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This may be helpful to some...

sfaoldguy

sfaoldguy

New member
This is for those who want some good image manipulation and creation software but really don't feel like paying a load for it.

I have been using this program for a number of years and it is hands down one of the best programs I have ever used. It can handle tons of file formats and includes loads of filters and effects. It gives you tons of options when saving your pictures also like compression levels and a bunch of stuff I don't have any clue what they do lol. The only drawback when saving is that you cannot save to gif. There is an add-on which adds this feature but is meant for only those that are not in the United States.

The earlier versions that were ported from Linux to Windows were buggy, but the version I use which I upgraded to year or so ago has given me no problems at all except an initial error whenever you would load it about not being able to access certain fonts or something but the program could still be used even with that error. The fix for the error was easy to find and do by just putting the word GIMP and the error message in Google. The current version may not even have this minor problem.

To use this, you have to download and install gtk which is less than a 4 meg download and then install gimp which is less that 8 megs. Both gtk and Gimp can be downloaded at the following link:
http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html

And here is a screen shot:
gimpscreen.png


I hope this helps someone out there.

:cheers:
John
 
cornsnakekid92 said:
wow thanks, so it is basically like a type of photoshop?
Click to expand...

Yup... I used to be a serious freeware junky and tried out tons upon tons of different software and this is one of a very few programs that I kept and use all of the time. Out of the hundreds of various programs (including non graphics software) this is one of the three or so that I actually still have an use.

I wish I could find some of the signatures I used to make with this program because they begin to show what this program really can do. Since it was not originally designed to run on Windows, there may be bugs that I have not experienced but it works perfectly for me. I hope it does for you guys too.
 
That's great to share that John, thanks!
From the screenshot, I guess you have XP sp2, right?
For others, does it work on other OS?
 
jenkva said:
That's great to share that John, thanks!
From the screenshot, I guess you have XP sp2, right?
For others, does it work on other OS?
Click to expand...
I think the main thing is to make sure and get the correct version of GTK which you see two are offered. One for Windows 2000 and newer and another for 98/ME/NT4. I have used this program with 98, ME, and XP. As for other operating systems such as Linux, Mac, or other Unix-type OS's, it should even run better. Of course you will have to be using a GUI on those systems. You will have to go to the main gimp site to find those versions though.
 
cornsnakekid92 said:
what other free programs do you recomend?
Click to expand...

Quick list of freeware:

Wordweb (free version) http://wordweb.info/free/ - Simply highlight a word in text you are reading or writing and then click the Wordweb icon in the Windows notification area next to the clock and it pops up with its definition, synonyms, antonyms, nearest words and the ability to replace your current text with other terms you chose. Have experienced no bugs at all.

e-Sword www.e-sword.net - Bible software with lots of different Bibles, commentaries, Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries via the KJV+ as well as the ability to include your own notes in its built in text editor. Have experienced no bugs.

MWSnap http://www.mirekw.com/winfreeware/mwsnap.html - Window capture that is fast and saves in png, gif, jpeg, tiff, and bmp. I suggest going to Tools -> Settings and activating autosaving, setting the folder to save to and make sure "Use this file name:" is selected and choose to "Auto-add date/time suffix". Don't use the autonumbering because it is buggy. Other than that one bug, it has worked perfectly.

AVG free edition http://free.grisoft.com/doc/5390/lng/us/tpl/v5#avg-free - Antivirus software. Norton AV came on the notebook pc I baught last year, but it caused so many problems with shutting down my pc (would take 5+ minutes to shut down). I had used AVG Free for a long time so I uninstalled Norton and installed AVG and never had the problem again. Have experienced no bugs at all.

Those are the ones I use regularly. There may be programs out there that are bigger and have tons of features, but I am a minimalist. I don't like programs that use up tons of memory and harm overall system performance. Wordweb and WMSnap are very small and I have noticed no loss of performance with them running in the background.
 
I would like to add, if your current antivirus is not giving you any problems, I wouldn't change to AVG. It is very good, but I did like Norton's userfriendly interface and features.

As for other imaging software, I really can't mention any because none of them even came close to GIMP and usually included annoying adds.
 
Thanks for those links John. I'm also a sucker for freeware! I love playing with new programs, especially the image editing stuff :cheers:

If anyone needs a copy of the "real deal". PM me :wavey:
 
i also have e-sword and it is amazing. i have pretty much the majority of the english downloads and it is pretty neat to compare from different passages. i would recommend it as well.
 
I totally agree about AVG, I use it and it is great.
Also, for Firewall, I use Kerio which is also freeware and against those nasty little spyware, I use the Microsoft Beta version ;)
 
jenkva said:
I totally agree about AVG, I use it and it is great.
Also, for Firewall, I use Kerio which is also freeware and against those nasty little spyware, I use the Microsoft Beta version ;)
Click to expand...
I used to use ZoneAlarm, but now just use the windows firewall and use Ad-aware for the spyware stuff. I have heard that the Microsoft thing is good, but have stuck with Ad-aware for familiarity. Haven't heard of Kerio, but will check that out.
 
Just jumping in to add that Mozilla Firefox is a surpurb browser, as is Netscape.. and Linux (Suse Linux 10.2 in particular) is great.. if you have a moderate knowledge of computers, I highly suggest at least trying it out.. you can d/l multiple versions from the internet for free ;) Gimp is a wonderful program as well. We were worried about switching from :devil01: Microsoft Windows :devil01: to Linux because we would lose things like Photoshop, CuteFTP, and Dreamweaver, but lo and behold, Linux has about 5 different programs for everything you can think of ;) And it's usually free, unless you buy a box OS set or something like it.. even with our whole OS, 2 different GUI's, and a TON of programs it came to a grand 50-60$ as opposed to :flames: Windows 200$+.. just food for thought :)
 
jodu said:
Do you know if it can convert RAW files?


Thanks,
Joanna
Click to expand...

The basic download is not able to convert RAW files, but there are free add-ons out there that add this feature. There is even an add-on which allows you to open pdf files. It opens the pdf as an image and must be saved in another format after your have edited it. I used this when I loaded pdf files of local ecosystems and added my own notes then saved them as png files.
 
Recommended email programs?!

I do NOT want to use Outlook Express, but am getting kinda frustrated with my Pegasus Mail that I have been using for years. Any other suggested email programs?

D80
 
I have been using the free AVG virus program for 2 or 3 years and am very happy with it. And I have been using Mozilla Firefox for at least that long and like it too.

But both hubby and I had used the Mozilla email program (I think it was Thunderbird, or something similar) for a little less than a year when it started acting weird and getting bugs or something, first for hubby, and then a few months later for me (we have separate computers). First he gave up on it, then I did too. I am now back to using Outlook Express, but still using the other 2 freebies I mentioned.
 
Drizzt80 said:
Recommended email programs?!

I do NOT want to use Outlook Express, but am getting kinda frustrated with my Pegasus Mail that I have been using for years. Any other suggested email programs?

D80
Click to expand...
No sorry. I mainly use web based email and when I don't, I use Microsoft Outlook. My favorite email program is Outlook Express though. It's easy to use and does the job well. Not much more I want from email. I only use the full version because my dsl software set it up for me and I didn't feel like changing lol. I like Firefox too but I couldn't get the menu bar as small as I could with IE. Having a notebook made that an important feature.

Sorry I couldn't offer any alternatives there but I bet the Firefox one is a good one.
John
 
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