Beyond Photoshop

One of the major tasks facing your nonprofit is communicating your mission to the public. That often means coming up with attractive and professional-looking business documents and artistic collateral materials that help you get your message across.

You may want to produce a monthly newsletter, illustrated with photographs and drawings, for all your members. Or maybe you want to create a poster for an upcoming event, or a brochure to distribute to potential funders. Perhaps you even want to put most of that material on your organization's Web site. So many inspiring artistic tasks, too little money for software and time to learn how to use it.

And it doesn't help that when you ask around there seems to be only one word on everyone's lips: Photoshop.

There is plenty to love about Photoshop, and reams can be written extolling its virtues for print publishing, image editing, and Web preparation. But when nonprofits hear the word Photoshop, two questions likely come to mind: How much does it cost? How much time will it take to learn it? For many, the answer to both questions is the same: too much.

Don't worry. The universe is full of great digital imaging programs that cater to every need and budget.

Test Drive First

The value of a software program is not how much you pay for it, but whether it suits your needs. Less expensive programs are not always inferior, and they may not be easier to use. Generally, if you don't need a high-end program with lots of bells and whistles in order to perform simple tasks, then it makes sense to go for a mid-level program that has fewer features and is less expensive. Such programs may have a different interface than you're used to, or a diminished feature set, or they may not accept certain plug-ins (helper software applications that plug into the main program). If you are designing documents that will be printed on a commercial press or need four-color separations, make sure that the program supports the CMYK color space (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black).

The mantra in software today is, "Try before you buy." Free tryout licenses for software (either fully functioning for a limited time, or limited functionality) give you a hands-on sense of what it can do, how user-friendly it is, its level of free, online technical support, and whether its capabilities will meet your needs in the short and long run.

The tryout option also helps you determine whether your computer system is up to the job of running a particular program and how it actually performs on your system. When you research graphics programs, be sure to sync up the program's minimum system requirements with that of your computer. Sometimes minimum is a literal concept. The program may run, but so slowly and painfully that it's not worth the effort. A tryout will tell the story.

All the programs mentioned below have a free tryout option.

Drawing, Painting, and Image Editing Combos

The programs in this section are either suites of separate programs or integrated packages that help you with both vector-based drawing tasks and pixel-based image editing and photographic tasks. If you're unsure of what that means, see the article, "Creating Web Graphics ".

Digital Image Suite 10

Company:

Microsoft

Platform:

Windows

Price:

$129.00, offered to eligible nonprofits through TechSoup Stock for 5.00 admin fee

Microsoft Digital Image Suite 10 makes digital photography effortless by giving you the creative control and simple-to-use tools you need to create superior photos. This suite includes several complementary products that cover the range of tasks useful to the digital photographer: Organizational tools to help you categorize and locate your photos, Flags to allow you to mark photos for editing, printing, or other actions, and Archiving tools to help preserve images on your hard drive or storage cards, or by burning to CD or DVD.

Digital Image Pro 10 is a professional level photo-editing program for creative manipulation, removing faults, and enhancing featured elements. You’ll have easy control with one-click auto fixes (for color, exposure and more); “stitching” to combine multiple images; selection brush and mask for fast, precise edits; Smart Erase to eliminate entire objects; and many more.

Use Photo Story 2.0 (included) to turn your series of photos into video productions.

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite

Company:

Corel

Platform:

Windows/Mac

Price:

$429

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite is a versatile, multifaceted collection of professional applications for image editing, digital painting, vector-based drawing, and Web graphics and animation. Its core programs include CorelDRAW (described more fully in the draw program section below) to create vector graphics, PHOTO-PAINT to create bitmapped images, and R.A.V.E. to create Web site animations.

Corel PHOTO-PAINT is a professional paint program and image editor that features a large selection of creative tools such as textures, brushes, and image sprays. PHOTO-PAINT readies images for the Web with slicing tools, optimization, and rollover capability. A cut-out tool helps you isolate parts of an image. Image stitching lets you create seamless panoramas with multiple images, a feature missing from Photoshop. The red-eye removal tool, an automatic feature also missing from Photoshop, is handy for fixing photographs of people.

The Corel suite also comes with a full complement of add-ons: ScanSoft OmniPage SE renders scanned text editable; Font Reserve or Bitstream Font Navigator, font management utilities for the Mac and Windows; and CorelTRACE, which lets you trace bitmaps and convert them into vector graphics. Extra disks contain fonts, clip art, photo-realistic art, and bound instruction books in addition to the online help menu. The programs support more than 100 import/export filters.

This package is a head-to-head competitor with the Photoshop/Illustrator combination. If you consider the additional capabilities of the add-on programs and design resources packed into the box, the choice may come down to price, interface issues, its compatibility with the desktop publishing programs and Web design tools you are using, and other subjective factors.

ACD Canvas Professional

Company:

ACD Systems

Platform:

Windows/Mac

Price:

$399 (boxed), $349 (download)

This professional-level program integrates vector drawing, image editing, document design for desktop publishing, presentations, and Web design into one package. Canvas is not a graphic suite with individual breakout programs like Corel, but rather an integrated, all-in-one package that can handle pretty much any kind of visual task from printed page to Web page layout. It can create illustrations, complex drawings, multi-page presentations for booklets, pamphlets, and newsletters, and business presentations such as slide shows.

Image-editing features include textures, vector symbols, and gradients. Its sequence recorder/player lets new users automate complex actions quickly. A Favorite Inks palette saves much-used inks, textures, gradients, and patterns. The program's interface adjusts to bitmapped and vector modes, but the tools at your disposal remain the same. Like Photoshop, it has a CMYK mode suitable for printing. The program supports more than 25 file formats, including Flash, and can serve as a replacement for Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign -- as a print environment or Web authoring tool. Unlike Photoshop and Illustrator whose advanced features are targeted toward professional designers, Canvas is targeted to businesses that need a wide range of graphics applications.

Macromedia Fireworks

Company:

Macromedia

Platform:

Windows/Mac

Price:

$299

While Fireworks specializes in Web graphics compression and interactive image and menu creation, it is also a powerful image editor, providing a range of professional bitmap and vector tools for print-based business documents. It gives you image retouching, on-screen text editing, object and layer masks, gradients, and other enhanced tools. While editing a bitmap and manipulating a vector object are two distinct processes, Fireworks makes sure you don't confuse the two by dividing its toolbar into different sectors to accommodate both. It automatically switches you to the right mode depending on which type of image you're working on.

Since Fireworks was originally developed for Web graphics, it simulates Photoshop's bundled ImageReady program for image slicing, creating drop-down navigation menus and forms, and JavaScript-based image swapping without launching and running a different program and having to switch back and forth. On the print side, Fireworks has fewer built-in special effects filters than Photoshop and does not accept Photoshop plug-ins, which may be a limitation for some users. If your work is primarily Web-based, this program is an advanced, and reasonably priced Photoshop alternative. However, if you are working mostly in print and need the pre-press capabilities of CMYK, it may not be as versatile as you want.

Jasc / Corel PaintShop Pro

Company:

Corel

Platform:

Windows only

Price:

$109 (box) $99 (download)

This easy-to-learn paint and photo-editing program lets you enhance and repair photos, sharpen, and color correct images derived from digital cameras or scanners. Specialized brushes let you paint original art. Considered a mid-level program, the program's automatic features correct photos and batch process images for use on art destined for a brochure, publicity or event materials, posters and flyers, and other printed documents.

PaintShop Pro works with vector illustrations and can export any graphic you create to a Web format. The program offers considerably less flexibility, depth and variety than Photoshop. While it can export to optimized image formats such as GIF, JPEG, and PNG it doesn't give you a lot of creative options. A limited range of special effects filters lets you easily experiment without committing to the changes.

Ulead PhotoImpact

Company:

Ulead

Platform:

Windows only

Price:

$90 (box) $80 (download)

An easy-to-learn photo-editing program, PhotoImpact provides professional filters for photo enhancement and special effects. Designed to work with digital cameras, the program also gives you a management tool to organize and locate pictures. A batch processing function takes the tedium out of working with large groups of images. In addition to its pixel editing power, PhotoImpact is capable of working with text, vector graphics, and 3D modes. A mid-level program, it does not include CMYK capabilities for print publishing.

PhotoImpact has nine clone tools, 13 retouch tools, and some unique automatic effects such as the Beautify Skin Effect and Match Background Color. That tops other competitors in its class, such as PaintShop Pro and Photoshop Elements. The software lets you merge multiple images to increase the highlights and shadow details. It is not designed to simulate Photoshop's huge feature set, but despite its low price it offers a range of in-depth color correction tools.

Image Editing Programs

The programs in this section are strictly image editors for use with pixel-based images and photographs. They do not work with vector art, for the most part.

Adobe Photoshop

Company:

Adobe

Platform:

Windows/Mac

Price:

$609

Although this article is a guide to Photoshop alternatives, it's worthwhile to know what Photoshop offers. This high-end professional graphics package is considered the standard for both print and Web production. Its steep learning curve is worth the effort if your organization requires varied graphical responsibilities across print and electronic media, and can afford the price. The program comes bundled with ImageReady, a Web-oriented program that facilitates the creation of sophisticated Web effects, such as rollover navigation bars and animations.

Painterly effects give images an artistic flair. Layer effects and layer styles give you one-click control over images and display type. If you need special effects filters, many are included in the program and most others are created to work with Photoshop, so you seldom need to worry about compatibility issues. A file browser lets you find any image in your hard drive easily while letting you preview and giving you the specifications. Photoshop is also a professional pre-press tool and includes the CMYK color space.

Photoshop has a limited vector capability -- but not enough to compete with its companion program, Illustrator -- when dealing with type and objects. To apply special effects and styles, type and objects must be rasterized first. Photoshop is not an easy-to-learn program. Even veterans admit that they don't know everything about it. However, it is a widely accepted standard, and if you anticipate your needs expanding over time, it may prove a good value for the money.

Adobe Photoshop Elements

Company:

Adobe

Platform:

Windows/Mac

Price:

$99

This consumer based image-editing program is appropriate for both print and online photo and image preparation. While not a sophisticated pre-press tool like its hefty cousin, Photoshop, it does contain many of the graphic capabilities of Photoshop. But it is simpler to learn and use, and much less expensive. Photoshop Elements has a unique interface called Recipes. These are tutorials that guide you step-by-step through the process of editing your images. Not only does Photoshop Elements achieve some complex maneuvers transparently, it is also an educational tool that gives you some hints on how to approach photographic problems. Photoshop Elements has a layers-based interface that is just right for Web animations. Its text handling, like Photoshop's, is done in vector format, which takes the trauma out of resizing type.

ArcSoft PhotoStudio

Company:

ArcSoft

Platform:

Windows/Mac

Price:

$50

An elementary image editing program for beginners, this easy-to-use program lets you perform simple photo editing and retouching tasks. You get multiple undo/redo, layers, editable text, and batch processing. That is in addition to clone, red-eye removal, stitch, and a host of artistic effects. Options include image brightness and contrast; hue, saturation, and tone; and color reduction and balance. The program also supports a variety of file formats and can compress images for the Web. Despite its assets, PhotoStudio is not considered a Photoshop substitute. Its feature set is does not have anywhere near the vast range of Photoshop's, its display type is not in vector format, and it has no CMYK capability. But if you're editing photos and want a flexible, inexpensive program, this might just do the job.

Microsoft Paint

Company:

Microsoft

Platform:

Windows only

Price:

Free

If you are using the Windows OS, don't forget to look in your hard drive (in Programs>Accessories, under the Start button) for Microsoft Paint, a free image-editing program that displays and lets you edit bitmapped images. This is an elementary program that is not marketed as a commercial program, but it can assist with some simple graphic tasks such as viewing and editing bitmapped images, drawing lines and shapes, adding text to an image, stretching and skewing an object, rotating a photo, creating a desktop image in Windows, and preparing images to embed in Microsoft Office documents. ThisMicrosoft Paint Tutorial gives you an overview of the tools and techniques.

The GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)

Platform:

Linux/Windows

Price:

Free

This Open Source pixel-based graphics program can be used on both Windows and GNU/Linux operating systems. The GIMP is a powerful program and has many of the sophisticated elements, tools, filters, and Web capabilities found in Photoshop. Use it to create complex paintings and artwork. It works with masks, layers, channels, and paths. It has an abundance of brushes, patterns, gradients, and palettes. The interface takes some getting used to, though, and it depends on how much time you have to devote to learning the program. The GIMP also is not a bona fide pre-press tool and provides very little support for the CMYK color space, something that is well evolved in Photoshop. But all that imaging power for free -- it's certainly worth a try.

Drawing and Illustration Programs

The programs in this section are designed for use with vector-based graphics such as illustrations and drawings.

Adobe Illustrator

Company:

Adobe

Platform:

Windows/Mac

Price:

$399

This is a companion program to Adobe Photoshop but not nearly as expensive. Over the years, Adobe has tried to integrate its graphic applications by making them play together more smoothly and ease the learning curve for new users. Alone, Illustrator is an advanced drawing tool that is popular among graphic art professionals. But even those who create simple print documents such as logos, cartoon images, posters, and invitations, can appreciate Illustrator's fine points such as its transformation tools that resize, rotate, reflect, and shear objects; its blend tools that blend objects along an editable path; its live effects that keep objects editable; and its typographic control. There are scripts to automate repetitive tasks. The program's vast feature set is a good value for those who can take the time to learn it.

Macromedia Freehand

Company:

Macromedia

Platform:

Windows/Mac

Price:

$399

Macromedia Freehand is a professional vector graphics program and a complete illustration and drawing tool. Freehand has a huge variety of creative tools for both print and online publishing. If you need to design illustrations, produce storyboards and multi-page documents such as booklets and brochures, Freehand has everything you need to accomplish those tasks. It was designed to integrate with other Macromedia programs such as Fireworks, the image editing program (described above), and Dreamweaver, the Web authoring tool, but it is also a comprehensive standalone application. One of Freehand's big advantages is its ability to export to Macromedia's popular Flash format, which Illustrator also does. Freehand has several desktop publishing functions such as multi-page capability that Illustrator does not have, and that may come in handy. If you need an advanced program with myriad capabilities, this is a good choice.

iDraw

Company:

MacPowerUser

Platform:

Mac OS X only

Price:

$40

A low-cost illustration and animation program, iDraw lets you create a wide variety of artistic images for your print and online communications. This program features translucent colors, gradients, object transformations, and sophisticated text-handling tools. It lets you create documents and images of any size and provides a robust set of tools that give you all the shapes you'll need to create any image. It exports to many universal file formats including JPEG, GIF, and PNG, as well as Flash and QuickTime. iDraw is a simple vector manipulation tool that has some basic shapes and can handle vector text. Its toolbar is spare, containing basic, but no specialty tools. Its few controls handle objects and text, and can export to a variety of formats. iDraw has a pleasant interface and is easy to learn, but it offers no competition to Illustrator, CorelDRAW, or Freehand. For more artistic depth, you'll need to use a higher-end program.

SmartDraw

Company:

SmartDraw

Platform:

Windows only

Price:

$69 (standard), $129 (professional), $198 (professional plus)

This vector-based drawing program lets you produce a wide variety of business documents, including illustrated reports, charts, diagrams, and technical drawings. Use it to create a corporate identity program complete with stationery and business cards. SmartDraw imports and exports to most common print illustration and Web formats. Export your drawings to other programs such as Microsoft Office by simply copying and pasting the image into a Word or other document. The standard version comes bundled with 1,000 symbols, templates, and clip art images. Three levels of features help you economize by choosing the right one for your needs.

The professional level version gives you support for Microsoft Office, a spell checker, more advanced import/export functionality, the ability to create your own shapes, and one symbol collection. The Professional Plus version has all of that and adds 10 more symbol collections. SmartDraw Photo, a companion image-editing program for $69, lets you download photos from a digital camera and perform some basic image editing tasks such as removing red eye, repairing defects, and resizing. It does not have a multi-page function like Freehand or Canvas.