Introduction

To reach the highest number of customers in today's business environment, it is critical to have multiple media formats for your marketing and business literature. It is also important to have an experienced full-service graphic design firm or individual contractor that can provide them.

Your business should possess a print version that can be handed out or placed in locations where potential customers will take one, an electronic version in PDF that can be posted on a website for download and printed by the customer, an image version that can be posted on sites such as Instagram or Facebook for customers to view, and an HTML version that is formatted for targeted emails to customers.

Print Version

A print version is the most basic format and how your business will reach many local customers. It is also the basis for the other formats as they should all be uniform. A good designer will create the literature in an industry standard application such as Adobe InDesign® or Illustrator®. As the customer, you provide the content and design or allow the designer to create the design. If the latter, the designer will become familiar with your company's branding, previous literature format, and website to create a format that reflect your business.

Electronic Version

The designer will next provide a print quality file. If you are using a designer that provides full-service to include the printing, the designer will manage the proper file type. If you are using in-house printing or third-party printing, the designer will need to know what file format to provide it in such as PDF, InDesign, Illustrator, etc.

In addition, the designer will provide various levels of file quality for electronic distribution such as downloading from a website or emailing to customers as an attachment. Your designer will understand the effects various file sizes will have on the visual quality of the content and be able to provide you an optimized file.

Image Version

An image version of your literature is for sites such as Instagram® or Pinterest® which primarily use posting of photos. Depending on the amount of text you wish to include will dictate the resolution and the image size. Whether it is an image of the entire document or a snapshot of a portion of it, your designer will be familiar with the different resolution requirements.

HTML Email Version

Most email distribution sites such as MailChimp® require the email content and graphics to be coded in HTML. You may use the built-in content designer provided by the site, but to ensure maximum control over the visual content, hard coding the HTML and then uploading it is effective. Different email clients such as Outlook shows the HTML differently and has different requirements. Your designer, if they are full-service, will be familiar with these requirements and be able to test the code in different email clients.

In addition, depending on your target audience, certain information must be present in the email such as a company address, opt out link, etc. This is listed under the federal CAN-SPAM Act. Your full-service designer will be familiar with this and ensure it meets requirements.

Conclusion

To reach the highest number of customers in today's business environment, it is critical to have multiple media formats for your marketing and business literature. This paper listed those formats and explained what your business should expect from a full-service Graphic Design firm or individual. The ideal designer will be able to provide all the formats providing one point of contact to minimize the time required to get edits or changes completed.

"Know your worth because schools do not teach artist's what they are worth. Most of the client's will prey on younger artists because they don't understand how to get paid. If you are going to work for free, work for yourself: This is a more rewarding exposure. " – Armel Oenn, November 10th, 2017

The memory is vague and it has taken some time to truly collect all of the details on how it was that I first came across Armel's work. I do recall browsing through Deviantart art and discovering the full comic of "Undertale Reset" (what was completed) while I was at work on a slow day. It was magnificent. The sepia tones, her understanding of lighting, and the overall artistry of the figures was captivating. It was the colors that truly inspired me. Even to the extent of visually studying her work to try and understand what she was doing. Compiling my own understanding of other adobe software in an attempt to replicate it. I was drawn immediately to her illustrations, and my search for more of an understanding eventually brought me to her official website. Around this time school projects were coming up and I had to find someone I liked, to pair with another Illustrator for our assignment, so I thought "why not?"

Part of the many activities I enjoy is research. I'm driven by a raw excitement when I find something new that I don't understand, or don't know enough about. I had a similar reaction when I started the written assignment on Armel. I searched through every corner of the internet to find as much as I could. In that search I stumbled on a handful of works that I'd like to discuss. As I do adore all of Armel's art my personal favorite would have to be "You'll be a man."

"You'll be a man" is a short film created by Armel Oenn, it is her french thesis project that was crafted using the traditional animation studio production method. This video is her only animatic project (animated storyboard) and It was made in the year 2012. She had help from Cécile MARIAN and Victor CHEA as voice actors and Mathieu DAHAN as the main musical composer. Her story is set in a world where society has been devastated by cloned machines that appear humanoid. These new humanoids are quarantined from the rest of humanity and any that escape are often dealt with one way or another.

The story center's its attention on a gang of friends within this odd time fantasizing the glories of war. Being unable to understand french most of the details are vague but despite this Armel's animations manage to convey the story even with the language barrier. The most sinister aspect about these friends was their clear cruelty towards any of the machines that managed to escape from confinement. This story, as an honest statement, drew emotions of anxiety and guilt after watching it. I remember boiling with rage when the injustices were executed. I remember the sinking despair when there was not a resolution after these events. That left powerful emotions within me, and they resonated for a handful of days when my mind would return to those scenes. I didn't know how to handle it. I am used to a society where there is often a happy ending, and where justice tends to be given to those who deserve it. Watching that little girl die, and knowing the guilt that Jasper felt after the course of action he took to save his own life. It left me depressed about the whole situation, and it reminded me about my own faults and unresolved injustices. The story spoke to humanity and truly revealed our imperfections. The machines in the story were more human than the humans themselves. Despite these raw emotions I loved the story telling. I loved that she brought that much out of me, it made me feel and it didn't disappoint like so many of the stories do today. My research into Armel did not stop there. Finding that story was only the beginning, and from that moment on I found myself inspired and captivated. Not just from her works, but with the artist themselves.

Armel Oenn was born in the year 1987 in France, set with a family who only wished the best for their daughter and her future. Seeing that at the very young age she had developed an exceptional talent in the arts, they handed her over to her grandfather in the hopes that her talent would grow. For two years, her Grandfather tutored and trained her in the basics of art. It was a mix-feeling experience as the artist reflect that her Grandfather was not a skilled pedagogue, eventually stirring a hatred of coloring and paint or anything like it and growing a fondness of pencil drawing and anatomy. One afternoon, after two years being under his care, he informed her that he could not teach her anything further. She had progressed beyond his expertise and, from that point on, had to continue on her own. He dropped on the table a mound of books and studies, that used to belong to him, closing the teaching by handing her the first artbook of the pile, a retrospective of Leonardo Da Vinci's life. After that day, she applied herself in studying vigorously this art library, to point in which the binding of the books would come undone and the pages would separate.

At the age of 13, she became engrossed with the idea of ​​creating stories. Generating well over 100 stories in one year. Sharing them with close friends who supported her through several hardships in school and pushed Armel to create as much as possible. As the years pass, and her friendship grew, reception time became a storytelling moment, in which she would walk in the courtyard, counting her friends the next episode the had created. One day as she was describing the ending of her latest tale, she noticed a sniffing sound. She turned to find that her friends were moved and a few were even crying. The story she had told, had struck emotion from them, a feeling that filed her with joy. Armel knew from that moment then that pulling emotion from the audience would be her goal. Watching another person react to her work, to the story she created, was her desire in life. She wanted to make people feel. This passion skipped to several mediums despite art being her well-versed skill. She experimented with film, writing, comics, and just about any other method she could discover that would allow her to share her tales. She believed that comics wouldn't suffice to show everything she wanted to give. It was a slow rigorous process and she had hoped that maybe through film she could share her stories at a faster pace. She comments now that it's not the case and it's just as slow if not slower.

Through several arguments with her family involving her shift of mediums and fear she would quit doing art, Armel tried to bend to their wishes to appease them. She eventually through a talk with an instructor realized that there was a solution to her problem: animation. With her family relieved and the oppression lifted, Armel found her passion once more. Delving into contest after contest to apply for schools in France, she was eventually accepted into ENSAD (National High School of Decorative Arts of Paris) graduating with a Master in Fine Art and Animation.

It is considered one of the highest ranking schools in her district and out of 6,000 contestants, only 80 students are accepted each year. However to note, ENSAD's concept of art is harshly different than what we could expect from an art school. In the US, we stress upon technical skill and understanding fundamentals. But in that school, their art was subjective and conceptual. It was noted from one of Armel's instructor that she may have graduated with them but she did not learn her skills from the college itself but rather from outside influence. During her Junior year of college, she earned a scholarship to be sent overseas to New York. Her work was so highly praised and sought-after that the lead instructor of the animation department sent in a referral for her to skip a year and study at SVA. Even introducing her to a man from Pixar which to a great deal of sadness did not follow through due to technical difficulties. There were complications towards her stay at SVA due to lack of funds and the school's problem with her skipping a year. The agreement to allow her to stay concluded with her studying during both the summer and fall semester, and graduate in New York which she did, ontop of being named on the Dean's List for high academic performance.

Armel went on to make many more achievements, such as working as an advertising illustrator and animator for Intel and Samsung, or assisting the animator Bill Plympton in his latest long feature "Revengeance". One of her greatest achievements was seeing her short "4 O'clock" awarded the Best Short Animation Prize at both the Festival of Toulouse "Imagine Now" 2010 and The Barcelona Planet Film Festival 2017. Siding along with those award, her short has made the screening of several festivals for the past couple of years and was recently added into the library of HEWES Pictures agency in New York, for a 4 years distribution license on a national level.

In recent events however, Armel has experienced some strife over her past four years in the US It is a fight to find money and a fight to survive in what we all know to be the Country of the American Dream. Our home was a place where anyone could enter our borders and find a future that they desired. But this is a long journey of hardship and determination. The hopes and dreams of people coming into America, the ones who are sincere in their intentions, can find it difficult to hold a solid ground.

For Armel it has been a constant battle. After being let go, following the merging of the agency employing her, she continues to fight for her right to remains in the US, earning a visa for exceptional ability, building her studio to keep the dream going on. Fighting every obstacles she stumbled upon. But she has hope she will go through it all, no matter what is presented to her.

Armel Oenn is in serious need of support. She is an admirable woman. For what she is worth. I find her underrecognized, people truly need to know more about her. Her story, what she desires to share, and most importantly her indomitable spirit and courage. She has been given the short end of the stick at every turn and despite these shortcomings, Armel has not once allowed herself to fully succumb to the iron fist of societal opinion, politics, and cruelty. She is an inspiration. My inspiration and I want to possess that fire she has because it is unstoppable.

Having the strength to contact her in the first place was the most nerve wracking experience of my life. I was truly humbled by not just her exceptional abilities as an artist but a person as a whole. The moment I started my Interview on her, however, opened a whole new world of thought and conversation. It wasn't a interview anymore at that point for me, it was a gift that kept on giving. Her advice was free flowing, very much like an American Illustrator known as Al Parker. People described Al Parker's generosity with such fondness and the both of them share that grace. I felt her pain during the conversations of her past and the emotions of joy when there was a success in her life. I dearly wish to support her and to follow her every step of career path. I know I have repeated it more than once, but I do so because I desire to emphasize it. I am inspired.

I see an exceptional artist, and I know that there are a lot of you out there who see the same. The best we can do for Armel now is give her our support and prove to others that don't know about her how much she is worth. I want to help her to stay in America and I want to see her dreams become reality. Let's rally for her and give the support she needs.

Throughout the classical period and into modern times, fencing masters have divided the foil target into four specific areas. These are commonly termed lines, and sometimes lines of attack, lines of defense (Rondelle 1892), or lines of parry (Cass 1930). The result is a division of the target into high and low, outside and inside lines, creating four quadrants. How you understand these quadrants depends on how they are described and illustrated.

The illustrations are key to how many fencers, even today, think about the target. They have appeared in multiple texts, and fall into two categories:

• Illustrations that show the lines as subdivisions on the chest of the fencing jacket.
• Illustrations that show the lines with the fencer holding a weapon.

The difference is significant. The illustrations based on as subdivision of the chest, such as Colomore Dunn’s (1891), show the target divided laterally and vertically into four similar areas. The vertical division is down the centerline of the chest and abdomen; the horizontal division splits the target into two essentially equal parts. The weapon arm is not depicted, providing no reference to how the quadrants align with the weapon. The impression is that these are fixed segments based on the shape and size of the fencer’s body.

In contrast, the illustrations (for example, Pinto Martins 1895 and Cass 1930) that include the weapon arm, show the quadrants in relation to the weapon. This is important, because a hit to the upper forward quadrant of the chest could be a hit in either of the two high line quadrants, depending on the location of the arm.

The quadrants themselves are described in the same way by most sources based on the French school. There are four lines:

• High line – everything above a horizontal line drawn through the guard or the fencer’s hand.
• Low Line – everything below a horizontal line drawn through the guard or the fencer’s hand.
• Inside Line – everything from a vertical line through the guard toward the fencer’s chest and abdomen (to the fencer’s left if right-handed, or to the right if left-handed).
• Outside Line – everything from a vertical line through the guard toward the fencer’s flank and back (to the fencer’s right if right-handed, or to the left if left-handed).

The combination of the lines results in the four quadrants:

• High Inside – also termed Fourth.
• Low Inside – also termed Seventh. Rondelle terms this Low Fourth.
• Low Outside – also termed Second or Eighth. Rondelle terms this Low Sixth.
• High Outside – also termed Third or Sixth.

Note that in each case the point from which the line is defined is variously the guard, the hand, or the grip of the weapon, effectively the same place (Heintz 1890, Rondelle 1892, Manrique 1920). Because the guard moves, the lines themselves move upward and downward, inward or outward, with the result that the quadrants increase in size and shape, sometimes offering an extensive target area, sometimes a very small one.

Because both attack and defense are described throughout fencing in terms of the lines, understanding the terms is important. Because the way an attack or defense is described is in the context of the lines, applying the technique tactically requires an understanding of not only the location, but also the mobility, of the lines.

Off the Hook: A Christmas Ornament Adventure

Author- John Arvai II

Illustrator – Eminence System

Light the Lamp Publishing

ISBN: 9780997941739 – mobi

2016

$4.99

76 pages

Why do we have ornaments on a Christmas tree?

Is the reason decoration? Many trees combine ornaments given as remembrances of family members or memorable events.

Would you be surprised to discover that there is a purpose for the decorations, probably one that has been kept a secret from you?

On Christmas Eve, while most people are asleep and dreaming, each ornament diligently goes to work. It is the ornaments responsibility to fix the tree lights, tighten screws on the tree stand, and even guard the cookies and milk from pets. This annual event requires each decoration to be “off the hook.”

The star on the top of your tree is different and not an ornament.

All the ornaments cooperatively work together to activate the star which is a location transmitter lighting each rooftop to be seen only by Santa.

This year the Thompson family has a problem. They just don’t know that it exists.

During their annual Christmas Eve party, the family cat somehow toppled the star, falling into an empty gift bag which Aunt Connie brought to her home.

Once she discovers the star, she believes it is a gift to decorate one of her many trees.

What will happen to the Thompson children when Santa is missing their home? Without a location transmitter, how will their home be found?

How can their Christmas be saved?

How can the family’s ornaments possibly save Christmas for the children?

Off the Hook is a wonderfully creative story with the illustrations perfectly matching the text into a logical and well-organized original Christmas story for children of all ages. Numerous themes surround this short book such as cooperation, friendship, prejudice, stereotypes, diligence and doing not what is easiest, but what is the right thing.

Surprisingly, each ornament is an independent character with an individual personality humanizing each and even revealing a little of every person’s hidden prejudices and biases.

The colorful illustrations perfectly match the text entrancing readers from as young as 2 to 102 focusing on the individual ornaments and the children.

When not being a US Army veteran, an IT professional, husband, and father of three children, he enjoys hockey and using his imagination to create a beautifully original story.

This enchanting Christmas novel is available as an e-book or a paperback.

Off the Hook is a wonderful Christmas story that will endure the test of time becoming a new family traditional story to be shared with generations.

If you have ever ventured into in an Irish pub or a college dorm, you know those vintage Guinness posters: An ostrich and a zookeeper (“My Goodness My Guinness”), or a toucan holding a glass up on its beak (“Lovely day for a Guinness”). Replica Guinness posters and tin signs are today a thriving market in their own right.

This all was the point. During the 20th century, Guinness’ aim was to differentiate itself from other beers through advertising and image management. The brand strategy was a great success. Along with college students’ dorm-wall votes of approval, you can find Guinness draft handles today featuring a toucan on top.

The now-famous Guinness posters were mostly the creation of illustrator John Gilroy — and his copywriters. Gilroy worked as an illustrator for the advertising company Benson’s in 1928, when the company won the contract for Guinness. The beer’s sales had been sluggish, and new chairman Rupert Guinness sought to use advertising as a way of driving sales.

Gilroy’s first campaign premiered in 1930 — “Guinness Is Good For You” — and quickly found success. Shortly after, Gilroy conceptualized the zookeeper character and his mischief-making, Guinness-thieving animals in the “My Goodness My Guinness” campaigns. Guinness really began to solidify its brand after the war via radio and television spots. By 1950, five million Guinnesses were selling every day, an increase of 150% from the year before Gilroy’s poster campaigns. Up through the 1960s, Gilroy created at least 50 more poster designs for Guinness, taking on the work as a freelancer after leaving Benson’s.

By the 1980s, Guinness had found that its posters and advertisements were now fully embedded in the beer drinkers’ collective consciousness and had attained something of a cult status. Guinness posters were replicated and found their ways onto the walls of the thousands of Irish pubs worldwide. The popularity and ubiquity of the Irish pub delivered massive audiences across the globe to these vintage poster designs. That the artwork was classically wonderful helped, too.

Guinness has since branched into further creative advertising campaigns. One famous example is a television spot called “Anticipation” that features a bar customer doing a crazy dance while waiting for the bartender to pour his Guinness (please be patient, customers; the thing has to settle). And 2010 introduced the planet to the campaign phrase “To Arthur!” Raise your pints!

Today, Guinness sells more than 10 million pints per day. Those vintage Guinness posters have found their own cult following. While replicas sale very well online, the originals bring in top dollar from collectors. And for his artwork — including but also going well beyond his work for Guinness — John Gilroy was awarded an honorary Masters of Arts from Newcastle University in 1975 and appointed Freeman of the City of London in 1981.

For those technically savvy people, the field of technical illustration would be a milestone in their life. If you have an inborn talent and extreme interest and curiosity in creating technically enhanced illustrations, here lies a promising career for you. Technical illustration is one of the most popularly demanded fields of today that is being used to complement any writing or data that delivers technical information in it. They come in the form of sketches or drawings that focused on the subject of the technical content provided. As per the context of the writings, these illustrations are found in the form of drawings, graphs, charts or images that shoes the inside of any object or a living thing. Unlike a painting or general sketching, the technical illustration is actually focused directly on the observations that are given in the details of the contents provided. Since the ideas given in the context have to be reflected in the drawings, it requires 100% accuracy and clarity in the drawings. The illustrations provided technically should not therefore diverge from the exact idea conveyed through the writings.

In addition to the use for journals and technical magazines and books, technical illustrations are also used to represent clip arts to be used in various applications including for web designing, logo designing, designing technical documents and other files and for various kinds of technical representations. It helps in enhancing the identity and objective or any piece of technical writing and is created by professional technical illustrators. Most of the companies dealing with technical documents and services either have their own in-house technical illustrator or hire credible illustrators to get their work done. Today, with the advancement in technology, the skill for creating these illustrations can be enhanced with the help of tools and technical drawing software. As compared to the traditional form of hand drawing, you can now optimize them with different advanced digital techniques and can offer scan the hand drawn illustrations into digital forms.

Technical illustrations are use for drawing schematics, catalogs, diagrams and visual descriptions for different manuals, CAD drawings, wall charts, interactive learning materials etc. It can also be optimized with 2D and 3D features.

This is the best way I know of to design a logo or to just generate ideas to hand over to your designer.

Decide if you want a text logo or an illustrative logo, or a combination mark.

Get out a pen and a pad of paper and brainstorm. Think about what your company does, how you want to be perceived. What are a couple of phrases of what you want people to think of when they look at your logo? Possibly take the business name, divide it up and see what types of images come to mind for each word. Take those images and put them together to see if you have something that you can use.

Google those image words and see what comes up. Search for your type of business and compare your ideas to theirs. This is still part of the brainstorming.

Take your best ideas and draw them up roughly on your pad of paper.

Either show your client your ideas, of if this is for yourself, pick the one you like the best and possibly add or subtract images and ideas from the logo, still on your paper.

Once you have the idea, scan it and drop it into illustrator or any other vector drawing software. Trace the image in illustrator and start adding color and texture with different brushes and swatches. If there are many changes, make sure you save a copy each step of the way, so if you change your mind, you can go back to the original.

Pick the right font for your logo, if it is not already incorporated into the design. I have a free program called “free and easy font viewer” so I can scroll through all the fonts on my computer and see what pops. If I don’t like any of them, I sometimes resort to finding new ones on the internet.

Keep working at your logo until it looks the way you want it. Easy huh?

Other designers may use a slightly different technique but I know what works best for me. If you plan on working with a designer, skip the last three steps and just use this technique to brainstorm.

Professionally Designed Custom Logos

Title: The Tiny Caterpillar and the Great Big Tree

Author: Kelly Moran

Illustrator: Lyn Lorbeske

Publisher: Lulu.com

Genre: Children’s Picture Book

The Tiny Caterpillar is a wonderfully illustrated and written book. The tiny caterpillar lives in a big tree; the tree is also his friend. One day the caterpillar leaves his to explore the world around him. He is saddened when the insects he meets won’t be his friend. The tiny caterpillar goes back to his friend the tree, and finds comfort. Each insect has its own reason for at first dismissing the tiny caterpillar, but when the caterpillar wrapped itself in a cocoon and emerged a butterfly, he wins over the friendship of the insects.

The Tiny Caterpillar provides an important message about the differences between us all. I read The Tiny Caterpillar to my 3-year-old grandson and he enjoyed it. He listened attentively and was concerned about the tiny caterpillar. He also enjoyed the illustrations. This is the reaction an author wants from a young child.

As I mentioned, it is a wonderful young children’s book, but I did find one drawback to it. The message it is sending may be construed differently than what the author intended. When the caterpillar ventured out in search of new things and friends, the insects he met all found fault with him because he didn’t meet their criteria for a friend. The first insect he came to, a ladybug, told him they couldn’t be friends because he didn’t have spots and couldn’t fly. Next, he met the spider. The spider told him he lacked the ability to spin a web. Then, came the ant. The ant felt the caterpillar wasn’t strong enough. The only way the caterpillar was able to meet their criteria for friendship was to become a butterfly. This changed the caterpillar’s appearance and physical attributes, thus the drawback.

Although the book is engaging and charming, showing children that the only way for the caterpillar to gain the friendship of the insects was to become something else, something stronger and more attractive, may not be the message we want to convey to children. It is important for children to know that they will be accepted and liked for who they are; they don’t have to become psychically different to be liked and accepted. Although, the caterpillar was surprised by his metamorphosis (he didn’t intentionally change), it still shows a need for change to be accepted. But, you should read it for yourself to determine if I am off base. Aside from this one drawback, it is a delightful book.

About the author: Kelly Moran is an author of several published books in romance, literature, and children’s genres, a recipient of an Editor’s Choice Award for Outstanding Achievement, inducted into the Who’s Who Book of Americans, a Finalist in the 2009 Indie Excellence Book Awards, and a Finalist in the 2008 Best Books Awards. She resides in Milwaukee, WI with her husband, twin sons, and black lab.

About the illustrator: Lynn Lorbeske is a native of Milwaukee, WI. She obtained a Graphic Design degree from UWM and works as a full time veterinarian’s assistant.

Whether sharing one’s own coming of age life story with adults in ELEVEN STORIES HIGH or charming children with a delightful tale of the holiday season and finding new friends in TWO CHRISTMAS MICE, Corinne Demas never fails to please her readers. With acclaimed artist, R. W. Alley, whose same water color and pencil drawings grace the pages of the Paddington series, these two talents combine to give young readers a lovely story just in time for Valentine’s Day.

When the dedicated artist and loving daughter Lily realizes there is only one week until Valentine’s Day, she wants to make her Mommy a Valentine that will be just perfect. Each day, however, as Lily tries to make that ideal heart, it just doesn’t turn out right. One day it is too skinny and one day too round. From Monday through Sunday, Lily uses all her paper to try one more time for the heart she will be proud to present. Alas, Valentine’s Day arrives and no perfect heart. With a last minute idea, Lily decides to link the hearts together and present them to Mommy apologetically saying “But none of the hearts is perfect” only to have Mommy let her know how perfect they are because the heart that matters is inside Lily!

Lively illustrations and engaging dialogue to show the frantic frustration and inexhaustible love that our little artist Lilly experiences, VALENTINE SURPRISE not only makes a perfect book for the holiday, but will also teaches shapes and days of the week to young readers. Bright colors, kitties, and Lily’s attempts at creating a traditional handmade Valentine all come together for a simply sweet story that will be read and shared many times for years to come!

Submitted Originally to Curled Up with a Good Kid’s Book by Karen Haney

“Photoshop” has gone beyond being merely a brand name to become a regular household word, a verb and a noun. However, Photoshop is really just a brand of fancy image editing software. Fancy, and expensive, image editing software. Adobe Illustrator is a standard vector graphics editor, and Adobe Photoshop is a standard photo editor for pretty much everything else. According to Adobe.com, Standard Adobe Photoshop (not the Extended Version) is $599 and Adobe Illustrator is $699. The Design Standard Suite is over $1,000. What are your options for photo editing software if you can’t afford Adobe Photoshop?

Below is a list of my favorite image editing software, including a couple of online photo editors:

1. IrfanView

Experience Level Required: Novice

Pros: Fast, compact, uses minimal resources, many features (even more with plugins installed), many easy keyboard shortcuts available, functions as a viewer as well as a basic image editor, batch conversions, slideshow creation, precise cropping, variety of screen capture options, handles tons of file types, straight forward and easy to use.

Cons: Does not seem to do background saves (file saving requires overwriting the previously saved version every time), photo edits apply to entire image even if only one area is selected.

My Review:

IrfanView is far and wide my absolute favorite image viewer/editor. It is not for advanced edits but IrfanView has many useful features for basic and somewhat advanced editing. It’s the most fast and efficient viewer I’ve seen or used, with the editing functionality that is lacking in many general image viewers. IrfanView is quick, compact, and not a resource hog. Rotating and flipping can be done with a single key.

IrfanView also offers a variety of screen capture options that prove very handy. The screen capture function gives you a choice of capture area (whole screen, current window, foreground area) as well as method of capture (timer, programmable hot-key). IrfanView gives you the option between capturing with or without the cursor. Screen capture and zoom are done with another tap of the key.

Editing in IrfanView is basic, but convenient. Rotate, flip, crop, brighten, sharpen, resize, simple bevels, saturation, hue, add text, etc. Basic editing is simple enough even for a novice to perform without reading a lengthy manual.

One of my favorite features is the crop tool. Unlike cropping in some Windows programs, IrfanView allows you to see the pixel size of the area you’ve selected. If you try to crop a selection and find out it’s still too large, the Resize/Resample function allows you to size it down to the exact proportions you want. Resize/Resample also offers some popular preset size options to help you make your decision. The Resample option allows you to resize images without losing the image quality.

A unique feature in IrfanView I use very frequently is IrfanView’s Batch Conversion/Batch Rename function. The Batch Conversion feature is invaluable for resizing multiple photos at once. Likewise, Batch Rename is great for organizing those large groups of camera-named images. IrfanView even an option to rename your converted files. This is exceptionally useful if you are trying to make a photo CD for someone and have folders full of high-resolution, 1MB+ sized images that need to be shrunk a bit.

All this packaged into one compact – FREE – little program

2. Inkscape

Experience Level Required: Intermediate to Advanced

Pros: Relatively easy to use, variety of in-depth editing features, supports a variety of input and output types including support for Adobe Illustrator.eps files, filters make professional looking edits with ease, many features are easily tweaked to accommodate your particular needs, many options for exporting bitmaps.

Cons: Some features are more technical than novices may be comfortable with (prior experience with Adobe Illustrator would likely be helpful), resource intensive program, viewing files at full size has to be done carefully to avoid locking up the program, cropping took some time to figure out.

My Review:

I’d like to start by saying that I’m still only a beginner with Inkscape. Yet despite of my lack of knowledge about vector graphic editors, and vector graphics in general, Inkscape is still a convenient and simple way to create professional, impressive looking logos and buttons with little technical expertise or knowledge of graphics editing software. The simplest way to do this is to use the text tool to type out what you want, choose a nice font, and then play around with the various filters until you get the effect you want.

One filter is nice, but multiple filters can make something even more impressive looking. The logo on my blog is a result of doing just that. The rainbow-swirled paint splash is actually the product of a square with a gradient and several different filters stacked on top of each other. You’d never know by looking at it that it started as a square (a gray square even, if I remember right). Working with text is pretty simple with Inkscape and you don’t need to rasterize it to use the filters.

Filters are in abundance. Options include the very basic (lighten, darken, sharpen, blur, etc), textures, colorize, “non-realistic 3D shaders,” overlays, materials, bevels, and more. Resizing and rotating individual components is a breeze, but cropping them can be a bit confusing. Cropping in Inkscape is actually called “clipping” and it doesn’t function exactly the same as most cropping tools. I had to conduct a Google search to figure it out, and even then I only found one or two sites that explained it in a way that made sense. I have re-posted it on my blog for your convenience.

You also have to watch your actual file sizes in Inkscape. If you work without setting the canvas size and go mostly freeform, you can end up with a very large image file without realizing it. If you’ve done this and try to zoom in, Inkscape’s performance reduces significantly, depending on your computer’s technical specs. It corrects itself well, but you may have to give it awhile.

The most advanced part of Inkscape is working with paths and nodes. Admittedly I am not experienced with paths and nodes yet. I have used them a little in experimentation, but for the most part I can’t give a good review on the usage of paths and nodes with Inkscape. Flattening layers is also something that I imagine is possible, but I have yet to figure it out exactly. That’s where the “Advanced” recommendation comes in. If you are comfortable using Adobe Illustrator, figuring out paths and nodes in Inkscape should be simple. I never got comfortable enough with Adobe Illustrator to have a definite opinion on the paths and nodes functions in Inkscape (and have not had a reason to use them much in Inkscape, either).

3. GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)

Experience Level Required: Intermediate to Advanced

Pros: Great feature list, hover tips explain feature icons, supports a variety of input and output types including support for Adobe Photoshop.psd files, variety of filters for professional looking image edits, clean and efficient interface, generally faster load time than Adobe Photshop, many tweakable features for enhanced control, ability to easily reset defaults, supports a variety of keyboard shortcuts, results using GIMP are generally comparable to using Adobe Photoshop.

Cons: Lacks some features of Adobe Photoshop, certain functions take some getting used to, recreating some Adobe Photoshop type results may require additional steps.

My Review:

After familiarizing myself a bit with Adobe Photoshop, it took me a while to switch gears from Adobe Photoshop to GIMP, and a couple tools took me a little Google-searching to figure out. I can’t say it’s because GIMP is that hard to learn, but rather that I was frustrated and impatient.

Selection, crop, layers, filters, set the image size, etc. are all pretty easy. Gradient, fill (color and pattern options), clone, blur, smudge, airbrush, and various selection tools were also easy, but the clone and gradient tools took me some trial and error to figure out. The brush sizes also originally seemed to be lacking.

Once I experimented a little more, I was very pleasantly surprised with the ability to tweak the brush in a wide variety of ways. This helps greatly with pixel-by-pixel editing around curves and edges. You can tweak the hardness, opacity, angle, shape, aspect ratio and radius of the brush. GIMP even lets you add spikes and make uniquely shaped brushes. Editing the brush sizes and shapes proved to be an invaluable feature when using the clone tool to capture a very specific portion of an image. The brush editor allows you to create a brush up to a huge 1,000 pixels in size.

Another convenient feature of GIMP is the ability to open new images as layers, and open multiple images simultaneously. The locator icon (not sure its actual name) in the bottom right hand corner is also useful. If you zoom in too far on a given image and want to locate a specific portion, you can drag the cursor around the icon and go right to the desired spot in the image.

I didn’t find as many filter options in GIMP as I did in Inkscape, or maybe they just weren’t as cut-and-dry, but there are still a good range with many options. The real power to GIMP comes very similar to Adobe Photoshop. Layers and masks are allow you to create a wide variety of effects that are not necessarily built in.

Many of the realistic, elegant, or impressive effects can be created with layers. Just like using paths and nodes in Inkscape, layer and mask functions require a more advanced level of knowledge (layers and masks are present in Inkscape as well). You can use layers and masks to create more subtle effects than what I have had to use personally. Rays of sunlight, shiny and/or colored hair, realistic looking shadows and more can be created with these functions.

4. Pixlr – Online Photo Editing Software

Experience Level Required: Novice to Advanced

Pros: Offers 3 different types of editors – Pixlr O-Matic, Pixlr Express, and Pixlr Editor – ranging from novice level to advanced, creates beautiful photo effects without the hassle, allows you to save your files online, downloadable plug-in allows you to edit images “grabbed” off the web, variety of preset settings, lighting effects, frame effects, more advanced editing options available, allows you to edit images from anywhere, easy to use interface, many languages available, no registration required.

Cons: Pixlr Editor (advanced) and Pixlr Express (novice to intermediate) may run slowly when applying certain effects, functionality of Pixlr Editor is not as in-depth as GIMP or Adobe Photoshop, requires internet connection, may resize your original photo.

My Review:

Reviewing Pixlr is almost like reviewing 3 separate graphics editing software programs. I found and tested out Pixlr O-Matic first, which contains many preset settings for the photo style, then light effects on the photo, and finally a framed appearance around the photo. The photo styles all have interesting names, and some seem too unusual to be useful, such as having your entire photo in a double-vision appearance.

Using Pixlr O-Matic on a particular photo, I eventually decided on the “Melissa” setting, with a Vignette, and set the frame as “Cornered”. Combined, the three effects made the person in the photo stand out with a hazy, dark background and a torn appearance around the edges of the photo. All in all, it gave it an elegant, aged appearance and all in only three quick steps.

Pixlr Express offers the same image effects, but allows you to edit them some. It offers basic image editing functions (rotate, crop, etc) and breaks down some of its other effects that are combined in Pixlr O-Matic. While Pixlr O-Matic is extremely fast, Pixlr Express may take a little longer to apply some of the effects to your image. Pixlr Express is still good for the novice user as it is quick, easy and very self-explanatory.

Pixlr Editor on the other hand resembles an online version of GIMP or Adobe Photoshop. There is a toolbox, layers, brush options. advanced editing, and more. It is not nearly as robust as GIMP, but just as with Pixlr O-Matic and Pixlr Express, its presets make more advanced editing possible in fewer steps. You can edit the brush, layers, masks, etc and also use the filters and other basic image editor functions.

As with Pixlr Express, Pixlr Editor ran slowly when applying effects, since it is an online editor. When I was testing each version out, Pixlr O-Matic had no delay, Pixlr Express had a delay while applying some effects (not others), and Pixlr Editor got held up a few times trying to make edits or test out various effects. When all is said and done, Pixlr can make time-consuming work into child’s play.

The only issue I had with Pixlr was when it ended up shrinking my photo unexpectedly. It had been reduced in size by roughly 50%, maybe even more. I may have just overlooked an option to prevent that though, so I can’t say that it would happen every time.

5. Picnik – Online Photo Editing Software

Experience Level Required: Novice to Intermediate

Pros: Easy to use even for a novice, basic editing options, lots of filter effects; ability to create collages, calendars, and other professional looking photo-imprinted items; no registration required, doesn’t resize your photos by default, photos can be edited from any computer.

Cons: Many features and effects are not available unless you upgrade to a premium account, tweaking options may not be enough for advanced users, registered accounts only allow 5 photos to be saved.

My Review:

Aside from the landing page, Picnik looks and acts, in many ways, almost identical to Pixlr Express. The filter options are generally pretty similar, although Picnik has more framing effects. Some of the image effects are drastically different than those found in Pixlr Express. On the other hand, many fancy features require you to be a registered, paying user. Granted, registration doesn’t exactly require a month’s pay. Picnik’s premium features are advertised at a price of “as little as $2.08 a month”.

The feature list advertised (for Picnik Premium) sounds pretty robust, and the benefit is the additional features with the same ease of use. Picnik Premium includes more effects, collage styles, advanced editing tools, “stickers”, frames, and more. Picnik Premium also lets you work without ads, and offers touch-up tools (burn, dodge, etc aren’t included in Picnik by default), batch uploading, and special fonts. Prices start at $4.95 for one month, to $24.95 for 12 months (where the “$2.08 per month” pricing comes in). $19.95 for 6 months, if you want to get half a year less for the cost of one extra month. The 6 month plan almost sounds like an insult.

$25 a year isn’t a lot if you’re a novice user wanting to do a lot of photo edits. If you have more advanced skills, it may be worth it to you to minimize the amount of time you spend editing any one photo. Then again, if you are well versed in photo editing software, you may find Picnik’s features to be too constrained and prefer more control over your images.

Overall, the basic free version of Picnik is an incredibly useful tool that anyone could use. If you don’t want to register at all, you don’t have to. You couldn’t save your edited photos and edit history in Picnik, but you can always save your originals in one folder and then download your edited photos in another to maintain backups.

So which graphics editing software is really the best? You’ll have to decide for yourself. Each of the ones I’ve listed (with the exception of Pixlr [Express] and Picnik [Free Version]) have their own defined purpose, and they all have their own unique qualities.

The best image editing software for you depends on your expertise, the amount of time you are comfortable spending, how often you’ll need it, and what you’ll typically use it for. Try each one and decide for yourself. Or better yet – use them all.