Photoshop is the World’s leader in digital imaging software. It has been the industry standard design application for years, and with each new iteration it pulls further ahead of its competitors thanks to its huge user base and professional experience.

When digital photography was in its infancy and image editing wasn’t high on many agendas, Photoshop didn’t stand out much from the alternatives such as Paint Shop Pro. More recently, however, the Adobe team has taken the ascendancy, and since version 7, Photoshop has been all about fulfilling users’ requests and prayers for a top quality graphics package. CS3 can be regarded as version 10 and adds more to the mix for photographers, designers, and video editors.

Having nailed the interface in previous versions, CS3 keeps to the same winning formula, meaning that anyone who has used Photoshop before will immediately feel comfortable. Changes come in the form of Adobe Bridge, a replacement for the file browser, more photography filters and the star of the show, the “Vanishing Point”. This filter lets you edit, clone, and retouch images while keeping the perspective; great!

Without going in to too much detail, Photoshop is a program for professionals and as such has a steep learning curve. Anyone who is willing to devote the required time to learn the basics will definitely be rewarded with a much higher degree of control over their images and will also find it easy to tap in to all the great resources throughout the web, be it in the form of tutorials or plug-ins, that will extend the functionality further. The flexibility of the program lets you customize the interface, the brushes, the fill patterns, tool presets, filters, and practically anything else you may find within the software.

With all the power that you get, it’s testament to the Photoshop team that it runs so smoothly on any modern PC, although if you start getting heavy with layers or high resolutions, there will be a noticeable hit to your system’s resources. As you become more accustomed to the operation of the program, you will pick up more efficient habits such as the multitude of keyboard shortcuts. Each one is customizable, and there are key combos for every operation to save you from time spent trawling through menus and toolbars.

Adobe’s Photoshop CS3 is another giant leap forward for digital imaging software and it remains a long way ahead of the chasing pack. It may overwhelm beginners with the sheer quantity of tools and options, but ultimately it will reward anyone that doesn’t mind putting in the ground work to learn the basics. Highly recommended for everyone with time, money and an interest in imaging, particularly photographers and designers.

Download Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended in Softonic

Adobe Photoshop is any serious photographer or graphic designer’s application of choice but you’ll have to cough up quite a lot of bills to get it. Another solution is to use Photofiltre, a lesser known and more basic yet free and solid image editing application.

Photofiltre is a relatively small application and, unlike Photoshop, will install and launch very quickly. The interface, loaded with all the features and options, can be confusing at first glance, but after a short time,, you should be comfortable with it. The right side is composed of the shape and drawing tools and an optimizable color palette. The top bar has all the essential image editing and modification options. Photofiltre sadly doesn’t let you customize the interface and choose your favorite tools however.

Among all the image modification tools, we particularly liked the quick contrast/hue and saturation buttons because you can check out the effects and immediately and easily correct the image if you’re not satisfied with its quality. If you trust Photofiltre, you can also let it adjust these parameters automatically.

Like any self-respecting image editing application, Photofiltre includes the most widely used filters to transform your image, but if you need to make really significant changes, you’ll find yourself limited. Furthermore, unlike Photoshop, Photofiltre doesn’t include layers, making it more challenging to work on different elements of the image separately.

Like the excellent free image viewer Irfanview, Photofiltre covers the majority of image formats and can batch process and convert images rapidly. Photofiltre has five different zoom options yet we found them to be more or less similar. The magnifier is probably less precise than the drop down percentage pane, and the auto zoom adjusts the image’s size according to Photofiltre’s window size.

The image explorer is located at the bottom of the screen, and if you set it according to your image file you’ll be able to quickly preview all your pictures. However, if you work with multiple image files, it can quickly become confusing, as you’ll have to open up an explorer tree pane every time to look for your pictures.

While Photofiltre is miles away from the professional oriented Adobe Photoshop it’s an excellent free alternative. The program contains all the essential tools and options to edit and optimize pictures. It loads up very quickly and changes can be instantly previewed. Novice photographers or graphic designers can use it to cut their teeth on image editing before going on to more complex applications.

Download PhotoFiltre 6.3.1 in Softonic

It's really unbelievable to find free software applications as amazing as Photoscape. But as they say, truth is stranger than fiction. Here you have a really excellent photo editing tool that includes just about everything you need to view, optimize, edit, print and have fun with your photos, all for free.

Photoscape strikes us from the very beginning with an uncommon interface design from which you can choose what you want to do: view pictures, optimize those that didn't come out so well, print several photos on a single page collage-style or perhaps add any of the dozens of filters and special effects included in the program. Other extra tools featured in Photoscape are a file renamer, a color picker, a screen capture tool and even a RAW converter.

We really have nothing negative to say about Photoscape. Just download it, test it, love it and keep it forever. It's free!

Download Photoscape 3.1 in Softonic

Most designers probably know already about the wonders of Adobe Illustrator; if you don’t, welcome to one of the best vector drawing tools in the world.

As with any other Adobe tool, Illustrator feels really complex for first-time users: lots of windows and palettes, toolbars full of unknown icons, many new functions and features to learn… Luckily the program includes a bunch of templates to get you started, as well as a thorough help section where you'll find the answer to all your doubts and problems.

Once you get the knack of it, you'll start realizing just how powerful and versatile Adobe Illustrator can be. Your creativity will be boosted with Illustrator's impressive set of drawing tools, brushes, color processing tools and gradient effects, not to mention the wide array of filters and special effects with which you can add the final touch to your drawing.

Adobe Illustrator is seamlessly integrated with other Adobe tools (like Adobe Bridge), something that makes your work more comfortable and easier if you're already used to working with Adobe apps.

Adobe Illustrator is the reference tool when it comes to vector designing and drawing. It features an impressive set of tools, filters and effects and is perfectly integrated with other Adobe apps.

Download Adobe Illustrator CS3 in Softonic

After several minor tweaks, Flash Professional 8 is the next big leap in Macromedia’s Web video and animation creation program. Version 8 offers aficionados significant improvements in graphical effects, web-video, and creating media for 3G phones.

Perhaps most importantly, Flash Professional 8 has been widely reported as much more stable than previous versions with better text handling, advanced vector graphic capabilities and video manipulation features. As video continues to be a big driver of internet traffic, Flash 8 pays special attention to embedding videos in web content in Flash’s FLV (Flash Video) format (as seen on YouTube). The encoder quickly and seamlessly converts multiple video formats into FLV files for use on websites with few, if any, audio or synchronisation problems. Flash Professional 8 dramatically streamlines mobile content development, potentially reducing time to market from months to weeks. New features accelerate content development even more. Flash includes authoring templates to help developers get started. Templates are available in three categories: global phones, Japanese phones, and other devices.

For those that are script shy, a new feature called Script Assist allows you to create scripts with an easy-to-use interface and even offers you advice on where your scripting may have gone wrong.

If you’re an advanced designer then Flash Professional 8 will delight you with its range of options and powerful rendering. Those that are less advanced should think twice before upgrading because the new features will take some getting used but for those considering serious video work, its worth the effort..

Download Macromedia Flash Professional 8 in Softonic

Although it is the PhotoFiltre successor and looks like it, this Studio version is much more powerful than the older one. Layer support is not the only evolution. A new display engine has been developed in order to handle real-time merging and alpha channel support. I have kept the same User Interface, because I think it's a more natural way to upgrade the software. Experienced users will be surprised to learn how much additional features they will get with the layer support.

Download PhotoFiltre Studio 8.1.1 in Softonic

Don’t be fooled by mtPaint's basic appearance. In fact, this is an excellent graphic editor that offers much more than a simple Paint replacement.

mtPaint enables you to both open images in several popular formats and create your own drawings and graphic compositions from scratch. Regarding the latter, it seems that mtPaint is mainly focused on pixel art, as it allows you to draw with high precision thanks to a very powerful zoom tool. Drawing tools, in any case, may not be the strength of this program – my personal opinion is that it should include more of them.

On the upside, mPaint really stands out as a graphic editor with which you can perform many daily tasks. It's simple in design and usage, but at the same time it includes advanced features such as layer support, filters, special effects and more. Of course, this is no equivalent to Photoshop but it will work fine for most of your graphic needs.

Despite its basic appearance and simplicity of use, mtPaint is certainly a great alternative to the standard Microsoft Paint, featuring advanced functions and tools.

Download mtPaint 3.20 in Softonic

Photo editing applications are ten-a-penny these days. Besides the scores of programs that are freely available for download or to buy, you normally get some kind of image manipulation software bundled with your digital camera, scanner, etc. However, if you're new to the image editing or digital photography game then you may find that many of these applications are either too complicated or just downright garbage.

PhotoImpression sets its stall out as a powerful, feature-filled photo editing application that doesn't make creating classy graphics too difficult to achieve. It has to be said that it pulls this off pretty well, and its colourful interface manages to marry some of the advanced features of programs like Photoshop with the simplicity of an app like the GIMP or IrfanView.

The GUI is laid out in a way that leads you intuitively through the process of organizing, enhancing, and creating interesting looking photos and graphics, whether it's to share on the web, email to your pals, or print out. Clicking each of the tabs that represent these stages of production will bring up a series of controls that help you perform a variety of tasks, from fixing problem photos to applying effects and frames to your images.

It would have been nice to see support for more advanced manipulation tools such as layers and gradients in PhotoImpression, but for someone who's just retouching or revamping their snaps, this is ideal. The application performs admirably compared to the wonderful, if strangely-named, GIMP. However, perhaps the key difference with this and its open source rival is you must part with cash for the full version of PhotoImpression.

Download ArcSoft PhotoImpression 6.5 in Softonic

With Adobe Dreamweaver you get an intuitive yet powerful tool to design and put up your own websites. Dreamweaver is tailored both for beginners and more advanced users as it includes many tutorials and help and a solid collection of advanced features that designers will enjoy working with.

Organized in the classic Adobe style that you immediately recognize in any of the developer's programs, Dreamweaver gives you easy access to all your editing and designing tools. You can work with a full code or full design view, however most people will prefer to choose the split view, which is much more flexible to edit with.

You'll find Dreamweaver makes it easy to insert any sort of element, whether an image, a Flash file or a piece of audio. Elements can be moved around an adjusted until you are happy with the layout of your pages.

This latest version has improved the CSS capabilities in Dreamweaver with more templates, and a tool to manage your styles and move them to your own style sheets. The CSS code also comes with comments that explain how it works and how to use it, something that beginners and experienced users alike should appreciate.

I was a little disappointed that the interface only underwent slight cosmetic changes, but the biggest drawback of all to Dreamweaver in my opinion is still the price. Even though it's a powerful application, not everybody will be ready to pay $399 for it. You'll also have to make for sufficient disk space to accommodate the 1GB installer package.

Adobe Dreamweaver is a reference in terms of web designing, editing and creating and offers a lot of help and guidance.

Download Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 9.0 in Softonic

The world of dubbing and lip syncing has come a long way since the days when high-pitched voice actors would jabber away in not-so-perfect harmony to Japanese Kung Fu fighters in the martial arts movies of the 1970s. In fact, digital animation technology has improved so much that it’s now possible to animate your own talking heads from your home PC.

CrazyTalk Media Studio promises to give you all the tools you need to import images and photographs before quickly applying mouth, head and eye movement to create realistic looking avatars and fun animations. At first we were a little dubious about the value of such a product, but were soon pleasantly surprised by the power of the utility.

Granted, our initial efforts were limited to taking pictures of friends and giggling inanely as they repeated audio clips from famous movies or songs. These first experiments were a little clunky to say the least and looked far from realistic when we relied on the automatic lip-syncing functionality. However, once you delve deeper into the settings, you start to realize that you can actually produce some impressive animations.

With enough tinkering you can customize everything from the teeth in the character’s mouth to their facial movements and their range of movement. Best of all is the built-in timeline, which gives you complete control of the animation and sound, much as you would do in Flash, or a video-editing suite. Complete with alpha channel support, the program is ideal for producing talking presenters to welcome visitors to your web site or presentations. The simple-to-use export facilities allow you to save to a range of formats whether as a media file, email attachment or a personalized greeting.

There are a few flaws with the program that are a little frustrating, but they fail to prevent CrazyTalk Media Studio from being a great program. Minor niggles are the lack of MP3 audio import support, and the relatively low number of preset templates and characters. The app does have a fairly steep learning curve but it’s good fun to use and is surprisingly powerful.

Download CrazyTalk 5.0 in Softonic

With its sophisticated design and production controls and unmatched integration with other Adobe applications, Adobe InDesign CS2 software is not only a better choice for page layout - it’s a superior way to work.

Selectively display layers and layer comps in Photoshop files, and layers in Adobe PDF files, to experiment with different design options or use multiple variations of a file in your layout — all while linking to a single file. Apply editable drop shadows, feathering, and other transparency effects. Maintain soft edges when placing transparent Photoshop files.

Unlock the full potential of OpenType fonts with support for multilingual and alternate glyphs including old-style numbers, fractions, ligatures, and swashes. Apply and globally update object-level formatting more efficiently using object styles. Save a wide range of graphic, text, and frame-level attributes as object styles to create more consistent designs and speed up production tasks. Import XML files with greater control, including linking to XML content for easier updating. Also apply XML tags to tables, and then import XML content into and export it from those tables.

Download Adobe InDesign CS2 4.0.4 in Softonic

Adobe PageMaker 7.0 software is the ideal page layout program for business, education, and small- and home-office professionals who want to create high-quality publications such as brochures and newsletters. Get started quickly with templates, graphics, and intuitive design tools; work productively across Adobe applications; and easily leverage existing content to create customized communications.

What's new about Pagemaker 7:

• Create and view Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Add document information, change security and compatibility options, embed tags for accessibility, and modify advanced Adobe Acrobat Distiller settings — all from within PageMaker.
• Easily place Adobe PDF files created with Adobe Photoshop 5.0-6.0 or Adobe Illustrator 9.0 directly into PageMaker publications.
• Save time by importing native Photoshop and Illustrator files. You can drag and drop the native file or use the Place dialog box.
• Use a converter utility to open QuarkXPress 3.3-4.1 publications directly in PageMaker. Use the same utility to open Microsoft Publisher 95-2000 in PageMaker (Windows only). Import and export text and graphics to and from key business applications such as Microsoft Word.

Download Adobe Pagemaker 7.0.2 in Softonic

The Gimp is the open source reference in image manipulation. This free application will allow you to retouch, author and edit your photos thanks to a wide set of tools.

Let’s quickly go through what you can do with the Gimp. The painting function has the essential clone, airbrush or pencil tools and a powerful gradient and blend tool. You can also create and save your own brushes and patterns for later use. The program lets you manipulate your photos, adding layers, doing Bezier and polygonal selections or setting text. Load and save animations in a frame-as-layer format and batch process all your photos for quick editing. The multi-windowed interface can be moved around to fit your needs and resized according to your desktop space.

What’s more, the Gimp can be expanded with over 100 different plug-ins and extensions available on the Gimp’s website. These apply in majority for layer effects such as render, distort or blur and make a great addition to the ones already present in the program.

While the Gimp is user friendly, the installation process can result a bit hairy. Because the application works under the GTK Runtime Environment, you will have to install this kit to successfully launch the program. The process is fairly lengthy and some error messages tend to pop up, however if you persist, you will be able to install the Gimp properly on your PC

Despite this fairly hazardous installation process, the Gimp is a program we recommend. Whether you’re out of dough or are looking for a free alternative to Photoshop, the Gimp is excellent image manipulation software with all the tools you’d expect. The friendly interface and expandability make this a program of choice.

Download The GIMP 2.6.0 with Softonic Toolbar in Softonic

Accelerate web design and development with Adobe® Fireworks® CS3 software, the ideal tool for creating and optimizing images for the web and rapidly prototyping websites and web applications. Fireworks CS3 offers the flexibility to edit both vector and bitmap images, a common library of prebuilt assets, and timesaving integration with Adobe Photoshop® CS3, Adobe Illustrator® CS3, Adobe Dreamweaver® CS3, and Adobe Flash® CS3 software. Mock up designs quickly in Fireworks, or leverage other assets from Illustrator, Photoshop, and Flash. Then move directly into Dreamweaver CS3 for easy development and deployment.

Download Adobe Fireworks CS3 in Softonic

OpenCanvas is one of the best crossover programs you will find when moving on from real paint brushes to digital design. The installation process takes only a few minutes, after which you can begin drawing right away. OpenCanvas features a simple friendly interface, even for first-time users. Also, note that if you're used to Photoshop, you'll find OpenCanvas extremely familiar, as it follows the same basic guidelines: a large working area with floating windows displaying tools, settings, color palette and so on.

In this latest release of Open Canvas, there are a ton of new features including a new Tool Palette, Color Sampler, Preset Manager, Grabber Control, Menu and Shortcut Key. The Tool Palette is probably the most interesting and welcome innovation. OpenCanvas 4.5 features a new elegant look with a standardized size of Tool Palette and it now supports docking, window shading and adsorbing when moving the palette. In addition, much more workspace can be used efficiently than before.

In summary, OpenCanvas lets you experiment with traditional painting while enjoying the advantages of computer design.

Download OpenCanvas 4.5.09e in Softonic

PIXresizer is a free image resizer PIXresizer to easily create web and e-mail friendly versions of your images with reduced file sizes. The reduced files are saved in a different folder, so your original images are not altered at all.

PIXresizer offers several different resizing methods to choose from and can automatically recognize image sizes to calculate the best fit. In addition, it can convert between image formats (JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG and TIFF), rotate images, convert to grayscale and resize multiple images in batch mode.

A great companion for webmasters and digital photographers.

Download PIXresizer 2.0.3 in Softonic

This program makes it easy to create stick-figure animations. You can build your own stick figures and load your own backgrounds. The animations can be saved as animated gifs to be used on web pages. An example animation is included.

Download Pivot Stickfigure Animator 2.2.5 in Softonic

Cinema 4D XL allows you to turn almost any computer into a 3D animation studio. The software's enhanced architecture promises workstation performance on consumer hardware, so you can build your own animation studio with less investment than ever before. Incredibly fast workflow in a fully-integrated 3D environment combined with the world's fastest raytracer will help you produce mind-boggling 3D graphics quicker than ever before.

Streamlined interface

As a 3D artist you know that fast, easy workflow is the key to meeting deadlines and beating the competition. Cinema 4D's interface takes advantage of non-modal managers for real-time feedback and robust OpenGL support to provide an efficient foundation, while allowing you to customize almost every aspect of the interface itself to achieve the fastest and easiest workflow possible.

Content Browser

As an integral part of the Cinema 4D workflow, the Content Browser ensures an optimal overview and management of projects and related files. The Content Browser's sophisticated search functions, in combination with its directory structure view of your project's files and the ability to assign keywords help you find your files quickly and reliably. You can use drag-and-drop to manage models, shaders or presets within the three available catalogs.

Modeling

The first step in most 3D projects is creating the objects that will be used in the scene. The most basic shapes are provided in Cinema 4D as parametric primitives, with parameters like size, fillet and orientation easily adjustable. Parametric objects can be used as is or converted to polygons as a basis for more complicated objects.

A number of deformers and other generators can be used in conjunction with objects, and their non-linear construction history makes it easy to adjust items as the scene progresses. Splines can be used as the basis for extrudes, lofts, lathes and sweeps, all of which can be adjusted dynamically in real time and even animated

Animation

Bringing your 3D objects to life through animation can be the most rewarding and challenging aspect of any 3D project. Cinema 4D provides the animation tools to achieve almost any animation effect. An extensive timeline allows easy organization and manipulation of animation tracks, and all parameters can be automatically keyframed as you make changes.

XPresso

You can build extensive relationships and add powerful interaction to your 3D scene with XPresso, Cinema 4D's visual node-based expressions editor. An expression is a relationship between objects in your 3D scene that often includes some mathematical manipulation, like using the rotation of one object to change the position of another. Normally, these types of relationships would require programming, but with XPresso they're a matter of drag and drop.

Material Editor

Every 3D artist knows an extensive material system is key to creating realistic and convincing 3D images. Whether it's artificial or natural materials you're creating, Cinema 4D's material system provides incredible control over the properties of your 3D objects. You can easily define an object's color, diffusion, luminance, transparency, reflection, environment, fog, bump, alpha, specular, glow, displacement and illumination properties.

Lighting

Lighting is perhaps the most important aspect of any 3D render. Just like a poorly lit photograph, a 3D scene without proper lighting will fail to meet the expectations of clients and colleagues. Cinema 4D offers a complete array of gaffer's tools so you can make your scene shine far above the competition.

Rendering

The Cinema 4D rendering engine is legendary for its ability to deliver stunning image quality with unprecedented speed. When a deadline is breathing down your neck, it's good to know that you can rely on Cinema 4D's outstanding renderer to deliver great-looking results in a very short time.

Download Cinema 4D XL 9.6 in Softonic

The Adobe Photoshop 9.0.1 update fixes a number of problems discovered after Photoshop CS2 (9.0) software was released.

The most significant fixes in the 9.0.1 release include the following:

• Photoshop no longer hangs for several seconds when using painting tools with quick strokes.
• A runtime error that could appear when mousing over a high-res document with the Brush tool has been fixed.
• Documents containing a large number of text layers now open more quickly.
• Problems related to palettes (slow redraw, palettes go white, possible crash) have been addressed.
• TIFF files from certain scanners can now be opened correctly.
• After editing an image in Photoshop CS2 via the TouchUp tool in Adobe Acrobat software, the image no longer gets repositioned.
• XMP metadata from AI and PDF files is now retained in Photoshop.
• Slow performance when toggling layer visibility has been fixed.
• Info palette numbers are now displayed and updated when moving a curve point in Curves via the cursor keys.
• Problems opening certain TIFF and PSB files greater than 2GB have been resolved.
• The Merge to HDR command now functions properly when using high-ASCII characters in user login.

Download Adobe Photoshop CS2 update 9.0.1 in Softonic

Picasa is a lesson to the world in usability design. In less than five megabytes, this image organizer succeeds in being a completely rounded package with many editing tools that will satisfy part-timers and enthusiasts alike. However, what really makes Picasa stand out is the beautifully-executed interface, which proves a complete pleasure to use thanks to its speedy pace and some clever animations and fades.

Thanks to an initial image scan, you won’t ever have to go digging through your hard drive for last summer’s holiday snaps, and it will even order every picture you have chronologically, letting you quickly browse to any obscurely-named files in seconds. While Picasa can be used as a viewer, it has not been designed for that and so viewing should be left to another program such as the free FastStone Image Viewer. Where it does excel is in retouching your pictures with colour corrections and a few effects such as blur or film grain. Each edit can be done on the fly with an instant preview of the result and, of course, if something doesn’t quite work out, you can always go back via the undo button.

While these editing utilities cater for the majority of users’ needs, it would have made sense to include the ability to resize images, especially as Picasa includes features that make it easy to publish to the web in the form of a blog. You can also email any single or collection of images through Outlook or directly from Picasa if using your GMail account.

Some of the additional extras give this program a touch of class that you rarely find in Windows software, including the ability to make a collage from a set of images and a handy star rating system that lets you mark your favourite snaps and later single them out giving you the best of the best. Having been acquired by Google, Picasa is now freely available to the masses and is continually improving with each new iteration. With this in mind, it comes highly recommended for photography novices and pros, who have a significant number of images to organize on their PC.

Download Picasa 2.7.37.37 in Softonic