I want to find a simple image editor for my daughter (9)

[impossible.mission]

Hi

I want to find a simple image editor for my daughter (9). This editor
should
be capable of

1. Work with multiple images (adding two images)
2. Write text on the images (various fonts)
3. Cropping.

But most of all it must be simple. The simplest one which meets these
"demands" will be chosen.

I have downloaded several freeware/shareware editors, but most of them
seems to aim at the "adult"-market, naturally.

Any ideas are appreciated.

Morten Simonsen

 

[Anders Rasmussen]

Hi Morten..

Yes, it sound difficult to find such an editor, however, my website
which lists open source projects includes the following:
http://www.osalt.com/paint_net

According to their website: "[Paint.net was] Originally intended as a
free replacement for the MS Paint software that comes with Windows, it
has grown into a powerful yet simple tool for photo and image editing."

I have not yet tried this program myself - but if they have managed to
keep the simplicity of MS Paint, it should be ok for your daughter.

I hope this helps you.

BTW: My daughter uses TuxPaint, but she it not that old yet.

best regards,
Anders Rasmussen
webmaster

 

[Duddits]

Hi

I want to find a simple image editor for my daughter (9). This editor
should
be capable of

1. Work with multiple images (adding two images)
2. Write text on the images (various fonts)
3. Cropping.

But most of all it must be simple. The simplest one which meets these
"demands" will be chosen.

I have downloaded several freeware/shareware editors, but most of them
seems to aim at the "adult"-market, naturally.

Any ideas are appreciated.

Morten Simonsen

All of these fit your criteria.

Good 'ol IrfanView
http://www.irfanview.com
See http://www.gg.caltech.edu/~avalos/stuff/download/irfanview/ and
http://www.zoicks.com/stitching.htm for easy to follow instructions.

or one of my favorite easy to use graphics programs - ArcSoft PhotoStudio
Download from SOS's freeware site:
http://www.sover.net/~wysiwygx/Graphics.html

or PhotoFiltre
http://www.photofiltre.com/

If you don't need to join images then I strongly recommend FastStone Image
Viewer over the above. http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm

I have all of the above installed and use them quite frequently. They are
small and fast totaling less than 10mb.

hth

Dud

 

[Vegard Krog Petersen]

BTW: My daughter uses TuxPaint, but she it not that old yet.

http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxpaint/


--
Vegard Krog Petersen - Norway

http://vegard2.no -
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Freeware Logo & symbol, Halma & Chinese Checkers,
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---------------------------------------------------------

 

[MOODS]

Excellent program for this is Irfanview. http://www.irfanview.com

I use it almost everyday. It is free.

If you want to spend some money, I would recommend SNAGIT.
http://www.snagit.com

I use this program everyday and it is worth the $40.

Best of luck.

Gary

 

[Mike Dee]

http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxpaint/

This one is aimed at children of all ages. Just what the OP wants

The screenshots page is good too
http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxpaint/screenshots/

 

[M.L.]

Exactly what does that mean? Stitching 2 images? Overlaying 2 images
atop one another? ...

All of these fit your criteria.

Good 'ol IrfanView
http://www.irfanview.com
See http://www.gg.caltech.edu/~avalos/stuff/download/irfanview/ and
http://www.zoicks.com/stitching.htm for easy to follow instructions.

Irfanview is a great photo effects and organizer app, but it is not an
image editor. In addition, Irfanview is an adult program and does not
have a child-friendly interface. The text handling is particularly
non-intuitive compared to other such programs. Consumer Reports did an
evaluation of photo manipulation programs and concluded that Irfanview
was the most difficult of the candidates to use. IIRC, an entry-level
Adobe program and Microsoft's Picture It!, among others, were
included in the evaluation. I'm not sure if Ulead's Photo Express was
included but it too is an entry-level photo editor.

or one of my favorite easy to use graphics programs - ArcSoft PhotoStudio
Download from SOS's freeware site:
http://www.sover.net/~wysiwygx/Graphics.html

That's more like it. ArcSoft Photostudio comes closest due to its
reasonable learning curve.

or PhotoFiltre
http://www.photofiltre.com/

PhotoFiltre's tool set is too sophisticated for children. A child
would have to have prior photo-editing experience to make sense of the
complex set of options offered.

If you don't need to join images then I strongly recommend FastStone Image
Viewer over the above. http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm

I have all of the above installed and use them quite frequently. They are
small and fast totaling less than 10mb.

I don't think there's any such thing as an image editing program that
is geared toward children - freeware or not.

 

[Mike Dee]

I don't think there's any such thing as an image editing program that
is geared toward children - freeware or not.

I agree with your comments in regard to those programs, however also
mentioned elsewhere in this thread is "Tuxpaint". Very child "centric" and
well worth investigation:

http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxpaint/

 

[REM]

(e-mail address removed) wrote:

I want to find a simple image editor for my daughter (9). This editor
should
be capable of

1. Work with multiple images (adding two images)
2. Write text on the images (various fonts)
3. Cropping.

But most of all it must be simple. The simplest one which meets these
"demands" will be chosen.

I have downloaded several freeware/shareware editors, but most of them
seems to aim at the "adult"-market, naturally.

Any ideas are appreciated.

I don't do a bunch of image manipulation, but here are a couple of
possibles:


http://www.woundedmoon.org/win32/bitmorph30.html


http://www.woundedmoon.org/win32/ultimatepaint191f.html

 

[Craig]

Consumer Reports did an evaluation of photo manipulation programs and
concluded that Irfanview was the most difficult of the candidates to
use.

M.L.

I may be misunderstanding you here but I re-read the consumer reports
article that mentions Irfanview and their reviewer came to the opposite
conclusion.

Just an fyi,
-Craig

From their July, 2005 article "Editing photos: No-cost options"

 

[M.L.]

I may be misunderstanding you here but I re-read the consumer reports
article that mentions Irfanview and their reviewer came to the opposite
conclusion.

Just an fyi,
-Craig

I no longer subscribe to Consumer Reports but the article I read was
several years earlier than July, 2005. I distinctly remember Irfanview
receiving a low score on usability. I'm glad they think better of it
now even though its user interface hasn't changed much.

I'll try to stop at the library this weekend to check for the back
issue containing the comparison.

 

[M.L.]

I agree with your comments in regard to those programs, however also
mentioned elsewhere in this thread is "Tuxpaint". Very child "centric" and
well worth investigation:

http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxpaint/

From their website I couldn't tell if TuxPaint supported image
editing, it seemed to be a paint program only. Would their age 3 and
up demographic be interested in image editing?

 

[Frank Bohan]

This one is specifically for children. I'm not sure if it meets your
criteria, but might be worth a look.

Drawing for Children
http://www.kidsdomain.com/down/pc/drawingforchildren.html

===

Frank Bohan
¶ Wise man see more from bottom of well than fool from mountain top.

 

[Mike Dee]

From their website I couldn't tell if TuxPaint supported image
editing, it seemed to be a paint program only. Would their age 3 and
up demographic be interested in image editing?

What's the difference between a paint program such as "Photoshop" and
"Tuxpaint"? The UI is the obvious difference. Otherwise they share similar
tools and both edit bitmap images.

Therefore, TuxPaint is an image editor.

And of course, any child that gets a kick out of scribbling with crayons
would also get a kick out of image editing. The OP indicated this need.

 

[M.L.]

What's the difference between a paint program such as "Photoshop" and
"Tuxpaint"? The UI is the obvious difference. Otherwise they share similar
tools and both edit bitmap images.

Therefore, TuxPaint is an image editor.

I thought paint programs emphasized coloring on top of an image using
brushes or flood fills, whereas image editors emphasized performing
surgery on an image, or performing a multitude of special effects on
the whole or selected parts of an image.

OK, I won't belabor the point, but I went to the TuxPaint website and
did not find the features that met *all* the OP's criteria:

<quote>
I want to find a simple image editor for my daughter (9). This editor
should
be capable of

1. Work with multiple images (adding two images)
2. Write text on the images (various fonts)
3. Cropping.

 

[Mike Dee]

I thought paint programs emphasized coloring on top of an image using
brushes or flood fills, whereas image editors emphasized performing
surgery on an image, or performing a multitude of special effects on
the whole or selected parts of an image.

TuxPaint does all of the above, a quick look at the screenshots page
should tell you that.
[...]

1. Work with multiple images (adding two images)
2. Write text on the images (various fonts)
3. Cropping.

Handles all three requests there, too.