# Recommendations for free, decent image editing software? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 10, 2006, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-free-decent-image-editing-software/372174 "2006-09-10T16:24:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-free-decent-image-editing-software/372174/1 "2006-09-10T16:24:15Z")
Title pretty much says it all. I am looking for some free (legitimately and legally free) image editing software that is fairly decent. I do not need any super tools but frankly Windows Paint program is driving me nuts. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-free-decent-image-editing-software/372174/2 "2006-09-10T16:32:54Z")
The [GIMP](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIMP) is probably the most powerful freeware program, though last I heard the user interface wasn’t that great. It’s open-source though, so it may have changed a lot in the two years between then and now. That’s the Wikipedia article I linked to, it’s got a bunch of helpful stuff at the bottom. The GIMP is kind of like the freeware answer to Photoshop. If you just want to do some basic photo editing there is [Picasa](http://picasa.google.com/), made by Google and some other company. I believe it also helps you sort your pictures. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-free-decent-image-editing-software/372174/3 "2006-09-10T17:00:25Z")
Aside from an unusual arrangement for the menus, I haven’t found anything weird about GIMP’s interface. All in all, the GIMP is a lot like Photoshop 3.0, which means not half bad at all for photo editing, especially for free. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-free-decent-image-editing-software/372174/4 "2006-09-10T17:51:33Z")
I have the GIMP program but I’m not able to do much with it. I don’t know anything about layers and the like, so I haven’t been able to use a lot of the features. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Perro\_Fumando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e9c0ed/32.png) [@El\_Perro\_Fumando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Perro_Fumando)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-free-decent-image-editing-software/372174/5 "2006-09-10T18:00:55Z")
The GIMP takes some getting used to, but I used it with much success in the recent past (designing a lot of wedding invitation inserts myself). If you have any experience with photoshop, the GIMP only takes minor adjustments. ---
**Author:** ![ejtx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b77776/32.png) [@ejtx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ejtx)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-free-decent-image-editing-software/372174/6 "2006-09-10T18:36:57Z")
Paint.Net! You’ll need the .Net framework for this to work, though. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-free-decent-image-editing-software/372174/7 "2006-09-10T19:25:22Z")
I second the [Paint.NET](http://Paint.NET) recommendation. Powerful and easier to use than the GIMP.