Free programs with great all around functions?

[mogza]

I am currently using picassa and Raw Shooter Essential 2005 to do most of my photo editing. I know that photoshop has its benefit but does anyone have alternate programs that they use and wouldn't mind sharing it?

Thanks

[dougj]

GIMP is recommended by many people, it's a freebie.

http://www.gimp.org/

[dang]

XnView:
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pierre.g/xnview/enhome.html
Good free noise reduction, but it strips the exif. I found you can load a shot with exif, and replace it with a processed one on pbase.
http://www.neatimage.com

If you do a google search for "free photo programs" you'll come up with all types of good things. I found one called Exifer that allows you to work with the exif data. Picaso isn't a good program because you can't use the processed shots for everything you need. imho.
Hope this helps.

[heez10]

I am real happy with Picasa, it is free from Google, I am new at this but I am learning fast, Picasa does what I need. H.E.

[dang]

Picaso is a very limited program compared to these others. It functions extremely slow, and doesn't allow images to be used the same as these other programs do. I installed it to see, and removed it the same day. Sorry, but I can't suggest ii, eveyone's welcome to their opinion tho'.

[mpcarney]

Picaso is a very limited program compared to these others. It functions extremely slow, and doesn't allow images to be used the same as these other programs do. I installed it to see, and removed it the same day. Sorry, but I can't suggest ii, eveyone's welcome to their opinion tho'.

Many of us just want a quick and easy program that handles (well) basic functions such as crop and anything related to brightness/contrast/red-eye/color adjustments. Picas(2) does that and allows for quick email inclusion. I really like its basic functionality and free is good.

[julieannshoeman]

It's not too bad. I just don't like the fact that it can be a little confusing to use. It's also hard to save stuff, actually seperate images. Also the sharpening tool is terrible. But as for a quick crop and email. It's a good program but nothing compared to other programs available on the market.

[gpaai]

I have never used anything but Photoshop and love it very much. Though I have never used Elements, I am told it is a scaled down Photoshop. For under $100.00 it might be worth considering.

[tonif]

Picaso is a very limited program compared to these others. It functions extremely slow, and doesn't allow images to be used the same as these other programs do. I installed it to see, and removed it the same day. Sorry, but I can't suggest ii, eveyone's welcome to their opinion tho'.

Many of us just want a quick and easy program that handles (well) basic functions such as crop and anything related to brightness/contrast/red-eye/color adjustments. Picas(2) does that and allows for quick email inclusion. I really like its basic functionality and free is good.

I fully agree with mpcarney. Picasa serves all your basic needs and does it very well. It actually contains many advanced features and it's very easy to use. I particularly like the 'save a copy' feature where one can save a copy of the refined/modified photo in the same directory and at the same time retain the photo with the original settings. It is also excellent as an organiser of all your photos. I fail to understand what dang means by 'It functions extremely slow'.
I have been using Picasa for quite some time now and as a free program I would definitely recommend it.
If you need something more advanced and sophisticated, then go out and purchase yourself a copy of Adobe Photoshop or the cheaper scaled-down version Photoshop Elements, depending on your needs.

[dang]

I guess it all depends on what you like. I've used many programs, and to me it is VERY slow to load. Other programs also save the original file, along with the updated copy, if you save it with a changed name or extention. If you've ever tried XnView and several others, you'd understand why I say slow tho'. Here's a link:
http://www.xnview.com/
It uses a small file for thumbnails, and makes it very fast to find an image you've lost. I think there's room for several programs, since they all have their strong points for different uses. Nothing personal about your preference for Picasso, it's only a matter of taste. I also find PhotoShop slow, but I use it!

[gsansoucie]

I am very picky about organizing my photos so I went with Elements. Started with v2.0 and upgraded shortly after to 3.0 (haven't seen the need to go to v4.0).

I like the ability to "Stack Photos" basically grouping a lot of like images. With a digital camera we tend to shoot a ton of extra shots with the hopes of getting just one good one. I am a packrat and won't delete anything so I "Stack" all the like photos and put the good one on top.

It also has to the concept of Version Sets which is basically a means of linking a photo through its editting life-cycle. You shoot RAW, then do some basic editing and save it (copy) it will link the two photos so you can go back to the original. If you decide to edit the copy & save, the new copy is linked in the Version Set.

While Gimp is a great editor, I place a higher value on the organization, and thus was willing to spend the $100 for Elements.

My $0.02

-=Glen=-

[bred]

CamReader - not for free but designed for professional photographs wish to bring image import process up to a new level.
You can look at the program here: http://www.camreader.com

There are many similar programs on market like Cam2PC, Downloader Pro, Pixfer, etc. But CamReader exceed them by functionality and much convenient. You can even stamp the photos with GPS tags, suchs as Altitude, Longitude, Latitude and see about several years using google map (http://map.google.com) where your pictures were taken. Nikon D2X has the ability to built it GPS Receiver but with CamReader you can use any cheap receiver (~50$) and ANY digital camera model, but not the high-end models.

[369]

Very pleasant, nice, simple in studying, rather powerful, free-of-charge program: http://www.photofiltre.com/
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