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Best alternative to Photoshop?

the EM comes up with "there is a robot on the same network (ip address) as you."

The ip address is correct.

A few solutions online suggest rebooting the router/modem. I'll give that a try later this afternoon.

gotta dash now
 
I'd thought of that Steve, VPN not in use, cache, history and cookies cleared. I rarely use my UK VPN only when accessing certain streaming services..
 
I get straight in.
I think you are with Free Andy ?. If you can get into the interface with a browser for your Freebox ( which ever it is ) , you can check if you are running IPV4 or IPV6, you can try switching it. You can always switch it back if that makes no difference.Some sites see all Free's users as coming from their biggest switching centre, which I think is to the north of Paris. Others will see your real IP addy, which I think this forum will be showing to mods above each post .
 
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Changing IPV4 or IPV6 is beyond by skill set I'm afraid.
Surely if whatever those codes are doing would be the same for both the mac Mini and the iPad which both access the Interweb through the same ISP and router?
 
I can access the French site with no problems from my hotel near Ansbach using a 2024 MBP. I am using Firefox with ABP and Ghostery active.
 
Thanks Mike(s), I am sure this is a local settings issue of Safari/Firefox. I’ll not be tying any other browsers. Using the iPad is not as convenient but fine for what we do. I’ll
 
Yes, they ought to be both using the same IPV4 ( the one allocated to the router ), behind it they each may well be using their own.
sounds like your mac Mini has for whatever reason been identified as a bot.If , using the iPad, and then the mac Mini, you go to somewhere like
https://whatismyipaddress.com/
does the site show the same information for both ?

It may show both an IPV4 address and an IPV6 address ( I run behind a freebox revolution 6 which offers both, some free routers may not, I've always used this one )
If you then ( with the macMini ) click on the link "show complete IP details" ( it is just under the big red "hide my IP" button ) ,
and then on the page which opens, you then click on the button "click to check blacklist status", it will tell you if your macMini Ip is on any of the major blacklist .
if it does show both, then usually the first check is based upon the IPV6 addy.( It is the longer one )
If you can see both IPV4 and IPV6 on that landing page ? Now click on the IPV4 line.
It will open in another page, ( which may well show you as being somewhere different to the IPV6 area , this is normal ) then click on the "click to check blacklist status".
it isn't fool proof, as it depends on what the webmasters of the leroy merlin and superU sites are doing when their ( probably javascript ) checks you against "known bot serving IPs". But if either of those checks shows you on a blacklist , it can give you trouble with some sites.

Your "real" IP would be a variant of the identifier of your local DSLAM, that ( if I understand this forum software correctly ) will be showing above each of our posts from France, mine should be prefixed eta

I've got to go out soon, don't know how long for.When I get back, if I have the time, I'll try to get into Leroy Merlin on a different computer here ( no macs ) with FF and see what the jigsaw anti bot that they are using is based upon.Most of them are variants on something developed by some Chinese coders who made it open source. Dates back to at least 2019, but the uptake in major french sites has been relatively recent, I don't remember seeing the in use much here before 2022. Server side there are many ways of implementing them, some are self contained, some call out to other sites and or blacklist lists.
 
appreciate your help and apologies for hijacking the origin thread.
mac Mini and iPad show different IPv6 address but the same IPv4. None of the addresses show on the blacklist . All point to the same physical location.
This was done on both devices after a reboot of the Freebox router.

I have sent feedback to both superU and leroymerlin using the contact address displayed on the Locked Out EM. that was over two weeks ago. I've not had a response.

Frustrating as it is a feel this is not worth taking up any more of your time. Will continue using the iPad and Samsung phone for ordering.
 
Why don't you Macists just "stand on one leg and face east"? (Thanks Spike) it would have rhe same effect seemingly. This mildly masochistic exercise (enforced by sado-mistress Apple in pursuit of more and more money?) as you gyrate in the trap of: small machines/restricted software,need to find a workaround, and regular "updates" (and simultaneous backward-looking denials of service to older software) that forces purchases.....
It's all a bit too cultist, but I suppose ultimately hugely profitable to the Jobs/Cook Corporation.
 
SamQ aka Ah! Q! said:
Why don't you Macists just "stand on one leg and face east"? (Thanks Spike) it would have rhe same effect seemingly. This mildly masochistic exercise (enforced by sado-mistress Apple in pursuit of more and more money?) as you gyrate in the trap of: small machines/restricted software,need to find a workaround, and regular "updates" (and simultaneous backward-looking denials of service to older software) that forces purchases.....
It's all a bit too cultist, but I suppose ultimately hugely profitable to the Jobs/Cook Corporation.
Click to expand...
Do you not get the hardware/ software escalator with PCs?
 
Do you not get the hardware/ software escalator with PCs?
Click to expand...
Windows PCs yes..Linux PCs , BSD et al ..no.

macs are tricky as whatever the browser says it is, the reality is that Apple don't allow non approved stuff.So browsers than run on macs are really a GUI wrapper over Safari.Thus FF is safari pretending to be FF etc. It is possible to code sites to spot that kind of thing, particularly because that is the behavior of scrappers and site rippers and other bots.So the site sees Safari wearing an FF disguise and says,.Hmmm ..nope, yer a bot.
Depending on the exact version of the browsers, ( and maybe it's add ons ) the exact version of the mac OS etc , it might allow you in.Then if anything changes ( the disguise slips ) it is no. That is why some people with macs have no problem, others do, and those who don't might get refused if something changes.

FF used to spoof itself as IE to get around the sites that were coded only to let IE in.Nowadays with Chrome being the majority used browser, a lot of webmasters just test that their sites work with Chrome or it's derivatives.If the site works with other browsers it is just luck.

In terms of market share safari is now very small, and the "engine" hasn't been brought up to date.

If I were Andy, I'd start another thread asking for those who can get into Leroy Merlin and SuperU to say exactly which OS version they are running, which add ons and the precise browser version.It may be as simple as updating to a slightly more recent browser version of the FF "wrapper" over safari would solve it.

Our nearest SuperU is only 10 minutes walk away, and Leroy Merlin is about 20kms away at St Brieuc.
 
I almost always shoot in RAW format so use RawTherapee which I have found to be about the best for that file type (it works with Jpeg as well).
Its free open source too.
 
Talking of shooting in RAW and jpeg, nice thing with the Lumix models is they have a good fast write speed when you use both at once.

Ken Rockwell, very much a Marmite photographer ( I like Marmite and Ken Rockwell's images ) used to say ( maybe still does ) that with jpeg at least it is highly likely that you'll still be able to open them many years after the images were made. Whereas some "wonder super dooper formats" ( looking at you webp ) and HEIC et al, need converting if you are trying to see them on older macs or additional programs on pcs.

I wouldn't go near a subscription model for software even with someone else's barge pole.
 
Yep. I still run dual RAW and high quality JPEG on the main camera. Is Ken Rockwell still going - I'd forgotten about him. We churn quite a lot of images through web site, FB & Insta, Reels etc and file size limitations mean we just use JPEGs a lot of the time and use AI type presets for processing, tweak exposure, NR etc then dump into a media loader. RAW conveys little value for social media use but adds a lot of work.
 
mwinfrance said:
I wouldn't go near a subscription model for software even with someone else's barge pole.
Click to expand...

I generally agree with you on that, although anyone who knows me will know that I generally get a bit irritated by anything along the lines of "there's only one right answer" (unless we're talking maths ;)) and in this case I think there are situations where subscription models are okay-ish (although definitely not preferable).

In general my first choice of software will be the one that is (a) open source and (b) cross-platform (i.e. runs on Windows, Mac & Linux rather than just one of them). My second choice will often be a commercial "buy once" thing, although some free but not open source things can be okay (the danger with them is that they can be hiding something iffy or be laden with adverts). Subscription models will pretty much always be a last resort.

However, consider the case that you're going to be editing absolutely loads of a particular file type (to avoid being specific, let's call them .wh2 files). In this fictional example, there are two software packages available that edit those files. One is open source and a bit clunky. The other is the industry leading package and is really intuitive and fast but only available via a subscription model. Here I don't really see a big disadvantage of paying that subscription charge (if you value your time at more than the charge) while you're going through a flurry of editing loads of the .wh2 files and then stopping the subscription when you're not: you can still edit all your files in the open source application so it's not like you lose access them; it just takes a bit longer to edit them. It's a bit different if they're something like .vsd (visio) files and the file format isn't well supported outside of the commercial tool.

The only subscription thing I pay for is Solidworks. Free (and perfectly good) 3D CAD packages are available (in particular Solid Edge Community Edition, which is free and a one-time download thing), but once you've used Solidworks there's nothing else that quite compares. Onshape is close in its intuitiveness, but some of the things I do need to be non-public so I'd have to choose between using Solid Edge for everything (which is probably a very sensible option for anyone who hasn't experienced Solidworks!) or use Onshape where I can and Solid Edge elsewhere. Solidworks is such a pleasure to use compared to most of the competition that I consider it worth paying £50 a year to be able to do so. If they ever take it away, Solidworks is standard enough that many other CAD tools can import its files and besides, I always export STEP files of my models and you can open them in anything. I'd lose the parametric history in this case, but that's not as bad as losing the ability to edit the model. I'd love to buy a permanent licence for Solidworks (even though it'd lock me down to a specific version) but that's very, very, very, very expensive.
 
Chris152 said:
I restarted my imac recently and can no longer get Photoshop CC to work, apparently my free trial has finished (I've subscribed since they brought in the CC version so no idea what's happened). As I no longer need it for work, it's probably a good time to stop paying them each month and get a free alternative. Doesn't need to be complex, and my mac is running on OS X 10.11.6, so old. What are you all using that's free, simple and half decent?

Thanks, Chris
Click to expand...

Hi Chris

Coming in a little late here. I use Macs (MacBook Pro, MacBook Air), 2014 through 2021. For editing, I use Photoshop Elements. This is a cut-down version of the full Photoshop, costs very little, and is worth paying a once-off fee.

Regards from Perth

Derek
 
mwinfrance said:
So browsers than run on macs are really a GUI wrapper over Safari.
Click to expand...

This isn’t quite right. Browsers on iOS are forced to use WebKit (the core of Safari), so your description is basically correct for browsers on iPhone and iPad. But browsers on Mac can use whatever engine they like. Apple doesn’t force browsers to use WebKit on Mac.
 
Yes, that's more or less what I meant. ( I was busy with other stuff when I posted, and to be honest apple problems IMO are self inflicted wounds, there are better unix based or derived OSs ) For most of us on other Unix types, or derivatives , Apple's browser is webkit / safari and vice versa. In a similar way that IE was an integral part of windows and if removed would result in a lot of other things not working correctly. I think you'll find that the FF on mac is not the FF on windows or linux. Apple's restrictions make sense in a way, so that in theory there are no conflicts, and "it just works", but, when it doesn't "just work" , troubleshooting it ( whatever the problem is ) is far harder than even on windows. Akin to driving a car with the bonnet welded shut.
It is why I don't, won't and never have owned any macs**, or idevices. Yet here in the house, we have currently 15 computers, 6 smartphones and 4 tablets. the windows machines ( 3 of them ) are never allowed to connect to the internet ( life is too short ) , they are used for transcoding video and to run an Epson WF7710* and one of my lasers.

* The WF7210 next to it has no problems talking to linux boxen , the WF7710 has the occasional hiccup on linux, one laser has a driver which is win only when connected direct, but like the other laser can be run independently via an SD card with GCode . Easier to leave it connected to an old win lappy running win7 ulti ( the last good win )

** nearly bought one of the early macs at a brocante around the turn of the century, in a grey plastic cube sort of case, working order €15.00 .Would have been for curiosity. Mme thought ti would be too heavy to carry to the car ( she had other things for me to carry ), by the time she had agreed, someone had stepped up and snapped it up, apparently collectors item..Ah well.

I have to admit, I never check that any of our websites work with Apple gear, the logs show Apple gear visits that are not instant "bounced" so I presume that they do.

Lots of folks love Apple gear, that is fine by me. Were I to be given any, I'd sell it straight away, I can get a lot more computing "grunt" for the same money if I build machines myself, or ( if possible ) wipe it and install linux or BSD.
iphone would be sold the same day, my device, I decide what it can run.

But let's not have this become a pro or against Apple fight..you like them, fine by me :) same for win gear, great for some, not for me, except for the uses I mentioned above.

To return to the OP, Derek's post is a great idea. IIRC P'shop elements is less resource heavy , so will run on lower spec machine than PS.
I remember a few decades ago getting Elements free with a graphical tablet ( might have been a Wacom ).Never used it, but when I looked it up it seemed good enough for all but pro use.I have vague recollection of reading somewhere that Adobe had released a version of Photoshop ( maybe 6 ? ) for free.
 
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derekcohen said:
Hi Chris

Coming in a little late here. I use Macs (MacBook Pro, MacBook Air), 2014 through 2021. For editing, I use Photoshop Elements. This is a cut-down version of the full Photoshop, costs very little, and is worth paying a once-off fee.

Regards from Perth

Derek
Click to expand...
That's a good idea, I'd not thought of Elements - it'd have all I need. That said, it'd be Elements 15 to work with my OS which, wait for it, is no longer available! Is it possible to get a used copy/ would I be able to activate it?
 
go here..scroll down..might get lucky and find that the link still works.
https://prodesigntools.com/adobe-direct-download-links.html
I just checked ..the link works..
on the second page..the one which opens after you have clicked on the previous page software that you are looking for..
there are instructions..
Follow the instructions to the letter, in the sequence that they tell you..

(I did not check the links on the second page as they insist that you must create or sign into an adobe account first in order to set the cookies,
makes perfect sense..as I have no adobe account, I cannot set the cookies.)

if, having done that creat account / sign in at adobe ..the direct download links on that second page to the version you want are still working..?

then try downloading the software and installing.

HTH :)
 
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To return to the original question.... an alternative for Photoshop. Affinity Photo is really very good and a one-time purchase.

I use it from time to time to keep up to date for teaching, but I dont use it regularly because I'm a paid up Adobe LR/PS user and while I could live with Affinity for photo editing, I could not live without the cataloguing functions of LR. People tend to forget that LR is much more than an image editor. I have a catalogue of over 20,000 photos and could not possibly manage it without a sophisticated catalogue manager.
 
LR alternative..darktable ( free, open source, cross platform ) with catalogue manager included..and you can import catalogues from lightroom.
However it is not a "like for like" , it has a different workflow.
 
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