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

ID-sized photos tend to be something that you never have enough of and, given that it can be a pain to go to the closest mall and get some new ones taken, you could just take a recent photo and make multiple copies of it from the comfort of your PC. IDPhotoStudio is a program that will create and print passport sized photos for you in a snap.

Featuring only the bare necessities, IDPhotoStudio, will handle the job in seconds, allowing you to drag and drop your picture onto the interface. You can then select between three ID Photo sizes: US, Canada or France. Because you often need a certain number of photos printed out, IDPhotoStudio has a little drag meter to let you select how many photos you’ll need, from 1 to 15. Click on the print button to get the paper copies of your photo.

IDPhotoStudio is an original idea, and it’s good to see someone come up with a program to quickly print out ID photos. However, the application left us disappointed for a number of reasons. First of all, it doesn’t respect the aspect ratio of photos, so if you drag a large image there’s a risk it’ll appear distorted. Also, when it comes to editing functions, IDPhotoStudio only includes the option to apply sepia or monochrome color filters. We would have preferred if it included tools like a red-eye remover, cropping or contrasting, which are much more useful for improving the quality of pictures. The program doesn't even include an undo feature, meaning that if you accidentally set your image to greyscale when you'd prefer it in color, you'll need to start over.

If you have a good mug shot of yourself and want to quickly print out a set of passport sized photos, IDPhotoStudio will probably suit you. However, the lack of advanced editing features means you’ll never really be guaranteed with a high quality image of yourself. In all, if you want to be on the safe side, use a proper photo editing application like Photoshop or Photofiltre to edit and print good ID sized photos.

Download IDPhotoStudio 2.5.0.17 in Softonic

When it comes to photo editing, the undisputed king is Photoshop. But if you're looking for a cheaper alternative that can give you the same – or at least similar – functionality then Active Pixels is an excellent choice.

This photo editor resembles Photoshop in many aspects, from the way menus and windows are laid out on its interface to the keyboard shortcuts used for many actions. It also includes similar tools, like the magic wand, the gradient, the polygonal lasso and others. What's more, it supports working with layers. Active Pixels also includes some extra embedded apps, such as a red-eye fixer, a picture browser and a screen capture tool - although it only grabs full-screen images.

That said, bear in mind that this free photo editor is not as powerful as Adobe's big shot. Despite the large number of filters and effects included, some of them lack proper configuration settings. I specially disliked the way sliders are designed: they're very uncomfortable to use.

In any case, Active Pixels is an excellent photo editor that can be very useful for those cases in which you don't have Photoshop at hand or you just prefer to use a lighter app to perform the same tasks.

A great photo editor with which you can edit and optimize images, all for free.

Download Active Pixels 3.05 in Softonic

Due to lossy nature of the JPEG format each editing and subsequent recompression of JPEG images in generic image editors such as Photoshop results in progressive degradation of image quality.

Fortunately, in many cases there is a way to avoid the unnecessary recompression. If all you need is to quickly process a bunch of JPEG photos from the latest vacation - rotate, crop, remove red eye effect, imprint date or comment - you don't have to compromize the quality. Better JPEG is a batch JPEG editor capable of doing all this editing losslessly.

Main features:

• Lossless transformations - rotation, flip
• Lossless crop (free, fixed aspect, fixed size, predefined and user-defined aspects and sizes), composition guidelines (diagonals, golden mean, rule of thirds)
• Highly customizable lossless date/EXIF info/text insertion (position, font, size, color, background, language, format, etc.)
• Advanced lossless red eye removal (anti-aliasing, adjustable size, sensitivity, darkening)
• Copy/paste to external editor and back for local retouching without full recompression
• Batch image processing
• Multi-level undo/redo
• Metadata preservation
• Compression optimization

Download BetterJPEG 2.0.0.6 in Softonic

Creating a decent logo is something that a lot of companies don't take enough time over, but it can be essential to the branding and marketing of a product.

AAA Logo 2008 logo creation software aims to make creating logos creative but quick at the same time. It has hundreds of templates and suggestions to choose from, or you can just start from scratch. You can add customize those templates that are available in the way you want, changing the color and pattern before exporting it to the Web or to print.

AAA Logo 2008 is far from a great design package though. What you can create is pretty limited in terms of style, shape and special effects. It looks and acts more like a glorified version of MS Paint but with logo templates. However, if you're no Photoshop whizz and want something as straightforward as possible, it couldn't be better. The logo templates fulfill everything from corporate designs to more fresh and youthful-looking brands so there's something in there for everyone.

If you've started a company and need a pretty cheap and cheerful logo, you're sure to find something you can tailor in AAA Logo 2008.

Download AAA Logo 2008 2.2 in Softonic

Smaller Animals ThumbNailer is a Windows utility that allows you to create thumbnail images and image galleries. You can use it to convert between one graphics format and another, change image color depth, resize images, make image galleries for the web or CD and more.

Features of the app:

• Wizards to help you get up and running quickly
• JPG, GIF, MPEG, JPEG-2000, PNG, TIFF, PCX, BMP, WBMP, PhotoCD, Photoshop, TGA, ASCII, WMF and EMF
• AVI, TTF (TrueType Fonts), animated GIF and multi-page TIFF frame extraction
• Support for reading RAW, NEF, FlashPix, video files and more via plug-ins
• Batch or single file operation
• HTML page generator, with links, tables, HTML templates, and more
• Output images in a wide choice of formats and color depths
• Apply contrast, sharpening, brightness corrections
• Copy EXIF and IPTC data from JPG files

Download ThumbNailer 9.1.0.1 in Softonic

HandySnap is a precision-engineered screen capture software designed to capture any portion of the computer screen and insert comments and various graphics to captured images. HandySnap features a tiny, concise user interface that doesn’t obscure the desktop. By implementing a Photoshop-style design in the interface, the program minimizes the learning curve for users.

Download HandySnap 1.4.2.0 in Softonic

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite is no Windows Paint. It's one of the most comprehensive and advanced image editing packages outside of Photoshop so before you even consider using it, take a deep breath and make a big pot of coffee.

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite encompasses a huge range of smart design tools for producing professional images. Apart from being highly functional, The suite helps smooth your workflow and works with just about any file format imaginable, so it increases your productivity because it doesn't leave you scratching around for image converters, filters etc. In particular, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite allows you to easily convert bitmap images to editable and scalable vector files without the need for a third party program.

The suite is specifically aimed at professional designers and business people and comprises of three main components - CorelDRAW for illustration and page layout, Corel PHOTO-PAINT for digital imaging and Corel R.A.V.E. (no nothing to do with acid house parties) for motion graphics creation. Put simply, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite is fantastic for creating illustrations, logos, brochures, newsletters, flyers, signs and Web images.

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite is an excellent package for anyone seriously interested in design although it can probably never quite reach the heights of Photoshop.

Download CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 in Softonic

By a bizarre twist of fate 3DS Max is now owned by the same firm that publishes its age rival, Maya, yet the pair of heavyweight 3D applications remain the two main choices for animators working in the three-dimensional realm. Although Maya’s popularity has increased of late (perhaps largely due to its superior accessibility for newcomers), 3DS still remains a key player within the industry, and this latest incarnation significantly improves upon the wire-frame mapping approach of the past.

Perhaps the biggest innovation within version 8 of the app is the inclusion of a ‘pelt mapping’ feature. For the benefit of those who don’t work for Pixar or Rockstar Games, this is basically a device for ‘unwrapping’ a wireframe model in order to paint its exterior. This can save you a lot of time and unnecessary Photoshop tomfoolery when working with organic objects, such as human faces or characters. However, it isn’t so adept at handling non-organic objects like cars, streets or houses, as the results are typically very liquidy.

As always, 3DS Max allows you to be very precise in terms of the mapping of your creations, perhaps even more so than Maya. Besides the standard mapping tools, the application now contains all manner of alignment features to ensure that you get pinpoint accuracy when modelling. What’s more, 3DS now contains more flexible options for relax, the tool that averages UVs and allows for the automatic relief of texture distortion. If used in conjunction with another function, show edge distortion, then the mapping of your characters becomes all the easier.

There are dozens of other features within the software that will help you produce stunning 3D models without tearing your hair out. We were particularly taken with the render UVW template function, allowing very quick template rendering of your prepared UVs, either in wireframe, filled, mapped or shaded versions. With a raft of skinning and modelling tools, 3DS Max gives you very precise control over your models, without having to code or program every co-ordinate, making it a very user-friendly option.

Naturally, the cost of the full version of the program will put off many 3D hobbyists, but for serious animation professionals it’s an application that is to be ignored at your peril. Although it remains to be seen whether there will be an amalgamation with Maya, 3DX Max remains a world leader in its market and, given enough patience, can be used to transform the outer limits of your imagination into a fantastic reality.

Download Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 in Softonic

PTLens is an excellent application to correct or add distortion to your pictures.

You'll be able to apply a fish eye effect, modify perspective, chromatic aberation and vignetting. PTLens also lets you correct barrel-pincushion distortion on a wide range of camera models. It doesn't seem to allow you to add new models though. Adding effects is really easy thanks to sliders and you can immediately see the changes in the preview. You can also simply disable an effect you don't want by unselecting it.

The program's interface does feel a little clunky, and you wonder why the directory is on the right, instead of next to the preview. We appreciate that a Photoshop plugin for PTLens comes in the installer though, as many photographers prefer working straight in Photoshop. The plugin will work exactly as the standalone application.

Despite the slightly unintuitive interface, PTLens is an excellent tool for correcting image distortion. Recommended for any serious photographer!

Download PTLens 8.7.4 in Softonic

Sometimes you need a quick and easy solution to your conversion needs whether it's audio or images that are the problem.

Konvertor is a simple multimedia viewer and converter which supports conversion of various formats of images, animations, audio, video and text formats quickly and easily. Konvertor is able to convert just about any conceivable format which makes it extremely powerful. You can also use Konverter to organise your files by labeling them with personalised descriptions and as regards images, add filters. These include such effects as resizing, blurring and charcoal effects and it even accepts Photoshop plugins. However, the program only works alongside Internet Explorer as a plugin so Firefox users will be disappointed. By right clicking on images on any internet page, you can preview them in Konverter and be given options which format you want to convert it to. It also offers you the option to send the photo by e-mail or set it as your Windows wallpaper. The developers claim it supports over 140 formats and while that may be hard to believe, you'll certainly find it hard to catch it out.

Konverter is a great IE add on for anyone that wants to have an all powerful conversion tool for images and some audio.

Download Konvertor 3.66 in Softonic

If you fancy designing a new website for yourself, then turn back now, Twisted Brush has not been developed to give clean crisp graphics, and will frustrate you unless you use it for what it was designed for, art. Having established that this is a program for drawing, it follows that the most natural way to sketch anything and in turn to use this software effectively is with a pen and a drawing tablet.

When the program starts, you’re assaulted by the quick-start guide that is designed to gently introduce you to the features. In reality it’s a bunch of screenshots crammed with info bubbles that contain un-detailed information and no links to find out more. That said, how many people stop to read welcome screens anyway?

A lot of effort was put into making TwistedBrush a realistic substitute for actual painting and when you start working with the various brushes you see just how well they interact with the colors to create a convincing portrait. Undoubtedly the greatest strength of this program is the vast selection of brush types and styles that are available to use. From simple fine pens, to wet oil brushes, to progressive 3D designs, you’ll find them all. The beauty of each brush is that they can be used quickly and easily, with stunning effects.

You will also find support for all the major image file formats, including TIFF, PSD, JPG, GIF, and PNG and there is an option to create a script, either to record the steps taken in the painting process, to insert a message, or to insert random dabs of paint, something that doesn’t quite seem to add to the functionality (although any Dadaists out there may disagree about that).

While getting to grips with the program, it seemed that there was one feature that had been unforgettably forgotten, the select tool. After using Photoshop for so long, this seems like a key tool in any imaging software that the TwistedBrush developers have overlooked. Alternatively it could be the very omission of the select tool that sets this program apart with the production process being more of an evolution rather than a construction.

TwistedBrush is a quality painting application that, judging from its interface and features, is aimed at anyone with a drawing tablet. There are tons of great brushes to experiment with but for anyone relying on the lowly mouse and the lack of a selection tool, it may become very frustrating, very quickly.

Download TwistedBrush Pro Studio 15.51 in Softonic

Wire Pilot is photo retouching software especially designed for the removal of annoying wires in photos. The software allows you to remove wires, posts, antennas and other unwanted linear objects from a photo. It enables you to do so with far more ease and accuracy than using Photoshop or other image manipulation software.

Wire Pilot is very simple to use. You simply place the cursor on the line you want to remove and using the mouse wheel or cursor keys, set the cursor size and position on the line you are about to remove. You so this until the background color within the cursor circle matches the one of the object as much as possible. Simply use the mouse button to remove the line and then repeat this procedure along the corrected object.

Note that if you prefer to use this software within your favourite graphics program such as Photoshop or Elements, you can do so as a plug-in. This is a handy piece of software that makes life a lot easier than using traditional photo apps although it can still end up removing things that you don't want it to.

Download Wire Pilot 3.0.4 in Softonic

This very basic image editing tool can be used to remove any scratches on your old photographs but that is just about all you can do. In this sense, it is a very specialized program and as a result won’t appeal to many users.

Retouch Pilot’s major advantage is its simplicity. While a lot of people will be frustrated by the lack of functionality, those who are wary of complicated procedures and difficult to use tools will appreciate the minimal approach. Simply open the file you want to clean up, select the scratch tool, (there is only one other tool, the “Undo Brush”) and carefully trace over or click the parts of the image that need to be fixed.

In terms of effectiveness, the program can do an excellent job on obvious flaws when they contrast highly with the surrounding colors, especially when working on monotone photographs. However, for highly detailed images or not so obvious discrepancies, the program stumbles and the desired result is not so straightforward to achieve.

The interface is uncomplicated and there is an extensive undo history although this may be somewhat unnecessary with the availability of the Undo Brush. For someone who has a collection of old, slightly damaged photographs that they would like to scan and clean up a little bit, this is a convenient solution. However, for anyone who is serious about getting great results and having complete control, they should check out Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro.

Download Retouch Pilot 3.0.2 in Softonic

XnView Portable is, put simply, a file explorer that has been especially adapted for image files and is developed to be run from a USB key.

XnView Portable features the same design and the same tools as its older brother XnView, which makes it a really convenient photo editor that you can carry anywhere with you. It has support for a few hundred different graphic formats as well as other media files such as AVI and MP3.

The interface in XnView Portable is divided into two sections: the left pane shows the folder structure, while the right one is where the contents of the selected folder are displayer. A double click on any image is enough to open it in full screen and work on it with the program's set of tools. XnView Portable is obviously no Photoshop, but you'll be able to do some cropping and resizing, adjust brightness, correct red eyes and other basic editing and retouching tasks.

If XnView is your favorite resident image viewer, now you can take it anywhere with you thanks to XnView Portable.

Download XnView Portable 1.94.2 in Softonic

If you've got a few special photos that you intend to blow up or use for something important, it's always a good idea to retouch them slightly to optimise their appearance.

If you do this with Photoshop, then expect a steep learning curve because you'll be fiddling around for hours with filters and other industry standard enhancement tools. However, if you're looking for something that can do the job with the minimum of fuss and ease of use, then you should take a look at Lightbox Free Image Editor.

Lightbox Free Image Editor is a bit of an ugly duckling interface wise - the developers have clearly opted for substance over style but it's surprisingly effective at what it does. The main control Lightbox Free Image Editor gives you is over brightness, shadows, color and saturation of images. These can play a crucial part in ensuring your image looks it's best but finding the right combination can be trial and error. However, you can use Lightbox Free Image Editor "Auto Balance" and "Smart Fill Light Options" to automatically see if Lightbox Free Image Editor can do a decent job itself.

If it's red eye you need to remove, Lightbox Free Image Editor automatically takes care of it (with mixed levels of success) and it can also add borders to your images and trim fuzzy edges or annoying objects in photos.

Lightbox Free Image Editor is a simple solution for photo editors that's particularly useful when it comes to balancing light problems.

Download LightBox Free Image Editor 1.20 in Softonic

Massive photo editing tools like Photoshop are great, but some find them too heavy and complicated for everyday usage.

PicPick is definitely a better choice if what you need is just a simple image editor. With PicPick you can easily perform simple editing tasks to your photos, including brightness, contrast and color adjustment, grayscale, blur, pixelate and other special effects. There's also a cool whiteboard feature which enables you to write and draw directly on the screen.

But PicPick is not only an image editor: it's also a full featured screen capturing tool with which you can capture the image on your monitor in several ways: full screen, active window, user-defined area and more. Plus, PicPick can work with several documents simultaneously and captures can be triggered with customizable keyboard shortcuts, which makes it even handier.

I liked the versatility of PicPick, as well as the fact that it doesn't require installation. On the downside, I missed certain features such as support for printing or the ability to capture complete webpages with automatic scrolling.

PicPick is a lightweight yet full featured image editor and capturer, perfect for simple daily image editing tasks.

Download PicPick 1.7.2 in Softonic

Icon creation has evolved. Use the industry standard to create, extract, convert, manage Windows icons. It supports all existing icon formats up to Windows XP. Use drag & drop to easily compose icons from various images in seconds. Features a Photoshop transfer plug-in. Hundreds of features allow you to produce high-quality icons using a fully integrated workspace.

Download Axialis IconWorkshop 6.30 in Softonic

If you've been labelling your burned DVD and CD discs with a marker pen then stop - use Discus instead to create some truly original CD covers.

Discus allows you to create and print CD and DVD labels, CD case covers and inserts, DVD box covers and inserts, and more. Discus supports all direct printing onto discs via printer but this depends on whether your own printer supports this option. The great thing though is that Discus allows you to import your own photos and artwork or use one of the many predefined templates provided with the program.

The key thing you'll notice with Discus is the speed at which it does everything. It loads instantly and requires no installation - Discus can be run directly from the EXE file. As regards design and control, there's not a great deal of creativity that it allows itself. It's better to create something in Photoshop and then import it into the program. However, you can perform special text features such as curved and angled text to fit the contours of the disc.

A super fast and easy way to create your disc covers, Discus is one of the quickest ways to give your CD's and DVD's a personal touch.

Download Discus 4.06 in Softonic

Not everybody has a plotter at home, so if you want to print large-sized posters in your humble A4 printer, your best option is Posterazor.

This open-source tool splits up any image into several sheets of paper, enabling you to print them out and then build a poster as large as you want it to be. Just bear in mind that you should use high definition photos, because otherwise you'll get a nice pixelated design instead of a huge attractive poster to pin up on your bedroom's walls. The good thing is that Posterazor supports a really wide variety of image formats.

Posterazor works as a wizard, guiding you through five simple steps in order to create your poster. Though this is probably the easiest way to go for novice users, I missed having a somewhat more advanced interface with other extra options such as frames and borders, some guiding lines to cut out the image or the possibility to add a text layer or even apply a watermark, like in Posteriza (why do they all have similar names?).

The final poster is created in PDF format, so you'll need a PDF reader in order to open the file and print it. I personally recommend Foxit Reader but any other will do the trick. And I must say the results were gorgeous!

Despite lacking some advanced features, its ease of use and support for a wide array of image formats make of Posterazor a great tool for printing large posters.

Download PosteRazor 1.5 in Softonic