Photo Editing Software – Photoshop Alternatives and Online Photo Editors

Photo Editing Software – Photoshop Alternatives and Online Photo Editors

Go legit! Photoshop is one of the best Photo editing software around but the cost to have one is very prohibitive costing around $649 or around Php 30,000.. why be a pirate when you can go legit for free or even pay a fourth of the price by using similar products already available.

We have compiled a couple of lists to give you a choice of Photo editing software alternative that best suits you and your operating system We have also listed online Photo editors that seem to have everything you need online including a photo gallery to share your images.

Open Source Photo Editing Software and Photoshop alternatives.

• ArtWeaver - is a Windows Freeware program to simulate natural brush tools. It is therefore suitable to leave your creativity free run. Artweaver offers you a clear program window, which can be used without training immediately
• Inkscape – An Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format.Inkscape supports many advanced SVG features (markers, clones, alpha blending, etc.) and great care is taken in designing a streamlined interface. It is very easy to edit nodes, perform complex path operations, trace bitmaps and much more. We also aim to maintain a thriving user and developer community by using open, community-oriented development.

• Paint.NET – is free image and photo editing software for computers that run Windows. It  features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools.

• Gimp – is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, an image format converter, etc. GIMP is written and developed under X11 on UNIX platforms. But basically the same code also runs on MS Windows and Mac OS X.

• ChocoFlop – non destructive image editing for MAC – It allows you to edit your photos or design stuff using Apple’s CoreImage technology. It takes advantage of the power of your graphics card (GPU).

• CinePaint – CinePaint is a deep paint image retouching tool that supports higher color fidelity than ordinary painting tools. Runs on Linux, FreeBSD, Macintosh (native with GTK+OSX, not X11). The Windows version was withdrawn because it was unstable, but will come back eventually.

• Seashore – is an open source image editor for Mac OS X’s Cocoa framework. It features gradients, textures and anti-aliasing for both text and brush strokes. It supports multiple layers and alpha channel editing. It is based around the GIMP’s technology and uses the same native file format.

• Gimpshop – is a modification of the free/open source GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP), intended to replicate the feel of Adobe Photoshop. Its primary purpose is to make users of Photoshop feel comfortable using GIMP. GIMPshop is available for many different operating systems, including Mac OS X, Windows 98+, Linux, and Solaris.

Other Free Alternatives to Photoshop, Photo Editing software that offer basic editing features.

• Picasa – excellent for beginners and casual digital shooters who want to find all their pictures, sort them into albums, do quick edits, and share with friends and family.

• IrfanView – is a very fast, small, compact and innovative FREEWARE (for non-commercial use) graphic viewer for Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vist
• Photoscape – Photoscape is the fun and easy photo editing software that enables you to fix and enhance photos.
• Photo Plus Image Editing – you can easily adjust brightness and contrast, colour balance, remove red-eye and make numerous other image editing adjustments and enhancements, achieving fantastic results time after time. 

Free Online Photo Editors

• Adobe Photoshop Express – An online photo editor and web gallery. Touch up, Tweak, tint your photos, Then share them online
• Picnik – Online Photo Editor makes your photos fabulous with easy to use yet powerful editing tools. Tweak to your heart’s content, then get creative with oodles of effects, fonts, shapes, and frames.
• Splashup -formerly Fauxto, is a powerful editing tool and photo manager. With all the features professionals use and novices want, it’s easy to use, works in real-time and allows you to edit many images at once. Splashup runs in all browsers, integrates seamlessly with top photosharing sites, and even has its own file format so you can save your work in progress.
• FotoFlexer – a powerful online editor that can remove blemishes change skin or hair color, morph photos and more and 100% free!

Cheaper Alternative to Photoshop and still featured packed.

• Adobe Lightroom 2 -  makes digital photography workflow easy.  You can quickly import, process, manage, and showcase your images — from one shot to an entire shoot.  You spend less time in front of the computer and more time behind the lens. $299

• Apple Aperture 2 – Aperture 2 delivers streamlined tools for moving photos from capture to output with uncompromising quality. $199

Note: It may be cheaper to shop online for photo editing software than buying it at your local store.

Images of the Year Competition 2008 by American Photo

2008 American Photo Images of the Year Competition

OFFICIAL RULES

• ELIGIBILITY:

You must be 18 years or older as of September 12, 2008 to enter the contest. Employees of Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc. and members of their immediate families are not eligible to enter or win. The contest is open to both amateur and professional photographers.

• CONTEST DEADLINES:

The Contest commences on April 23, 2008 and continues until September 12, 2008.

We have created an extended deadline of September 17th, please note you must pay an additional fee. All mail in entries must be post marked by 12:00 p.m. on September 12th, 2007 or September 17th if you are paying an extended deadline fee.

• CATEGORIES:

PHOTOJOURNALISM/DOCUMENTARY
COMMERCIAL WORK: ADVERTISING/EDITORIAL
PERSONAL WORK
STUDENT WORK
PORTRAITURE
NATURE

• ENTRY FEES:

Single Entry: $25 | Series: $40 | Student Work: $10

Extended Entry (September 17th):
Single Entry: $35 | Series: $50 | Student Work: $20

An entry can be either a single image or a series of images. A series
includes multiple images or pages that make up a cohesive related
story. A series is limited to a maximum of 10 images. To enter the
student work category you must currently be enrolled in classes.

• PRIZES:

To Be Announced

• SUBMISSIONS

The competition is open to work produced from September 1 2007 – September 17, 2008. Entries can be submitted by uploading the image and making a payment on the www.iotycontest.com website.

File specifications: submissions should be in JPEG format. This compresses the size of your file and should make for quick uploads. It’s important to set your JPEG compression to maximum image quality (minimum compression) in order to prevent deterioration of image quality.

In Photoshop, saving your file via Save As, select JPEG for your image type, and put the quality slider to 12 (all the way to the right).

Filename should not have spaces i.e. “blue car.JPG” instead “blue_car.JPG”
File must have the correct extension ().
Filename should not have slashes i.e. “women/child.jpg”
Filename should not have odd charachters i.e. “%$@#*()

Contest is open to amateurs and pros.

Employees of Sponsor, Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc., publisher of American Photo and Imaging magazine and popphoto.com web site (“Sponsor”) and their immediate families are not eligible to enter or win.

Entrants name, address, email address, and category must be affixed to all entries.

• JUDGING/WINNERS:

The judging will be done in two stages: The initial stage will be done by the American Photo & Imaging promo staff. The second stage will be done by a jury of outside experts selected by the editors of American Photo & Imaging. Entries will be judged equally on creativity, technical expertise and aesthetic value. Entries will be ranked in descending order. The decisions of the judges are final.

Winners will be notified via email or mail by October 19th, 2008. Winners may be required to sign and return an affidavit of eligibility, grant of rights, and a publicity and liability release within 14 days of notification, or alternate winners will be selected (alternate will be next highest ranked entrant). By entering this Contest and/or accepting a prize, you agree to allow Sponsor to use your name, city and state, voice and image in connection with publication of your winning entry and for promotional purposes (except where prohibited), without review, notification or approval.

• MISCELLANEOUS:

This Contest is subject to all federal, state, and local laws and is void where prohibited. Winners agree that Sponsors and Prize Contributors, including their parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors and employees, shall not be liable for injury, loss or damage of any kind resulting from participating in this promotion or from the acceptance or use of any prize awarded. HFM reserves the right to verify eligibility qualifications of any winner(s). Sponsor, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to disqualify any person tampering with the entry process, the operation of the web site, www.popphoto.com, or who is otherwise in violation of the rules. Sponsor further reserves the right to cancel, terminate or modify the Contest if it is not capable of completion as planned due to, for example, infection by a computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention or technical failures of any sort. In the event of early termination of the Contest, winners will be selected from all eligible entries received at the time of termination in accordance with the judging procedures described above. In no event will Sponsor be responsible for any damages or losses arising out of access to and use of the web sites or the downloading from and or printing material downloaded from said site.

Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete or misdirected entries. In the event of a dispute concerning the identity of a person submitting an online entry, the entry will be deemed submitted by the person in whose name the e-mail account is registered.

• WINNERS LIST: A winners list will be available upon request once the January 2009 issue is released.

Sponsor: Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc., 1633 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.

Prize Contributors: Epson, Samsung, Blurb, Smugmug

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