I'm sure this kind of thing has been asked before, but bear with me.

I have become increasingly bogged down when working on my game because of my lack of a graphics program other than Appleworks (and yes, I hear you laughing) :), and I would really appreciate suggestions for a good graphics program. Unfortunately, my budget is very tight, so the obvious answer of "Photoshop" doesn't work for me. What I need is something that is either freeware or relatively cheap commercial software or shareware that still works effectively.

I really appreciate any help that anyone can offer. As far as manipulating graphics goes, Appleworks sucks.

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"The tongue in the cheek is harder to bite."
(url="http://"http://www.beckism.com")http://www.beckism.com(/url)

Well, some people swear by the $40 Graphic Converter, but I personally don't get what's so great about it.

There's Photoshop Elements for $100 or so.

If you have a student ID, you can get Photoshop for $300, which is less than half of normal price. For a hundred bucks more you can get Illustrator and InDesign, too.

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People who claim the sky is falling obviously aren't aware the earth is falling, too.
--
"Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety" --Benjamin Franklin.

Thanks! I guess I'll have to look into the student discount on Photoshop. Although it's that's still more than I'd like to spend. Grrrrrr.

Does GraphicConverter allow you to edit files? I'd thought that all it did was well convert graphics. :rolleyes:

What is the difference between Photoshop Elements and Photoshop? Or rather, what does Photoshop Elements do?

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"The tongue in the cheek is harder to bite."
(url="http://"http://www.beckism.com")http://www.beckism.com(/url)

Quote

Originally posted by Beckist Productions:
**
Does GraphicConverter allow you to edit files? I'd thought that all it did was well convert graphics.:rolleyes:

What is the difference between Photoshop Elements and Photoshop? Or rather, what does Photoshop Elements do?

**

Yep, you can edit files in Graphic Converter - it's shareware, so go ahead and download it to see if you like it (or if it will work for what you want to do)...You can't beat the price.

As far as Photoshop Elements goes I haven't used it personally, but I underastand it's just a stripped down photoshop. (that doesn't mean it's bad, it just means it doesn't have as many features) Here is a link to ZDNet's review of it: (url="http://"http://www.zdnet.com/supercenter/stories/review/0,12070,470709,00.html")link(/url) I don't know if it'll help or not, but there it is anyway.

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Quote

Originally posted by Beckist Productions:
**Thanks! I guess I'll have to look into the student discount on Photoshop. Although it's that's still more than I'd like to spend. Grrrrrr.

Does GraphicConverter allow you to edit files? I'd thought that all it did was well convert graphics. :rolleyes:

What is the difference between Photoshop Elements and Photoshop? Or rather, what does Photoshop Elements do?

**

I'm one of the lucky blokes with a full version of Photoshop on my machine, so I can't tell you much about PS Elements... But one thing I DO know that it is "missing" is the CMYK support. If I may reuse an old expression, "If you don't know what CMYK is, you won't miss CMYK." And if all you plan to use the program for is to generate graphics for computer games (which are all RGB) then you'll never miss the CyanMagentaYellowblacK color separations.

-chuck

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Grant me the Creativity to Code cool software, the peace to accept all that is not Open-Source, and the Wisdom to pay all applicable Shareware fees. (Oh! ....And gimmie a huge friggen bag of money...!)

If you're running OS X, and don't mind using the Terminal to get UNIXy things set up, the GIMP is a free option. I haven't used it much, but I suspect it's probably equal or superior to Photoshop Elements in capabilities, albeit less user-friendly.

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I don't know what I'm talking about.
It needs but one to breed a war, not two... And those who have not swords can still die upon them. Would you have the folk of Gondor gather you herbs only, while the Dark Lord gathers armies?

Thanks again for all your help everyone. The links and advice were great. I'll have to check out GraphicConverter and think about Photoshop and such.

And sorry, chuck, but I have to admit that I wouldn't miss CMYK.

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"The tongue in the cheek is harder to bite."
(url="http://"http://www.beckism.com")http://www.beckism.com(/url)