As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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If you are just working with photos and not graphics then I would go with Lightroom. I use Photoshop a lot and could never get used to the Elements program.
You could give GIMP a try. It's basically an open source Photoshop like program. It's FREE. It's a little harder to use than Photoshop, but I haven't had problems with it. You can always try it and if you don't like it then purchase something.
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If you haven't used any sort of photo software and have a Mac, iPhoto is a good way to get your feet wet. It's not nearly as capable as the likes of Lightroom, Elements, or CS5, but you probably already own it. It's a simpler program than the rest, but that's not a bad thing of you're still learning. I think it's better to outgrow a simpler/more basic tool than to be so overwhelmed by industrial-strength editing programs.
Note that Adobe offeres free, one-month trials of CS5, among other programs. It's not immediately apparent at their web site - look for "try it" buttons, or some such.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
I'm a PhotoShop Elements fan. My hubby uses the full blown PhotoShop and thinks rather highly of Elements for the limited things it can do (compared to PS).
Thanks for all of the replies. I am most likely going to go the lightroom route. I had forgotten that we had an old version of elements from our last camera purchase.
Thanks for that. I ended up getting it through amazon for the same price. Then I told someone I work with about the price. When he went to get the software it was back over 200. I was glad I purchased it at 149. I don't think I would have purchased it at over 200.
Adding on to this with questions...................I am currently a student with NYIP and therefore I can get the student discount now for Photoshop................
Is there a difference in the CS5 (or even the newer version CS6 ) and the student edition of it???
Do you add Lightroom or Elements on that.........or is that even necessary?
thanks!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
There's no difference between the education and regular editions, software-wise, but because of the low education price, they don't offer discounted upgrades the way they do for the regular version.
Photoshop and Lightroom are complementary products. One of Lightroom's specialties is photo library organization/manipulation, something not provided at all by PhotoShop. A working pro will manage all the images from a shoot in Lightroom, create albums, web pages, proof sets, etc. Many routine image adjustments can be made in Lightroom as well, depending on Photoshop only for the more demanding manipulations (layers, for example).
Elements is essentially a stripped-down version of Photoshop. There's a ton of stuff Photoshop does that the average photographer never needs (video, graphic arts, etc.). Adobe has created Elements with the amateur in mind - an affordable alternative to the full-strength product (you can buy a pretty decent camera body and/or lens for the price of Photoshop, after all). Pros and serious amateurs tend to stick to Photoshop - a professional-grade tool, and all that. You'd have to look at Elements' capabilities to see whether it would work for your needs, school curriculum, etc. At someplace like NYIP, you'd probably have to go with Photoshop.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
There's no difference between the education and regular editions, software-wise, but because of the low education price, they don't offer discounted upgrades the way they do for the regular version.
Photoshop and Lightroom are complementary products. One of Lightroom's specialties is photo library organization/manipulation, something not provided at all by PhotoShop. A working pro will manage all the images from a shoot in Lightroom, create albums, web pages, proof sets, etc. Many routine image adjustments can be made in Lightroom as well, depending on Photoshop only for the more demanding manipulations (layers, for example).
Elements is essentially a stripped-down version of Photoshop. There's a ton of stuff Photoshop does that the average photographer never needs (video, graphic arts, etc.). Adobe has created Elements with the amateur in mind - an affordable alternative to the full-strength product (you can buy a pretty decent camera body and/or lens for the price of Photoshop, after all). Pros and serious amateurs tend to stick to Photoshop - a professional-grade tool, and all that. You'd have to look at Elements' capabilities to see whether it would work for your needs, school curriculum, etc. At someplace like NYIP, you'd probably have to go with Photoshop.
Thank you so much for your info!!! I was not sure if I would be missing something by purchasing the student edition - such a Huge price difference! Thank you again!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports