# Good, free, graphics program **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 20, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-free-graphics-program/510872 "2009-09-20T20:21:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jakesteele](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@jakesteele](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jakesteele)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-free-graphics-program/510872/1 "2009-09-20T20:21:32Z")
I’m trying to get in graphics so I can mainly paint/draw things and I find that Adobe Illustrator or Corel are way beyond me. I need a tutorial for the tutorial. Can anybody recommend a basic, free program that works fairly well and is easy to understand. I have tried Wetpaint, Artrage and a couple others. I liked Wetpaint, but it only gives you 25 tries and then you have to buy it. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-free-graphics-program/510872/2 "2009-09-20T20:36:43Z")
Have you tried GIMP? It’s open-source (i.e. free), and while it’s got plenty of high-end features there are a whole load of tutorials online for the basics. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-free-graphics-program/510872/3 "2009-09-20T20:47:58Z")
GIMP is good for bitmap graphics and to create graphic files that are compatible with Photoshop For vector graphics, like Adobe Illustrator or Corel there is an open source program too: Inkscape: > **[Draw Freely | Inkscape](https://inkscape.org/)** > > Inkscape is professional quality vector graphics software which runs on Linux, Mac OS X and Windows desktop computers. For GIMP: > **[GIMP - Downloads](https://www.gimp.org/downloads/)** > > The official download page for all things GIMP! Please only use the official binaries provided here unless you really, really know what you’re doing (it’s the only way to be safe). We try to provide binaries in-time with regular releases, but... ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-free-graphics-program/510872/4 "2009-09-20T20:51:20Z")
And for free tutorials and online books, try the open source wikibooks: [http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main\_Page](http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page) Enter GIMP or inkscape on the search. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-free-graphics-program/510872/5 "2009-09-20T20:53:19Z")
And even 3d has now a not too shabby open source tool: Blender. > **[blender.org - Home of the Blender project - Free and Open 3D Creation Software](https://www.blender.org/)** > > The Freedom to Create ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-free-graphics-program/510872/6 "2009-09-20T21:02:45Z")
Warning! Blender is powerful but it has a nonstandard user interface and a brick-wall learning curve. I still recommend it though; it’ll just take a while to learn. Inkscape’s native file format is SVG. I think it can deal with Adobe Illustrator files, but you may be better off importing the SVGs into Illustrator. The biggest difference between the free tools and Illustrator, Photoshop is that the free tools don’t have all the licensed cour swatches and CMYK printing support. They’re fine for online work. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-free-graphics-program/510872/7 "2009-09-20T21:18:05Z")
I think there’s a subtle but distinct difference between image editing programs like Photoshop and drawing/painting programs like Artrage. There’s some overlap, but the functionality and user interface will usually be different. This [About.com page lists several painting programs](http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/designandcreate/tp/artsoftware.htm), two of which seem to be free: [Artweaver](http://www.artweaver.de/index.php?en_version) and [Project Dogwaffle](http://www.thebest3d.com/dogwaffle/free/index.html). There’s also the free [Paint.net image editor](http://www.getpaint.net/) which is like a really simple version of Photoshop (so it might be easier to use) but it’s not really designed for artistic painting. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-free-graphics-program/510872/8 "2009-09-20T21:33:17Z")
There’s also the very simple online drawing game [iSketch](http://www.isketch.net) (kinda like pictionary), which offers a studio mode where you can just draw and copy pictures. People have created [some](http://www.simplyisketch.com/index.php?action=mgallery;sa=album;id=2;sort=3;nw) [rather](http://www.geocities.com/buff_austin/Austin1.html) [amazing](http://www.geocities.com/sophie_austin2000/Isketchpage.html) [sketches](http://www.leydlafsalotsgallery.012webpages.com/) on iSketch using tools no more complex than MS Paint. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-free-graphics-program/510872/9 "2009-09-20T21:58:11Z")
There is a great review of the best free image editors at [TechSupportalert.com](http://TechSupportalert.com) [here](http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-digital-editor.htm).