What Freeware software do you use? Share ideas/ links.

[Peter Zack]

We often see people who just got their first camera and want more than Silkypix can offer but don't have the budget right now for PS etc. So I thought it would be a good spot to share all our favourite freeware programs here. I'll make it a sticky if there is enough to make this a good resource.

So post your favourite programs, what they do and why you like them. Any significant features would that would be helpful.

Paint.net

I'll start with: http://www.getpaint.net/
Paint.net (PN) has an interactive forum that offers tutorials, help files, plugins and you can request a plugin as well. Has some very similar features to PS and is an easy layout to work with. Lots of artistic and abstract tools as well. I don't find it a power hog like PS can be and great for users with older computers.
Screen shot:


Sumo Paint
This I haven't used a lot but a handy basic version of PS with some decent basic features and accessible on the web anywhere if you wanted to do a quick edit for someone when you are away from home.

SUMO

Dynamic Photo HDR:
A very good HDR program. I don't do much HDR but every once in awhile it's a good way to create an image. I find the tools with this program better than other's I've tried and you can download a basic version without any cost. It leaves a small watermark on the final output but that's easily removed. I find it is possible to create an image that looks perfectly natural with a greater dynamic range than an individual shot would do.

If you buy the full version, there is no watermark. The sync tools work well with this and it's simple to understand.

Dynamic Photo HDR, high dynamic range imaging software with Anti-Ghosting

[MrApollinax]

I will also add that Paint.Net windows oriented and requires .NET 2.0 framework. that said this is my photo manipulation software of choice. I find the user interface much more intuitive than GIMP. It also has a very active user forum that makes plugins for the software and updates quite often. The only issue I have is that the RAW plugin that a couple users have made are using an older version of the DCRaw libraries and thus do not support PEF files natively.

Also Peter, the correct website is www.getpaint.net

[emalvick]

RawTherapee: Freeware raw developer. Offers batch processing and a lot of nice features that are comparable to what is offered in the full version of Silkypix and Adobe Camera RAW (haven't used Lightroom).
http://www.rawtherapee.com/

Noiseware Community Edition: A nice basic version of their professional product that will remove noise from photos quickly and nicely.
http://noiseware-community-edition.en.softonic.com/

Enfuse: An image blending software that will blend a bracketed set of shots to create an image with an apparent higher dynamic range (but not true HDR). I actually find it more intuitive than HDR, find it easier to get realistic looking images out of it, and it has a nice alignment droplet that will allow you to blend images that aren't from a tripod.
http://enblend.sourceforge.net/

Hugin: This is a software related to Enfuse but is good for putting panoramas together. It is the best program I've ever used for panoramas although it isn't the most user friendly (although recent releases are getting much better).
http://hugin.sourceforge.net/

GeoSetter: A geotagging software that lets you use GPS tracklogs and/or Google Maps to insert location information into the EXIF of your images (I think it'll use XMP for PEF's, but I use DNG, so I'm not sure on that).
http://www.geosetter.de/en/

[JHfwp]

virtualPhotographer (free) - Primarily a black and white conversion plug-in.

From their site:

virtualPhotographer includes over 50 presets that automatically apply combinations of film grain, color modification, B/W, soft focus, high contrast and many artistic effects to achieve the same professional-looking images that used to take hours of photo editing. Get results in seconds!

Welcome to optikVerve Labs - Home of virtualPhotographer

[sabarrett]

I'll chime in here too:
Picassa - works great for simple image editing

cam2pc - although I have the paid version, i would not recommend it anymore. It has been abandoned from the author. I use it because it makes a simple to use image organizer and has a great downloader

sharpcontrol - a nice sharpness enhancment engine.


bulk rename utility - if I have a batch of files that got screwed up somehow and want an easy way to rename them as a batch, this is it.

freenas and syncback - I use these two in tandem to do weekly backups to my server. freenas is running on an old 1ghz box with 3 drives in it. syncback runs each morning at 6:30 and backs up my selected folders to the server.

[EricT]

I use UFRaw for raw conversion and GIMP for image editing. The only thing I miss from Photoshop is adjustment layers, but some of that functionality can be faked, and true non-destructive editing is under development.
The FX-foundry script package contains a lot of useful scripts for image editing.

I also use Qtpfsgui for the occasional HDR.

I think it is important to use tools that are not only free, but open source, meaning that the computer code is also available. Picasa and rawtherapee are free, but not open source. End of rant

[bc_the_path]

I use Faststone routinely. It reads all PEF files. Can save them as a jpeg. Resizing, cropping, selecting, archiving are very easy. The interface is intituive. Histogram and exif info are just a click away (in fact, you do not have to click to see them, just move the mouse towards the right border of the screen!). Comparing up to four images on the screen is very easy. Rotations in tenth of a degree are child's play...
I have tried other freeware image viewers and I was happy with them (XnView, IrfanView, Picasa comes to mind) until I started using FastStone.

I also use The Gimp for almost all my files to be displayed on the web.

I have tried earlier versions of RawTherapee and was not happy with it; might be my fault...

[Jasvox]

Freeware I use most often is Dymanic Photo HDR and Picassa. I use Picassa for simple viewing and sending links of albums via email. For complex photo manipulation, I use Gimp. I work in Lightroom for basic fixing and enhancement much more than anything...I know that's not freeware, but it's what I use most.

Jason

[Izzy]

I have been using Photofiltre for nearly two years and love it. For the real software gurus, it might not be enough but after getting to know it, I've become rather hooked on it. It's freeware, has user forums and tons of plug-ins. End users design elements that are available for download. http://www.photofiltre.com

[deejjjaaaa]

free image browser (and more) XnView = XnView

free raw converter for Mac users = Raw Photo Processor (RPP)

free image denoising plug-in for Adobe Photoshop = http://www.cs.tut.fi/~foi/SA-DCT/#ref_software

[reeftool]

I use Picasa for most of my PP. It is fast, easy to use and free. It runs in Windows and Linux (i'm using Ubuntu). I have Gimp, Paint.net, Raw Therapee, UFRaw installed on my computers and all are free programs that do a decent job. Another great program I recently downloaded is Noiseware Community Edition which does a great job removing noise.

[StevenVH]

For Linux and Mac users I'm really liking RawStudio for processing DNG files. They list the K10 & K100, so probably able to do PEF as well. For me the interface is very efficient and intuitive and the shortcut keys can be easily configured.



Rawstudio

hth

[Paul Hunt]

For Linux users wanting tethered shooting, don't forget PK-Remote.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/pkremote/

Paul

[Nick Siebers]

I like FastStone too, with UFRaw/GIMP as the big guns. I will say, it would be hard to have a user interface LESS intuitive than GIMP's. There are things I know it can do, but that I cannot do with it. Ah well, another thing to learn! :-)

[Peter Zack]

That's why I like Paint.net. Easy interface and doesn't take a rocket scientist!