Freeware Image Editing Programs
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The GIMP is an excellent freeware image editing program originally created for Linux and ported to the Windows operating system by the developer. If you want the most capable but not especially easy to use freeware image editing program, try the GIMP (note that you must install GTK+ 2 for Windows before you install the GIMP - links to both programs are on this web page). Perhaps the most widely used of the more fully featured Freeware image editing tools, the GIMP was originally developed as open-source software for Linux/Unix use, but is also available for using under Windows. My personal favourite freeware image editing software is Irfan View. Xnview is a popular freeware image editing program that is worth considering. On the Mac side, a great freeware image editing tool is ImageWell.
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I found another alternative when I started using a free image hosting web site called Flickr. Flickr is a photo sharing service that allows you to upload any image to their site and then link to the images from your web site. Flickr has a method of adding images directly to your blog. I like Flickr because it is the only site I have seen that resizes the images for you. I have found Flickr does a very good job of resizing; in fact it does a better job of resizing images than most image editing programs I have tried. Over the past few years, the range and quality of freeware image-editing tools available has improved considerably.
Windows Very widely used as an image manager and viewer since the days of Windows 98, IrfanView (pronounced "earfanview") also has a quite good selection of image touchup tools, and is compatible with Photoshop filters. With a wealth of features and functions, IrfanView is a valuable tool for anyone to have installed, and for Windows 98 users could perhaps be considered a 'must have' program. It may seem a bit unusual to see me recommend a product which is not yet in final release version, but the tool is a quite good one, I've not found any glaring faults, and it would not surprise me in the least to see some variety of this utility included in the upcoming Windows Longhorn. Editing However, if you are willing to invest the time in learning how to run The GIMP, you will not only be rewarded with excellent image editing capabilities but will have saved hundreds of dollars in software costs. Whilst The GIMP was once the only credible free editing suite, there's now a healthy range including PhotoFiltre and Paint.
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