Getting the Right Graphics Program- A Guide

The good, sound basis of any graphic or graphic-based design is a good image program. With the right program, you’ll be able to manipulate your photos easily and effectively in the least amount of time. With the wide variety of software out there, both freeware and bought-and-paid-for, it can be an extremely confusing process to decide which graphics program is right for you. These are the programs I’ve used, as well as my thoughts on each of them. I’ve divided them into Freeware and Paid For softwares so it’s easier to pick a program to fit your budget.

Freeware

“Freeware” refers to a software program that you can download directly off the internet- for free. Most softwares of this variety are open-source projects, and some of them are old software versions that a company has released for general downloading. Since they’re free, I’ve included a link to the download site for each of these programs. Which is right for you? Read on, but remember, sometimes the most powerful image editing software is a combination of all of these programs.

Serif PhotoPlus

This is one of my personal favorites. It’s brush compatible and has plenty of filters and effects that you can use with your graphics. It is, of course, layer based, which makes it plenty flexible. In addition to regular layers, it has a fairly flexible masking tool. It’s also fairly easy to convert basic Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro tutorials over to PhotoPlus, since a lot of the tools are similar. The PhotoPlus interface also reminds me the most of a paid software out of all the freeware I’ve used- probably because PhotoPlus 6 is an older version of PhotoPlus 11- a program that you have to buy. Sure, PhotoPlus isn’t Photoshop. But it gets the job done pretty well.

Since it’s free, there are some drawbacks. Important tools like a smart selection tool and the pen tool are missing, making certain effects difficult to achieve. It also isn’t supported on Windows Vista, so if you’re running on a new Windows computer, sorry, but this program isn’t for you. The program also takes up a significant amount of space on your hard drive, and they send you a lot of junk mail. Still, even though PhotoPlus definitely isn’t the best thing out there, it’s a good deal for what it costs- nothing. It gives you the sort of quality you’d expect for a graphic program costing around $50.00.

Download Serif PhotoPlus

GIMP

GIMP is another free software that’s easily available off the internet. I’ve never really gotten used to it myself, but it is definitely quality freeware that deserves all of the attention it gets. First of all, the best thing about this program is by far its image filters. The selection of filters for GIMP is nearly as good as what I’ve found under my current software, Photoshop Elements. GIMP does offer brush support, but I’ve found that the brush tool is difficult to use in image stamp form, and brushes that come in .gbr, or GIMP brush format, are hard to come by. The text editor is minimal and basic, but some effects can be achieved through layering. The path tool, which is something of a GIMP pen tool substitute, is excellent.

The GIMP interface itself is another thing entirely. Instead of being all on one screen, GIMP runs under a set of individual dialogs on your desktop. It’s different from most other graphics programs in this way, and because of the dialog setup, this can make keeping your workspace organized a difficult task. To be honest, this is what annoyed me the most about GIMP. Once you get past the interface and inflexible brush and text tools, GIMP is a powerful free image software.

Download GIMP

Paint.NET

Out of all the freeware I’ve used for image editing, Paint.NET is the one I have the least experience with. As far as I can tell, it’s also less flexible than the two programs mentioned above. It does work off of layers (and you can manipulate blend modes and such), which makes it a step above Microsoft Paint, but it only has a few basic image filters and no brush tool options other than the default brushes. It has a gradient tool, but that’s about it for comparisons with the above two programs. It also has a line tool, but the line tool doesn’t have near the capability of GIMP’s path tool. One neat feature that Paint.NET does have is a tab for all of your images. If you’re like me and work on several things that the same time, you’ll find that handy. Neither PhotoPlus nor GIMP have such a tab.

Paint.NET is better than GIMP in it’s interface. Again, the entire program is open under one box, like Serif and unlike GIMP’s multiple dialogs. This makes it easier to work with images. But Paint.NET’s interface doesn’t make up for it’s lack of flexibility. However, it is very easy to use, and would make a great beginner’s software.

Download Paint.NET

Microsoft Paint

This is a default image program that comes pre-installed on Microsoft computers. I’ll be frank- Paint sucks for a graphic designer. The fact that it doesn’t support image layers is it’s biggest downfall- this eliminates the possibility of layer and text effects, or interesting filters. The only thing I’d use Paint for is pixeling- layers aren’t such an issue there, and Paint’s zoom tool allows you to see what you’re doing very quickly.

The bottom line here? With so many better, free image editing softwares available RIGHT NOW off the internet, why on EARTH would you ever want to stick with just Paint? As far as downloading, Paint should already be installed on your computer if you’re running Windows. If you aren’t, I’m not sure there’s a way to actually download it. It’s really not a big deal, though.

Paid-For Software

All of the software under this heading costs money. Real money. Is it worth the cost? If you’re a serious designer, yes. In general, paid software does everything the above softwares can do, and more. Your graphics will look better and you’ll be able to do more with them in a more hassle-free manner with paid software.

Photoshop Elements

This is my current graphics software, and I love it. It has an abundance of effects, a clean, sleek interface, a flexible brush tool and an automatic selection tool. What’s not to love? Out of all the softwares listed on this page, Elements is by far the most powerful. One of the best things about Elements is the fact that it will support all regular Photoshop files. PSDs? Yep. .ABR brushes? Yep. Gradients, patterns… the file extension names are the same for Elements as they are for Photoshop, which means you can download Photoshop resources for Elements.

Of course, even though Elements is great, it’s certainly not real Photoshop. It doesn’t have a custom filter effect, which essentially means that you’re stuck with the filters pre-installed on the program. It also doesn’t have a pen tool, but, if you have GIMP downloaded too, you can use that for drawing. It also carries a price tag, something none of the other programs on this page have. I think the price is well worth it, but that’s your decision.

Price: $99.99 off the Adobe Website
Download Photoshop Elements Trial

Whether you decide to use one freeware program, a combination of freeware programs, or a paid software, make sure you’ve chosen something that meets your needs. You can always download another freeware program, but if you buy a program, that’s your money spent- be careful, and make sure that you are absolutely unsatisifed with free programs before buying a program.