Need a recommended image editor

Question

omar.m Author

Level 1

9 points

Need a recommended image editor

Can someone recommend an image editor that doesn't cost zillions or is free

95% of the time, all I need is:

- image resizing and cropping

- adding shadows

- saving as optimised jpg

- or saving as a png with transparent background

I've rarely ever done anything else not mentioned above 🙂

I've done some googling, and pixelmator looks pretty good

I just looked in the Mac App store... seems pretty good at $14.99!

Should I consider anything else?

I'd love Photoshop - but way too expensive

Thanks

Omar

iPhone 3GS, iOS 5

Posted on Apr 18, 2014 5:12 PM

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Answer 1

stedman1

Level 10

265,378 points

Apr 18, 2014 5:15 PM in response to omar.m

How about PhotoShop Elements?

http://www.adobe.com/ca/products/photoshop-elements.html

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Answer 2

omar.m Author

Level 1

9 points

Apr 18, 2014 5:18 PM in response to stedman1

i've got photoshop elemtns on my pc. i don't like it!!

it really su*ks. it's too simple and seems alien to use - maybe i'm just used to photoshop

do u use urself? maybe i'll give it a go if u say its good

one of the annoying thing about adobe is bloatedness

far too big for no good reason (imho)

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Answer 3

leroydouglas

Level 10

200,706 points

Apr 18, 2014 5:27 PM in response to omar.m

omar.m wrote:

- image resizing and cropping

- adding shadows

- saving as optimised jpg

- or saving as a png with transparent background

Preview can do all that but add shadows.

GIMP is free photoshop equivalant http://www.gimp.org/

There is a plugin for iPhoto that can do borders and shadows. http://www.iborderfx.com/

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Answer 4

stedman1

Level 10

265,378 points

Apr 18, 2014 5:24 PM in response to omar.m

I use PS Elements 11. It does a good job of editing, but I agree it is typical Adobe bloat. I've used it, and found it quite useful for cleaning up old cracked/damaged photos. I also find the user interface not nearly as user friendly as my previous version. They may have improved it in PS Elements 12.

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Answer 5

omar.m Author

Level 1

9 points

Apr 18, 2014 5:25 PM in response to leroydouglas

@leroydouglas thanks for the reply. i've got gimp on my pc. i dont like it. keyboard shortcuts that are common to photoshop are missing and it seems to work differently in how to do things. the current version on my pc takes absolutely ages to load. i have to admit i'm not a big fan.

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Answer 6

leroydouglas

Level 10

200,706 points

Apr 18, 2014 5:37 PM in response to omar.m

omar.m wrote:

I'd love Photoshop - but way too expensive

GraphicsConverter is a good one.

http://www.lemkesoft.de/en/products/graphicconverter/download/

I have used it for some 7 or 8 years. Excellent customer support as well.

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Answer 7

omar.m Author

Level 1

9 points

Apr 18, 2014 5:34 PM in response to leroydouglas

@leroydouglas, awesome. thanks that. i didn't come accross that when i searche don google. i'll definitely look that up and compare against other alternatives

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