Software and scanners... what do you use?

Postby **JediSonic** » Fri Oct 17, 2003 4:23 pm

The reason that I haven't been able to post ANY artwork here yet is that I don't have anything to draw with on the computer (like PSP or anything) and the only scanner I can get to belongs to my friend, and he's having compatibility issues with his new computer!

So anyway, what do you use to draw mostly? Is there a good free software that handles those cool shading effects I keep seeing? On the other hand, even if I could afford something good, I'm not sure I could draw well with my mouse :rolls_eye

Maybe I should go buy myself a scanner, at any rate.. I'm sure it would really come in handy!

Trust me, when I take pics of my art with my parent's digital camera it doesn't turn out so well!

Postby **shooraijin** » Fri Oct 17, 2003 5:10 pm

Good old fashioned Photoshop and a Wacom Graphire2 tablet, which I'm still getting used to.

Postby **inkhana** » Fri Oct 17, 2003 5:40 pm

That's good advice! PS isn't what I use to scan with (not that it wouldn't work perfectly); I use the Photomagic program that came with my (old) scanner (a Plustek; poor thing is dying on me...*sob* the scans are getting all streaky). But I do almost all coloring, inking and textboxes in PS 5.0 LE, and screentoning in PS7. Why do I do it like that? Because PS7 really hogs my poor system's resources...LOL Graphire tablets rock! ^^

Postby **Fsiphskilm** » Fri Oct 17, 2003 10:43 pm

old scanner

Postby **Mithrandir** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 8:57 am

inkhana wrote:[color=darkgreen](old) scanner (a Plustek]

If you are somewhat technically savy, it's possible to disasemble (after locking, of course) and alchol-swab the photo cell (after it's cool, of course) to eliminate a great deal of the streaking. What's really bad on the scanner is when the teeth on the belt start to wear off. That's also repairable, but it's a LOT of work (unless you happen to know of another belt somewhere).

Eep. No, I'm not a geek!

Postby **inkhana** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 9:02 am

I wish I was savvy and/or confident enough to try that...LOL The sad thing is, I have a multifunction machine sitting in my room right now that I can't even install (thanks a lot, stupid HP tech support! Thank you for insulting my intelligence) so it's doomed to spend the rest of its life as a standalone copier...which is fine I guess because I got it from my grandpa for nothing. Still, I wanna have a new scanner that runs right...*sob*

Postby **Mithrandir** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 9:29 am

Is it one of the all-in-one deals that you have to install using the parallel port first? Those are a pain. Is it totally incompatable, or can you not figure out the details?

Hmm. May wanna take the 'tech support' calls to PM...

Postby **inkhana** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 12:20 pm

Eh, it's a USB setup. Occasionally I have trouble with USB not correctly registering devices (although a reboot usually helps). What irks me is when HP tech support quotes the manual I've looked at a hundred time already and all but told them I'd done it, too. No biggie though...^^

Postby **JediSonic** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 2:51 pm

My wishlist:

A scanner
Photoshop
A tablet

Yup, if I had all those... whew!

Postby **Straylight** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 3:23 pm

I have a graphire 2 tablet, a Canoscan scanner and Photoshop 7. Certainly does the job for me

Postby **JediSonic** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 4:09 pm

My little brother wants a scanner too, but I'm sure he wouldn't want to help pay for one. Still, I might be able to get some financial help from my dad since he KINDA would like one, and my brother wants one too.

*Continues plotting... "So, if he paid $20-$30, and I paid..." :stressed:

Postby **Bobtheduck** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 6:36 pm

Hmm... I use the crappy software built into windows... No wonder my stuff looks so bad... That and my lack of hand drawing skill. But mostly the software... ^_^;

Software and scanners... what do you use?

Software and scanners... what do you use?

Exactly : P

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