Greetings to all, I'm a Panny G1 DSLR user and I'm thinking of using GIMP instead of the laggy Silkypic software (came with the camera) as I'm on a budget and can't afford to splurge on Photoshop CS. I've been browsing the forum and reading blogs on GIMP but I can't seem to figure out if it can do what I need? I'm hoping those who have used GIMP before can help advise me. Basically I want the following:
1) Auto-detect and import photos to separate folders (based on date of capture) when I connect my camera to my laptop using USB
2) Convert and auto-resize photos from RAW to JPEG small sized (i.e 1500 x 2100 pixels) as I print mostly 5R sized photos
3) A feature that allows me to crop images while maintaining the length/height ratio. The reason I want this is because the last time I cropped some photos for a fren, the photos were not the correct length/height for printing and had to be cropped further at the photo printing store :embrass:
4) A feature that allows me to select a few objects in the photo and preserve their colours, while changing the rest of the photo to black and white
5) A plug-in for Windows that allows me to view the photo camera settings (i.e. F stop, shutter speed, flash, exposure, white balance, focal length) from explorer directly. I.e. WITHOUT having to load the software. I want this as my laptop isn't exactly the fastest and I'm getting sick of having to wait for Photoshop or Silkpic to load, just so I can double-check the settings of a few photos. I want to be able to mouse-over or right-click a photo directly from Windows Explorer and see the camera info immediately. I don't care if the pop-up window covers half my screen, its speed I want, not an optimized view
I've not tried any other photo-processing softwares other than Photoshop 8.0 (very old) and Silkypic, so my knowledge about processing software basics is very limited. If anyone here has some comments or knowledge to share, I'd really appreciate it.
1) Auto-detect and import photos to separate folders (based on date of capture) when I connect my camera to my laptop using USB
2) Convert and auto-resize photos from RAW to JPEG small sized (i.e 1500 x 2100 pixels) as I print mostly 5R sized photos
3) A feature that allows me to crop images while maintaining the length/height ratio. The reason I want this is because the last time I cropped some photos for a fren, the photos were not the correct length/height for printing and had to be cropped further at the photo printing store :embrass:
4) A feature that allows me to select a few objects in the photo and preserve their colours, while changing the rest of the photo to black and white
5) A plug-in for Windows that allows me to view the photo camera settings (i.e. F stop, shutter speed, flash, exposure, white balance, focal length) from explorer directly. I.e. WITHOUT having to load the software. I want this as my laptop isn't exactly the fastest and I'm getting sick of having to wait for Photoshop or Silkpic to load, just so I can double-check the settings of a few photos. I want to be able to mouse-over or right-click a photo directly from Windows Explorer and see the camera info immediately. I don't care if the pop-up window covers half my screen, its speed I want, not an optimized view
I've not tried any other photo-processing softwares other than Photoshop 8.0 (very old) and Silkypic, so my knowledge about processing software basics is very limited. If anyone here has some comments or knowledge to share, I'd really appreciate it.