An image editor is the tool you need for working with photographs and bitmap graphics. In addition to strong photo-editing features your image editor should easily import and export common graphics formats including TIFF, GIF, JPG, and EPS. For professional design work, Photoshop and Photo-Paint are the industry standards (especially Photoshop) but there are other options as well.
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop CS5 box; © Adobe
The most widely-used professional image editing program has a hefty price tag but it's packed with features. Photoshop is almost a prerequisite for most professional design employment. Photoshop comes in Standard and Extended editions with the Extended version adding 3D and motion-based features. Photoshop is available as a standalone product and comes in all editions of the Adobe Creative Suite. Except for Design Standard, the CS5 suites contain Photoshop Extended.
Available as of 2010: Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Windows and Mac
- Photoshop CS5 Standard (Compare Prices) Full (Buy Direct) | Upgrade (Buy Direct)
- Photoshop CS5 Extended (Compare Prices) Full (Buy Direct) | Upgrade (Buy Direct)
- Various editions of Adobe Photoshop (Compare Prices)
- See the Adobe Education Store (Buy Direct) for Student editions of Photoshop.
Similar to but less expensive is Photoshop Elements
Corel Photo-Paint (CorelDRAW Graphics Suite)
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 Box shot © Corel Corp.
Photo-Paint is popular among both experienced and novice Windows designers it is becoming increasingly popular for professionals as a less-expensive but feature-rich alternative to Photoshop, especially when you consider that it comes as part of the powerful CorelDRAW Graphics Suite.
Available as of 2010: CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 for Windows As of September 2010 there are 3 CorelDRAW X5 Suites: Standard, Professional (adds Web/Flash components), and Home & Student (removes some of the pro features of the Standard edition including print separations).
New Features in CorelDRAW X5 & What's in New Suites (About.com Graphics Software)
- CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 Full (Buy Direct) | Upgrade (Buy Direct) | Education Edition (Buy Direct)
- CorelDRAW Graphics Suite Full/Upgrade/All Versions (Compare Prices)
GIMP (gimp.org)
About.com / gimp.org
The GNU Image Management Program (The GIMP) is a popular, free, open source alternative to Photoshop and other photo editing software. The GIMP was the 2010 About.com Reader's Choice Winner in the Free Desktop Publishing Software category.
Available as of 2011: GIMP 2.6.1 for Linux, Windows, Mac, FreeBSD, OpenSolaris
Xara Designer Pro
Xara Designer Pro 6 Screenshot provided by Xara
Formerly Xara Xtreme Pro, this package combines photo and illustration in one package. In addition to drawing and photo editing, it also does Flash animation. There's also a slightly less advanced and very low-cost version called Xara Photo & Graphic Designer. Get trial versions.
Available as of 2010: Designer Pro 6 for Windows; Photo & Graphic Designer 6 for Windows
- Designer Pro & Photo & Graphic Designer (Company Store)
ACDSee: Canvas
Canvas 11 Box shot © ACD Systems, Inc.
All-in-one vector and bitmap graphics and publishing software for Windows. Use Canvas for high-end technical illustration and more. Some of the Canvas specs: open AutoCAD drawings, import Office 2007 PowerPoint, Word, and Excel files, open Photoshop CS files, PDF export, auto trace, professional print feature, create Web graphics, 200,000% zoom and precision drawing.
Available as of 2010: Canvas 11 for Windows and Canvas with GIS Module for Windows
Canvas 9 Review (About.com Graphics Software)
- Canvas 11 (Compare Prices)
