My Digital Art World

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Dreamscape (Merge & Picasa)

"I don't believe in art, I believe in artists."~Marcel Duchamp

Art Cross 2 (Merge & TwistedBrush)

"Enthusiasm, like the breath of God, transforms everything."~Gail Sher

Floral Art 7 (Merge & Picasa)

"A color is as strong as the impression it creates."~Ivan Albright

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Floral Art 6 (Merge & Picasa)

"Simplicity is the greatest adornment of art."~Albrecht Durer

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Church Art 4 (Picasa & Merge)

"Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing."~Camille Pissarro

Church Art 3 (Picasa & Merge)

"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."~J.K. Rowling

Church Art 2 (Picasa & Merge)

"An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision."~James MacNeill Whistler

Church Art 1 (Picasa & Merge)

"The meaning of a figurative work of art lies in its abstract organization."~Frederick Gore

Monday, December 10, 2007

Foliage (Picasa & ImageReady)

"I cannot do without something greater than I, something that is my life - the power to create."~Vincent van Gogh

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Skyline 3 (Merge & ImageReady)

"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul and paints his own nature into his pictures."~Henry Ward Beecher

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Skyline 2 (Merge & ImageReady)

"I try to apply colors like words that shape poems, like notes that shape music."~Joan Miro

Monday, December 3, 2007

Skyline 1 (Merge & ImageReady)

"Art without color would lose much of its purpose."~Andrew Loomis

The Cross (Merge & Photoscape)

"Art teaches nothing but the significance of life."~Henry Miller

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Floral Art 5 (Merge & ImageReady)

"Colors speak all languages."~Joseph Addison

Floral Art 4 (Adobe ImageReady)

"The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work."~Emile Zola

My Top Photo Editing Softwares

Sorry, Photoshop is not on my list. First of all, I can't afford it (the genuine package may cost thousands of pesos in the Philippines), second, I find it complicated and, third, this list is all about freewares.

I rely heavily on photo editing softwares because, admittedly, most of my photos are far from perfect shots. Of course, I have to do something about it. And I become like an aesthetic surgeon (reminds me of the TV series Nip/Tuck) ready to overhaul a patient, nope, simply ready to put some retouching and enhancements. Hence, these photo editors come handy when sharpening edges, deepening sky colors and the like.

Browsing the web, I came across four softwares that are offered for FREE (bless those developers!) which I highly recommend because, aside from their zero price tags, I have personally used them in my works, and found them convenient, user-friendly, and basically address my photo editing needs. Not in order of preference and just citing individual unique features, they are:

1. Picasa - Have been a user of this for two years now and it is the only software I use to keep tab and neatly organize the thousands of photos I still keep in my PC's hard disk. Has all the basics to adjust sharpness, contrast, brightness and simple effects to provide glow, selective blur and convert colored photos to black and white and sepia. But its most nifty feature is straightening a slanted horizon in just a few clicks. Bravo!

2. Light Artist - Handy for the creative at heart. Add a sun, a moon or any light source to your photo. Adjust its size and intensity and pick any color or shape for your light. Intense!

3. Merge - For pure play and experimentation, mix two pictures and come up with a unique image. Has options on blending, where to place the second image, adjust image opacity, contrast, and other merge effects. Sheer fun!

4. Photoscape - Powerful and versatile. Does about everything from basic editing to the more advance enhancements and effects. It is a package of editor, viewer, raw converter and combiner. What I like most about it is the easy photo resizing and ability to create "backlighting " effects, brightening and enhancing dark areas of your photo and producing surreal glows in subjects which can be adjusted. Dramatic!

Now worth mentioning are three other photo editors that I use extensively and are offered either as shareware or trial editions, namely:

5. FxFoto - Has the essential editing functions and can also organize, enhance and do layout, but I use it mainly for overlaying text on images (like the above "half" self-portrait), and for its various framing and border styles. Versatile!

6. Photo Pos Pro - If you want to get down "photoshop" style then this is it. "Cut" faces and heads and place it on another body. Transport a person or subject to another background. Create graphics, merge images, put layers and add effects. Creative!

7. TwistedBrush - With hundreds of pre-set brushes, erasers, cloners, blenders, pastels, pencils, backgrounds, textures, layers, patterns, pallettes and everything else, your creativity will only be limited by your imagination. This is one powerful and extensive package. Edit, create, enhance, manipulate, retouch, paint and draw, there are boundless possibilities of what you can do with this stuff. Thumbs up!

There are many other free photo editing softwares out there but I haven't tested them yet. I probably will sometime. This blog is a showcase of what the above tools can do when you put your heart and mind to it.