Good Basic Graphics app

zorro2b

Registered
On windows I used Paint.net for basic image editing. On my Mac I have photoshop elements 2 which is OK but takes forever to load.

Are there any free or low cost image editors anyone can recommend for the Mac?
 
I've been a big fan of Color It since I first installed it on my 68k Performa 475 in 1994. It's recently been updated to run in OS X. It's relatively cheap ($60), and really good. The main problem is that it's very clearly a port of an OS 9 program. It's got some quirks, it's got some bugs, and worst of all for new users, they don't offer a demo. :( As an old user, I took a chance and bought it, and I'm glad I did. I tolerate its quirks, because it's just so much better than everything else.

As much as I love Color It, your needs may be different from mine. So I recommend checking out some free (or cheap-with-demo) products first. If they suit you, great. If not, give Color It a look. Here are some apps that are good for what they do:

Graphic Converter. I think it's included on new Macs, so you should already have it installed.
Compositor
Pixen, which is geared towards 2D sprite design.
Seashore, a native OS X program based on the Gimp, but without most of its power.
 
Xee is handy as an image previewer which is free, very small and offers only basic resize/rotate options. It loads *very* fast and so is my default opener for most graphic files.
 
Is there anything on the Mac similar in functionality to what IrfanView on PC offers?
The closest thing I know (for graphics) is ToyViewer, but it does not play sound files or movies. For sound files and movies, the most versatile application I know is VLC.
 
If your photoshop elements program takes forever to load, you might need to just repair permissions on your system and restart. It should load pretty quickly.
 
Pixen is not bad but I like Seashore better. You got a few great free drawing apps like Lineform, Inskcape and Flysketch but Expression is the best of all them.

Creature House Expression was a vector based with bitmap features companion to Painter (both originary from Fractal Design and for Mac, then ported to Winblowz). Such an incredible natural media software was not expensive,(Version 3 cost like 200$) given its awesome tools.

FYI Microsoft bought it in order to build their graphic suite Microsoft Expression, Since June 2004, Expression 3.3 is available as a free download from Microsoft; however it has disappeared as of 2007. Luckily, if you have a Windows Live ID, you can still download the product.


It won´t last much last, try it out.
 
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