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Best Image and Photo Editing Software

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Adobe Illustrator :

“Photoshop” has moved beyond just a brand name to become a common word, verb and noun. However, Photoshop is really just a brand of fancy image editing software. Sophisticated and expensive image editing software. Adobe Illustrator is a basic vector graphics editor and Adobe Photoshop is a basic photo editor for just about everything else. According to Adobe.com, Adobe Photoshop Standard (not the extended version) costs $599 and Adobe Illustrator costs $699. The Design Standard suite costs more than $1,000. What are your photo editing software options if you can’t afford Adobe Photoshop?

Below is a list of my favorite image editing software, including some online photo editors:

1.Irfan Display

Required Experience Level: Beginner

Pros: Fast, Compact, Uses minimal resources, Lots of features (even more with plugins installed), Lots of easy shortcuts available, Features like default image viewer and editor, Batch conversions, Slideshow creation, Precise cropping, Various screen capture options , handles tons of file types, simple and easy to use.

Cons: Doesn’t seem to save the background (when saving files, each time has to overwrite the previously saved version), photo edits are applied to the entire image, even if only one area is selected.

My rating:

Irfan View is by far my absolute favorite image viewer/editor. It’s not for advanced editing, but Irfan View has a lot of useful features for basic and slightly advanced editing. It’s the fastest and most efficient viewer I’ve ever seen or used, with editing functionality missing from many common image viewers. Irfan View is fast, compact and not very labor intensive. Rotate and mirror with one key.

Irfan View also offers some useful screenshot options. The screenshot feature allows you to choose both the recording area (full screen, current window, foreground area) and the recording method (timer, programmable hotkey). Irfan View gives you the option to capture with or without the cursor. Screen capture and zooming are done with one more key press.

Editing in Irfan View is simple, but convenient. Rotate, flip, crop, lighten, sharpen, resize, simple bevels, saturation, hue, add text, etc. Basic edits are easy enough for even a beginner to do without reading a comprehensive manual.

One of my favorite features is the crop tool. Unlike cropping in some Windows programs, Irfan View lets you see the pixel size of the area you’ve selected. If you try to crop a selection and still find it too large, you can use the Resize/Resample function to reduce it to the exact proportions you want. Resize/Resample also offers some popular preset size options to help you make a decision. The Resample option allows you to resize images without losing image quality.

A unique feature in Irfan View that I use very often is the Irfan View batch convert/rename function. The batch conversion feature is invaluable for resizing multiple photos at once. Likewise, Batch Rename is great for organizing those large groups of camera names. Irfan View even has an option to rename your converted files. This is extremely useful if you are trying to create a photo CD for someone and have folders full of hi-res images larger than 1MB that need to be resized a bit.

All this packed into a small compact program – FREE

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2. Ink Landscape

Required Experience Level: Intermediate to Advanced

Pros: Relatively easy to use, Variety of detailed editing functions, Supports a variety of input and output types, including support for eps files, Filters create professional-looking edits with ease, Many functions can be easily adapted to your specific needs, many options for exporting bitmaps.

Cons: Some features are more technical than newbies are comfortable with (prior experience with Adobe Illustrator would probably be helpful), the program is labor intensive, viewing full size files needs to be done carefully to avoid crashing the program, cropping took some time figuring out.

My rating:

I want to start by saying that I am still a beginner with Ink scape. Despite my lack of knowledge about vector graphics editors and vector graphics in general, Ink scape is still a convenient. It easy way to create impressive, professional logos and buttons with little technical experience or knowledge of vector editing software. The easiest way to do this is to use the text tool to type what you want, pick a nice font and then play around with the different filters until you get the effect you want.

One filter is good, but multiple filters can make something look even more impressive. The logo on my blog is the result of that. The rainbow swirl of paint splatter is actually the product of a square with a gradient and several filters stacked on top of each other. Looking at it, you’d never know it started out as a square (even a gray square, if I remember correctly). Working with text is quite easy with Inkscape and you don’t have to rasterize it to use the filters.

Filters are plentiful. Options include the basics (lighten, darken, sharpen, blur, etc.), textures, colors, “non-realistic 3D shaders”, overlays, materials, bevels and more. Resizing and rotating individual components is a breeze, but cropping them can be a bit confusing. Cropping in Inkscape is actually called “cropping” and doesn’t work exactly the same as most cropping tools. I had to do a Google search to find out, and even then I only found one or two sites that explained it in a logical way. I have republished it on my blog for convenience.

You should also look at the actual size of your files in Inkscape. If you work without setting the canvas size and mostly use free form, you may end up with a very large image file without realizing it. Once you’ve done this and try to zoom in, Inkscape’s performance will be significantly reduced, depending on your computer’s technical specifications. It will correct itself just fine, but you may need to give it some time.

The most advanced part of Ink scape is working with paths and nodes. It is true that I have no experience with routes and nodes yet. I’ve used them a bit in experimentation, but for the most part I can’t give a good review on using paths and nodes with Inkscape. Flattening layers is also something I think is possible, but I have yet to figure it out exactly. That’s where the “Advanced” recommendation comes in. If you’re comfortable using Adobe Illustrator, discovering paths and nodes in Ink scape should be easy. I’ve never been familiar enough with Adobe Illustrator to have a definitive opinion about the path and node functions in Ink scape (nor have I had any reason to use them much in Ink scape).

PaintShop Pro 2022 – Affordable & Comprehensive Photo Editing Software

3. GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)

Required Experience Level: Intermediate to Advanced

Pros: Excellent features list, floating tips explain feature icons, supports a variety of input and output types, including support for Adobe Photoshop .psd files, various filters for professional-looking image editing, clean interface, and efficient loading time generally faster than Adobe Photoshop , many customizable features for enhanced control, ability to easily revert to default settings, supports a variety of keyboard shortcuts, results with GIMP are generally comparable to using Adobe Photoshop.

Cons: Some Adobe Photoshop features are missing, some features take some getting used to, recreating some Adobe Photoshop-like results may require additional steps.

My rating:

After getting a little familiar with Adobe Photoshop, it took me a while to switch from Adobe Photoshop to GIMP, and a number of tools led me to do some Googling to find out. I can’t say it’s because GIMP is so hard to learn, but I was frustrat and impatient.

Selection, cropping, layers, filters, image size, etc. they are quite easy. The gradient, fill (color and pattern options), clone, blur, smudge, airbrush, and various selection tools were also easy, but the clone and gradient tools took me some trial and error. Brush sizes also seemed to be missing originally.

After experimenting a bit more, I was pleasantly surprise by the ability to customize the brush in different ways. This greatly helps with pixel-by-pixel editing of curves and edges. You can change the brush hardness, opacity, angle, shape, aspect ratio, and radius. GIMP even lets you add spikes and create uniquely shaped brushes. Editing brush sizes and shapes proved to be an invaluable feature when using the clone tool to capture a very specific part of an image. The brush editor allows you to make a brush up to 1000 pixels in size.

Another useful feature of GIMP is the ability to open new images as layers and open multiple images at once. The locator icon (not sure of the real name) in the lower right corner is also useful. If you zoom in too much on a particular image and want to locate a specific part, you can drag the cursor around the icon and go directly to the desired place on the image.

I didn’t find as many filter options in GIMP as I did in Inks cape, or maybe they weren’t as basic, but there’s still a good variety with lots of options. The true power of GIMP is very similar to that of Adobe Photoshop. Layers and masks allow you to create a wide variety of effects that are not necessarily built-in.

Many of the realistic, elegant or impressive effects can be created with layers. Much like using paths and nodes in Ink scape, layer and mask functions require a more advanced level of knowledge (layers and masks are also present in Inks cape). You can use layers and masks to create more subtle effects than I personally have had to use. With these features you can create sun rays, shiny and/or dyed hair, realistic shadows and more.

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