Image Editing On A Budget.
You Still Don't Have To Spend A Dime To Get Professional Results!
I check out a photographer's online forum that is populated with retirement age men "of means." They travel a lot, taking lovely photos of lovely things with lovely very expensive cameras and lenses.
Every once in a while a mere peon lie myself stumbles by with a question that is outside their universe. One was asking about FREE software for a person who had just gotten a digital camera.
The first response was a product that was $60. I guess to those spending multiple thousands of dollars on camera bodies and lenses, something cost $60 was free.
The second response was a suggestion to pay a monthly fee for software.
For those of you who understand that sometimes something free is a good way to go, I present the following.
Now updated, I STRONGLY suggest you download and SAVE these setup programs. Being free, you can never tell when the author might pull the plug on the software or go commercial.
Go to the sites of these products and try them! There is no cost, no obligation, no spyware and no salesperson will call! (By the way, I have no connection to these sites. They don't even know I am writing about them.)
Also, PLEASE, PLEASE do not type these addresses or names into Google or another search engine! Go to them directly!!
Use the address bar at the top of your browser! If you "search" for these products you may end up at some bogus site that adds something bad to the free software, charges you money, or requires you to "register." Get them from the source or a place they recommend. You have been warned!
| IRFANVIEW: I still use Irfanview, it remains a faimage viewer that can also make quick changes to image size, do modest color correction and even print "contact sheets" of selected image files. It also can make "crude but effective" web galleries showing thumbnails of images that, when clicked, take you to the larger image. While not very exciting compared to online albums, it is very useful for businesses who simply want to provide image access with a minimum of complexity. The sorting utility is superb, but does require the user to have a basic understanding of Windows file management.
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| PHOTOFILTRE is a clever image editing program from a fellow who is both a graphic artist and a programmer. I use it constantly to tweak photos, crop, add text, and use special effects. It is especially useful for eBay photos, as you can easily add text and even arrows to point to things in your photo. Strong graphic elements such as posterization and duo-tone filters can be used for logos and business graphics. Getting to the free version is a bit confusing. You need to go to the site below, click on "English" and then click on the Photofiltre V.6 link on the left side of the screen if you want to find the FREE version download location. It is also available as a portable app at portableapps.com.
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| FASTONE IMAGE VIEWER [not shown] An attractive program that views and edits and also allows guided cropping to the size you intend to crop to. Also available as a portable app. Recently I've been using this even more than Irfanview for browsing, resizing and some editing. It also conveniently shows EXIF photo data indicating the camera used, exposure, etc.
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PHOTOSCAPE is a remarkable suite of programs that allows editing, combining of shots and even making animated gifs (those still shots that seem to move). There are also many special effects as well as the ability to add optical "props" to photos. PhotoScape X is a newer version for free and there is also a PRO version for sale. |
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GIMP is the free Graphic Image Manipulation Program that most closely resembles Photoshop. It is open source, so it runs on Windows, Macs and Linux computers. I don't use it much, as I don't care for the interface, but it does offer "dodging and burning," which most others do not.
There are all kinds of newer paid software packages out there offering various AI enhancements. But these free products handle a wide range of tools very well.
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