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Good free editing tools?

W

wtburnette

2[H]4U
Joined
Jun 24, 2004
Messages
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What are the best free photo editing tools out there? I'm wanting to clean up a lot of old vacation photos and such and need something free that will do a good job.

Thanks... ;)
 
GiMP is probably your best bet. You can always get trial versions of CS3/Lightroom and Photomatix.
 
if you have anyone in college then pick up Photoshop. otherwise GIMP is probably your best bet.
 
Tekara said:
Surprised Paint.net wasn't mentioned:
http://www.getpaint.net/

I find it easier and more intuitive to work with than gimp.
Click to expand...

I would have to agree. I haven't used Paint.net a whole lot, but from my limited experience with it, it's pretty nice. I installed it on my wife's laptop, because she was looking for an easy to use software, and it has been suggested on this board before. You might be able do a little more with GIMP (though I'm not sure, having not compared to two in depth), but there's just certain things about the GIMP interface I just can't stand.

Anyway, I'd recommend either Paint.net or GIMP, for a free program.
 
If you are a student, I would get photoshop cs3, or use photoshop elements 6.
 
Yeah i wouldnt recommend Gimp. Its a horribly laid out tool and you will just bash your head into a keyboard wondering how to do anything of use.

Id check out Paint.net Picasa for free tools.

Otherwise, Adobe Lightroom is awesome if you can drop the $$, its worth it trust me.

Also Photoshop if you can get a cheap copy.
 
I would recommend GIMP or Picasa in terms of free.

I think you can buy adobe bridge buy it's self, you can use that if your just doing color correction types of things, but if you need to repair some damage(tears, creases) your gonna need photoshop.
 
Lightroom is the answer for most photographers for adjustments and such. It is one of the most powerful adjustment tools out there for color, exposure, etc. It is a great tool for $200 (and you can find it cheaper online many times).
 
The OP said "free," not once but three times, so "free" is the key. ;)

I'd say Picasa although I can't stand it personally, and GIMP is like, ugh... while it ain't "free" I still treasure my Paint Shop Pro 7.04, the last best version of PSP made. Everything since has been utter garbage...

Paint.NET is also AWESOME for not only what it can do but how they managed to pack so much functionality into such a tiny application. It almost makes me want to leave PSP behind sometimes. Truly amazing piece of software coding...
 
As much as I hate to say it.. Picasa does a lot more than most people think it does. If all your looking to do is "clean up" photos, it will do the trick and some more. My wife is an "amateur/professional" photographer and uses it quite a bit, and I am impressed with the results... but there are some negatives in my opinion, sacrifices so to speak, but I won't get too far into that here...

I personally like Gimp, and I think some of the negative comments about it are largely made by those who haven't taken the time to really learn how to use it. Not all that different than the learning curve with PS or any other editing app.... your not going to fire up CS3 and understand the interface or how to use it without a little research so......

Just my opinion....

 
Wow, thanks folks. Now I have a lot of testing to do to see what free tool I end up using the most. I think I'll start with Picasa which I've used in the past and move on from there. Hopefully I can find something that works for me. I appreciate all of your suggestions!
 
Grentz said:
If you dont like Gimp but want a photoshop like program, use gimpshop:
http://www.gimpshop.com/
Click to expand...

Now see, we all can learn something new every day. I'd never heard of that mod, and that one mod alone puts GIMP (at least GIMPShop, that is) back into the realm of "Ok, maybe I can use this" for me primarily because I absolutely abhor the standard GIMP interface. Too many freakin' windows all over the place, really, but that's just me.

Neat...
 
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