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Best free photo editor?

I found one easy photo/image editor "à la" Paint.net for :apple:
Small in system, does layers and basic magic wand.
It has an unniversal install and best of all it's free (as in please donate)
It's French based but it works in many langages ;)
it's : LiveQuartz
http://www.livequartz.com

Enjoy :D
 
Free Image Editors

kildraik said:
Does anybody have any knowledge as to what would be the best free photo editor? I am looking to start such a hobby, but would like to get a feel for it before my purchase of Aperture, as I don't want to regret my purchase.
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Try Seashore or GIMP. Both of them are free, and worthwhile trying.
 
No Gimp!

Applespider said:
If you're not a serious photographer, then Aperture is likely overkill for you.

If you've outgrown iPhoto, then there are things like the GIMP which is free. But good free photo editing software isn't that easy to come by since they're relatively complex apps - there are several which are basically ways to run Core Image filters. There's a beta of Lightroom from Adobe currently available that you might want to try out - but it's hard to say without knowing what you want to do in such an editor.

Looking at Photoshops Elements (although not free) might be worthwhile. It's a lot cheaper than Aperture and depending on what you want to do, might be enough.
Click to expand...

GIMP is a horrible photo editor in my opinion. While using GIMP I have found it quite hard to get used to, unlike Photoshop. Another very annoying thing about GIMP is that it runs using another application, which gets on your nerves. DO NOT use GIMP for Mac. Gimpshop is also bad, the download does not cooperate. Acorn is OK, but it doesn't have great features. I say Photoshop is the best.
 
I've installed and used both Photoshop and GIMP. In many ways, you get what you pay for.

Photoshop is expensive, sophisticated, and sometimes amazing or indispensable. It follows most Mac application conventions. (One annoying exception: to hide the application, you have to use control-command-H instead of Apple's standard command-H.) Adobe keeps up with Apple changes (but not always promptly), such as adding support for gestures on a trackpad.

GIMP is not from Mac origins. It runs under X11, from the world of Unix, so it requires installing and launching that environment. As a result, it does not feel Mac-like. But... you can get used to it, it supports most of the features most people need most of the time, and there's nothing to purchase.

Price, compatibility, features - we should each make the choice based on the importance of those factors to us personally. I did that myself, and used free or cheap apps for years until I could finally afford the luxury of Photoshop.
 
Is there an app similar to photoshop that is free?

I'm looking for an application that will allow me to do some photo editing (i.e. change the color/ background of some photos I have taken). I know photoshop does this, but I don't have the money or expertise to go that route. Is there a free, easy to use software I can download that can do this? Thanks in advance
 
Gimp

ChrisA said:
Aperture is NOT a photo editor. It is designed to speed up the processing of large numbers of images. OK it's an editor if by "edit" you mean "to select some and reject others". Most people use the terms "photo editor" to refer to something like Photoshop that is used to edit an image.
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I do agree that photoshop is a more of a dedicated editor than aperture. However to say 'Aperture is NOT a photo editor' and that it only allows you to 'select some and reject others' is point blank NOT true.

Aperture has some VERY hi end, professional editing tools and I use it to edit the majority of my photos. Only if I need to do some complex editing and I mean stupid stuff like merging images etc would I have to use Photoshop or alike.

The only people I've hear say they don't like Gimp are people who are big time Photoshop users and their only complaint is that Gimps user interface is not exactly like Photoshop's. Kind of a stupid complaint if you ask me. You'd _expect_ then to not be the same
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On this point I agree gimp is good in many ways. For a free application it is very complete. The fact is I use it on a daily basis in work and it does the Job.

I feel your comment is quite unfair. I am not a big time Photoshop user at all and I find the interface on Photoshop and that whole product line VERY irritating but they are easy enough to follow.

People complain about the GIMP interface because it is absolutely ridiculous. It’s the biggest mess I have ever had the misfortune to work with. I love open source software, it’s free, created by people that take pride and I promote its use as much as possible. If I didn’t have my mac I would be using linux. However until open source software projects start taking some time to design there interfaces for the USER its never going to be a good as it could be. This type of software is not designed to give computer hobbyists cheep thrills down to the challenge of installation or the about of features the software has. Its meant to be USED to edit photos. When the interface slows you down and have a ridiculous learning curve what’s the point.

I actually USE my computer. Having to spend tens of minutes trying to figure out how to do something that should be simple is NOT acceptable.

So instead of having a go at people with the completely legitimate opinion that the interface is a pain in the ###! Let them have their say and maybe it will improve. What’s the point of trying to convince that something bad is only bad because they don’t want to spend there time fighting a useless interface.

Same goes for the ‘Why don’t people like X11’ the reason is that its a dependency. It’s a haste to have to install etc. etc. Personally I don’t think it’s a big deal but I understand why people don’t like it. The real question is why would a user ‘like’ it. No user cares. Most people don’t even what to know what X11 is and why whey need it. So again why get defensive when someone is unhappy the program relies on this dependency. I want open software to succeed and grow so please stop accepting and even defending its deficiencies otherwise its going to get stuck in the realm of the geeks.
 
As someone who used GIMP exclusively before getting photoshop, I can tell you it's a wonderful program - and agreed: "price" in this case does NOT reflect quality. Yes, there is a learning curve, but you'd experience the same thing with Photoshop.

FWIW, I do find CS4's RAW processing a lot easier to deal with than GIMP's URAW - but I still had to get a "Photoshop CS4 for Dummies" book to figure it out (I'd upgraded from PS7).
 
Gimp troubles

I have a mac and tried to download Gimp. I did what I was suppose to and I get a response stating that this is for windows only. I downloaded the one for snow leopard. What is the hang up?
 
Badrottie said:
iPhoto is not a editor?
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That is correct. iPhoto is an organizer that allows some VERY limited changes to the images.

Try even simple editing, like removing a utility pole from a landscape or adding an additional person to a group photo.

A "proof" that apple does not think of iPhoto as an editor, there is a place in "Preferences" where you can specify your default image editor. iPhoto will then hand off the image to this editor if you double click the image.

Why were people above having trouble with Gimp? Gimp is "open source" That means you can get the source code and build it for any platform you like. OK maybe you don't know how but there are instructions and there is a support email list. Gimp is a very powerful image editor, more than most casual users will need.

One good way to get a great editor (Adobe Photoshop Elements) is to buy a Wacom pen tablet. You need a pen for any serious editing anyway and the Wacom comes bundled with a copy of Elements.
 
I absolutely love my Wacom Bamboo. It's made fine-point editing so much easier than I could ever do with a mouse (and I was pretty good with the mouse).
 
ChrisA said:
That is correct. iPhoto is an organizer that allows some VERY limited changes to the images.

Try even simple editing, like removing a utility pole from a landscape or adding an additional person to a group photo.
Click to expand...
iPhoto does the type of simple editing that most consumers limit themselves to: cropping, straightening, brightness/sharpness/etc. adjustments. Most home users never remove a utility pole from a photo, or anything similar. iPhoto is what it is, a photo organizer with a simple photo editor. For those who already have it, it might suffice. In particular, it's "enhance" button can be useful for a lot of routine photos by typical home users who wouldn't know how to use a fancier photo editor. (See my thread wondering how the enhance feature works.)

I suggest that people consider what kind of editing they plan to do, and get software that does that and goes a little beyond, so they have a chance to learn a bit more as they go. In other words, there's no one answer for all users. The O.P. of this thread probably wants a photo editor with quite a few features. But I wouldn't recommend Photoshop to a novice even if they could get it free.
 
a.jfred said:
I absolutely love my Wacom Bamboo. It's made fine-point editing so much easier than I could ever do with a mouse (and I was pretty good with the mouse).
Click to expand...

I really love my Wacom Intuos over Bamboo! :)

----------
Doctor Q said:
iPhoto does the type of simple editing that most consumers limit themselves to: cropping, straightening, brightness/sharpness/etc. adjustments. Most home users never remove a utility pole from a photo, or anything similar. iPhoto is what it is, a photo organizer with a simple photo editor. For those who already have it, it might suffice. In particular, it's "enhance" button can be useful for a lot of routine photos by typical home users who wouldn't know how to use a fancier photo editor. (See my thread wondering how the enhance feature works.)

I suggest that people consider what kind of editing they plan to do, and get software that does that and goes a little beyond, so they have a chance to learn a bit more as they go. In other words, there's no one answer for all users. The O.P. of this thread probably wants a photo editor with quite a few features. But I wouldn't recommend Photoshop to a novice even if they could get it free.
Click to expand...

for simple photo editor OP should be looking at Adobe Photoshop Element…runs perfect fine on MBP anyway. I have a CS3 on my windows desktop PC.
 
imac Photo Editor Free

I am very new to apple. Currently using Window Movie Maker(office PC). Adding effects, editing titles and credit. Also adding music to the photo slide.
Is there anything for iMac i can use at home.
Nothing fancy just want to share the photos with family.
 
matdek said:
I am very new to apple. Currently using Window Movie Maker(office PC). Adding effects, editing titles and credit. Also adding music to the photo slide.
Is there anything for iMac i can use at home.
Nothing fancy just want to share the photos with family.
Click to expand...

Not clear what you are asking for. This thread is about photo editors and you ask about movies?

What you do is start using iPhoto. It does 90% of what many people need, just basic adjustments and cropping. But it also stores and sorts them and lets you find them later.

Later get Adobe Elements. If you are serious enough about photo to need Elements then you also need a graphics tablet. Buy the Wacom. Inside the box is a "free" bundled copy of Elements. Never buy Elelments because the tablet is close to the same price.

One more thing: elements and iPhoto work well together. There is a place in iPhoto's preferences dialog to specify a "default editor" Tell iPhoto to use Elements and the integration is nearly seamless. You can call up Element any time from inside iPhoto.
 
Nikh said:
Has anybody mention Picasa by Google here? It helps in organizing photo collection, and has basic photo editing features, for most common cases.
And free, of course.
http://picasa.google.com/mac/
Click to expand...

I know this is an old thread but since someone just revived it, I have to add my opinion on this part.

I spent hours on picasa on PC trying to help my tech savvy 80+ grampa organize his photos. This was a year or so ago. The problem was that he updated the HD and OS at two different times so his "PC expert" left him with 3 My Documents or whatever folder, 2 on the desktop.

I hadn't used picasa before but it seemed to index almost every picture in the user account but we couldn't figure out how to consolidate them at the time? He was frustrated trying to sync them to an iPad bc iTunes on PC requires a rigid folder structure which adobe apps comply with but picasa does not require. At the time, maybe it's different now? An album had to be a folder, so all pictures in that album had to be files in that folder. In picasa, there seemed to be no file discipline needed in organizing albums, you could group pictures in albums 20 directories away from each other.

Does anyone know if picasa can consolidate files/albums now?

Side note:
My gramps just celebrated his 69 wedding anniversary and while surviving prostate cancer and other maladies, is wondering if it is woth the effort to switch to a Mac, which he had been fighting against for years even though he used Apple II pluses in the 80's.

Does anyone have experience helping tech sophisticate elderly move from PC to Mac?

Thanks for listening...
 
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