The VERY best image manipulator

[bryankendall]

I have used Microsoft Photo Draw 2000 and Picasa to manipulate my images i.e. crop, tint, reshape, lighten, color, clone, sharpen, resize, colorize, etc. These are very good tools, but I am wondering if there is anything better.

Question: What is absolutely the best software to manipulate images. I would prefer freeware. But I am open to suggestions.

[SCDVD]

The "pros" will recommend Photoshop with good reason but if you are looking for something free, there are downloadable free programs that will allow you to do the things that you want to do. One such program can be downloaded from Shutterfly here http://www.shutterfly.com/nav/signedOutView.sfly

[mats.hogberg]

paint.net, The GIMP...

/Mats

[Midzuki]

Paint Shop Pro can be considered as the "poor man's Photoshop",
but if you are just a "prosumer" you usually will not need more than it has to offer.
As for MS's Photo Draw...

[TooLFooL]

if you want FREEware, i'd also recommend "GIMP".

[bryankendall]

I should mention that I only manipulate still images. I have no interest in videos, DVD, CD videos, film, multimedia, web designing, 3D motion. My needs are quite simple - I only need this program for graphics and still photos. But I want the software to have lots of tools and flexibility. I hope this clarifies what I am after.

What do you think?

Thank you.

bryan kendall

[slacker]

GIMP stands for General Image Manipulation Program.

Without a doubt, GIMP has to be the most powerful BUT also the most complicated free software out there to use. If you want to see what it can do, do a search on youtube and you will find an enormous number of how-tos to draw from.

And for Photoshop lovers, there is GIMPSHOP which is a Photoshop lookalike version of GIMP.

Mark

[edDV]

The GIMP is free but your time isn't. The GIMP has a steep learning curve and the documentation is written in Nerd, not Artist. Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro have tons of support documentation and tutorials plus support groups.

[JohnnyMalaria]

I use Paint Shop Pro all the time. I have Photoshop but it has that dreadful Adobe interface.

Paint Shop Pro used to be shareware when owned by JASC but is now owned by Corel.

I still use (licensed) version 8 (JASC).

[powerpc123]

I regularly use Serif Software's PhotoPlus 6 (the free version). It does well by me.
http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/PhotoPlus/default.asp

[slacker]

Paint Shop Pro on XP is EXCELLENT, louzy on VISTA. If you are running XP no problem. Version 8 is considered the best version to this day, which I still have. There is a ton of functionality for little dinero. Every version after that I have read is okay... BUT so so.

Phiotoshop is a good choice, but also comes with a steep learning curve like GIMP BUT, unlike GIMP, comes with a $650 price tag. Unless you are a pro, I would recommend GIMP or GIMPSHOP.

Or... Adobe Photoshop Elements...
NO... I changed my mind. GIMP all the way.

[racer-x]

In my opinion, Photoshop is the best. If you want a very powerful Free Image editor I would go with Pain.NET and install all the free plugins written for it by Paint.NET enthusiasts. It really is good, but not as good as Photoshop. The same goes for Gimpshop. It's very good, but not as good or stable as Photoshop.

I actually love working with Paint.NET and have created a lot of cool stuff with it. Not the least of which is my moving eyeball avatar...................here is another thread with links and a cool picture I made from scratch:
https://forum.videohelp.com/topic346371.html

[usually_quiet]

I am also a Paint Shop Pro 8 user, and I agree it is a pretty good program, though I still miss a few features that PC Paintbrush Designer (incompatible with Windows XP) offered which are not replicated in PSP 8. I use it to draw, to manipulate images, and to create assets that I use to make DVD menus. Unfortunately I have not heard good things about the the low-end Corel product that eventually replaced Paint Shop Pro after they aquired it from JASC.

I began playing with GIMP recently, and it definitely reminds me of PSP 8 some ways, although it crashes fairly often under Windows XP, and PSP 8 rarely does. I think GIMP is worth a try, if it is stable on your system.

[VegasBud]

"Absolutely the best software to manipulate images" is whatever you feel comfortable with, and gets the job done to your satisfaction. Each person has different goals and requirements.

For my purposes, Photoshop for general/special use, and Lightroom for RAW image files, are just about perfect. For someone else, those same programs could be a horrible choice and a waste of money.

[guns1inger]

"For my purposes, Photoshop for general/special use, and Lightroom for RAW image files, are just about perfect. For someone else, those same programs could be a horrible choice and a waste of money.

They are my packages of choice also.

The other thing to remember is that you don't have to have the latest version of Photoshop, either. In my experience, the odd numbered releases have been the best. 5 was good, 6 was buggy. 7 was great, 8 (CS) was too little of an improvement to warrent spending money on. 9 (CS2) was another good release. I haven't had the need to even consider CS3 yet. If you can find a copy of Photoshop 7 on ebay or elsewhere cheap, it will be a good investment. I use CS2 at home for my own business, but at my day job I have Photoshop 7, which was the last version they licensed. It does everything I need, and ruins well on a 3 year old laptop.

[ricardouk]

I only need this program for graphics and still photos. But I want the software to have lots of tools and flexibility. I hope this clarifies what I am after.

since i started using paint.net i havent turned back, lots of plugins to improve it on the site forum.

Makes me laugh when i read Photoshop users saying Gimp is complicated, i wonder why? Is Photoshop really that easy to understand, tried 2 versions of it and.....no thanks, dont know which is worst...actually photoshop is a lot worst to "figure out" how to use it.

Paint.net has been my choice for a while now

[JohnnyMalaria]

Paint Shop Pro on XP is EXCELLENT, louzy on VISTA. If you are running XP no problem. Version 8 is considered the best version to this day, which I still have. There is a ton of functionality for little dinero. Every version after that I have read is okay... BUT so so.

How is it lousy on Vista? I run version 8 equally well on XP and Vista. (Maybe I just haven't noticed yet )

[thecoalman]

While on the subject for a simple utility program that will fit the needs of most people that are not looking for creation but instead njust need resizing, cropping , batch processing, exif features etc. Irfanview is great ,also free. Matter of fact its superb addition for anyone that works with images.

[squadjot]

also..photoshop has become a standard... you'll find most tutorials and refenrences for this program.

[Midzuki]

Paint.net would be even better if it had been written in a non-lousy
programming language such as C/C++

[lordsmurf]

The other thing to remember is that you don't have to have the latest version of Photoshop, either. In my experience, the odd numbered releases have been the best. 5 was good, 6 was buggy. 7 was great, 8 (CS) was too little of an improvement to warrent spending money on. 9 (CS2) was another good release. I haven't had the need to even consider CS3 yet. If you can find a copy of Photoshop 7 on ebay or elsewhere cheap, it will be a good investment. I use CS2 at home for my own business, but at my day job I have Photoshop 7, which was the last version they licensed. It does everything I need, and ruins well on a 3 year old laptop.

Odd. I had different experiences:

- Photoshop 3 to 5.0 were good for scanning and printing (press work), that's about it.
- Photoshop 5.5 was first "modern Web" version with the best support for JPEG, GIF, PNG.
- Photoshop 6 was the most stable, but needed Pentium III or better. I still use this one to create DVD menus, Web images and do non-photography print images (DVD covers, etc).
- Photoshop 7 was full of eye-candy crap that slowed it down. Crap removed in later versions. Added the heal brush, but that's about it. Nothing special.
- Photoshop CS (v8) was pretty much PS7 without eye candy, repackaged in the Creative Suite.
- Photoshop CS2 (v9) was a slight upgrade, some extra photo filters -- not worth the $$ if you had 6-7-CS.
- Photoshop CS3 (v10) had massive updates and upgrades, worth every penny, especially for photographers.

I always tell folks to buy a legit-yet-used version to save funds.
Photoshop Elements is pretty good too, under $99, sometimes for sale as low as $49 (Fry's, Best Buy, online).
It does the basics.

GIMP is a piece of shit, unstable with awful interface. May as well use Microsoft Paint.
I downloaded GIMPshop, want to give that a trial run. GIMP has potential, but needs to be stable with a good GUI. Maybe this is it?

[mats.hogberg]

I downloaded GIMPshop, want to give that a trial run. GIMP has potential, but needs to be stable with a good GUI. Maybe this is it?

I've never had any big problems with GIMP stability - neither on Linux nor on Windows. The occational crash, yes, but not more than other free software.
The GIMPShop is just to cater for Photoshop users, so they find their way around more easily. I, as (comparatively) long time GIMP user, get completely lost when I try my hands at Photoshop.

/Mats

[thecoalman]

I downloaded Gimp the few weeks ago to give it another try and yet again gave up because I couldn't get around, keep in mind I've been using photoimpact for probably 10 years now..... Here's my main complaint, I want to dock toolbars and cannot find a way to do this. Is there a way to do this?

Here's the workflow when using PI, just about anything for the most used tools is just a click away or right on the screen.


1. Is the main tool panel, you can access any of the major tools by clicking here. I've selected the brush tool from the pop-up selection panel for specific paint tools. Note the little arrow in the lower right corner of each tool, this gives you access to the pop up. Basically you can select every tool possible from this one very small panel.
2. Allows for the standard adjustments for the tool that you will use the most. This panel changes for the different attributes as you cycle trough tools. Note the button labled panel. This will open or close number 3.
3. This panel has every feature available for the selected tool, it can be called y simply hitting the panel button on Numder 2. It stays exactly where you put it hovering over your work as your editing unless you close it out. Generally you don't need access to this so I just leave it closed, I use it mostly when doing text.
4. Is quick access to other panels such as the layer manager etc.

I know you can adjust the windows in Gimp but that all goes to hell the second you resize a different window plius you have 3 different windows floaring around, I want to dock the panels. One window... I should also note you can undock the panels if you like the way gimp works. This BTW is PI8 , there's been many upgrades since but I'm happy with this one, probably be upgrading at some point.


Edit: note that the 40 lb head part of this graphic was not made in PI in case you were wondering. You could probably get something similar if you wanted too..

[racer-x]

I too want to echo Irfanview. I've been using that fantastic free image utility for years and can't imagine life without it. That's one free tool I'll always have installed on every PC I'll ever own. Just the batch processing alone makes it worth it's wieght in gold.