Go to Windows 7 Insider Guide
PC utilities: Whats a good cheap alternative to photoshop
All Photo Shop Programs in General
by barbjoe - 10/14/05 5:41 AM In reply to: Image editing alternatives by viper52I have been reading along this whole thread and have found the different programs recommended to purchase and the freebies, personal views and experiences very interesting and I hope helpful to me. In the past I had a Corel Photo Shop program along with a older computer and scanner which I lost after the change. I purchased a Pentex Digital Camera and received a ACDSee program which I found to be a pain the way my photo image would slide out of view with a scroll of my mouse wheel and I would see images from other web sites I had visited. I found it much too annoying and distracting. With the purchase of my new computer I deleted the ACDSee and decided on trying the Paint Shop Pro Studio, which I did install after I had also purchased Photo Explosion Deluxe, Version 2. I had also came across a much cheaper Ulead Photo Express Version 4.0 which I could not resist for $2.00 ( new still in the box )
It's only been a couple weeks with the Paint Shop Pro Studio so I will give it a fair run before passing judgement but I was wondering if I could also install my Photo Explosion Deluxe, Version 2 with the PSPStudio still installed.
I believe the free programs would only be temporary offers for later purchases?
Paint.net
by bkonicek - 6/17/05 9:37 PM In reply to: Whats a good cheap alternative to photoshop by scmac316Its a program developed by students at Washington State University that Microsoft sponsors. Here's the link: http://moab.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net/
I haven't tried it but let me know how it is.
Paint it
by johncon - 10/14/05 5:57 AM In reply to: Paint.net by bkonicekI've been tinkering with it.
Some good things about Paint.Net:
1) It's free!
2) Microsoft is 'supporting it' ie, some software guys are helping tweak the code.
3) It looks like the goal is to replace the Paint program in Windows with this one so.... It may - if the work moves quickly enough - make it eventually into Vista.
4) It offers layers support.
5) You can create your own tweaks/filters
Some bad things:
1) You need to install .Net framework 1.1
2) Microsoft is supporting it - ie, they may end up bastardizing the final product to their own image.
3) Layers are supported but the native file format is propriatery so you can not import it - unless in Tiff (which I haven't tried yet) - to some other Layer supporting program like Adobe Photoshop
4) Not a whole lot of filters so any customizing is done by you if you know your math.
Otherwise - for those who want to experiment with graphics/photos and work with layers (with limited options) this is FREE and to a certain extent - it works. So, give it a try. Don't expect to win awards with your work, but you can consider yourself possibly cutting edge because it is still very much a 'beta' program.
GIMP and Linux
by DaveW1966 - 6/18/05 4:29 AM In reply to: Whats a good cheap alternative to photoshop by scmac316One of the best alternatives, if not the best is free and open source. GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) and Linux are a wonderful match. Neither will cost a you a penny, except the time and cost of burning cds/dvd. Live Linux distro CDs are worth a shot, if you are too dependent on MS and Windoze.
See PSP's Photo Album 5
by Shutterbug - 6/18/05 5:36 AM In reply to: Whats a good cheap alternative to photoshop by scmac316Paint Shop Pro's Album (version 5) is wonderful. Not very expensive at all. You can download and try free for 30 days. You can pick it up from Corel which recently purchased PSP. You can also Google for it easily. It comes packaged (saves money if you buy) with PSP 9.0!
Cheap Photo program
by Saskfritz - 6/18/05 4:38 PM In reply to: Whats a good cheap alternative to photoshop by scmac316I suggest you get googles Picasa 2 it sort the photo on your computer and you can play with them and best of all its cheap because its free
Saskfritz
Photo editing cheep!
by albizzia - 6/19/05 6:12 PM In reply to: Whats a good cheap alternative to photoshop by scmac316First, check to see what you may already have.
Digital cameras and scanners usually come with some photo editing software, ranging from bare bones basic to suprisingly sophisticated and powerful. My digital camera came with Adobe 'Photo Deluxe', and my scanner came with ArcSoft 'Photo Studio 2000'. Both work well and can do everything you mentioned, but I prefer the features of Photo Studio.
Microsoft Office comes with a good basic photo editor that is only installed if you request it (see the installation disk). MS Office Photo Edit is easy to use and great for basic editing - cropping, matting, resizing, adjusting contrast/brightness/gamma/color, sharpen, soften - and it throws in some fun special effects filters. It lacks some sophisticated tools like clone brush or red-eye removal.
If nothing you have on hand is sufficient, then some other programs like Corel/JASC 'PaintShop Pro' might be in order. Several good ones were mentioned by others.
The free open source 'GIMP' program (available for Linux, Windows, and Mac) is powerful, but is not easy to install or configure, and has no commercial support. (hey, you get what you pay for... )
Photo shop alternative
by mary46au - 6/20/05 5:38 AM In reply to: Whats a good cheap alternative to photoshop by scmac316Acdsee is great, easy to use, has heaps of great features,
mary46au
AcDsee
by barbjoe - 10/14/05 6:07 AM In reply to: Photo shop alternative by mary46auDid you not find the photo image you were trying to work on did not stay still.
The image on mine was always sliding away out of view.
LOTS OF GOOD CHOICES BUT PAINT SHOP PRO WINS
by battleborn1 - 6/21/05 3:04 AM In reply to: Whats a good cheap alternative to photoshop by scmac316Adobe is the most over-hyped, overpriced software on the market. For simple photo manipulation the list of possibilities is too long for me to remember them all, but for serious work Paint Shop Pro (8 or 9) is equal and a lot easier to learn, at a reasonable price. Most of the cost of Adobe is for the name and the poor suckers who buy based on brand recognition. I keep wondering when people are going to wake up to that fact. The Arc Soft program that came free with my scanner is adequate for most peoples needs, but if you want a full feature program get PSP.
Paint Shop Pro - OK for Messing about with Pix but otherwise
by briesmith - 10/14/05 4:02 AM In reply to: LOTS OF GOOD CHOICES BUT PAINT SHOP PRO WINS by battleborn1PSP is OK I'm sure for playing around with digital images. It seems to have lots of built-in tools that do stuff but is it any good as a graphics design program? Probably I'd mark as it as ''could do better''.
Working with graphics splits into dealing with areas/shapes in colours, patterns and densities - PSP is very good at that - and setting-out text. Here PSP is awful.
I defy anyone to work out how you are supposed to manage text; choosing typestyles, colours, sizes and effects. It would baffle anyone and why JASC/Corel now have never got to grips with this major weakness puzzles me.
If you've got a camera and you want to play around with your snaps go for PSP but if you want to create graphics look elsewhere because PSP simply doesn't do text/lettering. This is why Photoshop survives and at its price point I think; art shops just can't do what they need to with lettering using PSP.
photo shop too hard try roxio
by jojo2430 - 6/21/05 5:33 AM In reply to: Whats a good cheap alternative to photoshop by scmac316Photo suite platinum by Roxio has excellent features for backgrounds cutouts cropping panoramas and general fixing of bad photos. I have used it for several years and love it. Occasionally i do a little tweaking with Iphoto plus first because I can smudge imperfections better. Both are really inexpensive.
Paint Shop Pro wins for me
by Eldarwyn - 9/30/05 6:39 AM In reply to: photo shop too hard try roxio by jojo2430Very good alternatives have been mentioned here, like Gimp, Pixia & others.
However I didn't see any mention about PhotoFiltre
(www.photofiltre.com). It's also free and has some nice tutorials too.
Got Pixia also and it's a great free alternative.
I've been using Paint Shop Pro since version 7 and not so long ago I upgraded to PSP X.
Wow, Corel has done a great job and most important keeping the price down and not making it bloatware.
Tried once PhotoShop and didn't like it. I guess I'm hooked to PSP. LOL
As for Image viewers:
IrfanView is also installed on my PC, but I've installed Faststone (www.faststone.org) too and I must say I've been using it more and more lately.
Another free one is XNView.
Enough choice I should say. 
Photoshop Elements
by teamdave - 10/14/05 4:03 AM In reply to: Whats a good cheap alternative to photoshop by scmac316I have both Photoshop 7.0 and Photoshop Elements. Elements, at about $100 gives you everything you normally would use from the more expensive program at a small fraction of the price. I've tried several others, but you just can't beat Elements.
Free program
by putergoddess - 10/14/05 4:03 AM In reply to: Whats a good cheap alternative to photoshop by scmac316What I've seen here, so far, is all good advice. Picture It and Photoshop are among my favorites. But did you know you can download 20/20 and HarmTile free?
20/20 is a ''photoshop''-like program with an easy beginner inface, and HarmTile has all the tools any novice would need to add ''features and dimension'' to your work.
I work with graphics a lot and,while I use Photoshop mainly..these other two are invaluable tools in my graphics arsenal.
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
