Go To Latest Video ReviewsRefine search for Digital Cameras
Free Image Editors Review
| Author | Cliff Smith |
| Published | 16th Nov 2009 |
| Latest Price | Click here |
15 comments
Email
TrustedReviews NewslettersAs most of you probably know, I've written a long series of photography and image editing tutorials for TrustedReviews, which can by found by typing the word "Tutorial" into the search box above, or (shameless plug) by using the index which I keep on my own website at www.cliffsmith.co.uk. Although I've written most of the image editing tutorials using Adobe Photoshop, I've tried to keep the techniques fairly simple and generic so that people using other image editing programs can follow them too.
Although Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard and used by virtually all imaging professionals, it is prohibitively expensive for the average consumer (around £600 for the latest version) and immensely complex. For most of our readers, for whom digital photography and image editing is a hobby rather than a job, there are a number of very good image editing programs available which cost considerably less, and a number that are actually free to download.
Of the consumer-oriented image editing programs, probably the best known is Adobe Photoshop Elements 8. It's a lot cheaper than the full version of Photoshop and much easier to use, but the latest version is still around £90. It's packed with useful features, including sophisticated face recognition and image sorting by content, as well as advanced tools like context-sensitive re-sizing, but £90 is a lot of money for most people.
Fortunately there are a few alternative image editors that are not just cheaper than Elements, they're actually free. Released either as Freeware or as Open Source software they are freely available for anyone to download and use. Probably the best-known is the rather unfortunately named GIMP, or GNU Image Manipulation Program now up to version 2.6, but other popular free programs include Paint.NET, PhotoScape and Artweaver.
Many readers have asked that I write some tutorials using these free image editing programs, but first I'd like to find out which one is the best to use, so lets take a quick look at the freebies and see what they have to offer.
