I’ve been working with a friend lately trying to find an affordable copy of Adobe Photoshop to be used in coordination with a non-profit’s efforts to do some graphic work. In this case the very talented person would be doing some work for both a church and another faith-based organization associated with a large state university. I will admit that if you’re doing serious, professional quality graphic design, you’re probably going to be using Adobe Photoshop. Yet, I’ll also say that you need to be charging professional rates to afford to use and maintain that Photoshop license use. That’s why I’ve found a collection of other graphics programs that I use instead.
- Macromedia Fireworks MX 2004:
Granted Macromedia was purchased by Adobe at the end of 2005, this was the last version of the software I purchased before Macromedia and Adobe joined forces. I use it for any major graphic design work that requires some special effects, or layering of images. I’m not the highly skilled professional, but this program does more than I’m even coming close to maximizing what can be done. - Snagit from Techsmith:
Snagit has become a core application in my toolbox of development work. It’s so much more than just a screen capture utility. It helps me grab images for mock-up work, practicing with edits as well as documenting the work and efforts I’m taking for my clients. - Irfanview:
This is a free tool that has also become a worthy addition to the list of applications that have been added to the short list of must-install software on a new computer or a rebuild. - Paint.NET:
Another free tool that I think starts to really expand the features and functionality of what can be expected to be found in a free application. - Picasa3:
Although I wouldn’t really classify it as an image editing program, it does have some features that a beginner user would find helpful. However, I include it in my list because of it’s image management and library functionality.
I haven’t gone into detail about the features and functionality of each program, I’ve just listed them here as a heads-up for some applications you may want to read more about yourself if you’re not familiar with them already.
If you already use these programs or are just starting, let me know what you think about each of them in the comments.