Graphics program recommendations?

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thewishman

thewishman

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More and more, I'm getting into manipulating images, clip art, photos and vector art for blanks. Is there an inexpensive (or free) program that I can use to remove backgrounds from art (that I am legitimately buying and licensing) to place it on other images. Getting past the limits of the Avery Template program.

Is there a simple way to take a picture of a Muskrat Suzy, that has a white background, and put Suzy on Tennille's shoulder. Then take Muskrat Sam (really just another picture of Suzy, minus the pink hair bow) and turn him facing the opposite direction, sitting on Captain's shoulder?

If I can figure this out, I will start taking pre-orders on Muskrat Love pen blanks. I know, I know - I can't stand waiting for this to happen either. Calm down. Get into an orderly line. I'll make up 1500 blank sets for the Emperor pen in the first run so most of you should be able to get as many as you need.

So is there a relatively easy way to work up graphics? Is it possible to get an outdated version of a good program?
 
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Skie_M

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Uhh ... did you legitimately buy and license the images of Tennille and the Captain?


That and .... no, I don't know of any that I've gotten my hands on that were free or cheap, I do all my image manipulation old-school in MS Paint. If I had access to layers, I'ld be able to do a lot more things that I've wanted to try.

That having been said ... NEVER EVER EVER ASK THIS MAN TO PHOTOSHOP YOUR IMAGE FOR YOU!
 
thewishman

thewishman

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its_virgil said:
Gimp is an open source photos hope work alike.
https://www.gimp.org
Do a good turn daily!
Don
Click to expand...

Thanks, Don. Looking at the site now.

Skie_M said:
Uhh ... did you legitimately buy and license the images of Tennille and the Captain?
Click to expand...

Captain and Tennille were easy to get. Muskrat Suzy was the hard get. She totally did NOT get the concept of licensing. Her agent was even worse! I need to sell 2-3K blanks to break even.
 
BeeAMaker

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jeff said:
BeeAMaker said:
Try Inkscape
https://inkscape.org/en/
Click to expand...

There's one I had not seen. Looks very nice.
Click to expand...

A lot of guys in our makerspace use it, they love it. There are also all types of plug ins for it.

Also if anyone it looking for an excellent 3D modeling program, Autodesk has a very powerful one Free to the hobbyist and students, Fusion 360.
Cloud Powered 3D CAD/CAM Software for Product Design | Fusion 360

Just download the free trial and then register for free use.
It features a full 3D rendering engine and CAM.
 
Ed McDonnell

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Inkscape looks like an alternative to CorelDraw or Illustrator. I'll have to check it out for my vector work. Unless I missed it, it doesn't look like it would do what Chris needs since he isn't working with vector drawings.

I'll second Don's recommendation of GIMP. There will be a learning curve, but it shouldn't be too steep for what Chris wants to do.

Ed
 
Carl Fisher

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Inkscape is definitely vector based. I use it all the time for my CNC and Laser.

The best of breed for free raster image manipulation (regular ol' images) is GIMP. I have Photoshop CC because it comes with the Lightroom subscription I pay for every month but most of the time still use GIMP because it plays nicely on both my Windows and Linux computers. As mentioned above, a learning curve yes, but Photoshop level powerful.
 
brownsfn2

brownsfn2

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I used Inkscape for a lot of my laser work before I was able to purchase Corel Draw. Honestly Inkscape has a lot of the same features. If you know an educator you can get a discount on Corel Draw.
 
thewishman

thewishman

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Thanks everybody!:)

Downloaded Gimp last night and looking at Inkscape. So much to learn, and such a short attention span.

I love having creative thoughts, but they come at the expense of having no desire to follow-through. Once I figure out something, I have zero interest in continuing to do it.

Whoa! Too much sharing.:redface:
 
Carl Fisher

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I've you've never used a vector graphics program, Inkscape will be a higher learning curve than Gimp. You can do amazing things with Inkscape but you have to think in vector format of paths, curves, masks, etc...

There are tons of tutorials on each through YouTube and websites. But if you're manipulating photos as outlined in the original post, GIMP is what you want to start with.
 
Rink

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I just can't believe that nobody has yet said: Captain and Tenille? Rock on!

I can't speak for vector art. I have used photoshop, but a long time ago (like version 4 or so). But for any 3D object stuff (like designing pens or drawing woodworking projects before building), I love Sketchup. Intuitive, short learning curve, high-power.
 
Rink

Rink

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thewishman said:
Rink said:
I just can't believe that nobody has yet said: Captain and Tenille? Rock on!
Click to expand...

Thanks, Rink!

If these sell well, I'm gonna try Tony Orlando and Dawn, next.:bananen_smilies039:
Click to expand...

Well, knock three times, Candida! ha ha. Don't tell anyone, but...when I was about 14-15 yrs old, I actually telephoned the radio station to ask who the artist was for that song "Love will keep us together" cause I thought it was the coolest song I'd ever heard. You can't hold me responsible for that though, it was the pre-disco era. Fortunately, that was then...and this is now :)
 
MDWine

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I work with images (photographer) and websites. Just to quiet the voices in my head, and the internal alarms, I gotta say be careful with copyrighted images and selling them. While I will agree that the chances of an official representative of the C&T finding you, it only takes one person to get you into a world of hurt.

(whew, the voices and alarms turned off!)

Keep calm, and carry one.
 
thewishman

thewishman

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Thanks, Michael. I am licensing the art, though it is expensive.

Sometimes, even buying the art, I cannot find the image I need on a background that works. Being able to compose the individual pieces of an image gives me a much better final piece.
 
leehljp

leehljp

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Rink said:
I just can't believe that nobody has yet said: Captain and Tenille? Rock on!

I can't speak for vector art. I have used photoshop, but a long time ago (like version 4 or so). But for any 3D object stuff (like designing pens or drawing woodworking projects before building), I love Sketchup. Intuitive, short learning curve, high-power.
Click to expand...

I have SketchUp (Mac) but cannot figure it out. I have been thinking of getting a tutorial book (SketchUp for Dummies). I have been a Photoshop user since 2.5 and am 2 versions back from current, and am fairly experienced in PS. However, I would like to be able to do vector / 3D. Thanks for that note on SketchUp. I will buy a tutorial book. I do better with books than YouTube videos because I can go to what I need to learn quickly. Thanks for the info. Sorry about the hijacking.
 
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