M
mckyboyz
I found yet another freeware photo editor with layer support.
http://wang.zhenzhou.googlepages.com/home
http://wang.zhenzhou.googlepages.com/home
J
John Corliss
This looks like a good one. Even has .gif support. Thanks! I'll check it
out.
--
Regards from John Corliss
I don't reply to trolls like Andy Mabbett, Doc (who uses sock puppets)
or Roger Johansson, for instance. No adware, cdware, commercial
software, crippleware, demoware, nagware, PROmotionware, shareware,
spyware, time-limited software, trialware, viruses or warez for me, please.
B
B.Lauritzen
Looks fine. What other alternatives are there if you want layer support?
B
Ben
B.Lauritzen said:
The GIMP springs immediately to mind - in the past I've tried it and
given up after completely failing to get used to it but recently I
needed to work with layers and decided to give it another go. Getting
on much better this time... If you stick with it (and read the
documentation properly, which I failed to do before!) I think it's
pretty much unmatched in the free arena...
http://www.gimp.org/windows/
Ben
S
Susan Bugher
Ben said:
I use and like Zoner Draw 3:
Program: Zoner Draw 3
Author: Zoner
Ware: (Registerware: product key) (free) earlier version of $ware
http://www.zoner.com/
http://www.zoner.com/download/
zd3.exe (9,242,891 bytes)
Susan
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B
Ben
<snip>Susan said:
Isn't Zoner Draw primarily a vector editor rather than image editor?
I think I've looked at it before but was put off as it seemed to be
geared towards vector work with a few image editing tools thrown in
rather than being a full blown image editor...
B
S
Susan Bugher
A big yes to that. Time for more coffee.
Susan
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J
John Corliss
John said:
Well, I installed it and it has a multiple window interface like "The
Gimp". That's why I don't use the latter, so I uninstalled Paintstar.
Will keep the install file archived though.
--
Regards from John Corliss
I don't reply to trolls like Andy Mabbett, Doc (who uses sock puppets)
or Roger Johansson, for instance. No adware, cdware, commercial
software, crippleware, demoware, nagware, PROmotionware, shareware,
spyware, time-limited software, trialware, viruses or warez for me, please.
M
M.L.
J
jedisb
Have you tried GIMPShop? It's basically GIMP with a redone GUI that
works more like Photoshop.
works more like Photoshop.
D
Dave
I just tried Serif Photo 6 and this little Paintstar. Layers and alpha
at less than 3 mb installed ?..Paintstar is a keeper. Lots of nice
effects(distorts,etc) Only thing Serif has that Paintstar doesn't is
pre-defined selection shapes(hearts,arrows etc)I can live without that.
Dave
at less than 3 mb installed ?..Paintstar is a keeper. Lots of nice
effects(distorts,etc) Only thing Serif has that Paintstar doesn't is
pre-defined selection shapes(hearts,arrows etc)I can live without that.
Dave
J
John Corliss
jedisb said:
Thanks for the tip! I found this link from Wikipedia's description of
GIMPShop:
http://plasticbugs.com/?page_id=294
I love the name of the fix that combines all the windows, the
"Deweirdifier".
However, I don't understand how this thing works. Do you have to install
The Gimp first or is GIMPShop a stand alone program?
--
Regards from John Corliss
I don't reply to trolls like Andy Mabbett, Doc (who uses sock puppets)
or Roger Johansson, for instance. No adware, cdware, commercial
software, crippleware, demoware, nagware, PROmotionware, shareware,
spyware, time-limited software, trialware, viruses or warez for me, please.
M
M.L.
Another difference is that PhotoPlus6 supports Photoshop plugins. But
PaintStar looks promising in spite of that shortcoming.
D
Dave
Paintstar seems like Gimp-Lite(and that's not a bad thing to me)M.L. said:
Dave
B
Ben
John said:
It's standalone, in a way - the installer installs its own version of
GIMP as well as the improved GUI and deweirdified stuff... You don't
need to install GIMP first, but GIMP will be installed when you install
GIMPShop.
Don't know if it's because I run in dual monitors, but I've never
actually got GIMPShop to work particularly well for me - I can still
easily move the palettes out of the main GIMPShop window by accident.
Maybe this is by design, although it seems to defeat the object of a
single Window mode - not being a Photoshop user, I'm not sure if it's
just replicating PS behaviour.
HTH
Ben
J
John Corliss
Ben said:
Ben,
Thanks very much for replying. I'll try GIMPShop out and post an
limited evaluation of it to this group. However, it might be couple of
days before I can get around to it.
Thanks again!
--
Regards from John Corliss
I don't reply to trolls like Andy Mabbett, Doc (who uses sock puppets)
or Roger Johansson, for instance. No adware, cdware, commercial
software, crippleware, demoware, nagware, PROmotionware, shareware,
spyware, time-limited software, trialware, viruses or warez for me, please.
J
John Corliss
John said:
Well, I gave it a shot. I followed the installation directions precisely
and ran the batch file that's supposed to enable Photoshop shortcuts,
but it's still a multiple window setup, which makes no sense to me. I
verified that the file named "menurc" was copied to where it's supposed
to be, but it might be that because I've relocated and renamed the "My
Documents" folder, the program can't find that file.
Off of my system it comes. Sorry, but thanks anyway for trying to help
me, Ben and jedisb.
--
Regards from John Corliss
I don't reply to trolls like Andy Mabbett, Doc (who uses sock puppets)
or Roger Johansson, for instance. No adware, cdware, commercial
software, crippleware, demoware, nagware, PROmotionware, shareware,
spyware, time-limited software, trialware, viruses or warez for me, please.
B
Ben
John said:
I was similarly disappointed when I tried out GIMPShop. I did a bit of
research since I was determined to get my GIMP to behave(!) - posting
this as a reference for yourself and anyone else who wants to give it a
whirl.
The batch file added by GIMPShop is literally just for menu shortcuts -
it isn't necessary to use it to tweak the actual Window behaviour, not
sure if you already knew this. It does use Windows enviroment variables
to locate the correct directory to put the updated menu config into - as
long as you've used standard methods to relocate My Documents, it
shouldn't be affected. You do need to run GIMPShop once and exit before
running the shortcut though...
The multiple panel/taskbar problem lies in that the current downloadable
version of GIMPShop for Windows includes an older version of the
Deweirdifyer which doesn't make the GIMP toolbars behave in the way you
and I were expecting.
If you grab the latest version of the Deweirdifyer plugin and use this
instead, it does behave as expected. You can it here :
http://registry.gimp.org/plugin?id=3892
http://registry.gimp.org/file/BackgroundWindow-3.0alpha.zip?action=download&id=6062
(marked as alpha although seems to be stable from my limited testing in
the last 24 hours)
After installing GIMPShop, the contents of the
BackgroundWindow-3.0alpha.zip should be unpacked to C:\Program
Files\GIMPshop\lib\gimp\2.0\plug-ins (or the equivalent on your system
if you choose to install GIMPShop elsewhere) overwriting the older
version of backgroundwindow.exe and backgroundwindowhook.dll.
Now fire up the GIMPShop and you should be pleasantly suprised
Note to self/other interested users - don't set the "Move Windows With
Background" option in the Edit menu. Moving the background Window after
ticking it causes the toolbars to hurtle off out of sight - they move
automatically with the Window anyway, so I guess ticking it doubles the
distance moved?
If you've already done this and lost the toolbars, they can be rescued
by deleting "sessionrc" from the .gimp-2.2 folder in your home directory
to reset the positions on next startup.
Hope this helps a few people who might have been put off by the standard
interface...
Ben
C
Craig
Ben said:
Great write-up Ben. Thanks for penning it.
-Craig
J
John Corliss
Ben said:
Heh. Yep, that occured to me after posting my last message.
I did this because it was part of the installation instructions.
Well, that would explain it all right.
That link says that the "Deweirdifier plugin" will work on the Gimp
itself. Frankly I'm not concerned about having the menu arranged like
the one in Photoshop, and since the GIMPShop installation doesn't seem
to include the Gimp's help files, I'd much rather simply install The
Gimp and use the plugin on it.
After installing GIMPShop, the contents of the
BackgroundWindow-3.0alpha.zip should be unpacked to C:\Program
Files\GIMPshop\lib\gimp\2.0\plug-ins (or the equivalent on your system
if you choose to install GIMPShop elsewhere) overwriting the older
version of backgroundwindow.exe and backgroundwindowhook.dll.
Now fire up the GIMPShop and you should be pleasantly suprised
Note to self/other interested users - don't set the "Move Windows With
Background" option in the Edit menu. Moving the background Window after
ticking it causes the toolbars to hurtle off out of sight - they move
automatically with the Window anyway, so I guess ticking it doubles the
distance moved?
I noticed this option while I was testing GIMPShop, and for some reason,
my "spidey-sense" started tingling. As a result, I didn't mess with it.
Glad I didn't, now.
Thanks for this reply Ben, it was very helpful.
Now I just have to wonder, why don't the Gimp authors simplify the
interface so that it doesn't use multiple windows? I don't think I've
talked to anybody who likes that way of doing things. Correct me if I'm
wrong, but isn't this multi-window business unique to the Windows
version of The Gimp? And if the situation can be corrected by the use of
a simple plugin, why don't the programmers simply include it with a
standard Gimp installation package?
Oh well, who knows. Guess it's kind of like Thunderbird and the "Local
Folders" nonsense.
Thanks again, Ben.
--
Regards from John Corliss
I don't reply to trolls like Andy Mabbett, Doc (who uses sock puppets)
or Roger Johansson, for instance. No adware, cdware, commercial
software, crippleware, demoware, nagware, PROmotionware, shareware,
spyware, time-limited software, trialware, viruses or warez for me, please.