11 Open Source (FREE) Photoshop Alternatives

// June 21st, 2009 // 4 Comments » // Apple, Applications, Design, Design Resources, Featured, For Geeks, Freeware, Geeks, Graphic Design, Graphics, I recommend, Photoshop, Software, Useful, Windows, art, free, web tools, webdesign, webmaster

I’ve been doing some research online tonight for a FREE alternative for Photoshop – my Photoshop installation recently became corrupt (no clue how but it might have something to do with the fact it was cracked..um yeh) Call me evil, I just call me poor.

Anyway, I can’t seem to completly uninstall Photoshop and so it won’t allow me to re-install it… and since Photoshop cost about USD $649 per copy... I’ll most likely be using an alternative until I can format my hard drive.

Anyway, I can not work with out some type of imaging software. Period. I’ll let you know which one I decide on.

11 Open Source (FREE) Photoshop Alternatives

Artweaver

Artweaver isn’t just a Photoshop alternative like GIMP, but a fair clone of Photoshop itself. While Artweaver lacks the polish and advanced feature sets of Photoshop, the menus are laid out like they are in Photoshop and the tools function close enough that use is intuitive. The programs are so similar, in fact, that seasoned Photoshop users will find themselves wondering why a feature is suddenly missing from the menu. While it isn’t a true replacement for Photoshop, Artweaver’s feature set is robust; it includes layer management, image cloning, a history function, transparency, pen tablet support, and a host of the common filters in Photoshop. Artweaver is available as a full install or in a portable version. Artweaver is a free download for Windows only.

Fotographix Beta 3

Fotografix is an amazing example of what creative developers can accomplish in less than one meg. The 680Kb portable application is a very capable image editor and provides nearly all the same functionality I utilize in Photoshop on a daily basis. It was a no-brainer to include in my list of 40 apps you can download in two seconds. Mirrored on Freeware Files.

GIMP

GIMP stands for “GNU image manipulation program”, and it is one of the oldest and most well known alternatives to Photoshop in existence. Although it doesn’t quite have all of them, you’ll find most of the features included in Photoshop somewhere in GIMP. GIMP is cross platform and supported by a large community.

If just having the feature set isn’t enough for you, there is an alternative based on GIMP known as GIMPShop. It’s the same as GIMP, except the layout has been structured as close to Photoshop as possible, so anyone making the transition should still feel right at home.

Handy Tweaks To Make GIMP Replace Photoshop

30+ Exceptional GIMP Tutorials and Resources

Inkscape

Inkscape is an open-source vector graphics editor similar to Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Freehand, or Xara X. What sets Inkscape apart is its use of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), an open XML-based W3C standard, as the native format.

Krita

Krita has been lauded for ease of use and won the Akademy Award for Best Application in 2006. Part of the Koffice suite for [Linux only] , Krita is slightly less powerful than both Photoshop and GIMP, but does contain some unique features. It has become very popular recently due to its ease of use. While it is not as feature-rich as the Photoshop, or even GIMP, it does contains the necessary tools to create/edit a professional image from scratch. In fact, the latest version contains some features that are not found in both GIMP and Photoshop.

ChocoFlop

ChocoFlop is a design application designed exclusively for [Mac only] , optimized for Mac architecture. It’s quick and fairly well featured. This program won’t always be free, but until a stable version is released (it’s currently in beta) they are allowing free use. The program works pretty well as is, and if you’re the type who doesn’t mind an occasional bug it’s certainly worth a look.

Picnik

Picnik is a web based photo editor that has recently taken off due to a partnership with Flickr. It has all the basic features plus a few advanced ones like layers and special effects. It is cross platform since you only need a browser.

Adobe Photoshop Express

Adobe actually has a free web based photo editor of their own. Adobe Photoshop Express has all the basic functionality you’d expect as well as a few advanced features (sadly though, no layers), and interfaces well with a number of photo sharing websites. Again, completely cross platform.

Paint.NET

Paint.NET is free image and photo editing software for computers that run Windows. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. An active and growing online community provides friendly help, tutorials, and plugins.

CinePaint 0.23

CinePaint is a deep paint image retouching tool that supports higher color fidelity than ordinary painting tools. One of the advantage that it has over GIMP is that it is able to support 32-bits image (GIMP only supports 8-bits image). Cinepaint is mainly used by developers in the flim industry for motion picture frame-by-frame retouching. The current version runs on Linux, BSD, Mac OSX. Stable version for Windows is not available at the moment.

PhotoPlus

PhotoPlus [Windows only] is the amazing photo editing software that enables you to fix and enhance digital photos, create stunning bitmap graphics and even web animations.

Links

There’s also free web services that allows you to perform basic image editing online.
Here’s few examples:

Hatched! Twitter Eggs – Free Twitter icon set

// June 20th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // Blogging, Cool Links, Design, Design Resources, For Geeks, Graphic Design, Graphics, Icons, Social Network, Social Network Icons, Twitter, Useful, icon sets, webdesign, webmaster

twitter_egg2 twitter_egg5 twitter_egg1 twitter_egg3

These are so damn cute! Which came first the Twitter bird or the egg? Enhance your blog or site with these fun Twitter eggs. Available in PNG format in two sizes: 256 x 256 px and 128 x 128 px.

Cool Link of the Day: Web 2.0 free buttons maker

Another Great Affiliate that actually pays! $$ WPWebHost

// June 19th, 2009 // No Comments » // Affiliate Networking, Blogging, Cool Websites, Design Resources, Featured, For Geeks, Geeks, Hosting, I recommend, Wordpress, Wordpress Themes, webmaster

Another Great Affiliate that actually pays! WPWebHost.com I just signed up with them as an affiliate and added a banner to the bottom of my posts using the Shantz WordPress Prefix/Suffix Plugin which I also love by the way.

I earned 70.00 bucks with only 2 referrals and in no time at all. If your like me when you first found out about affiliate marketing you thought “great I can just add links to my website and I’ll make money”. Well it’s really not that easy.

I’m very picky about the affiliates I add to my website. If I don’t believe in their product I’m not gonna bug my visitors with their ads. If it’s something I think my visitors would be interested in then I’ll sign up and add the banner. Knowing full well that I’ll probably never see a dime… but I tend to have the “hey what the heck can’t hurt” kind of attitude when it comes to most affiliates.

However there have been only a few affiliates that I have made money off of and those few are The WP Remix Theme, Woo Themes and now WPWebHost! The cool thing about WPWebHost is you can create and track your own affiliate links! Which is not something most of the Wordpress theme affiliates allow you to do.

WPWebHost also offers tier linking which basically means you can make money from other affiliates who sign up under you.. and no that is not why I’m promoting them. I’m promoting them because I made money and money is is always fun to share! SIGN UP TODAY!

Plus their client list is pretty impressive.. well if your familiar with some of the designers who blog that is..

WPWebHost Clients:

Design Shard is now Hosted with WPWebHost and its been a really great experience so far, support is fast at responding to questions about their hosting and about Wordpress, the features of there servers are better than what I was on at Godaddy! I would recommend them with confidence if your thinking of changing hosts.”
- Max Stanworth, Design Shard

Check out what they have to offer for only 5 bucks a month!!

10 New Social Networking Icon Sets

// June 15th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Blogging, Design, Design Resources, Facebook, Graphic Design, Graphics, Icons, Rss Feed Icons, Social Network, Social Network Icons, Twitter, Useful, icon sets, webdesign, webmaster

I’m constantly looking for new social networking icon sets to post but they are few and far between. Good ones at least.

Here are 10 social networking icon sets. A few of them are new to me and a few are not.But all of them are cool.

Make sure to do a search for social networking icons on my website. I’ve posted a ton of them. Also if you know of any new sets that have not been posted here.. pleeze let me know!

Curly Vector Social Icons

Web 2.0rigami – I Am Paddy

Social Icon stickers- icon pack by cheth

Nurture Social Icon Set – Smashing Magazine

Social Icons Made of Wood – webtoolkit4.me

13 free social bookmark icons for your blogs – Edward de Leau

Social Icon Set – Stylelion

Social Web Buttons – Set 2 – WebFruits Blog

Socialize Icon Set – DryIcons

17 Social Media Icons Pack

Web design build questions to ask (yourself) or new clients

// June 11th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Blogging, Code, Design, Design Resources, For Geeks, Geeks, Tutorial, Useful, webdesign, webmaster

Working Girl

If your a webmaster or web designer I highly recommend you read the rest of this post at www.simonday.com

This is a great resource for anyone who does freelance design or builds websites.

Web design build questions to ask (yourself) or new clients

What do you want the web site to do for your company?
(is it to just promote brand awareness and for people who hear about them and then go to their site, will people be finding them through search engines, is it existing clients looking for support or news, are you selling online, are you offering downloads, company reports etc)

Who is your target audience (age / level of internet experience etc)?
(Do they require a modern, fast paced, highly graphical site to target the younger generation or a more user friendly site for the less experienced or older internet users. )

What image do you want to portray (Professional / Casual / cutting edge etc)?
(Some sites use white space and limited text to give a relaxed feel while others use lots of images and text to give the site a busy feel. Define the feel of the site)

If you have branding what colours, fonts, styles do you use?
(See business cards, letterheads etc). More often that not the sole trader will have no graphics, no logo and no identity so in these cases you need to ask the client for colour schemes they think fit with the ideas but also do market research on the competition because the client may not be right.

CORE QUESTIONS:

What do you absolutely definitely want on the site?
(This list could include blog, shopping cart, members log in, private areas, RSS feeds. Gallery newsletter, contact forms, advertising space, different languages, search facility, etc)

What would you like if possible/within budget?

What absolutely must be on the homepage and what is the order of priority?
(This is a core question and you should allow the client time to ponder and discuss this with you. Their answers here should define the position of the building blocks. The answers could be phone number, email, help icon, downloads, cart total, core product links etc.)

What must be visible at all times?
(Every page has a fold. A fold is below the visual part of the page and requires you to scroll down to see it. I have a height I use but you should decide for yourself where it should be. The client must understand this and agree what can go above and below).

How many links will be needed and how many levels of navigation will there be?
(You need to understand the journey paths and decide how far down the link structure will go (level one, level two, level three etc)

Read the rest of this post at www.simonday.com

OIO Publisher – Let advertisers buy space on your site without lifting a finger – WP Plugin

// May 25th, 2009 // No Comments » // Admin Tools, Blogging, Coupons, For Geeks, I recommend, Useful, Wordpress Plugins, Wordpress Themes, web tools, webmaster

Put your advertising income on autopilot.

OIO Publisher is a very user-friendly and easy to use Wordpress plugin that lets advertisers buy space on your site without you having to lift a finger. All you have to do is set the plugin up by setting the types of spaces you want to sell, for example, banners, text-links, or inline ads in each of your front page posts and setting the price for each. You’ll also have to fill in a few other details, such as how long an advertiser can rent the space and your Paypal ID. That’s basically it. Now all you’ll have to do is click the “approve” button anytime someone submits their link / banner to the site.

This is basically the same concept as the publisher program , except, OIO Publisher has one major advantage… no middle-man. Text-Link-Ads has this nasty habit of taking 50% of the money you earn for themselves, those greedy bastards… With OIO Publisher, all the money that you earn goes directly into your Paypal account, it’s great. ForTheLose.org has already sold two banner slots and one text-link slot. If you want to advertise your site / product here, just check under “Advertise Here” on the sidebar to see what we have open.

Flexible

install OIOpublisher as a Wordpress plugin or a stand alone platform
sell all forms of text ads, banner ads, and paid reviews
custom purchases also allow you to sell digital products
display ads on any website you like using php or javascript
click and impression tracking, plus weekly ad reports emailed to advertisers
integrated marketplace helps you sell your ads

Customizable

break ads into zones, display ads easily over multiple sites
no empty spaces, show your own default ads until slots are purchased
convert website visitors to sales staff using the inbuilt affiliate program
developers can easily add more functionality using modules
use the ad manager on an unlimited number of sites (providing you own them)
submit an unlimited number of your sites to our ad marketplace
earn 50% commission on all sales of OIOpublisher, via our affiliate program

Where can I get it?

Even if you aren’t sure if you want the plugin, check out the homepage of it anyway for more info. It does cost you a one-time payment of $47 for unlimited use of the plugin. You can use it on all the sites you want. BUT…and this is a big “but”… if you buy it now and use the coupon code “INDIGO-BLOGGER”, you get $10 off of the full price, meaning you only pay $37! Trust me, OIO Publisher will pay for itself in just a few days.. I’m not sure when this coupon code expires, so even if you can’t use the OIO Publisher right now, get it anyway for the future before the coupon goes bad or even worse – if the price goes up.

To get $10 off this plugin (and buy it for only $37.00), use the following coupon code when purchasing: INDIGO-BLOGGER.

So what are you waiting for? Go use one of these coupons on OIO Publisher right now before they expire!

30 Tutorials On Converting A PSD To XHTML And CSS

// May 25th, 2009 // No Comments » // Artists Shoutouts, Blogging, Cool Links, Cool Websites, Design, Design Resources, For Geeks, Geeks, Graphic Design, I recommend, The Best of.., Tutorial, Website Templates, web tools, webdesign, webmaster

30 of the best tutorials on web for converting A PSD to a XHTML & CSS layout. These tutorials you will learn the process on how to create a Photoshop web layout and be able to convert it into a valid XHTML & CSS web page. The tutorials are a step by step process which are easy to follow and keep up with.

30 Tutorials On Converting A PSD To XHTML And CSS

Cool Design Links:

Top 35 Sites and Blogs Where You Can Download Quality Free Photoshop Brushes

Top 50+ graphic design blogs

25 Most Useful Blogs for Web Design & Development

9 Design Blogs to Follow in 2009

Cybers Ebay Wordpress Plugin

// May 18th, 2009 // No Comments » // Admin Tools, Blogging, Code, Design, Design Resources, For Geeks, I recommend, Useful, Wordpress, Wordpress Plugins, Wordpress Themes, web tools, webdesign, webmaster, wordpress tutorials

Cybers Ebay Wordpress Plugin

The eBay Wordpress Plugin is finally available.

The eBay plugin is very simple but effective. Once installed you input your EbayNetwork Campaign number into the settings, and how many ads you want to appear on each post.

Place the code <?php cybersebay(); ?> within the Wordpress loop and you are set.

The first time you use the plugin you will add a Custom Field to your post with the Key name, ebay. And use the value to hold the keyword for this post to import eBay ads. From here on out, whenever you write a post, you can select the custom field key, ebay from the pulldown list and add the keyword you wish to show listings for.

Below is an example from another site. The article is titled “Fun Stocking Stuffers” and the keyword for eBay is “Christmas Stocking Stuffers”

Click for full size screenshot

During my testing of the plugin I received a $27 click, and that is certainly the highest valued click I have ever received !

And it is ONLY $9.95 !!

High Roller Black Theme

Release Date: March 30, 2009
Latest version: 1.0
Wordpress Version Up To: WP 2.7.1

Features:

The High Roller Theme for wordpress is a highly customized theme for your gambling affiliate website.

Here are some of the features:

Custom top casino/poker room table
Customize index page images and posts in seconds
Hide affiliate links and track outgoing hits
Custom banner management system with click tracking
Custom review and bonus templates
Custom room management system
Customize index page images and posts in seconds
Very clean and professional design

How To Be A Rockstar WordPress Designer

// May 18th, 2009 // No Comments » // Admin Tools, Affiliate Networking, Blogging, Code, Design, Design Resources, I recommend, Premium Wordpress Themes, Tutorial, Useful, Website Templates, Wordpress, Wordpress Themes, Wp Themes, web tools, webdesign, webmaster, wordpress tutorials

How To Be A Rockstar WordPress Designer

Managing web content has always been tricky, but with WordPress, any web designer can have a flexible, free and powerful CMS to use not just on blogging projects, but on all sorts of websites. In How To Be a Rockstar WordPress Designer you will learn step by step how to take a straight HTML site and power it with WordPress.During the course of the book you’ll build THREE WordPress themes, a blog, a portfolio site and a general site with menus and submenus. Each theme demonstrates different aspects of WordPress theming and all three are packaged with the book so you’ll have Photoshop, HTML, CSS and WordPress PHP files to refer to..

The book is aimed at anyone with a solid understanding of HTML/CSS. You don’t need to know PHP, you don’t need to have ever even touched WordPress before. The examples begin from scratch and build on each other, while basic PHP principles that are used are explained in an easy to understand manner.If you’ve ever wanted to get started with WordPress theming, or you’re looking to take your skills to the next level with advanced theming concepts, this is the book for you!

Price: 29.00 USD

You are buying this product directly from Rockable Press. Please contact Rockable Press for ANY questions related to this product or purchase.

212 Pages of Expert
Freelancing Advice

Covering everything from getting started to expanding your business, How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer is the official Freelance Switch book. Written by Collis & Cyan Ta’eed – the founders of the site – it’s packed with new information, advice and insights not covered on the blog.

If you want to start your freelance career the right way, then How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer will give you everything you need to become the best freelancer in town!

Add a twitter field to your Wordpress form (video tutorial)

// May 17th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Ibdreamy

Twitter

Instructional video on how to install and configure the wp-twitip-id plugin for Wordpress blogs. 5 minutes and you can include a field for your commentators to add their twitter ID

Add a twitter field to your form (Wordpress) wp-twitip-id from Andy Bailey on Vimeo.

Free Social Icon Sets + a ton more Twitter Birdy Icons

// March 23rd, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Blogging, Design, Design Resources, For Geeks, Freeware, Graphic Design, Graphics, I recommend, Icons, Rss Feed Icons, Social Network, Social Network Icons, Twitter, Useful, free

In this post you will find some very cool new vector icon sets plus a bunch of Twitter bird graphics that are nothing short of adorable.

Vector icon set with social networking icons including twitter birds and you will find them in .ai .eps formats and 32px X 32px .png formats within the zip file.

(more…)

20+ New WordPress Themes for March 2009

// March 22nd, 2009 // 4 Comments » // Blogging, Design, Design Resources, Featured, Magazine Theme, Premium Wordpress Themes, Useful, Wordpress, Wp Themes, free, webdesign

Here you’ll find a list of 20 super nifty new Wordpress Themes for March 2009. Make sure to subscribe to my RSS feed so you can get notified when I post more useful resources for bloggers. (more…)

10 Magazine Style Wordpress Themes..Nice!

// March 16th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Blogging, Design, Design Resources, Featured, Geeks, I recommend, Magazine Theme, Premium Wordpress Themes, Wordpress, Wordpress Themes, Wp Themes, web tools, webdesign, wordpress tutorials

Imprezz Free Wordpress Theme

by ProductiveDreams.com

Newsday Wordpress Theme

NattyWP has recently come out with some really sweet premium designs. I didn’t used to be a very big fan but after checking out this theme and a few of their other new themes.. I’m excited to see what else they have to offer.

newsday

Newsday will be a perfect choice for a news site (magazine), a corporate blog, and also as a business template for a company site.
NattyWP

Skyye News Theme

The News Theme

The Web News

Magazine Basic 2.0

Webo Magazine

Hybrid News

Vibrant Theme

21 Free Icon Sets for Bloggers and Developers

// March 11th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Apple, Blogging, Design, Design Resources, Featured, For Geeks, Geeks, Graphic Design, Graphics, I recommend, Icons, Ipod, Useful, free, iPod Themes, icon sets, web tools, webdesign, webmaster

WP WooThemes Ultimate Icon Set and the idea is to expand and build on the set (which contains 79 icons at the moment) in the coming months. The free download contains all 79 icons, sized at 256×256 pixels and available in both PNG and GIF formats.

Free icon set – Quant

The set is available in gif format (filesize is smaller than png for two tone images). There are two sizes 36×36 pixels and 16×16 pixels. It is free for non commercial use and free for commercial use if you place a link back to this site.

Coquette Part 4 Icons

These free icons flirt with style! “Coquette” free icon set contains 50 high quality, free icons in these sizes: 16×16px, 32×32px, 48×48px, 64×64px and 128×128px and 32-bit transparency PNG file format. Check out Dryicons.com for the other 3 sets.

Grace Free Icon Set

80 High Quality Icons for Web and Application use!

Stylish iPhone & iPod Touch Icon Set

This set contains 29 icons to replace the iPhone/iPod default icons and selected third-party applications, and it’s available exclusively as transparent PNG files. A selection of Dock and Wallpaper images
are also included. Stylish web 2.0 icon style. Free to download
in zip file. Download Now !

Free Icons by Axialis software

Web development icons

Web development icons is a set with 60 free icons in web 2.0 style (24×24). These icons are free to use in any kind of project unlimited times.

Danish Icon Set

:: Danish Roalty Free (96 Icons)

Tango Icon Set

:: Tango Iconset (500+ Icons)

FamFam Icon Set

:: FamFam Silk Icons (700 Icons)

Pinvoke icons

:: Pinvoke icons (400 Icons)

Vega Icon Set

:: Vaga Icons (60 Icons)

Developpers Icons

:: Developpers Icons (105 Icons)

Pixelicious Icon Set

Michael Flarup of PixelResort has released a developer icon set of 150 32×32 icons called Pixelicious in celebration of his new site.Download the icon set Pixelicious from their site.