}<font face="courier new,courier"></font>o.k. i know this is going to sound like a stupid question, but i was wondering what you do when you edit photos? what do you add? and stuff like that. i hope this isnt a wrong thread and let me know. thanks}

Not necessarily a stupid question, but one which is much to broad answer easily. You'll have to ask a much more specific editing question to get much of an answer, and it would also help to post a photo of which you are wanting to edit. <BR> <BR>That said, a BASIC photo edit usually involves checking and/or adjusting a photos levels, curves, and sharpness. This is usually done in Photoshop.

you can also adjust color correction and saturation. other than that, it depends what you need to correct on the photos.

I agree, saturation, lightness etc. are fixed. You might want to start with PS elements 5 to get the feel of PS and working with layers. <BR> <BR>Before <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/87667/438375.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR>after a little slimming <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/87667/438376.jpg" alt="Upload">

Photoshop CS2 or CS3. It's a bit high end, but it's like the biggest editor out there. <BR> <BR>It's a good skill to have. <BR> <BR>To start, just the program itself is good enough. As you learn, you'll find out what add ons you need.

For me I make the normal levels corrections and all that, but the biggest thing is that I have to straighten them. No matter how hard I try I always get a few that are crooked.

chase, its about creating a digital workflow that you just get into the habit of doing. As shelby said, you want to adjust your levels, curves, color balance, sharpness, etc. as needed and generally in that order. After that you get into the world of retouching, digital alterations, composites, etc. it's endless what you can do.

Rich, <BR> <BR>what's with the mask? looks to me like the first shot in the one you altered! LOL <BR> <BR>But that is a good example of the power of PS.

Just hiding the innocent <IMG SRC="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":-)" BORDER=0>

What is a good book for PS CS for people who want to "self teach"? <BR> <BR>Kelly (weskel)

Bookwise anything by Scott Kelby and there's a ton of video tutorials all over the web. The tutorials on Lynda.com are very good and many of the basic ones are free. <BR> <BR>Photoshop (at least to me) will always be overwhelming. I'd take the approach of trying to learn different parts of it and mastering those rather then some all in one workflow. There is a multitude of ways to do the same thing and it can be very daunting. Best thing to start with and essential in my mind is learning to use layers.

I agree with the Photoshop Elements suggestions. I believe the 5.0 (newest) version can be had for less than $100. I've relatively new to digital photography (actually photography in general...3 years) and I can't imagine needing to do more than what I have in PS Elements. <BR> <BR>This was my most recent trip all edited (mostly jpeg) with PSE 5.0. <BR><a href="http://www.pbase.com/eubanks01/europe" target="_blank">http://www.pbase.com/eubanks01/europe</a> <BR> <BR>Maybe I could do better editing with CS 2 or 3 but the benefits wouldn't seem (IMO) to outweigh the time and cost of learning all the additional functions. Flame on! :-)

Nice work Jarrett! those are some beautiful scenes, it must have been a blast shooting them. I've got to get over to europe before I croak!

Haha! That's Rich. That means a lot coming from you as you're stuff is always top notch. I've still got tons of pictures to go through as I probalby haven't even looked at half of the 1,100 I took yet. <BR> <BR>Europe was a blast. We spent 2 weeks traveling around Switzerland, Italy, Austria, and Germany. Who knew there was surfing in land-locked Munich?? It sure isn't hard to find stuff to take pictures of over there. Thanks for looking!