Absolutely Free Software -
Best Windows Graphic Freeware

No shareware, no nagware, no adware. Reviewed constantly. Categorized conveniently.

This page is updated regularly. Last update: September 15, 2005.

Free Graphic Software

Free Photo Editing Software/ Graphic Editor - Raster

The Gimp The Gimp

Paint.net Paint.NET

By far, the most sophisticated free image editor ever. It also has the most active development community which means it will keep getting better and better. The only people that need something that it doesn't offer are the pros that have to use Photoshop. Some (heck, many) have complained that the interface is non-intuitive, and there is some validity to the complaint, but the loudest complainers are that same Photoshop crowd who resist it just because it doesn't look exactly like Photoshop. For serious image editing that's totally free, the Gimp is your only real choice.

new! added August 30, 2005
Now, having said all those complimentary things about the Gimp, I feel obligated to explain why I included Paint.NET. First, it is not as powerful as the Gimp, but it is probably more powerful than most of us need. Second, it has a more traditional interface and is easier to learn. Third, it is very well designed and is significantly smaller (about 5 meg). It's a MS Paint replacement, not a Photoshop killer. Paint.NET was developed and is maintained by Washington State University. Nice job, guys.

Either of these tools are excellent, free photo editing software choices.

http://www.gimp.org/

http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net/

Free 3D Graphic Software / Animation Creator

Blender Blender

DAZ|Studio DAZ|Studio

new! updated September 15, 2005

Blender is over ten years old now and is amazingly robust. Professional 3D software runs from several hundred to several thousand dollars. If you go through the feature list, it's quite amazing that it is freeware (Open Source GNU Public License). It has all the standard features of the professional programs with sophisticated modeling, animation and rendering. It even includes realtime 3D game creation. And yet, there's more! Import and export standard 3D file formats. Create standalone executable files to distribute your creations.

DAZ|Studio is a brand new entry in this category. It's a 3D figure posing and animation software suite.

Though free, it has an unusual requirement to use. extended article here...

The features are truly excellent. You get a base library of 350 megabytes of figures and scenes. You can see what you're doing as you work with OpenGL preview, content management, scripting support, custom lighting, and much more that you would only expect in a very expensive package.

If you have ever wanted to try your hand at 3D, but were intimidated by the cost or the learning curve, jump into DAZ or Blender.

http://www.daz3d.com/program/studio/1_0index.php

http://www.blender3d.org/

Free Picture Viewer / Image Converter

Irfanview Irfanview

XnView XnView

new! updated September 2, 2005

There are a lot of image viewers out there, and picking the best is largely a matter of taste. Irfanview and XnView stand out because of the large number of formats they can view and convert. Irfanview has a command-line option, if you need that kind of thing. XnView supports Photoshop plugins. They are both also extremely small and fast, two features that push them ahead of other similar products.

http://www.irfanview.com/http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

Free Photo Browser

Picasa Picasa 2

The difference between an image viewer and image browser is like the difference between a DVD player and Tivo. A DVD player / image viewer lets you look at the thing you want to see. An image browser / Tivo let you browse quickly and precisely through a lot of stuff. Okay, the analogy isn't great, but hopefully you get my point.

Google bought Picasa, branded and tweaked it, then set it free. Freeware that is. Picasa won't let you view every oddball format under the sun, but it will index and sort every image you probably have. It's great for the vast amount of digital photos we accumulate these days. Most people, after a couple of years, start to lose track because there's just too much. Picasa is quick and gorgeous too look at. If Picasa can't help you find that embarrassing picture of your spouse, they must have deleted it.

http://www.picasa.com/

 

Free Graphic Editor - Vector

Inkscape Inkscape

OpenOffice Draw OpenOffice Draw

These are pretty close contenders. Neither of them are Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw, but again, if you're a professional, you probably won't be allowed to use anything but what your shop requires. OpenOffice Draw has a couple more features than Inkscape, but its interface isn't quite as polished. If have the OpenOffice suite installed, you probably won't need Inkscape, but if not, you might want to give Inkscape a whirl.

http://www.inkscape.org

http://openoffice.org/

Free Painting Software

ArtRage ArtRage

new! added August 26, 2005

This is about as close to real painting as it gets. If you have a tablet PC or even a graphic tablet, you should definitely give this a try. It does work with a mouse, but you don't get the same "painterly" feel without a tablet's pressure sensitivity. This is a beautiful piece of free software. Take a look at the gallery for some impressive examples.

http://www.ambientdesign.com/artrage.html

 

Free Panorama Creator / Photo Stitcher

AutoStitch AutoStitch

new! updated August 19, 2005

This little wonder from Matthew Brown is pure magic. It will take a series of images and stitch them together into a panorama without needing you to do anything. Amazing. Surpasses any commercial tool out there right now.

http://www.cs.ubc.ca/%7Embrown/autostitch/autostitch.html