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    Photo editing software?

    I need suggestions for a good, but not too complex, photo editing software for use with an Epson V600 scanner. Something that doesn't have a steep learning curve. Basically I want to clean up old photos. Appreciate any help. Right now I'm still using High Sierra but will probably update to Mohave soon.
    Sara Bradley Mason
    kywiaz at gmail dot com

    #2
    Photoshop is the king, but complex and expensive. Pixelmator is very good, and not too bad, price wise. GIMP is good and free.
    rMBP, 15", 2.8GHz i7, 16G RAM, Reunion 12.0, iPhone 12 Pro Max, ReunionTouch

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      #3
      Please be a bit more specific. What kind of editing do you foresee doing? I'd be happy to share knowledge based on your response.
      Bob White, Mac Nut Since 1985, Reunion Nut Since 1991
      Jenanyan, Barnes, White, Duncan, Dunning, Luce, Hedge and more
      iMac/MacBookAir M1 - iPhonePro/iPadPro - Reunion13 & RT

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        #4
        No reason to get the full-on Photoshop. I use Photoshop Express but as a result of that post, have found that now it's available only for iOS devices (but at least it's free). Here's a link that could help, 9 Ways to Get By Without Photoshop on your Mac.
        In 1987, two brothers, Thomas and John Kroll, began work on an image editing software, which was eventually acquired in 1988 and released to the world in 1990 by Adobe. That software was Photoshop 1.0, initially exclusive for the Macintosh platform. Over the years, Photoshop became a great wizard of image editing and gained application rockstar status.


        And another (click on it). Alternatives to Adobe Photoshop Express for all platforms

        Whatever you use, make sure it has a "LEVELS" adjustment in whatever section is about light/contrast, etc. I learned about it taking a Photoshop class years ago and it can make a huge difference in final quality of photos. Can eliminate messing around with Brightness and Contrast settings, with much better results.

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          #5
          One problem with giving this kind of advice is that probably each of us knows just one of these tools really well. I, for example, spend many hours each week working with Pixelmator (because I do art history lectures) and I would very much recommend it - but then I don't know the alternatives. Pixelmator has a very good Repair tool for taking out blemishes, and a perhaps over-enthusiastic Auto-Enhance, but you soon learn how to tame it.

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            #6
            I've been surprised at how much Preview can now do, using the markup tool features. (Looks like a pen tip). Use View -> Show Markup Toolbar to see it, then add the markup feature with View -> Customize Toolbar... Especially helpful is the Adjust Color tool, the prism-like icon.

            It's very flexible — 9 sliders, plus white point/black point/gamma triangles. Not quite as extensive as Photos, but it does everything I need except fine rotation and image de-skewing, for which I use GraphicConverter. And it does it without creating Photo's umpteen files, or the need to export, etc.

            GraphicConverter can certainly do it all, but it has a very steep learning curve!

            I often adjust old documents found on Ancestry to removed the strong color casts they have. Also works on color photos with tints. Adjust the Temperature slider toward blue, and Tint slightly toward Pink to superimpose the right edges of the R, G, and B curves often gets very close to paper white. Often works better than GraphicConverter's white point tool.
            -- Paul ... Reitz immigrants in America

            Reunion 13.0 build 201127 on
            MBPr 15" mid-2015, macOS 10.14.6
            MBP 15" Mid-2010, macOS 10.13.6

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              #7
              What do you mean by 'clean up'? I also have an Epson V600. I scan in professional mode and turn on color restoration and unsharp mask. For all but the worst of my old photos, I get excellent results. When the photo needs a little more help, I use Pixelmator. I used to use Photoshop elements, but dropped it a few iterations ago. I decided that for the price, Pixelmator did what I need. I've also used Preview for some quick adjustments, particularly to scanned documents. And truthfully, the editing tools in Photos does a pretty good job for most things.
              Researching DEBEE, FRERICHS/FREDERICKS, HAHNENENKAMP, JANCO, KOLK, PETRINI, WEISS

              http://familytreesandbranches.weebly.com
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                #8
                Originally posted by Susan Freas Rogers View Post
                Whatever you use, make sure it has a "LEVELS" adjustment in whatever section is about light/contrast, etc. I learned about it taking a Photoshop class years ago and it can make a huge difference in final quality of photos.
                I've used levels, but not much. I've actually found curves to be much more useful and to give better results, particularly when working with colors.


                Researching DEBEE, FRERICHS/FREDERICKS, HAHNENENKAMP, JANCO, KOLK, PETRINI, WEISS

                http://familytreesandbranches.weebly.com
                http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.....com/~ilrootz/

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                  #9
                  Another one you might want to take a look at, if you just need to do some quick restoration of old photos, is Vivid-Pix Restore. I haven't used it because Pixelmator and Photos pretty much has me covered, but I've seen results that others have achieved, and if i was looking for something now, I'd certainly download the trial version and try it out.
                  Restore your old photos, scanned prints, documents and other staff with our easy-to-use software! Try free 30 days trial! Valuable price $49.99!
                  Researching DEBEE, FRERICHS/FREDERICKS, HAHNENENKAMP, JANCO, KOLK, PETRINI, WEISS

                  http://familytreesandbranches.weebly.com
                  http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.....com/~ilrootz/

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                    #10
                    You might want to look at VueScan by Hamrick Software (hamrick.com). This is actually software for scanning to any new or old scanners. It has a few tools to work with the photos being scanned. I find it better than the Epson scanning software. There are 3 pricing tiers...I have the 2nd one. There is an unlimited free trial. Not sure what is offered in it. Just a thought.
                    Kaye Mushalik
                    -Muschalik (Poland), Stroop, Small (Ireland), Fitzsimons/Fitzsimmons (Ireland) Pessara/Pesaora/Pesarro/Pizarro (from Germany)
                    -Dorrance, Eberstein, Bell
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                      #11
                      -VueScan allow me to load up my scanner glass with multiple photos, and during the preview adjusts levels for each photo to get as much information out of the scan as possible. That gets me a good image 95% of the time.

                      -The few times I need to make further adjustments the curves in Apple Photos is more than enough.

                      I've been using Photoshop since the 1980's and it's become such a ponderous unintuitive bloat of a program I avoid it at all costs.

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                        #12
                        Apple's built in app Image Capture is a free and quite respectable alternative to VueScan, which has become too expensive, and major updates are not free.
                        rMBP, 15", 2.8GHz i7, 16G RAM, Reunion 12.0, iPhone 12 Pro Max, ReunionTouch

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