# Any good free illustrating programs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 22, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-illustrating-programs/579404 "2011-04-22T21:18:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-illustrating-programs/579404/1 "2011-04-22T21:18:11Z")
I want to edit some pictures for a project I’m working on, the program doesn’t need to have tons of bells and whistles and I don’t have the $500 to spend on Adobe Illustrator. All I want is to import JPGs, modify them, and then put them on a PDF. Any good free ones out there? ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-illustrating-programs/579404/2 "2011-04-22T21:24:02Z")
Inkscape. Free, open source vector editor. Inkscape is to Illustrator as GIMP is to Photoshop, if that makes any sense to you. If you just need a bitmap editor to tweak JPEGs, [paint.NET](http://paint.NET) is easy to use and does most of what you need. Or if you’re looking for really easy, really basic photo retouching, I tend to recommend Picasa. It has easy blemish and redeye removal, and can autolevel to tweak brightness and contrast well. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-illustrating-programs/579404/3 "2011-04-22T21:31:47Z")
You’re the man, I’ll look into it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-illustrating-programs/579404/4 "2011-04-23T03:05:20Z")
Illustrator is a vector art program that you ordinarily wouldn’t use to edit JPEGs. Are you sure you don’t want a photo editor such as Photoshop or GIMP? ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-illustrating-programs/579404/5 "2011-04-23T03:22:09Z")
Possibly, Inkscape doesn’t really seem to be moron friendly. I’ll give those a shot too. ---
**Author:** ![king\_gorilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9fc29f/32.png) [@king\_gorilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/king_gorilla)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-illustrating-programs/579404/6 "2011-04-24T16:22:04Z")
my vote, GIMP Great little program, and it’s worth the little effort to learn. Quick Google search for tutorials, and your off. I often break it out when I don’t feel like the hassle of photoshop. ---
**Author:** ![tmoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e5b9ba/32.png) [@tmoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tmoh)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-illustrating-programs/579404/7 "2011-04-25T04:09:07Z")
Another vote for Inkscape and/or GIMP. I think Inkscape is a little more intuitive, personally, but it’s easy enough to learn either one. ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-illustrating-programs/579404/8 "2011-04-25T04:23:56Z")
> [@king\_gorilla](#): > > my vote, GIMP > > Great little program, and it’s worth the little effort to learn. Quick Google search for tutorials, and your off. I often break it out when I don’t feel like the hassle of photoshop. The HASSLE of Photoshop? Gimp fights you every step of the way with it’s gawdawful interface. Photoshop is a breeze. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-illustrating-programs/579404/9 "2011-04-25T04:40:39Z")
Seriously, GIMP is one of the worst designed programs I’ve ever seen. The user-friendly Photoshop-lite is [Paint.Net](http://Paint.Net). ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-illustrating-programs/579404/10 "2011-04-25T05:20:38Z")
If you just want to do basic photo editing, you can’t beat [XnView](http://www.xnview.com/en/index.html). It’s free and it’ll do most of the basic things to clean up photo, use various filters, convert formats and such ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-illustrating-programs/579404/11 "2011-04-25T19:13:49Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > Seriously, GIMP is one of the worst designed programs I’ve ever seen. The user-friendly Photoshop-lite is [Paint.Net](http://Paint.Net). [Paint.Net](http://Paint.Net) is incredibly simple and would be almost perfect, however I can’t seem to increase the resolution and any images I make look rough. Is it possible to change the pixel size? ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-free-illustrating-programs/579404/12 "2011-04-25T19:28:34Z")
Nevermind, figured it out. [Paint.Net](http://Paint.Net) is perfect for my needs. Thanks everyone.