Hello everyone,
I know everyone will use different programs and different methods to make wallpapers, like for example, using GIMP, or quick masks + adjustment layers to change colours. After sourcing around the tutorials at the Photoshop Roadmap, I would just like to ask you about some methods I found there and why you use them.
Do you prefer certain image editing programs over the others and why? Perhaps you are the type that jumps from one program to another when doing up an image, why not stick to one program? Personally, for this, I like Photoshop, but I know many folks out there like GIMP...so feel free to discuss the various programs you use :)
What method would you use to edit colours? Why would you prefer one method over the others?
Do you think Photoshop's (or any other program) warping tool is useful? Does anyone use them for, say, making a girl's hair longer, or making a boy thinner? Perhaps it's better to just (gulp) redraw??
Lastly, what method would you use to select certain parts of a layer or to extract a character? Is the pen tool selection superior to the quick mask? Or maybe the magnetic lasso is the best? Would you use vector masks or layer masks and why? What do you say?
Please discuss :) I would like to hear your opinions.

I use Photoshop and prefer it, hands down. I've used PSP and GIMP in the past, and while they're good alternatives for low cost/free (especially GIMP), PS really holds up in that department. It's layout is easier to navigate, it's tools are easier to use, and there is a much larger group of resources for it. I use CS3 to avoid having to "jump" to ImageReady for animations and slices.

I use a lot of different methods for altering colors. My favorite is either Selective Coloring or Hue/Saturation. I still use Variations, Color Balance and Channel Mixer, but not as often. I think it takes a combination of the lot to get a desirable result.

I use the Pen Tool for extracting, mainly because it's the easiest to handle and comes out with the smoothest lines. Lasso tool is just so messy and tedious, while the BG eraser in PSP is great, it's awful in PS. In use layer/vector masks for all of my extracting, so thta I can tidy up spots easily if needed, and restore anything I may want back after extracting.

Just growing accustomed to Photoshop, I personally like it the best. As beebs said, it's layout is very easy to navigate, and if you know how to use it well, then you can definitely create high quality pieces. When it comes to vector images, Illustrator is another good program in the Adobe suite. Don't really have a personal preference on the actual methods. There's always different ways to go about it.

As far as your warp tool question goes. If you wanted to give a person extensions, I would highly suggest getting a couple different hair brushes (they're definitely out there) for that. If you have a tablet connected to your PC it makes life easier too when doing this.

With the extraction, I also have to agree with beebs on the pen tool. There's a lot of control if you know what you're doing with it. Of course, if you have a tablet, the lasso tool may also be optional. It'll be as though you're just making an outline around your selection if it were on paper in front of you.

I have a question I vectored my own Background for this wall I made. I made a bed, pillows and a room with it. The only thing is it still looks so pasted and cut out :( I still cant figure out how to blend each vectored piece into each other better. Are you using smudge tool after you vector on a section? Sorry for taking over your post lol I didnt want to start another thread about the same thing. I am currently using ps cs4. Thanks

For me anything related with image editing is rocket science so i came here maybe i'll learn something.

Hmmm...why doesn't anyone like the magnetic lasso tool...my elder sister recommended it a long time ago, when she saw me painstakingly erasing the borders from a character XD But now I use the pen tool, for the exact same reasons (greater control). I used to use the brush + eraser to extract characters, and actually got a very steady hand from that...but ever since I learnt about the pen tool, all my brush techniques flew out of the window.

But from the tutorials I read, a lot use the brush + quick mask or magnetic lasso. Some go one step further and use color range...I have no idea, every time I try that, disaster ensures.

Yes I love Photoshop too...because I grew up with it. I used it to create cr*ppy filter wallpapers when I was young...a lot of sentimental reasons there. I recently tried GIMP and...I don't know, it just felt so, so...so...cheap. Yeah. But I do understand that the other freeware has its fans too. Anyone wants to defend GIMP?? XD I would like to hear more about Illustrator though. I mean, I never knew it was a vector-based illustration program until a few days ago! Illustrator fans anyone?

dachtor: hair brushes?? @~1@ that's a first. Most of the time I try to envision what the extensions would look like and then make a desperate attempt to vector it out. Never knew you could use brushes for it...(I have learnt something new!! XD)

jenilea: If you're going to smudge, first DUPLICATE your vector, then rasterize the duplicate. This is just in case something goes horribly wrong, you still have the original. I'm not sure what other people would do though. A lot of people use painting techniques, but that's pretty advanced (I'm vector all the way). Another way is to blur the layers with gaussian blur, but it doesn't work all the time, mind you. FInally, I also do layer effects (multiply, linear burn etc.), texturing, opacity changes, color overlays or color changes (via HSL). If all else fails, just REDRAW -.-
For me, blending in is actually a lot of trial and error, you just have to remember to keep your original vectors so you can experiment all you want with the duplicated layers and still be able to revert back. I hope other people will give different opinions on this, because I hope to learn from them too.

I used to use GIMP simply because I haven't acquired photoshop at that time. GIMP is not bad for a freeware editing software, but photoshop simply has more options and photshop is easier to use. So i use Photoshop + additional add-ons like topaz and neat image to help me.

I use different options to achieve the color i want, such as changing blending options, opacity changes, levels, filters, clipping masks, adjustment layers, etc. having a wide range of ways to achieve a certain color would help a lot.

seventy2seconds

Do you think Photoshop's (or any other program) warping tool is useful? Does anyone use them for, say, making a girl's hair longer, or making a boy thinner? Perhaps it's better to just (gulp) redraw??

I do think that redraw is the way to go. warping would make it look unnatural imo.

seventy2seconds

Lastly, what method would you use to select certain parts of a layer or to extract a character? Is the pen tool selection superior to the quick mask? Or maybe the magnetic lasso is the best? Would you use vector masks or layer masks and why? What do you say? Please discuss :) I would like to hear your opinions.

I use pentool for when rendering large images since it has better control. i use magnetic lasso tool when its small. pentool is way better than quick mask. i would use vector and layer masks when the image is absurdly low quality.

Im still in the learning process of wallpapering but I use Gimp. Mainly due to funding. We have had photoshop in the past but over the years an installation disc has gotten lost and we can't afford to buy it again. The computer we had it on crashed and burned and has since been replaced. I use the magic scissor tool for cutting out. I have a hard time with the pen tool. I need to practice with it a bit more. I actually find Gimp rather easy to use. There are plenty of available brushes to use for it now that you can use photoshop brushes with it as well.

I am a Photoshop and Corel Painter person, I can't stand GIMP or other image editing software since they lack the power and options.

seventy2seconds

dachtor: hair brushes?? @~1@ that's a first. Most of the time I try to envision what the extensions would look like and then make a desperate attempt to vector it out. Never knew you could use brushes for it...(I have learnt something new!! XD)

Oh yeah. There are tons of different brushes out there for different things. Hair, explosions, blood splatters, chains (yes chains), different patterns, etc...so on and so forth. Just google them. I'm sure you can find them. They definitely make life easier especially if you're a digital painter.

GIMP has an advantage of surface top management, the layer before it will be easy accessed and provided you have a tablet, doing things with GIMP is excelsior speed.

Photoshop is more traditionalist friendly of the mouse and keyboard type, which I prefer.
I hate GIMP on the aspect that it is not user friendly to traditionalists to me, but the flurry of new effects readily embeded into the program are very useful, and design wise? it is excellent.

Compression rates with photoshop are also a bit lacking, compared with a GIMP file, which are equally detailed but not semi-compatible unless a plug in is installed. Photoshop however, has a very good surface where layers can get dragged about, which are much better than GIMP by a ton.

I personally prefer Photoshop surface.

Mysticmom2: Actually GIMP's pen tool can be confusing for Photoshop users -.- I am very used to Photoshop's pen tool, so when I went over to GIMP, I had a hard time adjusting because the controls are opposite to Photoshop's. Like, in Photoshop, I hold Ctrl to move the anchor points and just click to add an anchor point, but in GIMP, I have to hold Ctrl+Click to add an anchor point and move the anchor points around by just clicking. In GIMP there is the issue of the "last added point" too...somehow the program doesn't handle this very well. What really won me over to Photoshop was the shape vector function actually, which GIMP doesn't have.

But I know GIMP is versatile in the sense that it can open .psd files and handle Photoshop brushes. I think GIMP was coded with Photoshop in mind. Maybe the programmers behind GIMP wanted to protest against Photoshop's high price and made a free substitute? XD

Gr3i: Lacking "power and options"??

Omnidevil: Surface top management? I thought that Photoshop could handle layers pretty well too, just by selecting them?? I haven't really tried out GIMP's brushes, but some functions in GIMP are a bit inaccessible, like the scale/rotate function (unless I got it wrong).
Hmm actually maybe when Photoshop was first released, hardly anyone used a tablet so maybe their functions are more suited to the mouse, since that was the staple of user input (apart from the keyboard)? I know I would die if I had to do massive vectoring in GIMP -.- (I use the mouse)