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freddiebel
Participating Frequently
August 18, 2021
Question

Photoshop version for making digital negatives

  • August 18, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 333 views

I am having difficulties following the instructions of various authors for the making of digital negatives for alternative photographic processes (e.g. Peter Mrhar) with only Photoshop Elements - when it comes to Curves, etc. Would anyone have succeeded with this?  If I suspect not, then I fear I shall have to invest in one or other versions of the full Photoshop.  

I would then have to decide which version of Photoshop to go for and buy.  I have an older iMac computer (mid-2010) with OS X El Capitan (10.11.6). The options seem to be a CS6 outright purchase on Ebay, or the latest monthly subscription version, but both alternatives seem to involve incompatibility problems with my present setup as well as certain risks and considerations of expense.

Any help in resolving the dilemma will be greatly appreciated.  (Especially from anyone with experience of platinum printing). Many thanks.

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3 replies

Jeff Arola
Community Expert
Jeff ArolaCommunity Expert
Community Expert
August 18, 2021

What version of photoshop elements do you have?

 

If you give us the lnks to any tutorials you've been trying to follow, perhaps we can find a way to do the steps in photoshop elements.

F
freddiebelAuthor
Participating Frequently
August 19, 2021

Thanks Jeff for your assistance.

I have Photoshop Elements 13.0.

The problem I am up against with digital negatives using Elements instead of Photoshop revolves around mainly one thing:  (1) - adding a correction curve, and (2) - saving it as a preset and finding a place to save it.

I have consulted many authors, but a clear and concise one, to give you an example, is to be found on the Freestylephoto website, under "How to make digital negatives":

 

https://www.freestylephoto.biz/alternative-process/making-digital-negatives

 

Go to the heading "Step 3: midtone adjustments",  and steps 13 to 17.

I hope this will be enough to give you an idea.   Thanks.

Bob

jane-e
Community Expert
jane-eCommunity Expert
Community Expert
August 18, 2021
@freddiebel wrote:

 If I suspect not, then I fear I shall have to invest in one or other versions of the full Photoshop.  

I would then have to decide which version of Photoshop to go for and buy.  I have an older iMac computer (mid-2010) with OS X El Capitan (10.11.6). The options seem to be a CS6 outright purchase on Ebay, or the latest monthly subscription version, but both alternatives seem to involve incompatibility problems with my present setup as well as certain risks and considerations of expense.

 

Hi

I have no experience with platinum printing or Photoshop Elements, but you also asked about Photoshop.

  • Photoshop CS6 is no longer being sold. Most of what you find on eBay is pirated. It may be missing features, not work properly, and worst of all, most of it contains malware.
  • There have been nine versions of Photoshop (not PSE) since CS6. Adobe offers the current version and one previous with a paid subscription, but your computer does not meet the system requirements, so you would need a new computer with a new OS if you were to pursue Photoshop.
    https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/system-requirements.html
  • If you do pursue Photoshop on a system that will support it, you can get a 7-day free trial to confirm it does what you are trying to do. The least expensive plan is the Photography plan: Annual commitment, paid monthly at $9.99 per month.
    https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/plans.html

 

Hopefully someone who uses PSE can advise you, but please be wary of CS6 on eBay. We've heard too many stories of bad outcomes from pirated versions.

 

~ Jane

 

F
freddiebelAuthor
Participating Frequently
August 19, 2021

Thank you Jane for that valuable advice about the dangers of attempting to get CS6 from Ebay, which I go along with wholeheartedly.

But may I ask, is it possible to still be able to download and install CS6 officially from Adobe, by paying the UK£10 per month subscription for the Creative Cloud service. Within the confusion I have seen it mentioned that by doing this I can choose which earlier version of Photoshop to install and which would be compatible with my OS X 10.11.6 . This would obviate my having to buy a new iMac.  But the question is: can this still be done? - and would the dangers you mentioned still be present?

jane-e
Community Expert
jane-eCommunity Expert
Community Expert
August 19, 2021

Hi @freddiebel 

 

Unfortunately, Adobe had to stop offering older versions a couple of years ago for some kind of legal reason that they couldn't tell those of us who volunteer on the forums. Now they only offer the current version (2021) and one previous (2020). Typically the next release comes out on the first day of Adobe MAX in the fall.

 

ProDesign Tools is able to offer direct downloads to some older versions, but not CS6.

https://prodesigntools.com/

 

@Jeff Arola might be able to help you make things work in PSE — see his post, which is also in this thread.

 

~ Jane

 

kglad
Community Expert
kgladCommunity Expert
Community Expert
August 18, 2021

<moved from download&install>

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