'd go farther and say that even for Pros, the best program is the one that's the most comfortable to work with. Since most of the rest import and export PS files, there's no need to use it if you hate it, even if you need to work with someone who is using it.

Too many people fight with their tools, to the detriment of the work they are able to do.

This is true even in traditional media. When I was using acrylic paints, my work never progressed beyond what I'd define as "competent amateur" quality (even though, technically, I was a semi-pro, since I was earning some, but not all, of my living selling the stuff.)

As soon as I switched to oils, there was a vast leap in the quality of what I was doing, because I was no longer fighting with my media. (It's a personal thing, but I hate, loathe, and despise acrylics. But wait... let me tell you how I really feel about 'em! )

I have a friend, also a pro, who had exactly the opposite experience. His oil work was never very good, because he dislikes oils a bunch, for a whole range of reasons. He was only using them because he felt that was what a pro "should" use. But his acrylic work is spectacular! (Needless to say, he no longer bothers with the oils.)

If you're comfortable working with your tools, they won't get in your way, and your creativity will be able to shine. If you're not, that will show in the work that you do.

Which is why I highly recommend downloading the demos, and playing with them for a while, and seeing if you like one program or another before you invest any money in any of them.

Cottontell, you are a most curious personality. In several other post questions (quite desperate and much needed) you answered my question more completely and precisely than others answers I have received. I appreciated the effort and hope I receive your attention to my Second Life tech questions in the future.

On the other hand when someone does not share your point of view you regress to the name calling fairly quickly. Fanboy? You apparently did not read my post very well. If you knew me you would know my level of expertise in these matters and you would also know that I give that expertise free of charge and to just about anyone who asks.

My 15+ years with Photoshop and the fact that it makes up the majority of my sub-content and end content workflow would seem to indicate that I have a more than marginal experience. Everything on my desktop is there because it works and works well with other apps that exist there as well, that includes my computer and the peripherals I use. The moment any one of those items fails to meet that criteria I will replace them. I don't use anything because someone else likes it or expects me to use it.

I notice that you did not respond to any actual issues I raised technical, strategic or customer service related, is that the heart of the pattern? When someone is outside your range of expertise you go into attack mode? That would be too bad because when you are helpful you are outstanding. Raise the bar and be your better self.

I've used both PSP and PS and before I started working in the graphic design field I preferred PSP. However, all the places I worked at required PS and I soon learned that it is (or was, back in the day) a much more robust program. You could do sooooo much more with it, especially as the new versions came out. Though I have to be honest... I like PS 5.5 best. I've tried the newer releases and they all have something about them I just can't stand. I stick with the old shoe and keep a more recent version available for when I want to do fine text manipulations.

I make it a point to strive to do equal amounts of good and bad. Which is actually quite a hard thing to do. If I find that I'm helping too much, I'll start lashing out at people. Please don't take any personal offense. Its intentional.