The Ghost in Grade One

[Ross Macintosh]

I was just looking in the Photoshop Forum here at TalkGraphics.Com and saw a thread about creating a ghost in photoshop. The technique described had many steps - more than a xaran is used to. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

I decided it was too much to get my head around so rather than think I opened Xara and in five minutes I had a ghost of my very own. Whoever thinks you need a program like photoshop or paintshop pro to do basic bitmap work - you are wrong. Xara can do a credable job if given the chance.

Regards, Ross

PS - No grade one's were harmed making this image!

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[Ross Macintosh]

I was just looking in the Photoshop Forum here at TalkGraphics.Com and saw a thread about creating a ghost in photoshop. The technique described had many steps - more than a xaran is used to. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

I decided it was too much to get my head around so rather than think I opened Xara and in five minutes I had a ghost of my very own. Whoever thinks you need a program like photoshop or paintshop pro to do basic bitmap work - you are wrong. Xara can do a credable job if given the chance.

Regards, Ross

PS - No grade one's were harmed making this image!

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[roman]

When I was jilted, I was contacted by a girl graphician who is making tutorials for grafika.cz as well as me. I do XARA stuff and she does Photoshop things. I've made some positive comments to some of her tutorials so she had sent ma a thanx E-mail. She asked me whether I wouldn't like to try her tutorials so I did. In XARA of course. Here is the result. Left XARA, right Photoshop. To tell the truth, it's a little bit weird to compare who is better with a girl. I think she is the author of the idea so all the fame is her. And also thanx to her I was able to forget for a while... and that counts.

http://www.redizajn.sk/comp/cbtocolor.jpg

[Ross Macintosh]

Roman - They are both nice! With the greater saturation, I think she has a very slight edge. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Sorry to hear about the jilted thing. Bummer! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif[/img]

I know we are from different cultures and so we have different ways of looking at things. The idea that it is somehow hard to compare your skills with those of a woman is foreign to me. I don't believe one gender has a greater aptitude towards graphic or design skills than the other. In general, I make an effort not to compare my skills with anybody. I don't really see much value in it. Everyone has something to learn from others - its part of the human condition - I think ego sometimes gets in the way of individuals communicating with one another.

With regards, Ross

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[roman]

I'm not chauvinist, nor macho. Anyway, she better than me, no doubt.

I of course can't generalise but t seem to me, that European culture is not so h'or's'he't oriented as in US. But also it is not so blindly tolerant and democratic. I think (I hope) nobody could advertise that "Pardise Island" (which was recently discussed on CNN) publicly anywhere in Europe.

Roman

[Ross Macintosh]

Hi Roman - It's funny, I looked at your little boy for quite a while yesterday and I didn't notice the little hand icon on his chest. Today when I looked at the image my eyes went straight to it. As further proof that you can edit photos in xara maybe you could edit it out??

Regards, Ross

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[roman]

It's an easy answer. I've used the same picture as Lucinka used in her tutorial (and there was only this one with the hand. I've pasted it into the Xara and started to add trasnparencies. Original is still there in the background an all colorizing is in the layers of different transparencies and fills. Xara doesn't have retouch tool, so it would need to do some bitmap editing in a bitmap editor to wipe it off, but I didn't, as it was just a test of XARA X possibilities. Currently I'm not at home. I'll post the "how was it done" picture later (some 4-6 hours from now).

I think it would be great to have some clone, retouch, dodge, smudge and burn tools in Xara it would help a lot to give some bitmap combined creations the final touch.

(sorry for grammar, my English skills are gradually weakening since I left the University. )

[This message was edited by Dmagician on June 26, 2001 at 07:55.]

[Ross Macintosh]

I wasn't thinking a bitmap editing program would be necessary to edit out the little hand. I was just thinking a small shape or two with the appropriate fills and feathering could mask it out.

Thanks for the description of how you did the colourization. If you aren't familiar with it already, it might be useful to you to look at this egg-celent technique for working with transparent bitmaps.

Regards, Ross

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[gwpriester]

Ross

Just wanted to comment on your observation about Photoshop. I suppose it's a matter of getting used to channels, masks positive and negative, and all that stuff. But I agree, you can do something in Xara is one easy step or two what would take all afternoon in Photoshop.

With the exception of the capabilty to select on the pixel level, I don't see the attraction myself.

Gary

Gary Priester

Moderator Person

Be It Early So Humble...

[roman]

Thanx for tip Ross. I planned to try colorizing on some antic statues. Historicians say that they had been very colorfull.

Here is my way... not very easy, but it only 24 shapes.

http://www.redizajn.sk/how.jpg

Roman