Dvorak on 'Rinky-Dink' Software Rant 468
DigitalDame2 writes "John C. Dvorak explores the trials and tribulations of photo editing software and why it's so difficult to use. Unless you are using these programs full-time, you spend a lot of time trying to figure things out. Is it too much to ask for a simple and powerful software program that can do the 45 things photographers do most in Photoshop?"
whinge whinge (Score:3, Informative)
Oh I'm sorry, Picasa and iPhoto * (Score:5, Informative)
I installed Picasa on a person's computer who is a novice at using machines but wanted to make his photo's look a bit better. He nearly fell of the chair when he saw he could simply drag slider bars for highlighting and colouring changes, as simple as it could be.
Dvoark is a relic.
Irfanview (Score:4, Informative)
Weird name, useful utility.
Re:*cough*The Gimp*cough* (Score:4, Informative)
I've downloaded GIMP... had no idea what to do with it so after a couple sessions of randomly pushing buttons left it sit to gather stray 0s and 1s that collect on my HDD much like the dust gathers on my Windows 95 MCP book.
Re:Simple Image Resizing (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Simple Image Resizing (Score:3, Informative)
I also used to do simple image editing with ACDSee [acdsystems.com] too (JPEG conversion, resizing, rotating, etc).
Paint Shop Pro 5 (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Simple Image Resizing (Score:3, Informative)
Especially when converting from one format to another, I've found time and time again that imagemagick succeeds where other software fails.
They already made it, John. (Score:4, Informative)
Affect the things you can, John. --Scorpy
Re:Dear Dvorak (Score:2, Informative)
Just as everything else (Score:5, Informative)
Why is he expecting graphics applications to be any easier if he doesn't understand the basics of computer graphics?
And using PhotoShop as an example... Why would somebody who just wants to remove red-eye or crop a picture buy a $600 program? PhotoShop is complex because it is meant for professionals. Adobe also has Elements at $90, which DOES have the red-eye and easy cropping he want (and which is NOT an older version of Photoshop with name changed (apparently dvorak never even tried using it, since it blatently ovbious NOT what he describes it to be), but rather a recent version with drastically cut functionality and a "workflow"-like interface).
But apparently he wants something which only requires one button to read his mind and alter the photo accordingly. With great power comes great responsibility. Don't want the responsibility? Then don't demand the power!
But just to quote from the article:
"These programs assume that you are a dolt."
Dvorak... you ARE a dolt.
Put this guy on TechTV! (Score:3, Informative)
This guys level of expertise is showing. Users just want to remove an object from the scene? One of the hardest things to do in ANY package - I suppose he expects to just click a button, then click the object and voila! It's gone! The closest thing to that function is the selection wizard - and those that use it know how prone to "error" it can be.
Oh, yes, and you want to crop.
What a numpty - it's right there on the toolbar in Photoshop, on the left, third one down. RTFM! And it's one of the easiest tools to use. What do you want? Auto crop? Click a button and the software crops the image for you. Exactly how you want it?
Essentially, you want to optimize the photo.
Start with Ctrl-Shift-L.
Then you can try this [picturecorrect.com].
again, iPhoto (Score:2, Informative)
I also agree that Slashdot should stop posting the trash he writes.. he complains about Windows, hates Apple, and is nowhere near smart enough to even *try* using Linux (imagine the articles that would come out of that experience). Why should people care what he has to say? I certainly don't.
Re:Irfanview (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Irfanview (Score:2, Informative)
But yeah, it's a really great program. Too bad it's windoze-only and free-as-in-beer for personal use only.
Re:Simple Image Resizing (Score:3, Informative)
Re:article is -1 troll (Score:5, Informative)
It's OK. I saw the same thing among a lot of middle-aged men when I taught digital imaging workshops. He's probably tearing his hair out, looking for the "make my blurry picture sharp" filter, then worndering why it looks like shit after he applies "Sharpen Edges" eighteen times.
Photoshop is actually very easy to use, if you understand the basics of selecting, masking, and layering.
- Select an area you want to affect, apply a change.
- Mask areas you do not want to change - at different opacities, if necessary.
- Layer changes to create different effects as desired.
Photoshop is a professional's tool. Aperture is a professional's tool. Framemaker is a professional's tool.Word is rinky-dink software.
TextEdit is a utility.
It's time for Dvorak to retire. He's the cranky old man with hairy ears down the block of computer industry journalism.
Paint.NET (Score:1, Informative)
And does anyone even read his column when it's not on the front page of
Re:They already made it, John. (Score:2, Informative)
I talked to other Unix people at a convention I was at, no other had found another way. Luckily, one of them pointed out Phoenix Slides to me which is a simple image browser which *does* display my photos.
All in all I stick with my earlier comment, the only point of the program is to push the online services.
Re:They already made it, John. (Score:3, Informative)
John Dvorak on the Macintosh, 1984 (Score:5, Informative)
The whole concept and attitude towards icons and hieroglyphs is actually counterrevolutionary - it's a language that is hardly 'user friendly.' This type of machine was developed by hardware hackers working out of Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center. It has yet to find popular success. There seems to be some mysterious user resistance to this type of machine.
Re:*cough*The Gimp*cough* (Score:2, Informative)
Re:iPhoto is not that great (Score:5, Informative)
By date? (the "2005" is not a random number... it's the year. The subfolders 01 02 03
> It can't recognize duplicate photos and it will stupidly re-download all your photos every time unless you delete them from the camera
I haven't had this problem. iPhoto says something like P12312312.jpg is a duplicate. Skip? [Yes, No, Yes To All]. Click Yes To All.
Re:They already made it, John. (Score:1, Informative)
The only way I found to display photos was to make a slideshow or to display them in the retouching dialog.
You can also, um... DOUBLE CLICK THEM.
You know, the way you view documents in their folders. Or the way you launch applications.
Almost without exception:
"Select an item" ==> single click
"View/Edit an item" ==> double click
Re:They already made it, John. (Score:5, Informative)
Basically you open up iPhoto, you'll see the little flash of text saying, loading photos if you have thousands of them like me (if you don't you probably won't see it). You'll see the photos for which over folder or album that you select in thumbnail mode. There's a slider, to make photos larger slide the bar to the right (the icons larger at that end), to make the photos smaller (so you can see more per page (slide the bar to the left (the icons smaller on that end).
Photo navigation is handled by your arrow keys. You can go forward, backward, by using the left/right or the up/down arrows. If you want to see the photo even larger, you can click on the button that says "Desktop" and make it fit on your desktop. Though if your going through an entire row, obviously, slideshow mode in fullscreen display is far better.
Sometimes when your looking for things to be complicated, simple is just too easy. I get a lot of people who switch from Windows to Macs who ask questions about how to do this or that. That's when you really start noticing how much software has trained people to do ill conceived work-arounds that become the standard way of thinking.
I was just of this yesterday, when I was reading about this 10yr Windows user who just purchased one of the new thinner iMacs. He was discussing its grace, beauty, and overall ease of use, but then he rants about the lack of software. He wanted to load the machine up with anti-virus, spyware/malware, firewall and other security software. All perfectly fine, and available in the multitudes, for Windows. But for the Mac, you have your 5-10 main selections of anti-virus software, your built-in firewall or some UNIX base tools for those who want more control, but the category of spyware/malware software doesn't really exist.
He went on and on about the lack of developers, without ever given consideration to the fact that the category is so under-developed because it doesn't need to exist on the Mac platform. At least not yet. Typically, pop-up blockers in Safari, Firefox and other major OS X browsers, is more than enough to prevent spyware/malware (at least the kinds that most PC users think of).
Software doesn't self install on a Mac, it pops up a window requiring authentication and authorization. Which prevents the self-installation of most spyware that PC users experience. For those who want extra protection, they can block ads and banners, or purchase software like Little Snitch that will track outgoing communication from your computer, and a number of other little speciality tools. But they are specialty tools, because their for people who wish to knowingly esculate their security in specific manners.
Some things aren't required, and even more things are just simplier than you believe on a Mac machine. Even I sometimes have to take a step back and look for the simple with some of Apple's tools, becauuse my brains cluttered with the 10 or 25 step process.
Tuxpaint? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:They already made it, John. (Score:5, Informative)
What Dvorak wants (but was scared to name it because it's only a Mac thing), is Aperture [apple.com].
Re:PhotoStyler (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Tuxpaint? (Score:3, Informative)
you wont be sorry
Re:I agree. (Score:1, Informative)
Re:They already made it, John. (Score:3, Informative)
how do you lock the screen NOW
If you have fast user switching enabled, just choose "Login screen" from the fast user switching menu.
Re:They already made it, John. (Score:1, Informative)
Even if you can't find that, you can set a display corner to activate the screensaver, which can then lock the workstation.
Re:Parent is Funny (Score:3, Informative)
If they'd add some decent red-eye reduction in there, I'd never need PhotoShop.
Re:They already made it, John. (Score:3, Informative)
I agree with you that it isn't exactly obvious how to perform some tasks that ought to be simple, but there's nothing in the core abilities of iPhoto -- storing, sorting, and editing digital photos -- that requires
Using iPhoto without
IMO the only thing iPhoto is missing is color profiling and color space conversion. If I could just have the ability to choose a different color profile when I went to Export (for the Fuji Frontier, for example), I'd probably never have to launch Photoshop.
Re:They already made it, John. (Score:4, Informative)
With Mac OS X, and fast user switching, those times though rare are exceedingly easy. That said, if I wanted them easier, I could just pick up a small specialty application to do it for me, or go in and tweak the preferences. Personally, I'd use a specialty app cause that's what they excel at, customizing your environment for you. I have a slew of them running to make my computer, my computer.
Also, you can activate sleep immediately with a command key or the use of sleep corners (drag your mouse to the upper right or lower left corner, depending on how you set the functionality up. And there are probably other options, as well, but since its rarely a concern for me, I've never bothered to find out what works best.
Re:I agree - but MS actually makes a good alt. (Score:1, Informative)
Re:A step up (Score:3, Informative)
This is so much better than then adware which came with my cheaper camera which made me spit in anger when it started spitting out "to use this feature, pull out your credit card and bend over". Note to manufacturers: either bundle something like ArcSoft PhotoStudio or don't bother wasting space on my drive. I don't mind paying for the bundle *if* I get something I can actually use. Pretending I got something I can use and then "timing out" in 15 days or disabling random menu items is a sure way to the bit bucket and unending hatred for your company.
You can do 45+ photo tasks in other tools. (Score:4, Informative)
As the maker of WinImages, as you can imagine I'm rather biased towards it, but either of these would more than satisfy the needs of the vast majority of photo editing folk. Not only can one find the basic features one needs to edit photos, there are other features available you can't get in Photoshop — and they are useful, to the point, and powerful in the context of photo editing. Some examples include PSP's handling of brushes, which is vastly superior to Photoshop's, and WinImage's approach to area selection, which likewise makes Photoshop look like a horse and buggy.
You have to keep in mind that Dvorak is paid to rant. He takes advantage of the ignorance of his readers by asserting that the market is free of tools, when that is in fact not the case at all.
Simple to do (Score:2, Informative)