FREE graphics programs, all platforms!

Too many highly talented people here seem to be stuck with 'Paint.' Here are some free alternatives for those of you who are loaded with talent and lacking in cash!

For Macintosh:
FuturePaint (http://www.stazsoftware.com/shareware/index.php)
Alternate Futurepaint download site (http://www.tucows.com/preview/204658) since you have to scroll way down on the orriginal site
NIH Image (http://rsb.info.nih.gov/nih-image/)
ArtRage (http://www.ambientdesign.com/artrage.html)

For Linux, even!
The Gimp (http://www.gimp.org/)
i.Mage (http://www.memecode.com/image.php)
Cine-paint (http://cinepaint.movieeditor.com/) Was used to retouch the Harry Potter movies! :D


For PC
Artweaver (http://www.artweaver.de/index.php?en_version) Natural art materials simulation.
Paint.net (http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net/)
Ultimate Paint (http://www.ultimatepaint.com/)Ultimate Paint is shareware, but offers a freeware version. Plus, the trial shareware program can be used without restriction.
The Gimp (http://www.gimp.org/windows/)
ImageForge (http://www.cursorarts.com/ca_imffw.html)
Project Dogwaffle (http://www.thebest3d.com/dogwaffle/free/) This is a link to download the freeware Version 1.2. Newer versions are no longer free, but may be worth paying for if you like the freebie!
VCW Vicman's Photo Editor (http://www.vicman.net/vcwphoto/)
Pixia (http://park18.wakwak.com/~pixia/)
Painter 25 (http://www.jansfreeware.com/jfgraphics.htm#painter)
602 PC Suite (http://www.software602.com/download/) (Part of the Office suite)
Photoplus (http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/serif/ph/ph5/index.asp?ref=http://www.algonet.se/~hubbabub/freeware/graphic3.html&SP=)
Brush Strokes (http://www.pabird.supanet.com/)
Evan's Image Editor (http://www.evanolds.com/ieo.html) Perfect for painting Lily. :angel:
ArtRage (http://www.ambientdesign.com/artrage.html)
Drawing for Children (http://www.cs.uu.nl/people/markov/kids/draw.html) If full-featured programs scare you, try this. :)


Now, get painting, people! :)

And for those of you with programs that only save as inconvenient BMP's or TIFFs, here are some convertors for you!

Windows:
http://www.etrusoft.com/graphic-converter/

Mac
http://www.lemkesoft.de/
(Shareware, but useable prior to registration, and a generally useful program!)
http://www.lemkesoft.de/

---------------------------------

And, thanks to natemac, here's some free 3D programs!

Windows

*AC3D => http://www.ac3d.org/
*3D Canvas => http://www.amabilis.com (95, 98, 2K)
*anim8or => http://www.anim8or.com/
*Aztec 3d => http://aztec.sourceforge.net/aztec.php
*Blender => http://www.blender3d.org
*Draw3D => http://members.optusnet.com.au/~draw3d/
*Gmax => http://www4.discreet.com/gmax/
*Maya Personal Learning Edition (PLE) => http://www.alias.com/eng/products-s...ple/index.shtml
*Milkshake => http://www.swissquake.ch/chumbalum-soft/index.html
*POV-RAY => http://www.povray.org/
Moray--modelling program for POV-rayhttp://www.stmuc.com/moray/
*Terrain Generator => http://countermap.counter-strike.ne...s/index.php?p=9
*Wings 3D => http://www.wings3d.com/
DAZ 3D Studio =>http://www.daz3d.com/program/studio/1_0index.php
PPModeler =>http://www.ppmodeler.com/

MAC OSX

*Blender => http://www.blender3d.org
*Maya Personal Learning Edition (PLE) => http://www.alias.com/eng/products-s...ple/index.shtml
*POV-RAY => http://www.povray.org/
*Wings 3D => http://www.wings3d.com/
DAZ 3D Studio =>http://www.daz3d.com/program/studio/1_0index.php
(Note: if anyone needs Classic-OS Mac stuff, owl Inkwolf, I may be able to help you out.)

Linux

*AC3D => http://www.ac3d.org/
*3DOM => http://threedom.sourceforge.net/
*Blender => http://www.blender3d.org
*MindsEye => http://mindseye.sourceforge.net/main.html
*POV-RAY => http://www.povray.org/
*Wings 3D => http://www.wings3d.com/
PPModeler =>http://www.ppmodeler.com/

I would take up the offer except that I can't download anything on campus computers (legally-not that I know how to do it illegally anyways). I think my next big investment is going to be a computer. Its nice to know there are some free options that are better than that stinker, Paint.

Thanks Inkwolf! I might download those when I get the chance!

I might download them when I get the chance, I will have to ask my dad, hey I'm 12 what do ya expect he got mad a me yesterday and said I download those stupid pop up things but I don't I click the X

Thanks, Inkwolf! I'll try some of them. I have never been able to do anything with paint, so hopefully these will help reveal my true tallent...

Do you use any of these InkWolf?

Nope, sorry, never had to....though I played a little with FuturePaint. I have a Mac, and my first one was a Performa came with Clarisworks pre-installed....which was a little bit better than Paint to begin with. Did the title graphics on my web page with Clarispaint and a mouse, in fact. When I upgraded to a better Mac that could handle graphics apps, I got hold of a Painter 5 demo, and liked it so much I bought the real thing off Ebay as soon as possible, as well as a graphics tablet. Now I have an old version of Photoshop as well, so no need to experiment.

But for those who can't buy a REALLY good graphics program, ANYTHING must be better than Paint...I've puttered with it at work occasionally, and I can't imagine anything more primitive. My Commodore 64 had better art programs. :grumble:

thanks for the links. I might check some of them out but nothing beats my all time favorite, Photoshop 7. :)

Okay, just to make a point, I got FuturePaint off my old MacAddict disk, and drew this using a mouse only. (And if I had actually stopped to take the time to learn Futurepaint's features, I could probably have done better.)

Not a masterpiece, but you couldn't do that in Paint, eh? The opacity controls and smudge tools make all the difference. Even a couple of little effects can make a difference in a picture!

EDIT: Oh, and I should note this was done with the original Futurepaint. Looks like the free offer on the website is Futurepaint 2, so any Mac-users looking at that program can expect less bugs and more cool stuff in it. ;)

That is sooo cool Inkwolf, and without a mouse!!!!!!!!!

I couldn't even do that with a graphics tablet.....i'm soo jealous.
:lol:

Well I am so jealous that I'm gonna have to download some of this stuff.. even though I hate downloading things... which is kinda weird I know

I like the drawing that InkWolf did. i don't go on advertisted sites though.

Just bumping this up, since people have asked me recently about graphics programs....

thanx. i like them.

Thanks! powerpoint and a photo package are somewhat... limiting!

Do any of them have animation tools? I know Jessie was looking for some packages with them recently... don't know if she's stopped...

Thank you miri, but I downloaded Animation Shop already & also Photoshop 7 & 8! :D But yes, I would like to know if there are any other good, free, animation tools out there :).

I could never find any good free animation tools, except for some little gif-making programs. I ended up eventually buying an old copy of Flash off Ebay. But what I'd really like is something like ToonBoom Studio.

Thanks for that Inkwolf!!
I'm sure I'll download the lot sometime...stupid download limit :grumble:

*bump*

Originally posted by Inkwolf (original post (http://www.cosforums.com/a/showthread.php?postid=329875#post329875))
I could never find any good free animation tools, except for some little gif-making programs. I ended up eventually buying an old copy of Flash off Ebay. But what I'd really like is something like ToonBoom Studio.



There are lots of animation making programs out there.. specially 3d animations... Swift 3d, swish (these two are awsome when you want to make something in flash).. 3d studio max and Maya are awesome...


But you know the problem.. they're not free and NOT cheap lol.. ;) :D

Nice old dude Inkwolf! :D Oh and good art downloads, they really help.

Thanks for the links,Inky ;) And Cool pictures,as usual ! :)

*bump*

(I've always wanted to say that! :))

hey inky (or anyone else for that matter) do you know of any online drawing programs that you don't have to download to use? because my computer's old and creaky and another download would probably finish it off...;)

thanks

LOL Slythy xx

I use Paintshop Pro 7 it has an animator and I got some killer effects alled Eye Candy 4000 that can be used in Adobe or Paintshop Pro

I could never find any good free animation tools, except for some little gif-making programs.
That's exactly what I need - something to make animated gifs. Nothing fancy, just the basics. The only free ones I have found tend to put "UNREGISTERED USER" in the top corner and block out part of my images. :( Does anyone know of any free animated gif-making programs that don't do that?

Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop are the most expensive programs to buy. My sister said she downloaded it once, but it disappeared after a while haha. Go figure.

Can anyone give me advice on which of the PC programs would be the best? I think my dad would kill me if I took up all the space I would need to download more than one and try them out.

I figured this must be a question thread as well... Right?

Anyway, I do have Adobe Photoshop 7, but seems like I have no idea how to use it. I know those basic stuff and to use some filters... but how to paint like you do, guys? I have the program for months, I use it only for resizing pictures and making some silly stuff... but I'd liek some more. What can I do with it, too, considering that I don't have a scanner? Can I make some manipulated photos? Thanks in advance. :)

Well, GA, you paint using the pencil, brush, and airbrush tools. :) And I understand that the newer versions of Photoshop have a lot more brush variety as well. I'm not sure how to advise you on starting actually doing it, though...I failed to learn Photoshop on my own and ended up taking a class to try to learn it.

Personally I use Paint Shop Pro. I have Photoshop too but I'm more used to PSP as I've been using it longer. I think PSP is worth the money, it's affordable. Nice to see some nice free programs available though.

if your looking for a program to animate gifs go HERE (www.gifmoviegear.com) and download Gif Movie Gear, it's a nice and easy animated to use even with some special features.

Hope that helps!

I've got Photosuite4 Platinum which is great for editing photos and images off the web, but when it comes to designing your own work, it's pretty rubbish, I need a good paint program!

Blender - http://www.blender.org - is a fairly good animation program, and is free.

the ones i would recommend off of Inkwolf's list are the GIMP (http://gimp.org) and its Windows version, Pixia (www.ab.wakwak.com/~knight/) and Project Dogwaffle (www.squirreldome.com/cyberop.htm). GIMP is most similar to Photoshop, a clone of it actually.

Long Live Photoshop 7.0 :lol:
Photoshop by far is the best program for image editing but it costs around $650~700 US
Though there are other ways of getting around that cost..... :rotfl:

Thanks for the links though :p

I tried to go to www.ultimatepaint.com and got the message that the site had expired. I was going to look at their tutorial that I saw they had when I downloaded the freeware.

i have corel photo house... and its a piece of **** :) ^_^

I tried to go to www.ultimatepaint.com and got the message that the site had expired. I was going to look at their tutorial that I saw they had when I downloaded the freeware.

It seems to be up now...maybe it was a temporary interruption.

Long Live Photoshop 7.0 :lol:
Photoshop by far is the best program for image editing but it costs around $650~700 US

Anyway, I do have Adobe Photoshop 7, but seems like I have no idea how to use it. I know those basic stuff and to use some filters... but how to paint like you do, guys?

Photoshop is definately the best for image editing (though I actually use Adobe After Effects more), but for digital painting Corel Painter is far superior. It is also much easier to learn (I picked it up within five minutes, and It usually takes me awhile to learn software :D ), and you can paint animation frames in it (which is great, because it costs a whole lot less than Toonz, and Photoshop isn't really equipped for digital ink and paint).

Painter 8 costs $299.00 (there is a free trial download on the Corel website)


3d studio max and Maya are awesome...
But you know the problem.. they're not free and NOT cheap lol..

Ain't that the truth! 3Ds Max is $3495, plus if you want to do human character animation without rigging you need to buy Character Studio as well (which is an additional $995), plus if you want to do realistic cloth and water effects you need Reactor (which is $1000 more).
Maya Complete 5 is $1999 and Maya Unlimited 5 is $6999, plus there is a yearly liscense fee foe both (not sure how much it is).
There is also a whole lot to learn in the programs. It can take a good long while until you are comfortable using them!

Being a freelance animator takes mucho dinero.

Photoshop is definately the best for image editing (though I actually use Adobe After Effects more), but for digital painting Corel Painter is far superior. It is also much easier to learn (I picked it up within five minutes, and It usually takes me awhile to learn software :D ), and you can paint animation frames in it (which is great, because it costs a whole lot less than Toonz, and Photoshop isn't really equipped for digital ink and paint).

Painter 8 costs $299.00 (there is a free trial download on the Corel website)

Ain't that the truth! 3Ds Max is $3495, plus if you want to do human character animation without rigging you need to buy Character Studio as well (which is an additional $995), plus if you want to do realistic cloth and water effects you need Reactor (which is $1000 more).
Maya Complete 5 is $1999 and Maya Unlimited 5 is $6999, plus there is a yearly liscense fee foe both (not sure how much it is).
There is also a whole lot to learn in the programs. It can take a good long while until you are comfortable using them!

Being a freelance animator takes mucho dinero.

I couldn't agree more.

The thing that's nifty about free-lance work is that your first project will pay for the program, the next project, you'll get profit.

Okay people, I've worked with every kind of software there is. Here are my picks:

Photo editing: Photoshop
Painting: Painter, Paint Shop Pro
Web Graphics: Paint Shop Pro
3D programs for TV: Lightwave
3D programs for games: 3ds max, Maya
3D programs for movies: Maya, Lightwave
3D program with best looking results: Lightwave
Easy 3D programs: Bryce, Poser
2D programs for animation: Toonz, Animation Shop
Programs for drafting: AutoCAD R.14
Programs for the web:
Video editing: Premiere
Video graphics: After Effects
Video compositing: Combustion
Website buidlng: Dreamweaver
Operating system: Windows XP Professional

do you have a link to a free trial of the latest version of Photoshop??

No, but if one is being offered for download, http://www.adobe.com/ is where it will be.

Here's a couple of animation links sent to me by tmt353!

Animation:
Live Swif Lite
http://liveswif.com/ it is a flash program

3D Image creator:
3D canvas
http://www.amabilis.com/ 3d image creator with a little animation

Interestingly, I have Adobe Photoshop and Adobe imageready but never use them. I prefer good old Paint shop pro V7. Actually, I am quite fond of Microsoft Photo editor - good and easy for manipulating scanned images - I did the pic in my sig using Photo Ed. The .gif extention looks a bit pixelated but the .png one looks great. You wouldn't believe what they started life looking like. Actually, I'll attach the image of how they looked when I first scanned them in then you can see what I mean.

After I did resized the image using paint shop pro, I put it in Photoshop then cut out and 'paste as new image' to separate the pics then I used the blur tool at REALLY high magnification to merge the penstrokes - the .png and .jpg look so much smoother than the .gif but .gif was the only one where I could get the transparency to work. Speaking of Transparency in order to make the outside of the image transparent (So I just have the outline) I put the image in paint and used a REALLY outlandish colour - something that wasn't in the actual image - I used Red for the Sunbird and bright purple for the phoenix and painstakingly went around the edges again at high magnification then I put the image back in photo editor and used the transparency function. Voila!

Yes I'm sure there are easier and quicker ways of doing it but I am lazy and can never be bothered to mess around with complicated programs - I do it the easy way and as you can see from my sig - it was somewhat effective.

Veq.

By the way, Thanks for the links Inkwolf.

How much does Corel Painter cost?

How much does Corel Painter cost?

To buy the newest version (Painter 8), around between $200 to $300, I believe.

You can buy older versions off Ebay for much more reasonable prices, though. Any version from Painter 5 and up is good. And the older ones will probably be easier to learn. :p

Don't go with Painter Classic or anything below Painter 5, though. Before 5, there was no layering system at all (5's is limited) and Classic is just a limited version with barely any features. Painter 6 has a more Photoshop-like layer system, and incredibly customizable brushes, but a million palettes and is a bit confusing. I've heard that 7 didn't have many improvements over 6, apart from a few new brushes, but that in 8, the controls are supposed to be a lot more efficiently laid out.

The brushes in Painter are made to work as much as possible like real media brushes, so to get the best results, you probably need to know how to use real-life paints and pens!

you can download demos of photoshop for 30days free...
http://www.download.com/3001-2192-10255309.html

How much does Corel Painter cost?

Painter 8 costs $299.00 (there is a free trial download on the Corel website)

Here ya go.

That's exactly what I need - something to make animated gifs. Nothing fancy, just the basics. The only free ones I have found tend to put "UNREGISTERED USER" in the top corner and block out part of my images. :( Does anyone know of any free animated gif-making programs that don't do that?

Its only a 30 day trial, but the easiest gif program I've ever used is JASC Animation Shop (http://www.jasc.com).

Huzzah (as mentioned in title). This must be something like heaven for an amateur blender (well, at least it's not hell - I'm trying to make a comparision here!).
I have been fortunate enough to have something slightly better than paint - but still painfully inadequate when it comes to more - complicated and varied pictures. Le sigh.

Now I'll download one of these programs any day - I really crave a better picture program...

But still, I believe my original program did teach me to be creative - constructing pictures having to use the same tools again and again and again and again -- you get my point -- does kind of force you to.

;) And now that someone has been kind enough to give me links to animation programs, I have to do that too! Wipes at a tearful eye. Have been my dream for ages...

Bounce

Edit: What I meant to say, of course, was thank you...

can anyone advise me? id like to know what is the best free downloadable program for PC windows that can paint/smudge/contour/shadow/etc. any input is much appreciated! i am poor! lol actually, anything that i could buy for $100 or less would also do. but free is better!

thanks in advance! :)

can anyone advise me? id like to know what is the best free downloadable program for PC windows that can paint/smudge/contour/shadow/etc. any input is much appreciated! i am poor! lol actually, anything that i could buy for $100 or less would also do. but free is better!

thanks in advance! :)

I really don't know about the free programs, but you should be able to pick up a copy of Photoshop 6 for less than $100 (or maybe even 7). Try amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/home/home.html/103-8805914-0391809).

Thanks a ton Inkwolf! Im using Photoplus 5.5 and its a lot like photoshop so Its really easy for me to use. Thanks for your help!

Wow...impressive links!
Thanks!

Okay, a lot of the free programs (and Paint. And scanning programs, apparently) will only save pictures as BMP's, which are often too bulky to attach, except at tiny image sizes.

So, I've added the URLs for two graphic conversion programs to the first post.

Easy Graphic Convertor works on Windows. It says it converts between 15 different file types, and is totally free. Anyone who wants to try it, let me know if it lives up to the claims. :p
http://www.etrusoft.com/graphic-converter/



GraphicConvertor is a Mac program. It's actually shareware, but unless Lemkesoft has changed the way it does business, it is free to use as a demo before you pay. And it's an excellent, useful program that is well worth owning, even if you have a more full-featured graphics program. It will open just about anything!

http://www.lemkesoft.de/

People should be able to use these to turn those overweight, bulky BMP's into light, trim, ATTACHABLE-SIZE JPGs. :)

Okay, a lot of the free programs (and Paint. And scanning programs, apparently) will only save pictures as BMP's, which are often too bulky to attach, except at tiny image sizes.
Not to contradict you at all- I'm terrible with graphics programs. That's why I'm here :D But paint will allow you to save images as jpg rather than bitmap. In the 'Save As...' drop down menu, there's a list of the image types you can choose from. BMP's are huge. Also, my scanner's editing works in pretty much the same way. In some cases though, I think it depends on the original file type as to whether or not it can be converted.
For example, if you had opened a BMP image with paint, you can save it a second time as a JPG. It makes a copy, but I guess then it's just a matter of deleting the duplicate.

Thanks for the links, don't know which to follow first! :D

All I know is, a few newbies have wanted to post stuff lately and had no idea how to turn a BMP into a JPG. ;)

Whoa thanks...Ill download them later...

arent we forgeting Irfanview? Its the best free graphic program :)

arent we forgeting Irfanview? Its the best free graphic program :)

We weren't forgetting it, we just never heard of it. :angel: I went to check it out on your recommendation, but it looks like it's just a viewer, and I guess what I actually set out to make was a list of paint programs.

It isnt just a viewer, it allows you to make very cool backgrounds... i had it some time ago, it was quite good, now i have PSP8.

It isnt just a viewer, it allows you to make very cool backgrounds... i had it some time ago, it was quite good, now i have PSP8.

(scratches head) Hmmm...whaddya mean, cool backgrounds? Could you post something? (I'd try it out myself, but I'm on a Mac)

Two announcements to make:

Firstly, thanks to the hard work of Natemac, we have now added a list of 3D applications to the list of free graphics programs! :) :tu:

I would also like to announce that the Hogwarts School of Art has its first tutorial up! Thanks to Okirun, for the Anime Style Harry Potter Marker Shading Tutorial of Doom!
http://www.redrival.com/hammerhead/snape/tutorials/kitsune/kitsune.html

Great job, both of you!

Wow. I just downloaded the GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/) yesterday, and it rules. It's brilliant if you can't afford Photoshop. Try it!

btw thanks for all the links, Inkwolf (even though that was like 2 years ago).

WOW thanks :tu:

Sorry, but I love and use without stop Serif Photoplus. Basically everything Photoshop has, but free. Also has gif-animation maker, and you can export as jpeg. Its uber-awesome. I made my signature, and also if you look under Manipulations on this board, those were done with photoplus as well. Above all, it's free and legal. ^_^

Ah the joys of photoshop. I am converted through and through. I tried to use fireworks, but it didn't really work out for me. Looks like it is me and photoshop for life.

Sorry, but I love and use without stop Serif Photoplus.

Why are you sorry? ;)

Oh, I'm sorry for you all, because you haven't discovered the joys of photoplus! :p

Actually, some may have, because it's on our list, under Windows programs. ;)

Everyone who praised their graphics program on this thread had something else. ;)

Well, then, it's great that you're here to give Serif Photoplus such a good review!

Am I giving you a hard time or something? :lol:

When I extract the Blender program/file... it says something about no 'python' being detected.

I just want basically any Blending program that inexpensive and pretty simple.

awesome....I'll try these when i get the time....but for now i'll stick with Jasc Paint Shop Pro 8

I have Corel PhotoPaint now and it's more like PhotoPAIN.:grumble:That might also be due to my non-existent digital skills though. I have to check out one of those free programs.

When I extract the Blender program/file... it says something about no 'python' being detected.

I just want basically any Blending program that inexpensive and pretty simple.

Blender as in the 3d modelling program???

Blender uses phython, a programming language, for its scripting. You have to have phython installed for blender to work correctly. You can get it at www.python.org

Here is a direct link to the windows install file. Their site is a little more confusin because mostly developers use python...
http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.4/python-2.4.msi

Ooh, thanks, Osiris! That's something useful to know.

do any of those programs make blends and stuff? i really want photoshop 7 or something powerful but I cant afford it... :(

do any of those programs make blends and stuff? i really want photoshop 7 or something powerful but I cant afford it... :(

I expect you can make blends with any of them, in one way or another. (Not the 3D programs, though.) In any case, you can use them develop some graphics-editing skills while you're waiting for the Photoshop Fairy to bless you. ;)

I guess this id the right place to ask for help. I've downloaded spme animated gifs to use as an avatar. I've looked at Animation shop and the help tells me abou the resize dialogues - ubfirtunately it doesn't tell me how to bring the dialogue upt. Anyone know how? To show how computer savvy I am I've just discovered I had the program and I've had the machine since November

Blender as in the 3d modelling program???

Blender uses phython, a programming language, for its scripting. You have to have phython installed for blender to work correctly. You can get it at www.python.org (http://www.python.org/)

Here is a direct link to the windows install file. Their site is a little more confusin because mostly developers use python...
http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.4/python-2.4.msi

In order to compile Blender, yes, you need Python. Blender is a simple .exe and can run on itself. Now, for any plugins or script exports, and a few CVS builds, you would need Python installed.

-nate

Just a little reminder that this thread is for legally FREE software.

Warez/cracking links will not be tolerated. :grumble:

Cool, thanks! I'll add it to the list!

*looks at the long list of free art programs* You're my hero! *hug*

My comp is a windows so which is the best FREE programm to use?

I wouldn't know, why not try a few and see which you like best? :)

Thanks a ton! Anything beats ancient paint!

Thank you for all those links. I might have to try some.

Thanx a lot.. I think I 'll try some of these

Added some new stuff to the list! :)

ArtRage for Mac and Windows...
i.Mage for Linux....
Brush Strokes, Evan's Image Editor, and Drawing for Children for Windows.

On the down side, the Mac Futurepaint site is no longer up (temporarily, I hope) and one of the download servers I checked for it said the title was no longer available. I did find an alternate link, though!

And sadly, the very impressive Project Dogwaffle has gone commercial with a vengeance ($59) but I left the link up anyway, for the moment, since it still looks like a great lower-cost alternative to a professional graphics program. If you have an old copy of the free version, back it up and don't delete it, because you will not be able to download a replacement.

Thankyou so much Inkwolf. These are great. I cant afford to buy so these are perfect.

Here are a few more good free 3d proggies that I would like to point out. Okay, most of the full versions of these programs are definitely not free, and are more for rendering than manipulating current images. But they are fun!

This is a full free version of Truespace, a fairly good rendering program, that Caligari(its legal owners) sanctions. It is their old version 3.2. (current version is 6, I think) It is at the following link.

Truespace 3.2 (http://forms.caligari.com/forms/ts3all_free.html)

I've used this program somewhat. It is intuitive. I find its interface less confusing than Blender's interface. Others may prefer Blender because it can do more things than Truespace can, which I understand well. Different artists like different mediums.

Now, on to the next one!


Technically, this is a demo for Vue that its owners give out, but is not supposed to expire. It can't save scene files and can't export anything for use in other programs, but other than that, it appears to be fully functional as far as I can see. (forgive me, though if I am wrong. I just got it two days ago and am still exploring it.) Here is the link.

Vue 4 Pro demo
(https://secure.e-onsoftware.com/Products/vue4prodemo/)

I started with demos for Vue. I think that it isn't a bad one to start with, since I found it to be rather intuitive. Its learning curve is fairly gentle.


You could also use this Bryce 4 trial. (http://www.mulawa.net/bryce/) I don't think it expires either. This page also offers tutorials for it. I have used the full version of Bryce 5, so I only used some of the instructions.


I have also used Irfanview (http://www.irfanview.com/) to great effect. I love that program! It makes adjusting and converting images so easy! I've made all my avatar and siggy pics that way and its free!

Found the free version of Serif Photo (http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/) and Dogwaffle:cool: (http://www.thebest3d.com/dogwaffle/free/)

Thanks for telling me about these other cool programs! :tu:

I hope you guys find this stuff helpful!

I've just added Cine-Paint to the Linux list! It's mainly for photo-editing, but deserves a special mention because it was actually used to work on the Harry Potter movies!

Only the Linux version is currently available...a Mac port is being worked on, but the site says the Windows version will not be available until their next major upgrade.

You should add Apophysis its a fractal design program that is free

Looks cool, but I don't think that fractal-making programs will make it on the list. I'm pretty much only listing multi-featured paint programs. Thanks, though!

I have a question. Is Corel Painter the same as Corel Photo-paint? (I have the Corel Graphics Suite 7, came with the purchase of our computer. It's quite old though - we bought our PC in 1999 and 7 dates from 1997, I think.)

Oh, and one more thing, is Photoshop 6 too old to use?

1. No, sorry. I think Corel PhotoPaint was Corel's attempt at a Photoshop-type progam. Painter was purchased by Corel around Version 6. Iit was first made by Fractal Graphics, then by Metacreations. Painter is a program which mainly imitates real-world art media, like watercolors, crayons, paper grains, impasto effects, etc.

And 2. As long as it runs on your computer, it's never too old to use!!! And Photoshop 6 is not exactly ancient history. :p I can't tell you what improvements may have been added in later versions, though, because I just don't use photoshop that much...

I dled Photoplus, but the images are saving in a weird format and I can't get it to convert. What do I do?

Instead of using command "save as" use 'export' Then you can save it as a jpeg

1. No, sorry. I think Corel PhotoPaint was Corel's attempt at a Photoshop-type progam. Painter was purchased by Corel around Version 6. Iit was first made by Fractal Graphics, then by Metacreations. Painter is a program which mainly imitates real-world art media, like watercolors, crayons, paper grains, impasto effects, etc.

And 2. As long as it runs on your computer, it's never too old to use!!! And Photoshop 6 is not exactly ancient history. :p I can't tell you what improvements may have been added in later versions, though, because I just don't use photoshop that much...
Thanks. The funny thing is though that my old PhotoPaint has a boatload of brushes and also watercolour, feltpen, calligraphy pen, pastel, airbrush, charcoal, pencil, ballpoint...

Instead of using command "save as" use 'export' Then you can save it as a jpeg

Thanks a bunch!

DAZ, longtime makers of 3D models for use in Poser, now have their own free-to-download 3D rendering program! (But not modeling)

It's been added to the 3D apps for Windows and Macintosh.

I want to make some very simple icons/avatars. What are some user friendly freeware to do this with? Note, I still cant figure out how to use paint so I need it to really be basic. I also have dial up and it takes forever to download so I cant just try a bunch out to see if I like them so maybe 3 of the best and user friendly ones. On the plus side I do know how to reduce an image and convert. Thank you!

Try paint.net - it's not that big a file and I find it much more obvious than MS paint.

Thanks, Mundungus--you've been getting the ones I can't answer lately. :p

Thanks for posting this. My daughter is into art so I will download one of these for her at home (shhh, I'm at work). Maybe someday you'll see one of her 'masterpieces' here on Mugglenet!

Sorry guys. But I just HAVE to come here and sing the praises of Corel Painter IX. I bought it a few weeks ago because I thought that somehow it would be more suited to my work/style and I was right. It is *** awesomeness. I like it sooooooooo much better than Photoshop.

Sorry guys. But I just HAVE to come here and sing the praises of Corel Painter IX. I bought it a few weeks ago because I thought that somehow it would be more suited to my work/style and I was right. It is *** awesomeness. I like it sooooooooo much better than Photoshop.

Yay for you! :p AGPotter has it as well, now...maybe we should all start a Corel Painter thread. :p

I have to say I prefer paint...

I downloaded a few and... I only understood 'Drawing for Children... and I dont even know how to get exsisting picture in that...

Oh well. That is why we experiment!

I have a feeling it be... *Pouts*

Inkwolf...your sig is great!! I liked it! What did you used to do it?

Thanks, I did it in Corel Painter...probably back when I had Version 5. It's still my favorite pic of Snape.

You can see the full painting here
http://www.redrival.com/hammerhead/snape/snivellusp.html

Just downloaded The Gimp and can't wait to use it.
I hope it's good, well it has to be better than paint.
So I'll go check it out now, thanks for posting all the links, Inkwolf! :)

Maybe you all can help me out - I am not a great artist by any stretch of the imagination - that is why I dropped out of art school....but I am used to charcoal and paper.....I would love to try using the computer but I have never used any of these programs (the only thing outside of Paint I have used is the original Corel programs from about 15 yrs ago:sad: - can anyone give me some helpful hints as to what I need or what would be the best program to start with? (I have a PC)

Maybe you all can help me out - I am not a great artist by any stretch of the imagination - that is why I dropped out of art school....but I am used to charcoal and paper.....I would love to try using the computer but I have never used any of these programs (the only thing outside of Paint I have used is the original Corel programs from about 15 yrs ago:sad: - can anyone give me some helpful hints as to what I need or what would be the best program to start with? (I have a PC)

a) don't worry about being inexperienced with painting programs it is very easy to use once you get the hang of it just fiddle around till you get comfortable... now what i suggest is for you to download "The Gimp" which is a bit advanced but you can find many tutorials for it by googling "the gimp tutorials" that will help you as a starter such as introducing you to layering, opacity settings etc... The gimp i think also has a function that is somewhat like animating if im not mistaken... u can make a .gif file where using multiple layers you can make it sift threw the layers making kinda like a slide show.. ill check it out

b)im a noob at this stuff too but what i like to do is fiddle around with things and change almost all the settings and stuff and see what i come up with, the beauty of it is that if i wreck the picture there is always the trusty "ctrl+z" also... if you're comfortable with the charcoal i suggest making a few pictures are scanning them.. then trying to enhance them with the computer (for some basic tips you can ask me for more advanced stuff just look at everyones siggy's and ull find out who to ask)

and c) this is a question for the guru's if i make a flash animation and save it as a .gif, host it, and stick it as my sig will it play the flash over and over (thats what i want), or will it just not work at all?

Animasted GIFs work in sigs - but the only one I tried was over the size limit so was taken down.

Wow! That is a cool list, Inkwolf. I must try these.

I found another good program to add to your list. PPModeler (http://www.ppmodeler.com/) is a fine 3d modeling program I've tried. It is versatile and not hard to use. It renders, is free, and stands alone yet is an excellent supplement to many programs. I have seen people use this to supplement programs such as Poser and Daz Studio.

Thanks, I'll add that to the 3D list! :)

Hey everyone, I've got a question about CorelPainter. I downloaded it, and it was on my desltop and everything, but when I clicked it, this box will come out and say something about whether I was to repair it, or delete it. I always click repair, but after I'm done, the same thing will pop up. I gave up after a while, and deleted the file from my computer. Does anyone know why it was like that?

Hey everyone, I've got a question about CorelPainter. I downloaded it, and it was on my desltop and everything, but when I clicked it, this box will come out and say something about whether I was to repair it, or delete it. I always click repair, but after I'm done, the same thing will pop up. I gave up after a while, and deleted the file from my computer. Does anyone know why it was like that?
Did you download the trial version or by, err, other means? Because if it was the latter then it might've happened becaue of that . I have Corel Painter legally and it's perfectly well-behaved.

Yeah, same here (I mean the well-behaved bit), though I have a hard copy and not the downloaded version. Did you purchase the download from Corel, or from some other well-known software site? Because if you got the full version downloaded cheap from elsewhere, it may not have been a legal copy...which might explain the lack of useability.

Another way to get the regular trial version is to see if your library can get you any Painter IX books, such as the Painter IX Wow Book or Painter IX Creativity. These books usually have a CD with the trial version of painter on them.

(For a cheap hard copy, Ebay is a good source...I got mine sealed-in-the-box, full retail version for $160...and even saw a badly-listed one go for under $50 once.)

I have a hard copy too. Additionally, if you're still in school or in college you might be able to get Painter with a student licence fee, which means it's a lot cheaper than normal. Mine cost 60 EUR. The only problem is that you have to pay the full fee once you're out of college, but that shouldn't bee too much of a problem considering you'll already be in your twenties then.;)

Thanks, guys. I downloaded mine ... it was a trial copy. My sister used a trial just before me, but she was using PSP X. But on another computer, and it worked for her, but none of the trials ... CorelPainter, and PSP X, don't seem to work for me. And I would try the student thing, but I'm a student ... as in barely outta the bird's nest yet ... haven't learnt to fly yet. :lol: In other words, still under my parents' wing. And I don't know whether it applies to where I come from ... I'm in Asia. South East, actually.

That's strange....well, if I think of any reason why it might not work for you, I'll let you know. Sorry you couldn't get the demo to work! :(

Thanks, guys. I downloaded mine ... it was a trial copy. My sister used a trial just before me, but she was using PSP X. But on another computer, and it worked for her, but none of the trials ... CorelPainter, and PSP X, don't seem to work for me. And I would try the student thing, but I'm a student ... as in barely outta the bird's nest yet ... haven't learnt to fly yet. :lol: In other words, still under my parents' wing. And I don't know whether it applies to where I come from ... I'm in Asia. South East, actually.
Oooh, you're only 14 I see. Well that might not be possible, esp. in Asia. Can't think of any reason why your trial shouldn't work though.

All I can think of is maybe that you need certain fonts or characters which aren't standard in your computer set-up. :(

Yeah, that could be it. Oh well. Thanks for answering my questions, guys! :)

I'm terribly sorry for double-posting, but I figured taht if I didn't, nobody would see this post.

So, I was wondering, what graphic program can I use to make avatars? Something that I can download from the 'net without much problem.

Oh, and I just downloaded GIMP 2, but I have no idea how to use it. Does anyone know any basic tutorials, or anything?

Well, I have been looking at the list and I don't have a clue.
Can anybody tell me what program to use to make some simple animations?
Thanks in advance. :)

My mind is now completely boggled!!!! So I'm going to pose this directly:
Right now I use Adobe Photodeluxe Home Version. I think it is from the year 50 BC. I like many of its features, but it is time to upgrade & I don't have money to burn to do so. What I mainly would like to do is: take different photos, cut out part of that photo (example, someone's entire body without any background) put it on whatever I want (hand drawing, scanned stuff, etc) and add to it other photos, hand drawing, change colours, etc.)

I have tried several times to scan in a black & white drawing to then change & add colours, and found this impossible in paint. I can't draw with a mouse to save my life, plus I'm just old-school & like to draw. When I cut & merge pictures in Photodeluxe, the photo pixelizes (???) causing the quality to go way down. I have to use different programs & some I can't get into the same format to use together. I often try to throw it all into MS Publisher (which I love!) Is there a decent, easy-to-use program which does it all?

See, now I have to edit because I don't even think I posted this in the right forum, because I doubt what I want is free! Inkwolf, seer of all, help!

GIMP or Photoplus are probabaly your best bet for freeware. I've used them bother are they are pretty decent. Depending on how serious you are about graphics and such Id like to recommend Paintshop Pro which sells for about $100. It does all the same things that Photoshop does but costs considerably less.

Thank you! I do freelance everything since I'm a stay-at-home Mom now. I am currently doing some graphic design work I can do on Publisher. But my photo & art programs are lacking. For my holiday card this year, I took my pictures of my twins seperately (cause there's no other way to get two babies to pose how you'd like!!!) & put angel wings on them. So I had to take two photos, put them together, then add the wings. Doing all of this in photodeluxe caused the image quality to suffer greatly. I ended up putting the photos together, then cloning in the wings from another photo. It was a lot of work. People who saw it want me to do their photos now, and I just don't have time to do so much work!

When I cut & merge pictures in Photodeluxe, the photo pixelizes (???) causing the quality to go way down.

That usually won't be because of a specific software problem. Usually in a case like that, the thing you're pasting is at a different resolution than the thing you're pasting it into. I've never used Photoplus, but before you paste, you might want to adjust the background picture...if it's in indexed color, try to change it to RGB format, for example. If there's a choice of bit level, change it to 32-bit graphics. If it's a palette limitation, see if there's a way to expand the color palette before pasting.

If you don't like to draw with a mouse, you might want to try a graphics tablet...but you say you dont have money to burn, and you would need to set off at least a mild conflagration to get one. :p I think there are a few low-cost, low-budget ones for Windows computers that might be better than nothing.

That makes sense, well not really, but yes, the image quality suffered when I integrated the picture of wings off of the internet onto the picture of the twins. I don't totally understand the RGB picture stuff. You see, when I went to college, there was very little computer art at the time. Dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

I looked at Paintshop Pro, and it seems to do everything I want with photos. However, I still have a problem with scanning in drawings. For example, I do a lot of birth announcements & things of that nature freelance. I would like to scan a black & white drawing into the computer, then tell it what fields to colour what, then add a picture through some sort of cut & paste method (for example, if it is an odd shape, as opposed to just cutting out a square). I don;t have a paint manual, so maybe I'm doing it wrong. When I scan & print, the colours lose too much saturation for my liking. When I send it to paint, I have a hard time just filling in fields, black translates to many shades of black. In black & white scan, the white does the same. Any suggestions?

Should this be moved to the artists suggestions thread?

That makes sense, well not really, but yes, the image quality suffered when I integrated the picture of wings off of the internet onto the picture of the twins. I don't totally understand the RGB picture stuff. You see, when I went to college, there was very little computer art at the time. Dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

Some pictures are saved as 'indexed color.' That means that, to save space, they only have a limited number of colors in them. So, for example, if you had a really simple indexed color picture that was only red and white--say, the flag of Poland or something--the comuter would set the palette of that picture to be red and white. So, if you pasted a picture of Fred over it, since there are only two colors 'allowed' in the picture, Fred's face would be converted into red and white...the exact two shades of the original picture. Now say you have a perfectly normal color picture--one that uses, say, 1000 colors. If you paste Fred over that, he's look better than over the Polish flag, but some of the colors would still not be represented in the picture palette...and would convert to one of the colors already in the picture. I haven't used your software, but I know that in photoshop you can switch an indexed-color picture to RGB (red/green/blue, how colors are determined on computer monitors) or CYMK (cyan/yellow/magenta/black the colors of printing inks) in order to open up the picture's palette and allow more colors to be added.

I looked at Paintshop Pro, and it seems to do everything I want with photos. However, I still have a problem with scanning in drawings. For example, I do a lot of birth announcements & things of that nature freelance. I would like to scan a black & white drawing into the computer, then tell it what fields to colour what, then add a picture through some sort of cut & paste method (for example, if it is an odd shape, as opposed to just cutting out a square). I don't have a paint manual, so maybe I'm doing it wrong.

There's a little object on your toolbar which looks like a lassoo. You can use it to select an odd-shaped area, then you can fill the area with a color or copy it to paste elsewhere.


When I scan & print, the colours lose too much saturation for my liking.

That's because on your screen, pictures appear in RGB, and are translated to CMYK when you print. For best results, use photo-quality paper, and set your printer to know it's using photo-quality paper. Your pics will be MUCH brighter!

When I send it to paint, I have a hard time just filling in fields, black translates to many shades of black. In black & white scan, the white does the same. Any suggestions?

Fiddling with the brightness and contrast levels in your paint program should flatten the colors considerably. But be careful--if you do it too much, your curved lines will all get the 'jaggies.' Shades of grey are what make your lines look smooth. Maybe see if your scanner driver has a contrast setting you can boost.
Should this be moved to the artists suggestions thread?

Probably! :lol:

So I just tried to download Gimp. Everything seemed to go fine and an icon for it appeared on my desktop. When I click on it though, A screen comes up for just a few seconds and then dissapears. This screen is mostly white with the left and top sides orange. The top blue bar (I know that has a name but I can't think of it) says "Gimp user installation." The same thing happens when I try to open it through the start menu. Any thoughts?

Uninstall it and try it again. Something didnt get downloaded right

i have gimp i found it on anohter site

heres some things i've made with it
http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/7108/sigd20bx.jpg
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/9150/cool2yn.jpg
http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/7597/bad9me.jpg

if you want brushes for it go to
http://www.gimptalk.com/topic.php?a=v&t=1139&f=11

you can also go to www.deviantart.com and search for them

hope that isnt advertising

Well, I have been looking at the list and I don't have a clue.
Can anybody tell me what program to use to make some simple animations?
Thanks in advance. :)

if your looking for a free animating program theres 2

you can get easytoon thats what my sigs from
http://www.vikkilea.co.uk/eztoon/easytoon.zip
http://www.superfundungeonrun.com/eztsetb3.zip
http://www.spread-it.com/dl.php?id=...4c506d5c55af51e
http://dl025.filefactory.com/get/i....a2211d08f963a76

can download from those sites

and you can get pivot in pivot you can only do stickmen
http://www.batchconverter.com/5412.zip
http://atlas.walagata.com/w/peterbone/Pivot.zip

can dowload from those

if your willing to pay a couple hundred dollars theres macromedia flash you can also make games and interactive sigs with it but you need to learn actionscript

free 30 day trial of newest version
http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/basic/

if you want more programs or information owl me

sorry for double posting

I'm terribly sorry for double-posting, but I figured taht if I didn't, nobody would see this post.

So, I was wondering, what graphic program can I use to make avatars? Something that I can download from the 'net without much problem.

Oh, and I just downloaded GIMP 2, but I have no idea how to use it. Does anyone know any basic tutorials, or anything?

www.gimptalk.com has lots of tuts
hope thats not advertising

Providing useful links isn't advertising. :p

Advertising is, like, "I made this great painting of Draco!" and linking to your Ebay auction of the painting. Or answering questions with "I have useful info on MY website!" and linking to your front page instead of the actual useful, pertinent part. :p
Thanks for the animation program links--some time when I have more time available, I may list them on the front page in a new category...

ok didnt know what you considered advertising here because on some sites when you link to somewhere with a forum its advertising

heres some information

in easytoon you have to draw each frame its only black and white but you can make some nice stuff like this
http://www.cosforums.com/images/img/121017440b6cb7bbfe7.gif

http://www.cosforums.com/images/img/121017440b6d0313898.gif

in pivot you can only animate sticks you make a stick that has points on it you drag to points to make the sticks limbs move
http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/3781/cospreview5ih.gif

flash like easytoon with color can also do actionscript

here are somemore that i havent tried

tisfat:
http://www.winsite.com/bin/Info?5000000038332
http://www.hacsimile.co.za/downlodas.jpg

project dogwaffle:

http://dw.com.com/redir?pid=1030284...d=6243334&ltype
Simular to eztoons + ms paint ; but more advanced
allows user to draw in frames or just one picture

tab - trial:

http://www.the-tab.com/htm/download/download.htm
trail version, more advance but frame is going vertically instead of horizontally unlike flash. more style and colors to choose from.

plastic animation paper - trial:

http://plasticanimationpaper.dk/
Press Download and choose PAP: Shareware 3.2, PAP: Film 3.2 or PAP: Broadcast 3.2

thats all i have

Well, we allow links here, as long as they're properly in context, not spammy or off-topic or commercial, and useful. :)

Both of those toons look cool!

cool

i didnt make the first one two guys on an animating forum i go to did.

offtopic i like the art in your sig

Ok, I now have Paint.net and gimp. I absolutely LOVE paint.net, very easy to use, although it has limited tools. I'm starting to love gimp, it has a ton of features, but I'm getting the hang of it. But the three windows, one of mine disappeared and I don't know how to get it back, oh, well, that's my luck.

to get the window open go to file -> dialogs then choose the window you want up. Or if its the window you draw in go to file -> new.

i have gimp andi really like it. its very fun

I was wondering which program on the first page of downloadables, will let you find a picture, put it on there, then edit it. My friend has a program like this but he had to pay. I would just like to see what I could do with it, and don't particuarly want to pay. So if any of the programs on pg.1 can do this please tell me :). I think I'm going to see if paint.net can do this, and if not I will just wait for replys.

Thnx

Well. Rabbit, it's hard top answer your question without personally trying out the all of that graphics software...but I assume Photoplus (and anything else with 'photo' in its name) would probably work for you. :p

Yep, photoplus works for me. :)

Now if I can just figure out how to use this thing...

The best way to figure out how is just to mess around or look for tuts on google.

lol, i use Adobe Photoshop CS. THats the best one, xcept it cost 300$. Its only for people who go serious graphiczing. I am a serious graphics person, thats how i make my sigs. :) You can get the 30day trial for free at adobe.com...its reallly good.

What about OpenCanvas? Version 1.0 is free I think and the later versions are quite cheap. Only thing is that they're only available online.

Do you know anywhere the free version can be downloaded from?

Yes, as those have already pointed out, the GIMP really is quite excellent. I use it for all my graphics seeing as Photoshop isn't in my spending range. But you can create some nice images on the GIMP so I'm satisfied with it.

Thanks Inkwolf! :D I have Photostudio 2000 but it doesn't have animation, and the link for Photoplus does so that's great! I can finally do some animated avaters which I've been jealous of for ages!

I've noticed that The Gimp also has a download available of animation tools for the Windows version.

Wish the Mac version was useable for those with no Unix-geek genes! :p

yep it was an animation thing called GAP

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=121075

can get it there :D

Windows
*Bryce 5 => http://www.download.com/Bryce/3000-6677_4-10574334.html?tag=lstpop-

MAC OSX
*Bryce 5 => http://www.download.com/Bryce/3000-2187_4-10574904.html?trid=446713850

Bryce 5 is FREE now!!! It's a program for making realistic-looking (or not) landscapes and animating other 3D stuff!

'Scuse me while I go get a dry pair of undies.

What are you waiting for?! Download! Download!

Does anyone know where to get some decent tutorials for The GIMP?
Thanks :)

thanks

Does anyone know where to get some decent tutorials for The GIMP?
Thanks :)


www.gimptalk.com has lots

I've had GIMP for a week now, and I am slightly addicted! Personally, the best way I've found to learn has been through experimenting!:lol: It's fun too!:D

yep thats how i figured lots of stuff out

I downloaded Gimp, but I turned off the box that shows you the layers and stuff. How do you get it back on?

Never mined I found it :D

www.gimptalk.com has lots
Thanks, I'll try it out :).

I love you for this thread!
Finally, I can get off Paint!
(still have to copy them into it to put them up anywhere because Photoplus does a weird format that Photobucket doesn't like, but that does not matter.)

Might want to check, too, if Photoplus has a 'save as' or 'export' option where you can choose a more popular graphics format.

I love you for this thread!
Finally, I can get off Paint!
(still have to copy them into it to put them up anywhere because Photoplus does a weird format that Photobucket doesn't like, but that does not matter.)

You might want to download a different program to save them in, because sometimes when paint saves graphics the become a bit blurred:(

I would just like to know how to make one step by step, without confusion...

One what?

yay! i downloaded serif photoplus the pther day anbd i've found it so good! its really easy to use and to pick up the techniques, thanx Inkwolf!!

p.s. Ginny: I OWLed you!

I've added a new discovery for the Windows 2000 and XP users--]Artweaver, ([/url) for those of you who wish you had Corel Painter. :D It is a program that imitates natural art materials. It doesn't support layers, though.

Oops, my mistake--it DOES supprt layers...

I've just downloaded Artweaver (which looks rather cool, actually), but it's really slow. As in there's a lag time of about 8 seconds. Does anyone else have a similar problem, or is my computer just being nasty to me?

Well, I poked around in the user forum, and nobody there seemed to be asking about it...and nobody else I've talked to about it seems to have that problem. So it may be your evil computer...

Inkwolf- I noticed the 3d list includes POV. You might want to add Moray, as well- it's a 'front end' modeler for POV. It's extremely easy to learn, and very versatile. It's free for personal use, with a small fee to register.

http://www.stmuc.com/moray/

There are plugins for keyframe animation, and other excellent plugins also. The only drawback is that the models are .mdl format and cannot export to common poly formats such as .obj or .3ds- just .udo wireframe. However, it's a fantastic learning tool and great to use for making images.

Thanks, I added that to the list! :)

Do you know of any paint, or image editing programs that don't require downloading?

Do you know of any paint, or image editing programs that don't require downloading?

All programs require downloading. I have heard of some online resources where you can do red-eye removal, cropping, adding text, and those sorts of things, though I can't think of anything that can render a graphic online. I guess you could try artpad
(http://artpad.art.com/artpad/painter/):shrug:

There's also something called Oekaki you can play with online...try a Google search, I'm afaid I don't have time to find the link this morning...

Thanks!

what would you recommend for people into a wide range of things?
I want to color some of my hand drawn- work, make icons, and design hockey jerseys. Currently, paint is really bad, and my cousin's photshop is only avaliable to me when I'm staying with her...and she lives 8 hrs away...

Well, the Gimp and Project Dogwaffle are well spoken of all around...Artweaver also seems to be a good contender. :)

Thankyou for the thread, I'm thinking of downloading GIMP but I doubt I'll be able to work it- My skills are still tested with paint

i'm not sure if its just me - but serif photoplus isn't working on my computer and when i try and redownload it, it says 'this page cannot be displayed'. i wondered if that happened to anyone else???

Thankyou for the thread, I'm thinking of downloading GIMP but I doubt I'll be able to work it- My skills are still tested with paint gimp is an awesome program, but it does take some patience to figure out. There are many online resources to help you out with it.

Thanks! I've been dieing! My new laptop doesn't have ulead installed yet (I'm working on it...). i love these!

thanks heaps for positng these!
I was able to make my first banner which looks good haha (its the banner in my siggie) well i reckon it looks ok anyway!

Thanks heaps! And thanks Rell for pointing this thread the tuts for GIMP out to me!

I'm after an animation program, doesn't have to be anything fancy, can anyone suggest anything? Thanks very much in advance :)

http://www.whitsoftdev.com/unfreez/

I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for, Lurvme, but this program takes images and puts them one after another, making an animated .gif

Yes, that's exactly the sort of thing I was looking for, shmcminn :D Took a tad to get my head around it but then again I'm like that with most things :lol:; thanks very much :D

People keep asking about animation programs...does someone ambitious feel like compiling a multi-platform list to add to the first post?

By the way, I've found a list of free video-editing programs over at AMV.Org, which I might borrow to post here. :p

This is great -- thanks for putting the the time and effort into this!

Does anyone know how you make things like this:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h144/IMissPadfoot/5442.gif

Feel free to ignore the sappy sentiment, it is the flashing text I am interested in! :lol:

Does anyone know how you make things like this:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h144/IMissPadfoot/5442.gif

Feel free to ignore the sappy sentiment, it is the flashing text I am interested in! :lol:
It's an animated gif and I think there are some programs listed further up the thread that allow you to make them. I use an extremely old version of Photosuite.

It's an animated gif and I think there are some programs listed further up the thread that allow you to make them. I use an extremely old version of Photosuite.
Thank you :D

Just thought I'd mention that you can now edit photos on Photobucket...I took a look at the setup, no downloads required, and it even has Curves and things like that. You need to have a Photobucket account, but that's it!

Just thought I'd mention that you can now edit photos on Photobucket...I took a look at the setup, no downloads required, and it even has Curves and things like that. You need to have a Photobucket account, but that's it!

You can actually access the application outside of the photobucket environment by going to fotoflexer.com. Just upload your pic and edit away.

Regards

I thought I'd mention Splashup (http://www.splashup.com/splashup/Splashup.swf). Not a lot of bells and whistles but it's free, easy, and you don't have to download anything! It's all within the website. Has layers, opacity, layer styles, even blur, emboss, invert and such. Pretty nifty :)

I thought I'd mention Splashup (http://www.splashup.com/splashup/Splashup.swf). Not a lot of bells and whistles but it's free, easy, and you don't have to download anything! It's all within the website. Has layers, opacity, layer styles, even blur, emboss, invert and such. Pretty nifty :)

That is a pretty nifty website there! Perfect for little jobs when you're away from home and you need to make something, or a great starter program to get a taste without downloading anything! :)

That's a really good website, especially for being free! Now if some free website has layers and all that stuff, why doesn't MS ever update Paint?

Now if some free website has layers and all that stuff, why doesn't MS ever update Paint?
Yeah!!! I agree!!! Especially since there are those of us who can't get the free downloads to work on our computer. I know I have a real program now, but still, :grumble: stupid Paint.

Yeah!!! I agree!!! Especially since there are those of us who can't get the free downloads to work on our computer. I know I have a real program now, but still, :grumble: stupid Paint.
You made quite a go at paint. You did quite a good job of it too.

I think it was mentioned earlier (but I can't find it now) and I'm not sure this is exactly graphics, but... does anyone know if there are any good free video editing programs?