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Preface
I have had many people write to me after watching my TV series asking what programs and tools I use. I purposely avoided talking about them during the programs for a couple of reasons.
One, I wanted to focus attention on the process of making art and enhancing photos rather than on the tools. I wanted them to be like those traditional painting shows with a twist. I didn't want them to become lectures on how particular software programs worked.
Secondly, computer programs change almost before you can get them installed; and I felt that, if I placed too much attenton on the computer programs, the shows would be outdated before they got on the air.
Another reason for taking this approach was that there are now dozens of good programs on the market ranging in price from a few dollars to several hundred, and most of them can do many of the same things, and it seems each one does some things better than others.
The computer program you have or might purchase depends on several things: how much you have to spend, what kind of computer you have, and whether you plan to do specialized work, to name a few. The same applies to equipment. Space might also be a factor.
Over the years I have used a variety of tools and most of them suited me at the time. I have wandered from Apple computer to several brands running DOS or Windows and now I'm back again to Macintoshes.
Each generation of computer is significantly more powerful and spawn better and better software and hardware peripherals. The tools I am fond of today may change tomorrow. I don't expect to ever be entirely satisfied with what I have now.
Having said this, however, I must admit that the tools today are very, very good; and improvements, especially in software, are measured in smaller and smaller increments. And I am a happier man than I used to be.
So, with this preface I'll tell you what I am using today, and why. I want to emphasize that these tools are the ones that are right for me at the moment. I have used lots of good software and you might easily find software that suits you better than what I use.
Printers
Let me recommend two sites.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/
Here you can find quality, independent reviews of cameras, printers, scanners and other things.
http://www.inkjetart.com/archival_inks.html
This place sells archival inks and papers and keeps abreast of top quality printers. They have a self-interest here, but nevertheless the information is good.
My current favorite printer is a Canon i9100. It uses 6 colors in separate ink cartridges. It does up to 13" x 19" borderless prints. Canon says prints made on this machine will hold up for 25 years with proper care when using their inks and papers.
I also had an Epson 2000P that's much slower. It's a 6 color printer also, but used a color cartridge with 5 colors plus one black cartridge. It does 13 x 19s or 13 up to 48" banners.
Epson claims prints will last 100 years or more with their inks and papers. I love being able to print panoramas, but the Epson colors in this particular printer don't pop off the page. That's because it uses pigment based inks, something few inkjet printers do. Most use dye based inks.
The pigmented inks are why the Epson prints have a long life.
Epson has a wide assortment of papers. Canon has few and those are only photo papers. I use Epson paper in my Canon and am reasonably sure that I'm not endangering the life of the print by mixing inks and paper in this case.
When I first started doing this I experimented with an Hewlett Packard printer and heavy watercolor papers that I bought at the local art supply store. Those I have hanging on my wall have faired well.
Inkjet speciality papers have a coating on them. These coatings may have something to do with preserving the inks, but I know from experimenting that these coatings keep the inks from seeping into the paper. Inks printed on them stay bright and the images sharp.
But printing on regular watercolor paper can be especially nice for some images. Good paper is at least as important to preservation, more so, I suspect, than applied coatings.
There are many places you can send out and have gicleé prints made. These can be pretty expensive, but you can make prints in nearly any size on many kinds of papers and canvases. Do some Google searches for these places.
I discovered recently that Kinkos, at least at some locations, is now doing large, quality prints on watercolor paper and canvas that they claim are archival. I paid $20 for an 18" x 22" print on watercolor paper.
Color
No matter what printer you buy, spend some extra cash on "Monaco EZ Color," (http://www.monacosys.com/) a program that enables you to create color profiles for your printer, scanner, and monitor.
Printer manufacturers love to set their profiles to over enhance color so that it's next to impossible to make a print that's true to the color you see on the monitor.
Cameras
More new cameras come out daily so it's hard to keep up.
Much depends on how much you want to spend, whether you want to have interchangeable lenses, whether you want it compact, etc.
When you create art from your photos, image resolution isn't a major factor. I'd recommend getting a camera that will capture an image at 3.5 megapixels or better.
Today it is easy to find point and shoot cameras under a $200 that capture images at 8 megapixels.
Any of these manufacturers make great cameras in this price range: Canon, Nikon, Sony, Kodak, and Fuji.
You can find good analysis and reviews of cameras at these sites:
Software
Primarily I use two programs, Adobe Photoshop and Corel's Painter.
Photoshop is the Cadillac of digital darkroom programs; however, there are many other good programs available.
Currently, there are more available for Windows PCs than for the Mac. Photoshop is expensive. The current version is $650 or $170 for an upgrade from the previous version. It is much cheaper for students and educators.
If you plan to do photography professionally then I'd recommend spending the cash for Photoshop.
Adobe also sells a "lite" version of Photoshop called Photoshop Elements for about $100. Both programs can be downloaded and previewed before buying them.
Another excellent photo enhancing program is Paintshop Pro by JASC. It retails for $100 or less. It can also be downloaded and previewed. Unfortunately, it isn't available for Mac users.
As I said, there are many other photo enhancing programs, some of which are embedded as part of a larger program or set of programs. One is Corel's Graphics Suite that contains two major programs . . . Draw and Photopaint. The latter is very good.
Deneba's Canvas combines the features of a drawing program, photo program, page layout program and is very good. I also give this company very high marks for tech support, listening to their customers, and quality updates and fair pricing.
Adobe Illustrator and Freehand, which they acquired from Macromedia are also good.
I mentioned Corel's Painter in the beginning. There are few software programs, virtually none in fact, that come close to doing what it does - - certainly none in its price range.
It sells for $300 on the Corel site, but you can find it for as little as $100 at some software outlets.
It is a painting program and is designed for more for artists who want to paint than for photographers who need a digital darkroom. That said, however, there are features in it that I find easier to use for photos than in Photoshop.
If you are only interested in working with photos, don't worry about getting this program.
If money is an issue, I recommend buying a not so current version at a software outlet or on ebay, and if you like the program, then upgrade from there. Corel has an ebay store where you can find some exceptional deals on their discontinued software. http://stores.ebay.com/corelstore
eBay buying tips
Here are some tips for buying on ebay. If the item you want is being sold by an individual or company that you've never heard of, be sure to check the sellers' ratings. Don't buy from anyone who has only a few or no ratings, or from those who have less than a 98% favorable rating.
The buyer rating system used by ebay provides a strong incentive for the seller to do his or her best to make you a happy customer.
Use Paypal as a method of payment whenever possible and make sure the seller is registered with Paypal.
The advantage of using Paypal is that it stands between you and the seller so the seller doesn't have access to any of your financial information.
If the seller fails to send the product or it is faulty or pirated software, it is possible to recover your money. It is even possible to insure yourself against none delivery.
Be sure to read Paypal's fine print.
Tablet
I use a Wacom tablet. I have two. One is 9" x 12," and the other is 12" x 18."
I like them both. The pens are wireless and are pressure sensitive. The pressure sensitive feature is very important and useful, especially if you use a painting program like Corel's Painter.
Perhaps the nicest part of dealing with Wacom is that the tech support people actually answer the phone AND call you back if necessary.
What more could you ask for?
Scanner
I use an Epson Expression 1600 equipped with a transparency adapter. It's a great scanner but Epson was VERY slow about updating its software for OS10.
I chose this scanner because I could get it with a transparency attachment large enough to make high resolution, 8" x 11" contact sheets of my slides. I can scan individual slides at a decent resolution, too.
LEARNING RESOURCES
I haven't created any detailed tutorials for specific programs. Here is a list of resources that I've heard are especially good.
Painter
Host Jin Brown is one of the leading advocates of Painter. She knows Painter inside out and has created some superb brushes for the program..
http://www.eclecticacademy.com
I know nothing about this outfit personally, but here's what Shirley Hillard said about them on a Painter forum.
"The absolute best classes for Painter I have found so far. They are ongoing, and just $20. They are very detailed, hands-on instructions, and talk about things I haven't seen anywhere else.
I refer to them again and again. It is my opinion that so many people doing digital art tend to get caught up in all the technical "tricks", and end up with work that looks overworked, too much like "computer art", and therefore looks like everyone else's 'computer art.'
I try hard to keep my work simple and looking hand painted. It's hard to resist all the temptations Painter offers, and it's easy to get sidetracked. However, if you have a strong sense of how you want your work to look, Painter can make it SO EASY to achieve, and SO FAST.
That's what I love about it."
Shirley Hillard, Mamoo House
Cher Threinen-Pendarvis has authored a series of very helpful books on Painter entitled "Painter WOW," one for each version of Painter. You can find them on Amazon
Corel also lists resources that include video tutorials on its site.
PhotoShop
Adobe lists several training resources for Photoshop on its website.
