Free software

[chrishoggy]

Serif do all older versions of all their graphics, 3D, photo editing and webpage design software for free. Their software is quite good, easy to use and is what I started up with years ago (Photo Plus). It may only be basic, but for those starting to learn, it's a good free source of software to learn on .
http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/

[chrishoggy]

200+ views and not one feed back Has nobody tried it?

[Marthig]

Hi Chris,

It is really frustrating, I am sorry but have just seen the link; it is quite late here -20min past midnight!- I bookmarked the site and tomorrow will browse it more in depth. From what I could see looks fantastic, all the possible applications and great resources !

Thank you !! Martha

[nebgranny]

Hi Chris:
I just visited the link. I am going to look at all the options and see what might be useful. Thank you for posting it for us to look at . Nice of you to do so. If some are like me they find things from people like you and download , then forget to mention it or say thanks. Neb

[chrishoggy]

It is good software to have as backup and to begin to learn with. They are full versions with no limits or trial periods.

This is another free one from Microsoft. It is only in the development stages so instructions are basic, but I've had a few good results from it in testing It does take a lot of getting used to though

http://research.microsoft.com/projects/GroupShot/

[patriciakay]

Hi Chrishoggy,
I agree the serif software is great...for free...i have used serif draw and the photo one...
I am downloading the microsoft one now to give it a try....thanks for the links..

Kind regards patricia kay

[chrishoggy]

Remember the Microsoft one is in development, so it isn't a finished product. I've found it quite hard to get good results from it, but hours of playing around with it did give some good results in the end. It's mainly for if you have take 2 or 3 shots of a group, and you want to mix the 2 or 3 images to make one good one.
A bit more info from a technet blogger below
http://blogs.technet.com/kevinremde/...18/417679.aspx

[patriciakay]

Hi.
Thanks for your quick reply...will look into the link and see whats what...i like merging photos together so will see how i get on with the program..
West yorkshire...ah i am homesick at times...i am from Leeds what part are you from???If you dont mind me asking...
regards Patricia Kay

[chrishoggy]

Wakefield, not too far off your old hunting ground

[patriciakay]

Ah Wakefield...spent many happy evenings out there in my teens...cant remeber the names of the places though...its a while back...thanks...

[PamSav]

Looks like some fun things to play with there Chris, thanks

[Ken45140]

I just noticed this thread and can report that I downloaded and subsequently upgraded both PagePlusSE to PagePlus9 and DrawPlus4 to DrawPlus6. I liked the PagePlus quite a lot and have used PP9 for a variety of tasks, mostly brochures, a gift card, and an unusual collage project (see more below). I tried one small task side by side with Microsoft Publisher (which sits unused on my computer) and liked the overall intuitiveness of PagePlus compared to Publisher. Publisher has a lot more built in templates, but the commands and tools in PagePlus were more to my liking.

Regaring the special collage project....PagePlus has a simple way to bring pictures in and once they are loaded into a resizable frame, you can move the frame around and rotate it at will. If any of you have seen FotoFusion, a program to make collages, you will appreciate a collage in which there are a lot of photos overlapping, at different angles, and at different sizes. I have found it difficult if not impossible to make such overlapping/rotated/multisize collages in the layout template forms of PSPx (my main graphics editor). I admit to not trying in my PS7. But PagePlus9 allowed me to add and continue to add photos to a single page with all sorts of variations. So, I find this capability of PagePlus9 to be something more associated with picture publishing rather than typical desktop (text related) publishing, and for me, it alone would more than justify the low purchase price. The same capability exists in the SE version, so the price there would be zero.

I have not used the DrawPlus very much so can not comment on its capabilities. This is more a result of lack of time and priorities than program capabilities. In fact, the reason I upgraded the DrawPlus was the builtin animated tutorials in the free version (and perhaps on the website) that showed lots of flexibility in text creation and text effects, something I will eventually need to weave into my work.

A warning I received from others was that signing up for the free Serif downloads would subject you to a barage of advertisements. This did not happen to me. Also, I had occasion to seek support and got instant response from both email and phone. They have a 800 number but it connects to England.

Both upgrades cost $15 with shipping and a free digital camera (which went promptly in the trash). Overall a great deal in spite of the camera.

Hope this is useful.

Ken

[Edit]: I actually just forgot but PagePlus can export its documents into perfectly well-formed standard PDF files. So, you get all the other capability plus a PDF publisher. What more could you want for $15. Note: the free downloadable version SE does NOT have the PDF export capability.

[Dave Mamet]

I used to use PagePlus from version 3 onwards and it was a great little DTP package with Pantone support if you didn't need the the full pre-press power of Quark Xpress or similar.

Dave.