Photoshop???

Can anyone tell me which version of photoshop i need to make clothes (ex. the advanced version)??

Any of Photoshop will work. I'd recommend not using 7.0 though. Adobe did a little experimentation with that version, attempting to automate some processes that are much better suited to be done by hand. The automation causes some bad artifacts ("artifact" is graphics lingo for "bad stuff that ends up in the image that you didn't put there on purpose". The good news if you have that version is that Adobe acknowledged the mistake not long after 7.0 was released, and the free 7.0.1 update patch has been on their downloads site every since. If 7.0 is what you have, update now.

Oh, and keep in mind Photoshop Elements is NOT Photoshop. The only thing they have in common is their name. The way I usually explain it is Photoshop is to Photoshop Elements as MS Word is to Wordpad. They share some of the same buttons, and they share a few words in their names, but they're not at all the same thing. Stay away from Photoshop Elements. It's not suitable for SL purposes.

out of all of them which do you recommend?

If you have PS 7, don't worry, it's a great program, just get the update to 7.0.1 like Chosen said. It will do everything you need.

Of course, if you're getting PS new, then get the latest and greatest--PS CS 2 (or PS 9.0)

Really, though, having used Photoshop extensively for years, I see no HUGE advantage for clothing design over any of the new features of CS2 compared to the earlier versions. PS 7 introduced the healing brush, but that is not a huge thing for clothing design. So even PS 6 could work fine.


The main thing you want are layers and the clone tool, which I know are available way back in PS. However, it's still nice having the latest stuff when others put tutorials showing the latest software.

Now, if you plan to apply photos as part of your clothing, then you'll really want the liquify tool, which I believe came out with PS CS 1 (or PS , but don't quote me on that, I skipped CS 1.

So, I guess I'm not helping you narrow it down. If money were no object, the no-brainer would be CS 2. But perhaps find a cheap version of 7, or CS1 for now and upgrade to CS3 when it comes out.

Ummm, I've found that CS2 does have all kinds of advantages. The more I use it, the more I find them. For instance, it has something called "Smart Objects," which allow you to change the size of elements non-destructively, and to have local instances of the elements in your work.

So, for instance, if you made a button a Smart Object, you could pull out a whole row of them, size them, decide that you wanted them a little larger, and resize them without worrying about jaggies. You could also decide that you wanted to change the button style, open the Smart Object, edit it, and all the buttons in your design would be changed instantly to reflect that editing.

Of course, if you don't want that to happen, you can make a new Smart Object via Copy, and when you change it, only the instances (if any) of the new object will change.

You can even make the button in Illustrator, save it as a Vector Smart Object, and all the buttons will be as sharp as possible, no matter what size you make them, or the image.

I've also saved Vector Smart Objects of the "templates," (which I made in LightWave) so that they are razor sharp at whatever resolution I choose to work in. (I was in the process of getting these ready to post when Real Life intervened with a killer deadline. I'm currently stealing time from learning the new version of Painter and several plug-ins for that project, since the initial series of pictures have been successfully delivered, but will get back to the templates as soon as I can.)

Anyway, there are all kinds of advantages to it, especially if you go beyond clothing design.

At least, that's been my experience.

I highly suggest CS2.

But hey, you can make clothes even with Paint that comes in Windows hun!
It's up to you!

It also depends on your style. Personaly, I hate photosourced. Unless you really can't draw.
But if you can, why not draw it all! Yay!

Good luck.

I agree that CS2 was a worthwhile upgrade -- but if you are just looking to get something to make clothes in SL, you should take a look at PSP (Paint Shop Pro), which from what I understand has a smaller learning curve than Photoshop, or even GIMP, which is a freeware graphics program which from what I understand in the latest version rivals Photoshop for usability, etc.

Robin you are a genius.

I use your templates exclusively for clothes, as they seem to work the same way I think.
Thanks for the tip about the smart ojects and be sure and let me know when you post the new ones. Please?

I highly recommend the GIMP. It's free and every bit as good as photoshop.

http://www.gimp.org

I also use a little known vector illustration program called Xara Xtreme.
(free http://www.xara.com )
It's not free, but it's under $100.

For natural media, I recommend
Corel Painter IX (expensive http://www.corel.com/painterix )
Artweaver (free http://www.artweaver.de/index.php?en_download )
ArtRage (free http://www.ambientdesign.com/artrage.html ).

Also. Get a tablet!
Your first purchase should be a Wacom tablet. It probably comes with enough demo and light software to get you started anyways.
( http://www.wacom.com )

Got a Wacom last year, and have never looked back. I'm old, I've worked construction and have arthritic beat up hands...the tablet has helped not only with graphics but general usage as well. The mouse-work on it is so smooth and has taken alot of the pain out of 'puter work..

Helps gaming too. The pen has a function that can bring up graphic programs with a click.


Eh 'nuff raving..back to the regualry scheduled mayhem

Peace and brownies folks!

Jase

Leave it Robin to show us something useful in CS2 that I've not used!!!! I've not tried Smart Objects yet, nor do I think I knew they were there!!! So, see, when people give us cool solutions, you have to have the latest and greatest to benefit from all of them.

However, you can survive without it!! I have! LOL


Oh, and Robin, I LOVE your hair. I bought the ponytail and that ALL i wear!! Thanks!

Are you using Xara for SL Graphics? If so, can I ask how you are managing Alpha channels?

I love The Gimp!

I have PS 4.0 and it always crashes on my new computer. I'm not planning on shelling out any money and I don't see any reason to do so since The Gimp is in existence.

I love the seamless pattern generator! It is sort of random but is great for making textures.

I've read complaints about how the layers work...but I have had no problems with them.

I recently bought an Adesso Tablet. It was cheaper than a Wacom and a lot bigger....although i don't think that they need to be very large. They are very fun to use when drawing clothing and skins.

I had a Wacom tablet, A5 I think. I was too small for me, I never got used to it no matter how much I tried, so I sold it again. Had it been a little bit bigger, I'd love every inch of it. They are top quality anyway, really nice hardware.

The Gimp is very good. maybe not "every bit as good as Photoshop," but still very good.

The problem with the GIMP if you are looking to use it for SL is that the tutorials and books are all written for Photoshop. If you want to follow how someone makes ___ in photoshop, you'll have to find the same functionality in GIMP, and that's not always possible. Sometimes the features just aren't there, or are called something different, or are missing a parameter, or the parameters are scaled differently so the numbers you are given are meaningless.

Still, it's a good tool and fully capable of doing anything you'll want to do for SL. Just, you have to roll your own. I'm using it.

With Gimpshop (which is also free), the GIMP interface looks and feels very close to Photoshop.

Icon, menu and function names are all changed to the Photoshop equivalents and positions. E.g., "Magic Wand" instead of "Fuzzy Select", and even the keyboard shortcuts are remapped.

See the link above for comparison pictures.

-peekay