Old Photos

 

Layer blending and a linear gradientI hit unsharp mask and magically the background blur in my photo revealed a pack of Lucky Strikes and a bottle of whiskey over near the Christmas tree.

The mesmerizing image on my monitor revealed fresh detail crisper and clearer than a day in '57 when Dad first developed it, in our upstairs bathroom.

The liquor meant Uncle Bud must be visiting, and Lucky Strike was Dad's brand before he switched to Camels.  I'd forgotten that.

Images on-screen yanked me back to childhood and revisiting those yesterdays on my monitor was more powerful and enjoyable than I ever imagined.  Reel me in...I was hooked.

Our most valuable pictures are faded, scratched, too red, too dark, too damn blurry and have a big coffee cup ring on Grandpa's face.
 original photo

Still they are what they are...

treasured shreds of our past

frequently worth reclaiming

 multiple duplicate layers set on overlay

 

The real beauty of learning to drive for ourselves, is when we can gas that baby up and go anywhere we damn well please_

 

 

Frustrated? Is Paint Shop Pro really for me? .... or quit your whiningcaption

 


Earlier versions of Paint Shop Pro were trusty reliable hammers, dead easy to use.  See a nail, grab hammer, hit nail ... then we all go out for pizza.  
In newer versions our hammer morphed into a 'holy cow it's turbo powered' nail gun.  Now we need to figure how to fire it up without shooting ourselves in the foot.  Takes time.  Pizza gets delivered.  

How well we learn the program determines how much power we will access for turning our images into whatever we darn well choose. 

Let's face it, no matter how fast and easy we hear that Paint Shop Pro supposedly is (absolutely true in relation to other equal featured programs) there is still a learning curve that requires real effort, and produces occasional frustration.  Often those frustrations come from attempting marathons before we've learned to run.

Speed power and more creative freedom come at a price of increased learning curve.   Is it worth the time and effort ...  Guess that all depends on what you want to do.