Troubleshooting and Resource Guide for Windows 95/98/ME/XP/Vista

Free Computer Help Forums
Computer "How To" Articles
Rescue The PC
Maintain The PC
Speed Up The PC
Warp Speed!
Surfing The Net
Tidbits
The Bleeding Edge
Relevant Links
Newsletter Archive
Awards
About Toejumper.net
Home
Web Toejumper.net
 

Graphics Utilities   

!VisToolbox 2.0 is a set of utilities most useful for painter and web designers. The collection includes Screen Capturer, Mouse Autoclick, Magnifying Glass, Color Picker and Dos Prompt Here. $27 from www.vistoolbox.com/

1 Cool Button Tool - Flash 5.0 creates Flash buttons, and the accompanying HTML code, for your Web site. $30 from www.buttontool.com/.

2Gif 4.2 is a command-line graphics converter that lets you convert images to .GIF format from 50-plus image files formats, including conversions from .JPG to .GIF, from .BMP to .GIF, and from .TIFF to .GIF. The program has no Windows interface and is fully optimized for working in background mode. A similar program called 2Tiff 4.2 works to convert other formats into .TIFF files. $33 each from batch.fcodersoft.com/.

3D Canvas 4.1 is a nifty little tool for creating and working with 3D graphics. Free from www.amabilis.com/.

Ability Photopaint 2000 2.0.009 is part of the Ability Office Suite. This PhotoShop lookalike will cost you $30 to keep from www.ability.com/.

ACDSee32 6.0 is an excellent tool for viewing different types of graphics files, including .GIFs, .BMPs, .JPEGs, .TIFFs, and other even more esoteric types. The unregistered version won't save or print files, but you can use it as a viewer; to get a full version, you gotta pay $50. You can also purchase a "viewer-only" version called ACDSee Classic, and a 16-bit version for Win 3.x. You can also ante up an extra $10 or so and get your choice of programs mailed to you on CD-ROM. Eyeball this program at www.acdsystems.com/index.htm.

ACDSee Power Pack 3.1 is a standalone, versatile management tool for your digital images. The Power Pack comprises the ACDSee image viewer (as above). plus several additions and plugins. Both are highly recommended by Wugnet. $80 from www.acdsystems.com/index.htm.

Active Server Image 1.12 lets you create professional looking server-side charts in PNG, JPEG and BMP formats for Microsoft ASP. $229 from www.emarksoft.com/home/products/web-graphing-charting-component.htm.

Advanced GIF Animator 2.0 is a powerful and versatile tool for creating animated gif images. With this program, you can create pictures, banners, buttons, and even movies. $35 from gif.creabit.com/.

Advanced JPEG Compressor 2.0b is a $25 utility that does just what it says, compresses .JPG, .BMP, and other supported graphics files. Good for bandwidth-conscious Webmasters. Find out more from www.winsoftmagic.com/.

Advanced Text 1.0 creates .GIF pictures from plain text. $20 from www.no1soft.com/text2gif/.

Adobe ActiveShare 1.4 is a photo-graphics utility that allows you to share your digital images with others. You can save, e-mail, or post your creations on ActiveShare's Web site. Free from www.adobe.com/products/activeshare/main.html.

Adobe Photoshop 7.0 is the gold standard of graphics programs. Lets you create artwork, enhance photographs and images, add effects, and more. The program is heinously expensive at $609, but the demo is free for limited -- very limited -- use from www.adobe.com/.

AI-Software SmartColor 1.01 is a powerful color picker for Windows. It has a color grabber, supports six different modes, has built-in support for web-safe colors, all 140 named (X11) colors, supports color saving, a minimize-to-tray function and more. Free from www.ai-software.atfreeweb.com/products/smartcolor.asp.

Album Express 3.05 creates albums of your favorite photos and images that can be stored on your PC or on disks or viewed on the Web. $20 from www.fookes.com/.

AlbumDIY 1.11 is an electronic photo album which can create a stand-alone executionable photo album. It features a huge selection of borders and backgrounds, album creator Wizard, multiple photos on each page, resize photos, add sound clips, slideshow, 'clickable' pages, and more. Free from www.visimon.com/.

Algolab Photo Vector 1.91 cleans up, reduces number of colors and vectorizes images. $58 from www.algolab.com/products.htm.

Algolab Raster to Vector Conversion Toolkit 1.25 is a vectorizer and vector graphics enhancement software that lets you create fine lines and shapes. Converts architectural, mechanical, various technical drawings, maps, graphics for books and journals as well as other types of line artwork from raster to vector formats. Scanned drawings are recognized and represented in a vector format so you can import them into your CAD or drawing program. $59 from www.algolab.com/products.htm.

Anim8tor 0.7 is a free 3D graphics animation utility. Free from www.anim8or.com/.

Animagic GIF Animator 1.06 lets you easily create animated GIF files. Keep it for $29; get it from www.rtlsoft.com/animagic/.

Animation Shop 3, formerly an adjunct to the venerable Paint Shop Pro, is a full-fledged standalone graphics program that helps you create animations for your Web pages quickly and easily. $40 on its own, or free with PSP, from www.jasc.com/.

Antares9 9.3 is a sophisticated image viewer and browser that is easy on system resources. $23.50 from base2base.virtualave.net/.

Antechinus Media Editor 4.0 lets you create videos, animations and sound files, as well as control frame and repetition rates, color depth, compression and all other aspects of generating videos. Not bad for $35. Find out more from www.c-point.com/mediaed.htm.

AnyToGif 1.0 converts image files to .GIFs with no muss nor fuss. $16 from www.photoactions.com/a2gif/.

Art Studio 1.0 lets you create and edit icons and cursors with Art Studio. This graphics editor manipulates images in all sizes and colors in a 16-bit palette. $45 from www.microdaze.com/artstudio.html.

As Simple As Photoshop Tutorials W9x/2k/XP are tutorials available for Photoshop, either straight from the site or downloadable as .EXE files. The first two are free, the rest will cost you. Find out more from digicollage.com/asap/downloads/.

ASCII Generator 0.9b4 turns any graphic into ASCII art -- text and number symbols. How 1993. Free from www.ascgen.co.uk/.

AutoImager 2.5 is a $60 batch image processing and conversion utility from www.mystikmedia.com/autoimager.asp or www.autoimager.com/. Over 70 image formats are supported, and a large array of advanced image enhancement, editing, and processing operations are included.

AVD Graphic Studio 5.4 is a graphics, animation and video editor. You can edit, view and print images using painting and drawing tools as well as effects. $25 from www.avlandesign.com/graphstudio.htm.

Background Magic lets you create fancy backgrounds and Web-ready images. The program is free, but registering it allows you to access more advanced features. Find out more from www.backgroundmagic.com/.

Banner Crafter 1.02 makes creating animated banners for your Web site quick and simple. Free from linkcrafter.bannermation.com/.

Bannershop GIF Animator 4.5 is focused on easy creation of Web ad banners. $39 from www.selteco.com/.

Batch It! 3.14 is an automated batch-imaging editor that lets you resize, rename and add captions to images. $60 from www.batchimage.com/.

Batch Thumbs 1.3 creates thumbnail images of graphics, and allows the user to control the height and width of the newly created image. Valuable because many other thumbnail producers try to ram a rectangular or polygonal GIF into a square shape, distorting the image. Free from www.users.qwest.net/~sharman1/.

BG_ASCII 1.3 lets you have fun making ASCII art out of "regular" graphics. Free from mazaika.tripod.com/.

Blaze MediaConvert 2.0 is a multimedia batch converter supports two-way conversion among more than 70 image, audio, animation and video formats. $40 from mediaconvert.mystikmedia.com/.

BPaint 1.3b is a bitmap graphics editor which can edit and save images up to 640 x 480, 256-color palettes, Blitz Basic Animshapes and maps. Game creators may find this particularly useful, with its support of animated sprites. Not the easiest utility to use, but very powerful and free from website.lineone.net/~angusmarthur/bpaint.htm.

Bryce 5 is a venerable graphics program, recently sold to Daz3D by Corel. Very powerful and flexible. $80 from www.daz3d.com/program/bryce/.

Button Artist 1.0 is a free button creation utility. Quite full-featured for a freebie; find out more from mssoft.hypermart.net/bmagic/.

Button Factory 6.0 is CoffeeCup's entry into button creation. Uses Flash to make snazzy Web buttons and graphics. $25 to keep from www.coffeecup.com/.

Button Studio 1.44 also lets you make buttons for Web pages quickly and easily. $20 from www.interkodex.com/.

ButtonWiz 8.3 generates and saves buttons for your Web site without requiring you to know a great deal about HTML or graphics programs. Keep it for $30; try it from www.joelryan.com/. (The red-and-black buttons at the end of these pages were created with an earlier version of ButtonWiz.) It doesn't look as if Joel lets this program go as shareware any more, but you can find trial versions on most shareware sites.

Buttonz! and Tilez! are freebies that help beleagured Webmasters create quick, easy buttons and tiled backgrounds. Both are surprisingly functional. Find out more from www.b-zone.de/software/bt.htm.

Capture Express 2000 1.1a is a screen capture utility that lets you capture images from your desktop in virtually unlimited shapes (diamonds, stars, polygons). $15 from www.captureexpress.com/.

CaptureEze Pro 8.0 is a trial version of the powerful graphics program; lets you capture digital images and do all kinds of enhancements and tricks with them. $40 to keep from www.screencapture.com/ezepro.htm.

CDView 2.0 is a simple and easy front-end for picture CDs. Free from www.sheilsoft.com/.

CDview Pro 2.0 is an image viewer and slideshow program designed to run from a CD as its front end and to present images on that CD for viewing. Free from www.tlonstruct.com/cdviewpro.htm.

Cheez 1.0 is an image-cataloging tool that allows you to store your images in categories. Free from www.daremon.gr/cheez/.

ClipFactory 1.0 allows you to capture content off your desktop and compile it into a slideshow presentation with optional MP3 background music. The compiled presentation can be saved as a .MIO file and used online or offline; however, in order to view the .MIO files, a viewer must be installed, unless the program is present on the machine. Free from www.mioplanet.com/.

Color Cop 5.2 converts RGB decimal values to RGB hexadecimal triplets. Free from www.datastic.com/tools/colorcop/.

CoffeeCup GIF Animator 6.2 helps you create animated GIFs from a series of stills. Works with multiple formats, including .AVI files. $35 from www.coffeecup.com/.

CoffeeCup Free Viewer Plus is an image viewer which supports .GIF (including animated), .JPG, .BMP, .WMF, .PNG, .ICO, .CUR and .PCX images. It features: built in e-mail, FTP and zip functions; makes HTML thumbnail pages; HDD image search; slices an image so it will load faster on the Web; image manipulation (zoom, rotate, flip, crop, convert, resize, etc); and more. Free from www.coffeecup.com/.

Color Scheme Designer 0.9 is an easy-to-use and effective utility to design color schemes for use in Web sites. It displays colors on a color wheel and offers four modes of harmonies. The program features a preview window that resembles the basic structure of a Web page. You can simply drag and drop colors into the page elements and preview how they will look together. You can save your scheme configuration and also export it to HTML. Free from csd.velmez.net/.

CompuPic 5.3 is a $40 graphics and multimedia file organizer from www.photodex.com/. Allows you to capture Web sites and burn pics to CD.

CompuShow 32 3.01 lets you browse, view, and work with your multimedia files. The home page is currently down, so you can snag it from hotfiles.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/texis/
swlib/hotfiles/info.html?fcode=000WX8
-- be prepared to pony up $35 to keep it.

Context Thumbview 1.0.b1 is an Explorer plug-in that shows you thumbnail views of graphics files. Free from contextmagic.netfirms.com/image-viewer/.

Context Viewer 1.4.1, like the above program, lets you preview images without opening their associated apps, simply by right-clicking on the file. Free from www.hoehoe.com/software/contview/. The only "problem" with this program is that it uses the LHA compression protocol instead of the more familiar ZIP; you'll need the proper free compression utility from Powerarchiver.com.

Cool Color Picker 1.10 lets you pick the color you need anywhere on the screen and change the color code into the format you need. $20 from www.color-picker.net/.

CopyRightLeft 0.2 Beta lets you visually brand the graphics you create. Free from www.lunerouge.com/gnu/crl_e.htm.

Corel Presentations 9.0 is a a free version of Corel Presentations that'll allow you to create graphical presentations, Web-based slide shows, multimedia presentations, and interactive demonstrations. Find out more at www.corel.com/freebies/CWPfreebies.htm.

Crystal Button 1.45 lets you create unique, attention-getting Web page buttons in a matter of minutes. $25 from www.crystalbutton.com/.

csXImage 1.0 is an ActiveX control that resizes, joins and edits images. Supports .JPG, .BMP, .PNG, .PCX and .WBMP files, and can export to non-LZW GIFs. $120 from www.chestysoft.com/ximage/default.asp.

CyClops 1.0 lets you save captured Web images in formats other than GIF, JPG, BMP, or PNG. Free from chesterway.co.uk/.

CZ-ppt2Pdf 1.1 converts PowerPoint documents to .PDF format. $60 from www.desktopempire.com/.

Deformer 2.0 comes with a collection of visual deformation tools: hooks, hammers, drills, brushes, etc. You can easily apply deformations with a simple mouse drag to any image imported from hard disk or TWAIN-compliant device. Deformed images can be placed on virtual filmstrip and converted to animation. Animation can be previewed on screen and exported to AVI, a file sequence, or an animated GIF. $29 from www.stoik.com/.

DeKnop 2.5 makes buttons and other Web graphics. Free from home.hccnet.nl/s.j.francke/deknop/deknop.htm.

Digital Photo Librarian 4.0 manages all those graphics images you've collected. Make slide shows, presentations, even screen savers. Record and include audio files to go with your presentations. Pretty cool for shareware, I'd say. $25 to keep from www.oneilsoftware.com/.

DIMIN Image Viewer 2.3.0 is an image viewer which supports over 40 image formats and offers basic image editing. It features a slideshow with various transitions, the ability to create HTML thumbnails, CD autoplay, 7 filters, panoramic photograph tools, supports plug-ins, and more. Free from www.dimin.net/software/imgview2/.

DownloadWunder 1.20 is a tool designed for mass downloading of images that have sequential file names with a common prefix, suffix or incremental numbers. Free from mitglied.lycos.de/downloadwunder/.

E-Mage for Web 1.0.23 is a simple utility for creating HTML image galleries from pictures on your computer. Nice freebie from www.v-methods.com/.

Easy Color Themes 2.5 is a complete tool for visual color design, intended for designers, webmasters, painter artists, software developers and anybody else that works with a color palette. Free from www.easycolorthemes.com/.

EasyPeg 1.0.10 is an image editor with effects for image improvement, including color switching, FFT and Wavelet filters, and motion blur, as well as a screen capturer and Video Frame Extracto for extracting images from MPEG or AVI files. $10 from www.hnm-freeware.com/EasyPeg/.

EGG - Easy Gallery Generator 2.1 allows you to create photo galleries of your images that can be used for publishing on the Web. It creates small thumbnail images that are linked to the full-size image. Free from homepage.ntlworld.com/tirain/.

EldoS Thumbnailer 4.0.0.12 lets you browse your graphics collection in thumbnail fashion; supports over 50 graphics file formats. The trial version is quite limited; the full version costs $20 to keep from www.eldos.org/elthumbs/elthumbs.html.

EVE 0.93 is a small, simple vector graphics program that lets you create line drawings. Free from www.myeve.org/.

EXEtract Images 1.0 can extract images from EXE, DLL, and OCX files. It's a no-frills program that allows you to search for files with one of these extensions, or look into folders. After the images are extracted, use the arrow key to go through them one by one and save any image in its native format. Free from ktk.ru/~camelot/exetractimages.htm.

EXIF Image Viewer 1.1 allows you to view, manipulate, and see lots of information on EXIF graphics. Free from home.pacbell.net/michal_k/exif_v.html.

EXIF Reader 2.20 Beta 2 allows users of EXIF-capable digital cameras to view the info that goes along with the image, including F-stop, exposure time, metering mode, and more. Free from www.takenet.or.jp/~ryuuji/minisoft/exifread/english/.

Express Thumbnail Creator 1.4 makes it simple to create thumbnail graphics from original files. $40 from www.express-soft.com/etc/ -- note that the 1.0 version is absolutely free for use, and the 1.4 trial version is fully functional.

fCoder iBrowser 0.5 is a neat little graphics viewer that supports at least 18 file formats. Free from ibrowser.fcodersoft.com/index.htm.

Fastscanner 1.2 allows you to use your flatbed scanner as a photocopier. Free from dpaehl.notrix.de/.

Fiolex Media Express 1.0.1186 is an image viewer and editor which also manages, views and plays multimedia files. It features support for 19 image formats, 10 audio formats, and 10 video formats. For legal reasons it does not support GIF or LZW-compressed TIF files. Free from www.fiolex.net/english/index.asp.

Firehand Ember 6.3.1 lets you view your digital images as thumbnails, touch them up, and organize them as you see fit. $40 from www.firehand.com/Ember/.

Firestarter 4.2 is CoffeeCup Software's entry into the Flash wars. This little goodie makes Flash effects for Web sites without muss, fuss, or charging exorbitant prices. $49 from www.coffeecup.com/firestarter/.

Flash Viewer 1.0 is a small utility for searching and viewing collections of Macromedia Flash (.SWF) and Shockwave (.DCR) files through a simple interface. Free from jcprogs.50megs.com/fview.htm.

FlashWiz 1.2 is a free and easy utility that lets you use graphics, scanned photos, etc. to create your own screen saver. Add sound if you like, even add other FlashWiz users' creations. More info is at www.flashwiz.co.uk/. While it's free, if you register it, you get a copy that removes the company logo from the settings dialog.

FlipAlbum 5 Standard automatically organizes digital images into book-like picture albums. Select the folder that contains the photos, and it will create an album complete with full-page layout, multiple photos, annotations and audio. $40 from www.flipalbum.com/product/fa/.

Flow! 4, formerly known as Free Flow and Flow LT, lets you create charts and diagrams for business presentations. The basic version is free from www.imsisoft.com/, while the full-featured version costs $50.

FocusViewer 1.1 is a basic image viewer that you can use to browse, view, or print images, and also set selected ones as wallpaper for your Windows desktop. The program supports all major graphic formats, including BMP, DIB, JPEG, GIF, animated GIF, PCX, TIFF, and TGA. Free from www.focussoft.net/.

Font Creator Program 5 lets you convert bitmaps to TrueType fonts. A little practice, and you can make your own handwriting fonts, dingbats, or whatever you like. Your artistic talent is the only restriction. $50 from www.high-logic.com/fcp.html.

Fotos on Web 1.0 is a tool to create online photo albums. Free from users.skynet.be/jjude/apps/fow.html.

Fractal Snowflake Generator 1.2 create beautiful fractal snowflakes, patterns, and backgrounds. The resulting images can be saved as 24-bit .BMP files. Free from a-i-studio.com/.

Fractalus 4.02 generates Mandelbrot and Julia type fractals which can be saved as .JPG or .BMP files. It also includes a slide show option and an option to create fractal AVI movies. The program offers 27 different drawing styles, palette manipulation, right-click zooming, and more. Free from www.saunalahti.fi/korkeka/.

FrameMaster 1.3 adds frames, edges, and/or border effects to any digital image you have. $18 from www.galleriasoftware.com/.

FullShot 99, from www.fullshot.com/, is a powerful screen capture utility that also allows you to do basic image editing. Free for 30 days; the various versions are $60 and up.

Futuris Imager 2.01 is another excellent, and free, image viewing utility; this one resides at futuris.plastiqueweb.com/software/imager/.

Fx Icon Maker 4.5.6 creates 32x32 files for use as icons. Free from www.jhepple.com/iconmkr.htm.

Gazi Digi-Book 9.0 is another program that lets you create and organize digital photo albums. Includes a highly usable interface, selects thumbnail sizes, chooses the number of images on a page, adds captions and sounds to pictures, and features downloadable skins to spice up the book covers, bookshelf, bookend, and layouts. Free from www.kuraemon.com/gazo/us/.

GetIcons 1.2 lets you grab icons from .exe and .dll files and then save them in .BMP, .ICO, .AWD, .TIFF, .XIF, .WIFF, and text (.TXT) modes. $20 from www.microdaze.com/geticons.html.

GIF Animator 6.2 is a graphic utility that produces quick and easy GIF animations. $30 from www.coffeecup.com/.

GIF Animator 5.0 is a graphic utility from Ulead that, like the one above, lets you produce quick and easy GIF animations. Also converts files from .AVI and QuickTime format to GIFs. Requires MSIE 4 or higher. $40 from www.ulead.com/.

Gif Colour Mapper 1.01 is a tool which offers batch conversion from one color to another in a group of GIF images. Simple, useful, and free from www.silveragesoftware.com/handytools.html.

GIF Cruncher and JPEG Cruncher are online utilities that allow you to "crunch" Web graphics for efficient downloading. Most graphics can be compressed without loss of clarity or appearance; these "crunching" programs do it for free. Downloadable "keeper" versions cost $50. Find out more at www.spinwave.com/crunchers.html.

GIF Movie Gear 2.6 is a powerful GIF animator with lots of goodies for the more sophisticated user. $30 to keep it. Get it from www.moviegear.com/.

GIF Optimizer 1.0 reduces the size of GIF images by removing the unused colors from GIF image pallets. It also works with animated GIFs and removes duplicate frames. Free from www.flashfxp.com/ (look under the Freeware section).

GIF Shop Pro 1.1 helps you create animated GIFs from a series of stills. Works with multiple formats, including .AVI files. $25 from www.geocities.com/christiansoft/.

Gif-gIf-giF helps you create animated GIFs. $28 from www.peda.com/Welcome.html.

GIMP 2.3.1 stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It's a popular, and free, open-source image creation and manipulation program. Not as idiot-friendly as some, but quite powerful, and did I say free? Find out more at gimp.org. If you want some help with the program, check out the helpful folks at gimpguru.org.

 

Glitterato creates stars and nebulas through PSP or Photoshop. $20 from www.flamingpear.com/.

GOgraph Toolbar 1.02 hunts down graphics over the Net through a IE-based toolbar. Free from en.toolbar.gograph.com/.

gPhotoShow 1.4.3 creates a slideshow screensaver using your images and sound files. Features support for .BMP, .JPG, .GIF image files and .MID, .WAV, .MP3 sound files, has a configurable delay between images, automatically resizes images, has several transition effects, recursive image search, and more. Free from www.gphotoshow.com/.

GrabClipSave 1.4 is a screen capture utility that works simply and easily. Free, too, from www.boumchalak.de/Tools/GCS/gcs.html.

Graphic Stealer Pro 2.6 lets you view and save icons contained in .ICO, .ANI, . DLL, .ICL and .EXE files and bitmaps. $15 from psg.boom.ru/money.html.

Graphics Workshop Pro 2.0a is a relatively powerful graphics creation and management program. Not a bad deal for $45. Check out www.mindworkshop.com/alchemy/gww.html (there's a Classic version for older PC users as well).

Harvard Graphics Advanced Presentation 7.0 is a pricey ($200) but powerful desktop publishing system that lets you design presentations with 3-D and animated effects. Lots of business-related extras. Find out more from www.harvardgraphics.com/hgap/hgap.html.

Hero Video Convert 2.0 offers video format conversion as well as advanced conversion and effects editing. $30 from www.heroshare.com/products/hvc/hvc2.htm.

HideInPicture 1.0 lets you encrypt and hide any type of files within pictures, so your files are hidden in plain sight. $25 from www.braintwist-studios.com/hide.html.

HoverSnap 0.8 beta is a small but powerful screen capture utility that can capture the entire desktop, the active window, or custom areas on the screen, and save the image to .JPEG, .GIF, .BMP, or .PNG format. It can even automatically rename and resize the screenshot and save it to a folder of your choice. Free from www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm.

HyperSnap-DX 5.04.00 is a powerful and intuitive screen-capture utility. $35 from www.hyperionics.com/.

Icon Editor 2.1 is a basic, free icon creator and editor from www.hodder.cc/documents/.

Icon Sushi 1.07 lets you turn just about any image into an icon, even letting you extract icons from .EXE and .DLL files. Free from towofu.s5.xrea.com/soft/e-index.html.

IconArt 1.0.1 is a highly-compact, full-featured icon creator used to illustrate programs and files. Free from www.conware.org/products/ia/about.php. Note that it requires the VB6 runtime files.

Icons Control 2000 9.1 lets you edit and manage icons in over 40 formats, including the usual .ICO, .JPG, .BMP, and .TIF formats. Lots more uses are featured. $34 from members.aol.com/doanc/icnctrl.html.

Icon Scanner 1.0 scans your .EXE, .DLL, .ICO, and .CUR files for hidden icons, and extracts them for your use. You can view icons as thumbnails in a resizable window, select and save them into .ICO files. $15 from www.softspice.com/.

Icon Workshop 5.0 is a powerful tool that creates, manages, and distributes Windows icons. $60; if you need an icon maker this strong, that's not a bad price. Find out more at www.axialis.com/.

IconArt 1.1 is a small utility for creating new icons and editing existing icons. Free from www.conware.org/products/ia/about.php.

IconDeveloper lets you create icons for your PC. $20 from www.stardock.com/products/icondeveloper/.

IconForge 6.25 is a powerful icon editor. $38 from www.cursorarts.com/ca_if.html.

IconMan 3.0 is an icon manager that locates icons on your PC and lets you edit, modify, delete, or assign them as necessary. Free from www.chainware.com/.

Iconoid 3.0 helps you manage and edit your desktop icons, including the ability to make them transparent. Free from www.sillysot.com/.

IconShop 1.13 allows the Windows user to view and export Macintosh icons as well as view ICL files. You'll need a Mac-compatible compression utility such as BinHex or StuffIt to decompress the selected icons. Free from users.pandora.be/liontech/.

Illuminator 1.40 lets you view, edit, and manipulate image files and burn them to CD. You can create slide shows, build presentations, and create screen savers with your own photographs. Lets you rotate, downscale and change the file type of more than one file at a time. The program features several wizards to make chores easier, including a file-conversion wizard, a screen saver wizard, and one which creates an audio/visual slideshow. $40 from www.ashampoo.com/.

Illuminatus 4.10 is not only a great set of counterculture books and a cool Steve Jackson game, it's also the name of an entry-level multimedia creation program that lets you combine text, graphics, audio, and video into multimedia presentations. Not cheap at $249, but free to try from www.digitalworkshop.co.uk/.

Image Analyzer 1.13 is an image editing, enhancement, and analysis tool that supports JPEG 2000, .BMP, .ICO, .CUR, .WMF, .EMF, .JPG, .PNG and .PCX for read/write and .RAS, .PNM, .PGM, .PPM, and .HIPS for reading. Image Analyzer allows you to resize and crop your images, apply filters, and perform advanced conversions and transformations. Free from meesoft.logicnet.dk/.

Image Explorer Pro is a $50 utility that manages and edits graphics and multimedia files. Download this one from www.cdhnow.com/iep.html.

Image Forge 3.32 is a powerful graphics editor and creator. The Pro version is $29, but you may want to start with the free, basic edition from www.cursorarts.com/ca_imffw.html.

Image Grabber 2.0 can either be had as a free download from www.randomeye.com/ or used through your browser. It locates and provides images sorted by keywords (warning, some are not royalty-free, and many of the "freebies" are watermarked).

Image Optimizer 4.0 is a tool that allows you to compress and compact any .GIF, .PNG, or .JPG file. Good for space-conscious Webmasters who don't want their visitors to wait endlessly for graphics to load. Lots of other functions, too, including cropping, resizing, and dealing with scanned images. $39 from www.xat.com/.

Image Resizer 1.0 automatically resizes .JPG images for use on the Net and elsewhere. $17 from www.batchimage.com/.

Image Style 3.0 creates sophisticated Web graphics. $50 to keep from www.paurex.com/?products&prod=tp12.

IMage CATalog 4.0.0.5 is a thumbnailing utility that is capable of batch processing directories and converting all found images into thumbnails. Free from www.moon1000.com/.

ImageConverter Plus 6.3 adds thumbnail preview, image file conversion and printing to the Explorer context menu. It also has a poly-document graphics editor for working with multiple images, an improved pre-printing processing module, and a graphic files batch processing module. $29 from www.imageconverterplus.com/index.htm.

Image Miner 1.00 scours Web sites and search engines for downloadable graphics, and automates the downloading. $19 from www.myminer.com/imageminer.htm.

Imagener 1.0.10 enlarges digital images without loss of information. The Standard version is free; Enhanced and Professional versions are also available. Find out more at www.imagener.com/.

ImageSpy 1.02 is a free graphics utility that reveals the dimensions of any GIF, PNG, JPG, or BMP file. Useful for HTML coders and graphics designers, although from my own experience, it isn't 100% reliable. The maker, Nebulae Software, doesn't seem to be easily located online; the only download site I can locate is content.techweb.com/winmag/software/
1999/0899/08share.htm#A3
.

iMatch 3 is a completely new kind of image processing application. It allows you to index all the images on your hard disks and external storage media and to query the resulting image databases by image content. $50 from www.photools.com/.

imPRESSion Lite, combines desktop publishing and vector graphics creation in a single package. $59 from www.impression.ro/.

IProc32 1.0 is a utility that lets you line of text (copyright information) to be placed directly into any graphics you create, saving you the task of editing them manually. Free from www.zeroperfect.nl/.

IrfanView32 3.97 supports tons of graphics types, which puts it way ahead of the shoddy little viewer that comes bundled with most PCs. Best of all, it's free. Download it from www.irfanview.com/english.htm.

Interactive JPEG Optimizer 5.02 is an image tool which compresses JPEG images singly or in batches and applies a variety of creative filters plus controls color, brightness, etc. Features hotkeys, lets you see original and optimized images side by side, can apply a watermark, and more. Free from www.citybusinesslogic.com/.

JAlbum 2.8.4 is a Java-based Web photo album generator, creating thumbnail images and slides of those thumbnails in HTML which can be viewed from a Website, hard drive or CD drive. It features skins, recursing of folders, support for movie files, EXIF support (displays camera make, shutter speed, aperture, etc), integrated FTP client, and more. Free from www.datadosen.se/jalbum/index.jsp.

JPEG Imager 1.0rc is a $15 goodie that lets you compress and optimize .JPG image files. Good for those who want to play with Web graphics but who don't want, or need, to wrestle with big graphics programs. Scope it out at www.geocities.com/vas_b/index.html.

JPG Cleaner 1.8 is a free utility that strips .JPG files of useless data. Make the graphics files smaller, make your Web site load faster. Simple. Check it out at www.pppr.sk/rainbow/.

JPEG Resizer 1.0 enables you to quickly resize a selection of JPEG files. It offers several different resizing methods to choose from and can automatically recognize image sizes to calculate the best fit. Free from www.virtualzone.de/.

JPGVideo 1.01 lets you make a "video" by stringing together JPG images. Free from www.ndrw.co.uk/free/jpgvideo/.

JPhotoBrush 2.3 is a Java-enabled photo editor which supports 24-bit .GIF, .JPG, .PNG, .TIF, .TGA, and .BMP formats. It features a wide range of filters and special effects, undo/redo, multiple page image printing facility with preview, mouse wheel support, and more. Free from www.tanveer.freeservers.com/programming/JPhotoBrush.htm.

JR Screen Ruler 1.2 accurately measures any screen items in pixels, centimeters, inches, or picas. Useful for Web builders, and free from www.spadixbd.com/freetools/.

Jsnag Jpeg Capture 1.0 captures .JPG images while you browse with Microsoft Internet Explorer. A built-in previewer lets you decide which pictures to save or discard. A built-in slide show allows you to view pictures in full screen. $3 to register from www.createwindow.com/jsnag/index.htm.

Just Buttons 2.3 makes it easy to create buttons for your Web site. Includes simple text captioning of images, JavaScript functions, and more. $20 from www.lincolnbeach.com/justbuttons.asp.

Just NavBars 4.02 creates navigation toolbars for your site with no muss nor fuss. The part I like best is that it generates its own JavaScript for lively toolbars. Cool. $20 from www.lincolnbeach.com/justnavbars.asp.

Just Right Click Greeting Card 1.0 lets you turn your digital photos of cute and cuddly kids or animals (or anything else) into a greeting card. Free from www.justrightclick.com/products.html.

KD (autumn) creates .JPG/.JPEG thumbnails from your .JPG/.JPEG images. Free from home.hccnet.nl/s.j.francke/software/software.htm.

KoolMoves 2.50 lets you make Flash animations with surprising ease. $30 to keep from www.koolmoves.com/.

LeoReport 5.4 generates report-ready graphic presentations of the statistical analyses of diverse data. $100 from www.leokrut.com/leoreport.html.

LView Pro 2.85 lets you create, capture, and modify digital images from scanners, digital cameras, Web sites, and the like. $70 from www.lview.com/.

MagniTrax 1.15 is a versatile image viewer that also works with screen dumps, captures Web images, works with Webcams, and creates image slideshows. If you're one of the few working with 3D HoloGrafix images, you can use those with this progrqm, too. Free from www.pixelkinetix.com/MagniTrax.asp.

Meazure 2.0 is a nifty graphics tool with over a dozen functions, including screen shots. Free from www.cthing.com/default.asp.

Melancholytron adds sepia and half-tones to your Photoshop or PSP images to give them that moody, aged look. $20 www.flamingpear.com/.

Microangelo 5.56 is an award-winning tool suite somewhat like a Norton Utilities for icons. Find icons, and use the graphics editor's pencil, brushes, and an eraser (as well as dodge and burn functions) so that you can tweak to your heart's content. You can also animate your icons to add some sizzle to your desktop. $40 from www.impactsoftware.com/.

Microsoft Clip Gallery, free from msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/images/default.asp, adds clip art to Office's art collection. Updated monthly.

Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer 97 lets users without PowerPoint on their PC view PowerPoint files and presentations. Free from www.microsoft.com/office/000/viewers.htm.

Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2003 is a slick way to create media-rich presentations; unfortunately, it only works on XP and 2K. Free from www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/technologies/producer.aspx.

MIR processes folders full of images; renames, resizes, adds borders, overlays text, rotates and flips images, and preview the finished product. Extremely useful and flexible. Free from www.acumensystems.com/mir/.

Morpheus 1.82 "morphs" photos and other graphics files. Can save the results as animated .GIFs, Flash movies, .AVI files and more. The basic version is $10 from www.morpheussoftware.net/.

Motion Studio 2.0 helps you create interactive graphics and apps for your Web site. $40 from www.wisdom-soft.com/.

MrSID Photo Edition 1.4 is an unprepossessing little goodie that contains a powerful image-compression technology within its guts, providing the user with the ability to compress the heck out of a JPEG or BMP file without losing quality of image. An image viewer is bundled with the utility, all free from www.lizardtech.com/.

Multimedia Builder 4.4 is a powerful multimedia creation tool that lets you integrate text, graphics, audio, and video into your presentations or creations. $45 to keep from mmbuilder.hypermart.net/.

myImager isn't a program, it's a Web site that allows you to upload an image and edit that image within the Web browser itself. You can crop, rotate, resize, add effect, optimize the image, and convert .JPGs to .GIFs and vice versa. Only works with images 200KB or smaller. Free to use at www.myimager.com/.

My Web Toolbox 3.51 is a suite of Web design utilities from www.australianwineandbeer.com/mwt/toolbox.htm that makes HTML graphics creation much simpler. A restricted demo version is free; $30 (Australian) unlocks the entire program. Look for the review of this program in Newsletter #13. This one is a personal favorite.

N2 Creator 2.0 is an advanced network publishing solution that lets companies combine all types of digital media into play lists and run them as presentations on their LAN or WAN. $1095 (!) from www.altiscape.com/n2/creator.html.

One2 1.1a lets you capture screen shots and instantly send them as e-mail attachments. Free from www.usclam.com/.

Online JPEG Wizard is a free Web-based service that helps you find the best combination of optimization and compression for JPG files. Find out more at www.jpegwizard.com/.

Openworld Flash Explorer 1.0.1.1 extracts graphics from .SWF (Flash) files and saves them as .JPG or .PNG images. Won't work on files protected against editing. Free from presenter.openworld.com/features.php?f=basic.

Openworld Presenter Basic 1.21 beta is a tool for creating multimedia presentations featuring video, scrolling transcript, slides and hyperlinks using RealMedia streaming format (SMIL). Features support for RealMedia (RM) video clips, synchronization between text, slides and video, and more. Includes the Openworld Presenter Player so that the native .OPP or .OPF files can be played, and also .SMIL files. If you want to publish to a CD or the Web, you'll need to buy the Pro version ($69). Nice, free tool for making small multimedia presentations; find out more from presenter.openworld.com/.

Oriens Enhancer 1.0.1 contains a graphical environment for manipulating, enhancing, converting, and extracting graphics files. It can read 40 - and write 20 - file formats. Features and tools include filters, effects, artistic colorizing, editing, text layers, merging, and textures. Free from www.versiontracker.com/.

Oscars JPEG Thumb-Maker 1.0 is a thumbnail creator especially designed to resize digital image to fit into picture frames. Plenty of other uses, too, and free from www.mediachance.com/free/thumber.htm.

P3dO Explorer 1.6 is a viewer supporting over 40 image types. Free from www.senosoft.com/.

Paint Shop Pro 8 with Animation Shop 3 is an image editor just about as powerful as its over-the-counter competition, and it costs considerably less ($99 from Jasc, cheaper from online vendors). This is one I can personally vouch for, as can thousands of frugal Webmasters and graphics designers. Version 8 includes lots of new tools that veteran graphics people can really sink their teeth into. Free for 60 days from www.jasc.com/.

PaintStudio Lite 1.2 is an image viewing and editing application which supports .TGA, .PCX, .PNG, .JPG, .GIF (not animated), .BMP, .ICO, .EMF and .WMF image formats. Free from members.fortunecity.co.uk/alfian/.

Panorama Factory 1.6 -- ever seen one of those loooong digital photos? Better yet, ever seen the Java applet "Panorama" at work? This graphics utility makes it easy to "stitch together" digitally scanned photos into one long panoramic piece, seamlessly. Free from www.panoramafactory.com/.

Pawbrowse 1.0 is a tool for image viewing, browsing, and management that features a thumbnail browsing mode, favorites folders manager, a detached or docked file browser, recent files, full-screen mode, and more. You can also use the built-in image management features to move, copy, rename, or delete images via convenient keyboard shortcuts. Includes a screen capture mode that allows you to take snapshots of your Desktop or the current window, an option to set the image as wallpaper, support for external editing software, and more than 20 image effects. Free from www.pawsoft.co.uk/.

PhoTags 1.2 lets you add and use text messages with .JPG digital photos. Users can insert messages, captions, keywords, frames and borders into .JPG images and have them displayed or hidden. $20 from www.photags.com/freeemail.aspx.

Photo-Brush 1.0 lets you retouch digital photos quickly and easily. $38 from www.mediachance.com/pbrush/.

Photo Conference 1.0.1 is a PC-to-PC (IP to IP) image file sharing and communication software. Allows you to load a directory of images or to connect your web cam, and then send each other your snapshots while chatting on the Internet. Free from www.yessoft.com/.

Photo Explorer 7.0 Pro combines tools for acquiring, viewing, organizing, adjusting and sharing digital images and video clips. With it, you can capture, view, organize, trim, convert, e-mail and share digital pictures and video. $25 from www.ulead.com/pex/features.htm.

PhotoTree 1.0 allows you to store photos in an intuitive tree-like structure. Free from home.earthlink.net/~tm120176050/index.html.

Photo Viewer 4.0 lets you view images and convert them from one format to another. Free from www.ulead.com/webutilities/pv/pv_main.htm.

Photo Wizard 1.1 lets you touch up and add special effects to your digital photos and images. Free from www.americansys.com/.

PhotoCDBrowser 2.90 lets you, well, browse any PhotoCD you have. More features than just browsing, and all free from www.photocdbrowser.com/en_index.htm.

PhotoGenetics aims to give you most of the functionality of Adobe Photoshop at a fraction of the price. The trial version is free from www.q-res.com/en/photo.html; keep the full version for a measly $29.

PhotoLine 6.5.2 is a German photo management utility; it edits photo files, handles raster and vector graphics, is TWAIN-compliant, and has plenty more bells and whistles. $69 to keep from www.pl32.com.

PhotoModeler 3.1a turns two-dimensional graphics into full-fledged 3D goodies. Free from www.photomodeler.com/Lite/.

PhotoOp 2.7 mskes screensavers using your own photos or graphics files. Good for businesses looking for some cheap self-promotion, or for dressing up Granny's PC with pictures of the kids. $30 from members.aol.com/JmPhotoOp.

PhotoPhilia 1.4 is another graphics organizer. $40 to keep from www.pholix.com/.

Photoshop is one of numerous high-quality, high-dollar products from Adobe that are available on a limited trial basis. This graphics program, and other Adobe products such as PageMaker, Acrobat, and others are available as free, time-limited trial downloads from www.adobe.com/products/tryadobe/main.html.

PicaLoader 1.0 is a fully automated, multithreaded, link-following, picture-retrieving robot that will retrieve all the pictures you want from any part of the Internet. $50 from www.vowsoft.com/index.htm.

PicaView 2.0 is an image viewer from ACDSystems that includes the ability to view MPEGs, AVIs, and WMFs along with the usual image file suspects. $30 from www.acdsystems.com/English/Products/Other/Picaview/index.htm?LAN=English.

Picture Dicer 0.39 is a goodie that slices your GIFs into pieces and generates the HTML necessary to "put them back together" on a Web site. Ideal for Webmasters who wish to add mouseover effects and other goodies to their graphics. Further versions of Picture Dicer will cost you, but this version will remain free indefinitely, according to the site. Check it out at www.ziplink.net/~shoestring/dicer01.htm.

Picture to Icon Converter 1.0 converts picture files in .BMP, .JPEG, .GIF, and other formats into icon files with a simple click. The author's site does not allow direct downloads, so you'd do better to grab this freebie from www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,22323,tk,hsx,00.asp.

PictureClip 2.5 cuts an image into individual picture files by 'drawing' lines on it. Free from www.iron-fe-works.com/.

PictureCooler 5.36 cleans up .JPG and .BMP images by denoising and sharping the image. Don't let the incoherent Web site throw you. Free from members.chello.nl/r.kroonenberg2/.

Pictures Toolbar 0.9.01 allows you to download all images that are linked from a page and then view them as a slideshow in the browser window (IE 5.5 and up). Free from www.diodia.com/.

Picture-Shark 1.0 marks your original JPGs with watermarks. Free from www.picture-shark.com/.

PictureGo! 2.1 creates slideshows of all images within a folder and its sub-folders. Free from home.wanadoo.nl/anijholt/PGEnglish/Download.htm.

Pixel Toolbox 1.1 creates icons for your desktop, and works with imported images. Free from www.axiomx.com/PixelToolbox/.

Pixia 1.9a is a very full-featured graphics editor and image viewer. Slightly quirky, but worth the effort it takes to figure it out. Free from www.ab.wakwak.com/~knight/.

PixVue 1.1.0 integrates with Windows Explorer to provide easy access to a wide variety of image-related functions and data. It allows you to find images on your hard drive, view them from the right click menu or as a slideshow, add comments to your images and more. You can even create slideshows to be burned on a CD (including the autorun files and viewer) and organize your images in galleries. In addition, PixVue adds XMP, IPTC and EXIF details to the Windows file properties dialog of JPEG and TIFF files. Not bad for a freebie; find out more from www.pixvue.com/.

PixVision 1.31 is a highly regarded image viewer with plenty of features. $30 to keep from www.pixvision.com/. Win 3x holdouts might appreciate the WinJPEG viewer.

PM Stitch Creator 2.0 converts image files, scanned photos or pictures downloaded from digital cameras to a stitch pattern. $49 from www.stoik.com/stitch/.

Pngcrush 1.5.10 compresses .PNG files, apparently without loss of clarity. Free from pmt.sourceforge.net/pngcrush/. Note that this program must be run from a command prompt.

PolyView 3.92 is an image editor that extracts images from your digital camera, resizes them if necessary, and converts them to any of a number of file formats. Also provides sound and transition effects for making slide shows, etc. Free but limited in use; $25 gets you the ability to print your images. Get the info from www.polybytes.com.

Poster 6.4 lets you create and print banners, signs, murals, cards, and so forth. Compatible with numerous graphics formats. $18 from www.postersw.com.

Power Plugs: Super Shapes II is a PowerPoint utility that lets you plug in 3D graphics to your presentations. 40 watermarked graphics come with the shareware version; register for $39 and get 100 more. You can also create your own. Check it out at www.crystalgraphics.com/index.html. They also offer Transitions I, a $59 goodie that adds tons of new transition effects.

PowerStrip 3.47 lets you directly ccess your graphics board from your system tray. Offers a variety of features, including desktop size and calibration controls, custom display settings, system diagnostics, font controls, customizable hotkeys, and on-the-fly color depth. Also has direct hardware support for many chips, allowing you to control your display subsystem. $30 from www.entechtaiwan.net/ps.htm.

PPPCD lets you put your PowerPoint presentation on a CD so it runs automatically. Free from www.bhwhost.com/tcb_software/.

PrintDeskTop is a freebie that does just this -- prints whatever is showing on your Desktop. Quick, clean, and straightforward. Find it at www.printdesktop.com/.

One utility you ought to download (if you don't already have it) is Apple's QuickTime 6, a video viewer from www.quicktime.com/ that has been kindly refigured for Windows as well. You'd be surprised how many video files, software programs, etc. require this free viewer. The $30 version allows you to encode content.

RasterVect 6.9 transforms any raster image into a vector format. $80 from www.rastervect.com/.

Repligator 9.0 is an award-winning graphic utility that easily adds special effects to images. $35 from www.repligator.com/ or www.ransen.com/.

Resize! 1.3.5 lets you choose a folder and resize all the images in that specific folder. You can decide whether you want to do proportional, box, or independent resizing. You can also work in percentages or in pixels when resizing a folder of images. Free from mapage.noos.fr/cedricdj/re.html.

RGB Developer Tool 1.1 includes a number of graphic tools: RGB Editor, 3D Button Maker, Screen Loupe, ScreenGrabber and HTML+ Color Tool. $18 from www.abacomsoft.com/.

Ruler By George! 1.2b is a handy virtual ruler useful for measuring graphic objects in pixels, inches, and centimeters. $15 from www.svet-soft.com/ruler.html.

Save Flash 2.4.01 lets you store Flash animations. It pulls out all Flashes on a Web page, and places an icon on the Web browser toolbar. $15 from www.saveflash.com/.

ScreenHunter 1.0 is an excellent screen-capture utility with a difference; it lets you capture any rectangular area of your screen, and save the image as a .JPG or .BMP file. Free from www.wisdom-soft.com/. I can vouch for this one.

ScreenPrint32 3.1 is a simple yet fully featured screen-capture utility. Free from www.provtech.co.uk/main/default.asp.

ScreenPrint Gold 3.00.4.27 is a free screen-capture utility that gives you several ways to capture and configure screen data. Find out more from www.softwarelabs.com/.

ScreenSeize is a freebie from www.zdnet.com/pcmag/downloads/ that lets you perform multiple screen-capture tasks, including capturing portions of the screen, a selected area or object, etc., and capturing can be manual or automatically configured. See www.zdnet.com/pcmag/utilities/ for an article on how to use this utility, and its source code.

ScreenSwift 1.01 converts Flash graphics into professional-looking screen savers. The basic version is free, and should do the trick for most of us. Find out more at www.tenmiles.com/.

Slide Show 0.4b lets you make slide shows from your graphics files in record time. Free from tinnes.org.uk.

SlideMaker Tool 1.0 is a 2K/XP-only freebie from www.microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?ReleaseID=44510 that enables you to create slide shows that run in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0. The tool generates HTML+TIME (Timed Interactive Multimedia Extensions) declarative markup code that provides the slide show functionality. Add music, loop the slideshow, edit captions, upload the presentation to the Web, and more.

SlowView 0.9.9.5 is an image viewer that lets you tweak the images. Strong support for the PNG and MNG file types. Free from www.slowview.at/.

Smart Capturer v0.0.9 easily captures images from video feeds. Free from www.marsp.sir.inpe.br/~fedorov/software/.

SmartMorph 1.50 is an image-morphing program that enables you to merge two images, so that the transition is animated and results in a smooth transition effect which can be saved as an .AVI video clip. Free from meesoft.logicnet.dk/SmartMorph/index.htm.

SmoothView 1.0 is an image viewer which can stretch images smoothly to retain much the original sharpness and which supports GIF (not animated), JPG, BMP, PNG, TGA, etc. Free from www.imagespro.com/programs/1991/.

SnagIt 7.0, a $40 screen-capture utility from www.techsmith.com/, captures entire screens, selected images, files, or defined areas. Very powerful and flexible.

The Snatcher 1 crawls specific Web sites for the .JPG and .GIF pics, and lets you download any or all of them without actually visiting the site. Free from www.thesnatcher.com/.

Softsun Flashplayer 1.0 downloads Flash animation from the Internet, transforming it into screensaver files or EXE files. Also transforms .EXE files into Flash files, and captures Flash pictures and converts them to .BMP files. Download at www.softsun.com.cn/flashplayer/ (you'll have to contact the vendor for pricing).

Squeak is a Power Point-like app that is both powerful and simple to use. Created by the venerable Alan Kay, it's free for the download from www.squeak.org/.

sTile 2.6, formerly known as Harm's Tile, is a tool which creates seamless 'tiles' for wallpaper and Web backgrounds. Free from www.harmware.com/sTile.htm

StreamAction 1.0b processes batches of images simultaneously. The built-in editor lets you apply over 20 special effects, including sharpening, blurring, color balancing, embossing and more. Free from www.streamaction.com/.

StudioLine Photo Basic 1.1.6.0 is a professional photo-editing, management, and image sharing tool. It features importation of most popular image file formats (but not .GIF), share picture thumbnails via e-mail, print images in preset standard sizes, create Web galleries, slideshow, and more. This is a "lite" version of the shareware product but it cannot import GIF images and it cannot export to either GIF or TIF formats. Free from www.studioline.net/EN/home-10/default.htm.

SuperBladePro 1.06 is a Photoshop- and PSP-compatible surface and texture generator plug-in. Start it from within an image editing program and you can bend, twist, and color-shift graphics to your heart's content. $30 from www.flamingpear.com/.

SurfPics 1.0 is an image-search themed Web browser/search tool that delivers easy access to graphics and pictures via image search engines and image galleries. Free from www.4comtech.com/surfpics/index.html.

SWF Compressor compresses Shockwave files. Note: compressed files can only be played in Flash 6. Free from www.flash2be.com/tools/.

swf2avi 0.3 allows you to take a .SWF file, break it down into its individual frames, and then save those frames automatically as .BMP or .JPG files. Free from www.pizzinini.net/.

Swiff Player 1.0 is a Flash player with some features that Macromedia's player lacks. Free from www.globfx.com/products/swfplayer/.

Swish 2 is a powerful program that emulates Flash animation for graphic creation. Nice program, and a heck of a lot cheaper than Flash; $50 from www.swishzone.com/.

Terragen 0.7.28 is a snazzy, free graphics program that lets you create nature scenes without being a graphics guru. Snag it from www.planetside.co.uk/terragen/.

Tesselation 1.27 is a Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro plug-in that helps you turn any graphic into a seamlessly repeating tile without your having to do detailed retouching. You can also repeat tiles in a single direction, which is useful for creating borders. Free (I think) from www.flamingpear.com/.

TetraVerse 1.1 is an image viewing and converting program that grabs all images in a selected directory and makes them viewable through a drop down menu. Converts ..BMP, .GIF, and .JPG files. Free from www.necrocosm.com/.

Text Effects 1.00.117 makes it easy to put text effects on top of images. Free from blaizfre.hypermart.net/.

Texture Processor 1.3, like the above program, makes textured background graphics for Web sites and desktop publications. Free from www.paurex.com/?products&prod=tp12 or www.gnomedownloads.com/Graphics/Backgrounds-Textures/texture-processor.html.

Thumbnailer ia a handy little utility to create thumbnails and an index HTML page from a directory containing JPEG images. Delphi source code included. Free from www.hut.fi/~jsleino1/software/.

ThumbsPlus 5.01 from www.thumbsplus.com/, organizes and manages all your image files, plus provides you with basic graphics tools such as image conversion and cropping. $80 to keep.

ThumbsUp 1.3.0.0 is a graphic image editor and HTML gallery creator lets you edit and organize image files as well as create HTML sites. $20 from www.thumb-s-up.com/prod01.htm.

ThumbWriter 3.0 creates thumbnail-image Web pages to augment your site. $30 from www.asdol.com/.

TileMachine is a Web-based, Flash-driven goodie that creates desktop tiles for your machine or Web site. Plenty of free wallpapers offered here, too. Free to use at www.tilemachine.com/.

Toolbar Paint 1.2.0.2 is a small and powerful paint package that is specifically targeted at developers who wish to design their own toolbar button graphics. It can open .BMP images up to 64x64 pixels, and allows you to visually design a toolbar, using various editing tools that include shapes, text, drawing, brush, selections, and more. It also includes tools to replace colors, apply gradients, and more. The toolbar graphics can be saved as 16/32-bit or 256-color bitmap. Free from donkey.visualassembler.com/.

Trellian Button Factory 1.0 lets you create Web-ready buttons for your site. You can make some truly slick buttons with this little goodie. $45 from www.trellian.com/tbf/. Look for a review of this program in Newsletter #13.

Tux Paint 0.9.10 is a drawing program for children. It features a simple, easy-to-use interface, fun sound effects, a collection of tools (image blur, paint drip, negative, rainbow, etc) and 'rubber stamp' images. Free from www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxpaint/ (Mac and Linux versions also available).

TwipIt -- programmers and many graphic artists use twips for screen measurement instead of pixels for more precise placement. TwipIt converts twips to pixels, points, pharacters, inches, millimeters and centimeters. Reverse order will also convert them all back to twips. Free from camtech2000.com/Pages/Useful.html.

Ulead Photo Explorer 7.0 helps you to sort your images and use them to create slide shows, screen savers, and wallpaper. You find the files you want to edit and send them directly to the image editor of your choice, or you can upload images to the Internet using a free membership to the iMira Web site, where you can create an online album. The program can also acquire images from digital cameras and scanners. $13 from www.ulead.com/.

Ultimate FX 1.2 lets you retouch and add effects to digital pictures and most graphics files. Lots of plug-ins as well as Adobe support. Free from www.ultimatepaint.com/.

UltraSnap 1.3 is a pixel-precise screen capture utility with lots of modification and enhancement options. $23 from www.mediachance.com/.

Unflash 1.1 rips .SWF files from their parent .EXE files, making for easier e-mailing and swapping. Free from www.odi.ch/prog/unflash.php.

Uticasoft Image Browser Arctic 4.51 is a powerful image viewer. Free from www.uticasoft.com/.

Vallen JPegger 4.08 is a multi-functional image viewer that supports about 40 different file types. Also includes a screen capture utility and an MP3 sound explorer. Free from www.vallen.de/freeware/index.html.

VAMP Media Center 3.40 is an impressive suite of multimedia tools, all free from www.imvamp.com/.

Vextractor 2.00 transforms raster images into vector formats by building centerlines and outlines. Vector charts, maps, schemes and other similar images for input to CAD and GIS systems. Free from www.vextrasoft.com/.

View2 2.92 is a free graphics viewing utility that works only under DOS. Supports most major graphics formats, and is available from www.xnview.com/.

Visualizer Image Browser 2.0 is a small full-screen viewer with a simple and crisp interface, using the most basic features to manage your photos and create slide shows with music. The program can open ten image formats. Free from www.freeimagebrowser.com/.

WAG 1.0.0 is a "Web Album Generator" that does what it says: generates photo and graphics albums for Web-based viewing. Requires Microsoft's .NET framework. Free from www.geocities.com/bphainey/software/wag.html.

WaveL Pic2Pic 1.0 is a free batch conversion program for converting graphics files to different formats, from www.wavelsoftware.com/.

WaveL ViewPic 1.0 is a small, powerful image viewer that lets you handle numerous file formats in a number of ways. $15 to keep from www.wavelsoftware.com/.

Web Picture Creator 1.0 is a tool which creates photo albums for the Web, hard drive or CD using an HTML interface. Free from www.webpicturecreator.com/.

Web Thumbnailer 1.0 is a wizard for creating thumbnails from any number of pictures, photos, etc. $30 from www.photoactions.com/wth/.

WinMorph 2.01 is a free, fun graphics utility that lets you "morph" one .BMP or .JPG image into another, and saves the result as an .AVI or .MPEG file. Look it over at www.crosswinds.net/~sskr/winmorph/index.html.

WinPointer 2 lets you draw lines, ellipses, circles, rectangles, and so forth in various colors and widths directly on your computer screen. Good for computer-based presentations, and free from www.pcmag.com/utilities/.

Xara 3D lets you add 3D effects to text quickly and easily. The demo version slaps a "X3D Demo" label in the background of all generated graphics, so you'll need to buy the real thing if you intend to use it. $39 from www.xara.com/.

Xi-WARP 1.2c morphs, bends and distorts .JPG and .BMP images. Fun, and free from xiberpix.homestead.com/.

XnView 1.30 combines a graphics and image viewer with a file converter. Works with over 360 file formats. Free from www.xnview.com/.

XPhoto Lite 1.0 is a complete graphic editing software program designed for Web developers and graphic artists who need to edit images quickly and easily. $30 from www.omgsoft.com/.

Z-Anaglyph 1.5.3 is a unique application that allows you to create 3D images (anaglyphs) -- not the ones you usually see on the Web, but the "real ones" that require you to wear those red/blue 3D glasses in order to view the effect. The program creates the image from two separate images (left and right). The anaglyph can be viewed on a computer screen, saved to the disk in JPEG or TIFF format, or printed. Anaglyphs are viewed through 3D red-blue glasses to bring out the 3D effect. Free from z-graphix.com/anaglyph/zanag_en.htm.

Zeocast lets you create a ZeoFlick, or movie, to e-mail to friends or to embed within a Web page. Free from www.zeocast.com/.

Zero Assumption Digital Image Recovery 1.0 works with any media type (CompactFlash, SmartMedia, and Memory Stick, for example) accessible through Windows to recover deleted digital images. Free from www.z-a-recovery.com/digital_image_recovery.htm.

ZoomCap 1.02.048 is a $10 program that gives lots of useful info about screen captures, including hexadecimal color values, X and Y coordinates, and more. Find out more from www.copseystrain.com/.

Rescue The Drowning Computer

Shareware

 
 

Copyright © 1998 - 2009
Usage of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use
Terms of Use