Dancing Paws started this discussion ·
Does anyone know a free program where I can edit photos decently? I want to be able to combine pictures, crop out things, change the background, fix blemishes, etc. Are there any free programs like that? or at least something affordable?
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Picnik.com is the best! You upload the pic to the internet so that way you don't have to download a program. Plus, it's free! You don't have to sign up to be a member or anything. You can make an account (free) and then save up to the 5 most recent photos you uploaded (the before edit shot) but you don't have to. I use it all the time!
I tried that, but I couldn't figure out if I could edit out blemishes and stuff.
I just use adobe photoshop to edit and enhance my pics, and most of all black out the background :) I can do a few of yours if you want black backgrounds!
you can get adobe photoshop at their homepage for a few days to try it it for free. if the test time is over you can still get another version of the program. so u could at least edit your pics for a few weeks
BACE16 ·
GIMP is the open source version of Photoshop. http://www.gimp.org/downloads/ ; Completely free forever under the GNU license. They have tutorials on the website and I'm sure there are even more user created ones around.
@sensualclimber - Most retouching or lightroom work can be done at a basic level by tools you may already have such as iPhoto on Mac and the new tools found in Windows 7. Retouching includes things like, removing blemishes, fixing redeye, changing color balance. Composition work however requires more robust tools. To remove a background or composite photos in a meaningful way you will need a tool such as Photoshop or The Gimp. The Gimp is free but has a tremendous learning curve and less sophisticated tools. Photoshop is very expensive, has a similiarily high learning curve but far more sophisticated tools that can do magic things such as erase items from a picture fairly simply.
@sensualclimber - Most retouching or lightroom work can be done at a basic level by tools you may already have such as iPhoto on Mac and the new tools found in Windows 7. Retouching includes things like, removing blemishes, fixing redeye, changing color balance. Composition work however requires more robust tools. To remove a background or composite photos in a meaningful way you will need a tool such as Photoshop or The Gimp. The Gimp is free but has a tremendous learning curve and less sophisticated tools. Photoshop is very expensive, has a similiarily high learning curve but far more sophisticated tools that can do magic things such as erase items from a picture fairly simply.
I know not everyone will agree with this, but if you really want photoshop and it's really out of your price range you can download a cracked version. It just means you get a copy someone has opened for you already. I have a cracked photoshop and illustrator (yes, I'm a bad person) and they work perfectly. Although I don't feel bad because I'm a starving masters student and I need the programs to analyze data. Anyway, if anyone wants to try this way, feel free to message me and I can explain how to to do.
If you are a student or in an educational profession Adobe does provide a student purchase program where you can get their products for as little as $99 each and if you can't afford that I strongly suggest calling Adobe, they are all about supporting the educational community and strive to get their products legitimately into people's hands.
shellectra... how do you black out the background? I have been trying to do that on photoshop but cant find it.
@PowerTwirl - Here are some tutuorials on removing backgrounds http://www.sitepoint.com/masking-techniques-photoshop/
@PowerTwirl, I set the Background Eraser tool to black and trace around, I use a smaller sized brush when near the outline of the body for all the nooks and crannies and small areas, and make my brush huge to black out the surrounding areas - that last bit is the easy part! It takes me about half an hour per pic cos I'm a perfectionist hehe
