Hi,

Poser8, Windows 7, about to take the jump to Pro12. To this point I've done postwork on the free version of Artweaver, but I'd like to do more - layering, that sort of thing, but I don't want to shell out the amount of money Photoshop cost and I don't want such a daunting learning curve. Anyone have any suggestions about free or affordable, simple graphics software?

GIMP (link to gimp.org) is nice free program.  It will handle many things that photoshop does and also can use many of same brushes and other tools.

GIMP is good but you might also look at getting a cheap copy of Serif's Photoplus, you can often get an older version for a low price.

Personally, I do still stick with Paint Shop Pro, though I'm non too keen on Corel (you might want to dissable a couple of the odds and sods that get installed). Again, if you don't mind the older version, you can often find it for a good price.

And Photoshop Elements is much better these days - though I had mine free with a Bamboo tablet.

A nice postwork tool worth looking at, if you want to try natural media results for example, is Postworkshop - you can find it in store here or at their website:

www.postworkshop.net

A good freebie is MyPaint:

http://mypaint.intilinux.com/

And you might also want to check out ArtRage, which is a lot cheaper than Painter but also has similar features for overpainting.

http://www.artrage.com/

Sometimes you might be able to grab an older copy of PS (mine was CS3 and 5 was out) on ebay. At the time I was using the GIMP. To be honest, I wish I still had it... some things are just heaps easier to do in the GIMP. Alpha anything... I always have to look it up on how to get a simple transparent background in PS.

However, I was told it was the industry standard, so I'd better learn it... :lol:

Yep, I'd get GIMP. I has some really nice features that even Photoshop doesn't have and if I weren't so Photoshop-ized, I'd use it...lol. Can't beat the price ;).

Laurie

Serif also has a free version of Photoplus = not sure what features it has.

http://www.serif.com/free-photo-editing-software/

You might also look at Paint.net.  http://www.getpaint.net/download.html#download - I haven't used it but it's  gotten good reviews. The website is kinda confusing so the direct link is:

http://www.dotpdn.com/files/Paint.NET.3.5.9.Install.zip 

Quote - GIMP is good but you might also look at getting a cheap copy of Serif's Photoplus, you can often get an older version for a low price.

Personally, I do still stick with Paint Shop Pro, though I'm non too keen on Corel (you might want to dissable a couple of the odds and sods that get installed). Again, if you don't mind the older version, you can often find it for a good price.

And Photoshop Elements is much better these days - though I had mine free with a Bamboo tablet.

 

Hi I also had a free copy of photoshop elements with Bamboo

I have tried to move my photoshop elements to the new imac and it tells me the code for operating is out of date any ideas?

Thanks, guys, all good ideas! Actually, I've toyed with getting a Bamboo - I'll check and see if software still comes with it.

I have lots of photo/image-editing software. The GIMP is nice price and powerful, but I have always found it less than stable. (Although maybe that's because I use the GIMPShop version.) And it's far from intuitive for me, so I guess it all depends on what you gravitate toward.

Personally, I like Fireworks. (It's web-oriented, so if you're doing stuff for print, though, use something else.) But in general, my postwork (which is limited) is done in Photoshop CS3, although I do a lot of my exporting in Fireworks, as it gives more precise control. (Don't know about CS5 tho.)

Quote -  I don't want to shell out the amount of money Photoshop cost and I don't want such a daunting learning curve. Anyone have any suggestions about free or affordable, simple graphics software?

Buy an older version of Photoshop. I'm sure there are a few older version of Photoshop CS out there. If you can get an older version of Photoshop then you'll be able to upgrade to a newer version without paying all of that money. 

Like someone mentioned GIMP is probably the only free one that's really worth getting.