Newbie

NNN635398122923831183

• July 28, 2014 11:22

Hi - Many years ago I was into photography with a Zenit E and Pentax KX which were of course film camera's. Today, retired and into travel but want the best I can get from my pictures using compact digital as I ditched SLR as too heavy to carry on holidays. I've a few compacts but latest is Sony RX100 II. I'm only an amature but wishing to bring all my pictures onto hard disk and some need retouching, the best needing things like objects removed. I also want the best from my travels and RX100 II and so today (well a few months ago!) only shoot RAW. No expert but I loved Microsoft Digital Image as it was so simple to use. It will not install on my W7 pc so I bought Painshop Pro X3 some years ago though no good for RAW. I read today that many use Photoshop and Lightroom, the latter for RAW conversion and Photoshop for removing objects or some editing. However I also read people are dropping photoshop Elements as functionality is being dropped to persuade users to subscribe on line to the full version. I also read Lightroom may move in that direction too.
So I have just bought C1 Express after reading and seeing picture comparisons where C1 RAW conversion (in standard form) is way "better" than Lightroom and DXO. So for the offer deal at the moment I thought it worth a try and so far all I can say is it is much better than the Sony (free) RAW convertor in that I like the picture result and detail much better. So far I've not done any editing with C1 at all, only tried a few RAW to jpg conversions.

Now my main questions:
I've seen lovely pictures where for example they can change all the picture to black and white but retain some parts of the picture in colour - can C1 express do this or do I need the full version?

Owning C1 Express (or the full version) do I still need something like Paintshop Pro X6 to remove objects or cut and past or whatever I may need to do? (still have learning to do...so far mostly removing unwanted objects or cut and past between images....I do this in PSPX3 at the moment. Would love it if C1 full version does this and save me buying PSPX6 as well)

Finally, any books I can buy on C1? I've yet to learn how to use it and can see there are video's but a book is a nice reference I can write on.


Any comments or advice appreciated.

Kind Regards

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  Garth Klatt

  • August 04, 2014 21:42

  I am probably even noobier than you but have been seriously involved with photography since about 1960 using mostly Nikon gear. I recently downloaded C1 Pro in demo mode. They are very generous with a 60 day trial that gives you realistic amounts of time to experiment. My principle photo editing package is Paintshop Pro X6. I used to use Photoshop up to version CS6 but find Paintshop technically superior and more efficient in use - in my circumstances at least. The only shortcoming is in its RAW Lab which needs better controls fully to exploit my NEF files, which is why I am trying C1. It is my impression C1 may prove an excellent companion to PSP X6 but not a replacement. PSP has a vast number of highly useful processes/features not implemented in C1. I am thinking of the fantastic scripting, compatibility with .8bf plugins, clone brush and much more.
  
  My several days experience with C1 suggests it really is best considered a very sophisticated RAW converter rather than an all powerful image preparation suite. It is while an image is still in its RAW state that the best recovery of highlight detail (for example) and optimization of some other important parameters is possible and that's where C1 really shines. After I have the developed TIF with the most critical image parameters tweaked, I find PSP a good deal more intuitive and capable. Note that C1 conveniently supports your identifying another application (such as PSP) which it will automatically invoke for further processing of the developed image. That tells me they are being very honest in not trying to persuade you they think C1 is all you need and are making it easy for you to use something else additionally. It's looking like I will eventually have both. I am sure you know PSP is inexpensive even at full cost and there are often promotions with a steep discount even off that. I have seen it as low as $39.95 and there is no annual/monthly fee. This has to be the best value in the photo industry.
  
  Best wishes,
  jh

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  NNN635398122923831183

  • September 14, 2014 17:02

  Hi - Thanks - Bought C1 Express version and PSPX6 so trying out C1 at the moment.
  
  First impressions were great - I altered some RAW pictures and exported the results in jpg and very happy.
  Now trying to adjust a jpg and export it. Done a few and all works fine but now for some reason it appears if I adjust a jpg altering brightness, shadow and saturation and then try to export it fails! Well in the folder where the file is to be exported to I see a 8k jpg in progress (cannot open it as C1 I guess is using it) but and hour later still no progress? Checked Cpu and its idle and appears doing nothing 1% ? PC is i5 4 core with 8GB of RAM and loads of spare memory/RAM/Disk space! (Windows 7 Prof 64 bit and 64 bit version of C1 express).
  
  As far as I can see C1 has just stopped exporting though it tells me it is though no progress on progress bar????
  
  Tried a few things like closing C1 (tells me it's busy but still allows me to close it - just loses WIP)
  Tried pc reboot too.
  
  Next time I use C1 it seems to allow some jpgs to be exported .....need to play more to determine what is killing C1 but at the moment it seems if I adjust a jpg ina few ways C1 appears to do nothing when I try to export?
  
  I was thinking from now on I'll only shoot RAW and use C1.
  But I have loads of jpgs so am in right in thinking I can use C1 to get best result then export to another jpg. My plan is to only use PSPX6 after this to remove blemishes or other. Seemed like a nice game plan until I found this issue?
  
  Any clues?
  
  Kind Regards

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