Gimp image editor

Gimp is a free image editor that gives Photoshop a run for its money. It was first designed to work on Linux, but this version has been written to work on Windows and is self contained, so no other software is required to make it work.

Unlike most other Windows apps, Gimp appears with three windows. One is the main window that shows the image being edited and there are two more with tools. The various tool menus can be rearranged to suit, either combining all of them into the toolbox (as I do) or even into their own windows. It is even possible to create windows from menu options. This can make Gimp very convenient if you have a large enough screen.

The Gimp has its own image format but it can open and save in a wide variety of others including EPS, JPEG, GIF, TIF, PNG, PDF, PSD and SVG. It has a versatile screen capture tool that can either grab the whole screen or a single window, with or without the cursor.

Gimp can also import Photoshop brushes, which significantly widens the creative possibilities and many of these can be downloaded at no cost.