Freeware Image Editors

[woody649]

I think I have hit the wall with respect to how much I can realistically get done using Microsoft Windows Paint. I need something more, but I can't afford Photoshop.

I tried Gimp some time ago and I found it to be ... confounding. I know from reading reviews that Gimp rivals Photoshop in power ... but that's only if you know how to use it (which I don't).

I keep reading that Paint.net is a freeware replacement for Paint, but significantly more powerful. Has anyone here used it? I need something. I want to download and install either Gimp or paint.net, and I would prefer to not do one, waste a bunch of time trying to learn it, and find that I just can't get along with it. After my previous try with Gimp, I'm a but gun shy about any of them.

I would appreciate comments from anyone who has used either Gimp or Paint.net -- or, better yet, anyone who has experience using both and who can offer a comparison.

Thank you.

[Andrew B.]

Gimp was so hard to use I gave up on it. Also, do you know what you want to do. For example, do you simply want to make photos look better? Photo restoration? Creating a new photo from bits of other photos?

[woody649]

I want to create book covers by merging images. Windows paint doesn't handle overlaying images well.

[Barrie Greed]

Woody


Something like photofiltre or photoflare might meet your needs but if you are using it commercially you will need to check the licensing arrangements.


Personally, I am still using Paint Shop Pro version 7 which must be 20+ years old. I cannot imagine you need the very latest software. I would imagine you could get second hand copies of Paint Shop Pro or even Photoshop for $30 or so - if your budget will stretch that far.


Barrie Greed

[woody649]

Originally Posted by Barrie Greed

Personally, I am still using Paint Shop Pro version 7 which must be 20+ years old. I cannot imagine you need the very latest software. I would imagine you could get second hand copies of Paint Shop Pro or even Photoshop for $30 or so - if your budget will stretch that far.

Now that you mention it -- I had Paint Shop Pro 7 on my previous computer, which was set aside when the SSD drive suffered a melt-down. It is now back up and running as a spare. I wonder if Paint Shop is still on it.

Of course, I never really learned how to use Paint Shop Pro. Are there decent tutorials for it somewhere?

[Barrie Greed]

Now that you mention it -- I had Paint Shop Pro 7 on my previous computer, which was set aside when the SSD drive suffered a melt-down. It is now back up and running as a spare. I wonder if Paint Shop is still on it.

Of course, I never really learned how to use Paint Shop Pro. Are there decent tutorials for it somewhere?

I doubt it. You may find something of help here but it relates to the current version of psp. There were some tutorials on the original installation cd if you have it. If not I could see if I can extract them to a zip file and email them.


I do not remember having to resort to the tutorials. It is fairly intuitive. You should be able to merge a couple of photos fairly straighforwardly.


Barrie Greed

[Steve Rindsberg]

These may be more oriented toward the latest version but it may not be THAT different from what you have:

https://www.paintshoppro.com/en/learn/how-to/

https://learn.corel.com/photo-tutori...pro-tutorials/