Free Web Graphic Editors for your Web Photos & Images
One of the most common situations I encounter with people uploading images to their websites is that they do not know how to optimize their images. With digital cameras these days, it’s easy to plug into the USB port and transfer files over to your computer, quickly and easily.
The problem is that most people take the photos at a very high resolution so the files sizes can range from 1 to 5MB’s in size. These are NOT suitable to be uploading for your website pages. First, you need to reduce the file sizes and perhaps crop, sharpen or brighten the images. This is where most people get lost in the woods. And no, you can’t do this type of editing in Microsoft’s Paint program, as I have been asked many times.
Ok, so here’s a few free web graphic editors to get you started. Simply download, install and read the directions for use:
- Serif PhotoPlus 6 is an excellent image editor with a variety of features that are comparable to some high-end graphics editors. It even comes with a tool panel surprisingly similar to Paint Shop Pro.
- Gimp 2.4 has a number of high-end editing features with tutorials.
- PhotoFiltre is another great choice for PC users. Although you can’t work with layers (a la Photoshop) there are quite a few other features to keep you satisfied.