Jeffg1072 Loc: Southern Maryland

I have used (and most will think I'm crazy) Picnik photo editor for about a year and really likeit but ..it is shutting down. I have Photoshop 9 but..can't get the hang of it..I have bought training cd's but..still can't get the hang. If anyone has used Picnik, they will know how easy it was. I need some help..I need an easy, fun editor that allows me to convert to black and white and then color a specific area like a rose in the black and white pict. etc.

photogrl57 Loc: Tennessee

You might look into Elements 10 ... There is a guided section that is most helpful in walking you through the edits .. also it will do the other things like layers if you so choose in the future.

Tea8 Loc: Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain.

You can do selective color in PSE 9. I have PSE 8 and it is really easy to do. I just click on the smart brush tool and then under eit and stuff it looks like there is a little picture. I click on that and a drop down menu comes up. And then there is another drop down menu I click on that starts with all purpose. I go to reverse effects in that menu and click on reverse-black and white. I click on the pic; it turns black and white and then I start using the brush and it is somewhat content aware because just a little use and it can tell what I want colored and finishes it for me. It takes a little working in some spots at the edges of what I want colored, but it works for me.

I taught this to myself and it took me forever to figure out how to do it. Now I have Scott Kelby's book on PSE 8 and there is one for PSE 9. He makes things really easy to understand. I think if you go on Amazon they will let you look at certain pages of the book. Then they will let you look at specific things in the book too. Before I bought the book I looked in the table of contents and then searched the book for something I wanted to learn. Well it actually allowed me to go through all of the pages with the term on it I searched and I learned on there how to make a watermark before I even bought the book. You could try something like that if you really wanted to learn more about PSE 9.

BigBear Loc: Northern CT

If you have a MAC, Aperture gets my vote for a one app do all.

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

have tried these.. also you can get almost any adobe program trial for 30 days an watch utube vids on each software. except lightroom 4 it has now till i think april trial when it comes out
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Photoshop+9.+tutorials&oq=Photoshop+9.+tutorials&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=s&gs_upl=5145l5145l0l7991l1l1l0l0l0l0l91l91l1l1l0

forgot this
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-23173-1.html

Ken Ritter Loc: Southern Indiana

Have you looked at this http://www.wnsoft.com/pixbuilder/ it is a free program that works a lot like photoshop

PNagy Loc: Missouri City, Texas

If you have trouble with Elements, instead of giving up on it, try asking UHH members for assistance on specific tasks. After you have mastered a few basics, such as cropping and curves, you may start getting a feel for the software and take off with it.

Jacquie

Piccassa, is a Free Photo Program you can down load. I use it for some things.

MtnMan Loc: ID

Elements 9 or 10 are fine...but ALSO get Kelby and Kloskowski's book.

It did more for me in three days than three months of videos and other "Help" information.

In particular I have found videos only helpful to show the possibilities. Its too hard to get all the steps down and follow along what they did. The book goes step by step with illustrations to get you actually doing stuff.

The Photoshop Elements magazine is also good. Many of its articles have the step-by-step procedures of K&K's book.

I have Elements 10. I am not sure but I think 9 is pretty close...i.e. I doubt there are things that would justify the upgrade. If you do decide to "upgrade" don't go to Adobe for an "upgrade"...they charge more than for new. Just buy the best priced replacement. I got it for $49 about four months ago.

Merlin1300 Loc: New England, But Now & Forever SoTX

Jeff: I don't understand 'shutting down' - -
If you have 'upgraded' your operating system (OS) since first installing Picnik - then you might try running Picnik in 'compatibility mode' if you have a PC (sorry - no clue if you have a MAC). Right click on the short-cut, select properties, and choose the compatibility mode for your previous OS.
.
If that doesn't work - (again - this only for WinBlows) - go to control panel, select programs and features, and try to REINSTALL Picnik. If this option doesn't exist - then reinstall from your original disks.
.
Good Luck! I know the pain of software and hardware that resist modernization. I still run PSE2 - however have to jury-rig file saves because PSE (up through at least Ver 6 or more) won't recognize any disk drives larger than 999 GB - and my new data drive is 3 TB. <Sigh>

melphoto60

picnik website is shutting down, was online editor for Picassa 3...its not OP's computer thats shutting down.

melphoto60

want an easy to use processing software, try Lightzone easy to understand and (free download) to use, I use this when I want to post to the web as final files are small 150-200 mb, and non-distructive to the original raw file.
for a 90 day trial try Cyberlink photo director, I have abt 56 days left. you can use picassa 3 its also a freebee....
another free one is GIMP but has a bit of a learning curve, but what is the software for I you dont play around with it...to learn....

Merlin1300 Loc: New England, But Now & Forever SoTX

Mel - - Thanks for the clarification - guess I shoulda googled Picnik first :oops:

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

I have been using Picasa 3 with built-in Picnic for more than a year, and will miss the simplicity of use, and quality of processing.

I am hoping that Google (Picnic owner) will provide a similar or exact service on one of their websites.

lesv Loc: warren pa

hi Nikonian 72. i'm a newbe but i use picasa 3.9 since i cant get the hang of pse. Google is shuting down picnic in April but if you belong to Google+ you can upload from your web albums to google+ click on a picture and in the upper corner it will say "edit" it is just like the free picnik. i hope i explained this o.k. good day