Freeware – Graphics Programs

Introduction

Some graphics programs are strictly one-purpose programs, but most can be used for a variety of tasks, even though they may be much stronger in one aspect than in others. So an Image Viewer may offer a number of the more commonly used photo editing features while a Photo Editor may contain some form of image viewer / browser.

FastStone Image Viewer

This is an excellent program for quickly viewing large numbers of photos, renaming them as you go and rotating the ones that were taken with the camera held on end. Beyond that it has a first-class full-page mode where adjustments to colour and brightness, cropping, levelling horizons, resizing images and many other image editing functions can be done.

Because FastStone Image Viewer is intended for image browsing and common editing tasks, there will be occasions when you also need to use a fully featured photo editing program. So FastStone enables you to create links between it and the other programs on your computer. That means that when a picture being viewed with FastStone needs extra special editing, you can have that picture opened in another editor with one click of the mouse.

At Tauranga SeniorNet we use FastStone Image Viewer, linked with PhotoFiltre (below), as the programs for our "Photo and Image Editing" course.

► More about FastStone Image Viewer.

► Download FastStone Image Viewer from www.FastStone.org. The installation file is 5.2MB.

PhotoFiltre

PhotoFiltre is a single-layer image editing program with many useful and easy-to-use features. It is also a drawing and painting program and enables you to place a wide variety of styles of text onto a picture. At Tauranga SeniorNet we use this program along with FastStone Image Viewer (above) as the programs for our "Photo and Image Editing" course.

► See details on downloading, installing and using PhotoFiltre.

Paint.NET

Paint.NET (pronounced "Paint dot Net") can be used on computers that run either Windows XP, or Vista. It supports layers. That means that a picture can be made up of several layers of images. For example there may be a coloured background layer onto which several layers of images can be placed, with maybe layers containing text on top of all the images. This allows more comprehensive editing and composing of pictures on the computer.

Paint.NET also has unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools.

Pictures can be saved in its own multi-layer file format (.pdn) or in the commonly used bmp, gif, png, tiff and tga formats.

The program started development at Washington State University as a senior design project mentored by Microsoft, and is currently being extended by some of the developers who originally worked on it. Updates are issued regularly.

Originally intended as a free replacement for the MS Paint software that comes with Windows, it has grown into a powerful tool for photo and image editing.

Visit their web site to learn more and to get the download if this program seems more like the level of editing that you want.

Computers running on Windows 7 or Windows Vista need only the (4.8MB) download of Paint.NET.

Windows XP computers that do not already have the .NET Framework will pause during installation and guide you to download and install the dotNET framework as part of the process of installing Paint.NET.

When you get subsequent updates, you download only the Paint.NET installation itself. There is an Update link built into the Utilities menu of Paint.NET that automates the whole process. You can also set the program to search for updates whenever it is opened.

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Gimp

Gimp, like Paint.NET, is a top-rated photo and image editor that handles multiple layers. It has a greater range of editing functions and is closer to the capabilities of Photo Shop. The result is that this program has many enthusiastic users. The downside is that it takes more effort to learn to use well. So it is not a program for beginners to learn the basics of photo editing.

The installation file is available from Download.CNet.com

In the Search box at the top of the page, type Gimp to read details and to download the installation file.

PhotoStory

PhotoStory is a free program from Microsoft. It enables you to make a Slideshow from a set of photos or other images, linking them together with fancy transitions and inserting background music and spoken commentary.

Zooming and Panning effects create the illusion of movement in what began as still photographs.
Recording controls allow you to record the commentary, clicking at each point where a new slide is to shown. This gives complete control over the pace of the presentation and ensures that the words are synchronised with the correct pictures.

Slideshows can be saved in formats suitable for a range of devices. They can be played directly from the computer or can be saved on CD or DVD for use with other media players.

► Read instructions for downloading and for using PhotoStory.

MW Snap

Any computer with a Windows operating system can capture (grab) entire screens or windows and place them on the clipboard, ready to paste into documents or image editing programs, as described on the right.

MW Snap does far more than this. It can capture any window, dialog box or menu or any selected area of the screen. It can save the image as either a BMP, GIF, PNG, JPG or TIFF file using a name of your choice and placing it in any folder you select.

It can add any of 20 pointer styles on an image and frame an image in plain or buttonised style.

Right click on its system tray icon and you can also open a pixel measuring ruler, a magnifier, a colour picker and a window information tool.

For more details about MW Snap and how to use it, click here.

To download the 644KB installation file, click here.

On any "Windows" computer –

To make a copy of the active window, press ALT+PRINT SCREEN.

To copy the entire screen as it appears on your monitor, press PRINT SCREEN.

To paste the image into a document or an image editor, click the Edit menu in the document window, and then click Paste. In many image editing programs you need to choose the option Paste as new image.

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