Cheap photo software?

[Stephen H]

I got a new digital camera at Xmas, and we also got a new computer, which came with "Microsoft Digital Image 2006" software- as a 60 day trial deal. Anyway, the 60 days are up, and now half the features are disabled and they want me to ante up $80 to upgrade.

Now, I've been using this software and it's just fine for what I need to do, which is not all that much- adjust contrast & saturation, crop, resize, that kind of thing. In fact, the freebie software on the my old Walmart photo CD's did most of this as well. So I'd value this package at maybe $15 or $25, but $80 seems awfully steep. And to upgrade, I actually have to order a CD, I can't just re-activate the functionality that's already on my computer.

So the question: For $80 or less, is there some better option out there? Or are there any to avoid? I'd rather spend $50 at Fryes than sending $80 off to Bill Gates.

And did I mention that this has got to be one of Microsoft's more stupid marketing ploys?

[Daniel Bates]

You could always try The GIMP - which is free software originally developed for Linux but now available for Windows as well. It is fairly powerful, though as a Photoshop user I can't quite 'get' the interface.

[bbailey]

In addition to GIMP the is GIMPshop, which is a version skinned to resemble Adobe Photoshop's user interface.

Also, there is Photoshop Elements which I think is less than $100. Also, depending on what you need Picasa (free) from Google may be something to look into as well.

[JamesDH]

Someone has a rebate on Elements making it about $40.
I read it earlier today but don't remember where. I know it was online.
It's $79 in WM.

[engstrom]

I agree, for adjusting constrast/brightness/saturation/crop/resize The GIMP is a great tool. It does that and so much more. Not as much as Photoshop, but The GIMP is free. It'll take you a little while to figure it out but it is very powerful and did I mention it's free?

[raevyncent]

I did a search for freeware with the keyword photo on a few good sites (tucows, ZDnet) and found a lot of decent editing progs, but I like Paint.net the best so far. Oh, and Picasa is ok, but requires ALOT of sysstem resources even if just doing nothing . It will, however, find every single image file on your PC, even if you didn't know they existed.

Paint.NET has all the basics, including curves and levels adjustments. And some cool special effects.

[GeoffreyB]

Stephen,

I've played around with the "cheepies", and HIGHLY recommend GIMP. It has some of the same functionalities of Photoshop, and isn't terribly hard to learn.

They also have a version of GIMP that you can run from a USB Drive! It's great for editing on the go!

[MRCPix]

paint shop pro is a good deal and not very costly just ask Brad he loves it.

[Moses on the Street]

I agree with Mike. You can download a trial version of the Paintshop Pro software from


www.corel.com

it lasts for 30 days, which is long enough for you to give it a good trial run.

[LoungeLizard]

Try HP's Photosmart Essentials package. It's free. http://www.hp.com/united-states/cons...reg_R1002_USEN

You can also try Picassa from Google which is also free.

It doesn't get cheaper than that!

[Gambit]

I use PaintShopPro X, and a couple older versions of Photoshop (not CS). PSP does most of what Photoshop does, and 99% of your everyday photo processing needs. Retails for about $100 but you can find sales that take it down to about $30. I've never seen a less expensive, more capable commercial image manipulation program.

Non-commercial, though... The GIMP is a wonderful program for many reasons, including the free GPL license. For an unlimited free, fully functional download, why would you NOT at least try it?

[kachina]

I used GIMP when I thought I was experimenting with switching over to Linux full-time. Not a bad program for the price. You should at least give it a try.

[thelegend1472]

edited.

[johnastovall]

Gone....

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by Stephen H

I got a new digital camera at Xmas, and we also got a new computer, which came with "Microsoft Digital Image 2006" software- as a 60 day trial deal. Anyway, the 60 days are up, and now half the features are disabled and they want me to ante up $80 to upgrade.

Now, I've been using this software and it's just fine for what I need to do, which is not all that much- adjust contrast & saturation, crop, resize, that kind of thing. In fact, the freebie software on the my old Walmart photo CD's did most of this as well. So I'd value this package at maybe $15 or $25, but $80 seems awfully steep. And to upgrade, I actually have to order a CD, I can't just re-activate the functionality that's already on my computer.

So the question: For $80 or less, is there some better option out there? Or are there any to avoid? I'd rather spend $50 at Fryes than sending $80 off to Bill Gates.

And did I mention that this has got to be one of Microsoft's more stupid marketing ploys?

You could buy a SanDisk Extreme III at Fry's and get free activation codes for Capture One LE.

And Ifran is free for what you don't do in C1.