Some free graphic programs on the Net...

Mood: Don't ask...
Listening to: Star Wars soundtracks
Watching: Star Wars

Ermmm... yeah, I like Star Wars. Go ahead and sue me. It won't change. I've been feeling a bit down lately: the realisation that school has officially started and won't let me go for another year struck me a few days ago,  consequentially I need a fairy tale that will lull me to sleep and make me believe I'm a kid again with no responsibilities and nothing to worry about. <--- The reason why I've been watching all the Star Wars the episodes I have on tape in the past few days.

I also decided a while ago to list a few free graphic programs here which I like, but I only have time to do it now. I was talking to SiamJai about these programs and it came to my mind to share my findnings with you in the hope of helping with it somehow. Here it goes...

+++The GIMP (for Windows)+++: I had some trouble finding a place where I can find an easy-to-install version and clear instructions, but that's probably because I'm not a computer expert. In any case, if you're interested in the GIMP just download and install the GTK+ 2 Runtime Environment and the GIMP (in this order!) and you can try it immediately. Not my fav though: it's a bit slow and difficult to work with, at least for me, but it's quite famous, so give it a try, you might still like it. And it's definitely better to have than to have nothing at all. (Thanks for RiniMac for calling my attention to it! )

+++ArtRage+++: A nifty little painting program with a somewhat unusual but very convenient interface. The free version has a limited variety of tools but you can still experiment with a lot of useful things, such as oil paint, charcoal, pencils, crayons and felt pens. Try it!

+++Inkscape+++: A free vector graphic program, with enough features to get started if you're interested in vector graphic art, or so they say. I'm pretty new to this, however, I've only been using it to create the graphics of my website, so I can't say more. I used to have an old version of Corel Draw on my earlier PC so I can actually compare the two: despite being a free program, Inkscape is a very good one and I advise you to give it a chance.

+++Artweaver+++: I might have put this one last but that's not because I like it the least. On the contrary, I'm so happy to have found this program! It reminds me of Corel's Painter as it has lots of tools to choose from (acrylics, airbrushes, artists tools, calligraphy, chalk, charcoal, conte, crayons, felt pens, oil pastels, oils, pastels, pencils, sponges), it hadles layers, has very good filters, and other very useful features. All in all, it's my favourite so far.

!!! Just a tip from me to you though: it's still being developed so there might be some bugs in it. The only one I've found so far was that you need to exit the application through File/Exit and not the usual red 'x' button in the top right corner. The exit button leaves you with a flood of error messages that can only be killed through the Task Manager. Otherwise the program is okay.

+++Paint.NET+++: This program is also said to be a very good one; some compare it to Photoshop, which sounds like a slight exaggeration to me, but I haven't had the chance to install and test it yet, so I wouldn't know. Feel free to try it, however.

I do hope I was of some help to those who have neither Painter not Photoshop: I don't either, so I've found theses tools very useful.

See you!
---Izar