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ROUGH GUIDE TO FREE PHOTO EDITING SOFTWARE
It
is a misconception that purchasing expensive software such as
Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, Office, Dreamweaver or similar that
you are actually
getting something worth that
investment. Nowadays
there is no reason whatsoever to purchase any software as
free open source
alternatives exist. In most cases they do exactly the same job and some
are in a league of their own. In the world of photo editing you are
spoilt for choice - which makes it difficult to make an informed
decision. Gimp is the best known and has a very similar feature set to Photoshop. This makes it ideal for tasks such as photo retouching with the very powerful clone tool. Ideal for removing dust and scratches from your negatives or old photo scans. It also has the ability to edit layers and a number of useful filters and plug-ins. The one thing that lets it down is the menu organisation, for example auto level, a feature most users would use a lot not being easy to find. The great thing about Gimp is that it is "cross platform" meaning there are versions for Mac,Windows & Linux based boxes.
Digikam, ShowFoto is a relatively unknown bit of software that is nearly as powerful as Gimp & Photoshop, albeit it is Linux only. It has superb black and white conversion tools and multiple auto level tweaks with a preview. I use this software a lot as it is ideal for anybody seriously interested in black and white photography with multiple tones and tweaks, including film grain and types. The image on the above left gives an indication of this feature and the very useful preview views. Also the menu structure is far better organised than in Gimp but it has no clone tool for removing dust scratches and blemishes so you also need to install Gimp. This software is KDE desktop based but will run in Gnome Desktop environment in Ubuntu.
For MS Windows users I suggest Gimp Paint
Irfanview Xnview Photoscape or visit Nonags. I would advise Windows users to try Photoscape. I only discovered this software recently and have been running it under a compatibility level called Wine in Puppy Linux. Anyway, this software is really special. It looks and feels at first like it is not going to be worth the effort. It has a strange interface that actually works very well. It has an incredible number of tweaks and filters all available from buttons on the desktop. The more unusual but surprisingly useful being Backlight for incorrectly exposed dark images. Under "filters" it has the killer features that lift this simple software up to dizzy heights of a serious alternative to Elements or Paint Shop Pro. Vignetting, Antique Photo being the ones I use the most. The photo on the right is a typical example of what can be achieved with this Antique Photo filter. There are seven options giving the ability to create photos that look as if they were taken with plates, contact prints or a combination of effects. On the desktop there is also the ability to quickly convert to Sepia or Black & White.
The other really useful tool is the free VirtualPhotographer Photoshop plug-in which can be run in the free Xnview photo editor come organizer software package. I also run it in Paint Shop Pro 7 and Photoshop 7 but not in Gimp as this can be problematic. Both these software packages and Virtualphotographer plug-in can be run in Linux using the Wine compatibility layer so there is no excuse not to change to Linux and move away from expensive software.
Virtualphotographer is a really useful photographic tool as it gives you a very quick preview of the selected effect as shown in the image on the left. It has both colour and black & white filters and a load of other tweaks. It is similar to the black & white tools in ShowFoto but not as flexible or easy to use. Apart from this plug-in I get the impression that all the other free Photoshop plug-ins are a waste of time unless you are into arty stuff.
Xnview has some features that make it useful but if you have Gimp, ShowFoto & Photoscape installed you would never need to use them. Saying that it is still worth having a play with it and use it to get access to those Photoshop plug-ins. It also has a useful sepia conversion tool and a few other tweaks.
Other software to consider is Google Picasa as this also runs in Linux. It is very slick and fast but basic and I never really got on with its obvious big money branding. It has however managed to simplify the interface so that a complete novice can produce stunning results without having to understand what you are doing. I like the fact it does not touch the original image and you can undo the editing at any point. It also searches your hard drive for images which can be useful if time consuming. In the end I only allowed it access to one directory tree and then stopped using it altogether.
Ufraw & S7raw are also useful for RAW file procesing. (S7raw is for Fujifilm digital cameras). I have not really used these a lot due to the large file sizes involved and amount of extra time involved. I tend to work in jpg format as it is universal if albeit a destructive format. It is wise to keep a copy of your original.
Another important area is negative scanning and again there is a free alternative that should work with most scanners both flatbed and dedicated. I use a Epson perfection 2480 photo flatbed that can scan both 35mm & 120 format up to 6x9cm. I use Linux Xsane software in both Puppy Linux and Ubuntu. To be honest setting up this scanner was a real pain but the process is quite simple and must be very similar on other makes. A detailed description cut and pasted from the internet. The closed source bin file should be on your scanner cd installation disk. Not sure about the location and name of the directory /sane.d/snapscan.conf might vary between scanners. Do a google search for your scanner to confirm this. Anyway this worked in both Ubuntu and Puppy Linux albeit it is easier as you can ignore half these instructions.
"Open up a terminal
& type..
sudo mkdir
/usr/share/sane/snapscan/
My copy of the Firmware
can be found here! (not sure if this is legal
or not?) Save it to your Desktop & In the terminal type..
cd Desktop
sudo mv esfw41.bin
/usr/share/sane/snapscan/
sudo gedit
/etc/sane.d/snapscan.conf & change the line that reads..
firmware
/usr/share/sane/snapscan/your-firmwarefile.bin & change
/your-firmwarefile.bin to /esfw41.bin & save your changes
before
exiting.
That’s it! just plug in your scanner & start XSane or the Gimp."
These I
think are the best and quickest way to get into
free photo
editing without wasting loads
of money on the like of Paint Shop Pro, Elements or
Photoshop.
Most free software is also available for
the Mac OS. Most
Linux software is also available in
Windows and
Mac
flavours. Do an internet search and you
will be
amazed what you can get
for nothing. You should remember that the spirit of the internet as
first perceived was to freely and openly share information and not make
money!LINUX EMBRACING THE RELIGION
If you really want to save yourself some money and go down the free software route it is best to abandon Windows or Mac altogether and start again with Linux. It is possible to run some Windows software in Linux using a compatibility level called Wine. I have run Photoshop 7, Paint Shop Pro 7 , Xnview, Virtualphotographer, Photoscape, S7raw and a few other applications. You can always check if it is compatible by visiting the Wine Website and looking at the Application Database. But to be honest it is better to abandon all this software and start with pure Linux software but there is no harm in trying. As to what flavour of Linux Operating System you choose I would visit Distrowatch Website and check out what is available. For me the best option is to install
two Linux Operating Systems and have a dual
boot system
or triple boot if you choose to keep Windows. After using a number of
Linux versions I quickly came to the conclusion that only two are
really worth bothering with these being Ubuntu
Linux and Puppy Linux and any Linux
distribution based on them like Mint Linux,
this being the best for those new to the operating system. If all this
sounds like gobbledygook then for those unsure Ubuntu is the best
option as it works and has the best install options, including a
special Windows version. This is called Wubi
Ubuntu Windows Installer and installs without changing your
existing Windows Operating System. If you are now interested and really serious in getting the best out of Linux then you need to use Puppy Linux, it is by far the best operating system currently available. I would recommend starting with the Browser Puppy as it is the smallest version with next to no demand on your computer and will even run on an old Pentium 3 with no trouble as long as it has 128mb of ram or more. You can install Gimp and loads of other software using Puppy Pet Package Manager or hunt down individual pet files applications on the internet. If you are interested in trying Puppy I would advise doing a frugal install alongside your existing operating system. Advice on setting up Puppy is beyond the scope of this rough guide, however more detailed information can be found at the main Puppy Linux Website, or the creators Barry Kauler Puppy Linux Site or Puppy Linux Discussion Forum. As you can see from the screen
shots
I have managed to run all the
software you could ever need for photo editing, webpage creation and
surfing the internet.It is a matter of personal choice, but these are the main bits of software I recommend to get you hooked on open source and hopefully Linux. For photo editing: XSANE
DIGIKAM GIMP UFRAW For webpage creation annd uploading of files to websites: KOMPOZER GFTP
Surfing the net: SEAMONKEY Multimedia playback: MPLAYER VLC Word processing: OFFICE ABIWORD Sound editing: MHWAVEEDIT
stowupland@hotmail.com
© Stephen Rothery 2009