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Free ware illustrator and or photoshop.

Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 1:00 pm
by kamikaziechameleon
Hey guys I'm not allotted a photoshop or illustrator license at work so I was looking for a freeware solution for making quick mockup renderings of models I'm working on. If it works with the save file types of photoshop and or illustrator that would be amazing but its not required.

Thanks in advanced for any and all recommendations.

Re: Free ware illustrator and or photoshop.

Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 3:22 pm
by Flatland_Spider
GIMP and Inkscape are the two that come to mind immediately.

Alternativeto.net and osalt.com are good places to find more options.

Re: Free ware illustrator and or photoshop.

Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 3:27 pm
by kamikaziechameleon
I've downloaded and will be experimenting with inkscape. Thanks for the quick response. :D

Re: Free ware illustrator and or photoshop.

Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 4:59 pm
by frumper15
Have used Gimp in the past and there is even a portable version you can stash on a flashdrive that has come in handy more than once. I recently used Inkscape for vector work with good results.

Re: Free ware illustrator and or photoshop.

Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 11:47 am
by DancinJack
Paint.net is a good one too.

Re: Free ware illustrator and or photoshop.

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 9:56 am
by kamikaziechameleon
Thanks guys. This has helped immensely.

Re: Free ware illustrator and or photoshop.

Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 4:47 pm
by kamikaziechameleon
Haven't tried Gimp, been working with inkscape and flipping love it as a free piece of software.

Re: Free ware illustrator and or photoshop.

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 10:59 am
by The Egg
I've been using GIMP 2.6 at work for limited photo editing needs. It's very clunky compared to Photoshop, but works. I gave Inkscape a shot after reading this, hoping for a better interface. 30 minutes later it was no longer on my machine, and I was in a much worse mood. If I can't figure out how to make a partial image selection after reading all the help files and fighting with it for 1/2hr, it's useless to me as a photo editor. It shouldn't be an 18 step process to drag a selection box over part of an image to copy it.

Re: Free ware illustrator and or photoshop.

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 12:44 pm
by UberGerbil
If you need an arbitrary rectangular chunk of the image, a vector-based image editor is probably the wrong tool in the first place. Vector drawing tools are not designed for editing photos (though you can start with a photo and do some interesting things with them). Adobe has been blurring that a bit with recent versions of Illustrator, but fundamentally they're different approaches to images, just as MIDI and WAV are to sound.

Re: Free ware illustrator and or photoshop.

Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 9:51 am
by kamikaziechameleon
UberGerbil wrote:
If you need an arbitrary rectangular chunk of the image, a vector-based image editor is probably the wrong tool in the first place. Vector drawing tools are not designed for editing photos (though you can start with a photo and do some interesting things with them). Adobe has been blurring that a bit with recent versions of Illustrator, but fundamentally they're different approaches to images, just as MIDI and WAV are to sound.



My thoughts too. I realized a long time ago that you need to humble yourself when learning new software. I installed inkscape and started watching novice tutorials on youtube for free.

Re: Free ware illustrator and or photoshop.

Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 10:27 am
by just brew it!
kamikaziechameleon wrote:
UberGerbil wrote:
If you need an arbitrary rectangular chunk of the image, a vector-based image editor is probably the wrong tool in the first place. Vector drawing tools are not designed for editing photos (though you can start with a photo and do some interesting things with them). Adobe has been blurring that a bit with recent versions of Illustrator, but fundamentally they're different approaches to images, just as MIDI and WAV are to sound.

My thoughts too. I realized a long time ago that you need to humble yourself when learning new software. I installed inkscape and started watching novice tutorials on youtube for free.

(Yes, I realize this is an old thread, but it was necroed by the OP so I figure it's fair game. :wink:)

The MIDI/WAV analogy is spot on. Trying to use a vector graphics tool to manipulate a bitmap image is like trying to use a MIDI editor to manipulate waveform audio. Fundamentally the wrong tool for the job, as the data is not in the tool's native format.

Re: Free ware illustrator and or photoshop.

Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 2:33 pm
by kamikaziechameleon
I brought it back because I looked it up at my new job because I had forgotten what I used at the time. :) And you are correct.