Software for editing images is a handy device,creating digital paintings or helping touch up your profile picture on Facebook An artist without a paintbrush. A makeover without expenses. A new,slim you without dieting. Seems impossible,doesnt it? It is possible though thanks to the plethora of image-editing software now available in the market. Often claimed to be the most popular software of its kind,Adobe Photoshop has been specifically designed for professionals. However,its user-friendly design and numerous features have made it popular among amateurs as well. Besides correcting and editing photographs by applying filters and effects like blur,textures,rough pastel effect,users can also create digital paintings from scratch. The software,which costs approximately Rs. 32,000,also offers a platform for creating 3D objects and animations. Ambar,an animation and graphics student says,When I joined the course,Photoshop was the first software we were introduced to. The tools are user-friendly,though you might take hours to correctly manipulate the image according to your requirements. However,I find it to be the best image-editing software,especially when I have to print my assignments,as it offers very high resolution. The freeware GIMP is a simpler yet powerful version of Adobe Photoshop. Like Photoshop,GIMP also offers a large number of effects,customisable brushes,filters and corrective options,though in a more limited quantity. However,it is built to accept plug-ins and extensions that can enable a lot of flexibility. Corels Paint Shop Pro is another photo manipulation software that allows the users to create digital paintings,remove red eye effect and distortions from photographs,and add various effects. Costing around Rs. 3,200,PSP is a good option for amateurs as well as professionals. Corel Draw,one of the oldest image-editing softwares provides 10,000 free clipart,1000 royalty-free photographs,and 1000 fonts,and emphasises on creation of graphics,though it does offer some tools for image manipulation. Selling at Rs. 29,000,it is a good option for professionals and amateurs creating their own artwork from scratch. Neha Sethi,a biochemistry student who uses image-editing software to create digital collages of her favourite celebrities says,I have used Corel a little bit,but not much. Photoshop is much better as it provides more options for manipulation. Gurjeevan Sekhon,who loves to add interesting effects to his pictures,finds Picasa and iPhoto the simplest yet powerful powerful applications. With their one-click red-eye removal,lighting and colour adjustment options,the two software are perfect for applying simple effects in the shortest possible time. Windows users cannot use it though,since iPhoto has been designed to exclusively work on Macintosh computers. Though it is largely ignored,MS Paint the first image-creating software that is taught in schools can prove to be a very powerful tool for creating digital paintings. Besides recreating scenes,users can also use the application for creating photo collages. PGDAM student Jayant Mall feels that it is the creativity of the user that really matters,rather than the tools that a software offers. There are lots of software in the market,ranging from simple to complex. However,if you are not creative,even using the latest version of Photoshop will not make your work any better.
