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Many people ask for the name of a
good graphics program. If you can afford to buy only one, make
it Adobe Photoshop. It is an extremely powerful (and somewhat
overwhelming) program that can raise the level of your graphic
output tremendously. A little secret is if you buy an older
version you can save hundreds of dollars. You can find them in
papers or try a wanted classified.
GRAPHICS
SOFTWARE
For those of you looking for a
cheap, easy way to enter the world of graphics, download one
of the shareware graphics programs (Paintshop Pro for PC, or
MattPaint for MAC). These programs are perfectly alright for
producing and converting your photo's and graphics. There are
also a large range of tips and tricks sites to help you
achieve those special effects.
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I have just recently
found another great graphics program that allows you
to do 3D type manipulation like the ebook covers. It
is quite cheap and has a great range of preinstalled
graphics you can use. It is called Compact
Draw. This is the type
of work it can produce. CompactDraw is a powerful and
unique combination of vector and bitmap editing in one
package. It allows creation of flexible vector
graphics with natural organic feel of bitmap textures,
shadows, lights, transparencies and bevels. All in
real time. You can download a 30 day trial. This older
version is only $28 and the newer Real Draw is $55.00 |
SIZE IS
EVERYTHING
The one bit of advice I would
give when using these programs is to try and have your
graphics at the size you want before manipulating them with
these programs. Though they do have resizing abilities
their engines are not nearly as powerful as Photoshop. They
can handle small amounts but if you can get as close as
possible your quality will remain quite good.
ARCHIVES FOR
GRAPHICS
You may already have a large
collection of graphics and not realize it. If you have clip
art on a disk, or Microsoft Office or Claris Works, you
already have images you can use. Also there are usually lots
of graphics on CD's that come with computer magazines and in
stores for very reasonable prices. Many of these are already
Internet ready and royalty free.
If you already have a graphics
program, chances are it will convert a graphic into a gif or
jpeg for you. Simply find a graphic and open it in your
program. Then usually on the file menu you will see a
"save as" menu. When you click this menu there
should be a combo box which will allow you to save the graphic
into different formats. Some will allow you to do the same
through the export function.
There are a number of graphics
converter software packages out there and one of the nicest I
have found is IrfranView which is a freeware program and quite
powerful with many atractive features including a slide show.
This means you can view a whole set of graphics very quickly
and determine which ones you want.
IrfranView
IrfanView is a very fast FREEWARE
(for non-commercial use)
32-Bit graphic viewer for Windoze9x, Windows NT and Windows
2000.
| The
first graphic viewer WORLDWIDE
with Multiple (animated) GIF support
One of the first
graphic viewers WORLDWIDE
with Multipage TIFF support
The first graphic
viewer
WORLDWIDE with Multiple ICO support
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Another great product
for Photos is the free Google Picasa.
Find and enjoy
the pictures on your computer in seconds.
A free software
download from Google.
Picasa is software
that helps you instantly find, edit and share all
the pictures on your PC. Every time you open Picasa,
it automatically locates all your pictures (even
ones you forgot you had) and sorts them into visual
albums organised by date with folder names you will
recognize. You can drag and drop to arrange your
albums and make labels to create new groups. Picasa
makes sure your pictures are always organised.
Picasa also makes
advanced editing simple by putting one-click fixes
and powerful effects at your fingertips. And Picasa
makes it a snap to share your pictures – you can
email, print photos home, make gift CDs, instantly
share via Hello™, and even post pictures on your
own blog.
Take
a tour of Picasa
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