Author Topic: Free graphics program?  (Read 1559 times)

Offline CraigDS

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Free graphics program?
« on: January 9, 2021, 02:43:23 pm »
Gf’s Mum wants to make some menus for her catering business and rather than having me make them every time wants to learn to do it herself.

What are some decent free graphics programs for Windows? I use a Mac so no clue.

Offline CraigDS

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Re: Free graphics program?
« Reply #1 on: January 9, 2021, 02:54:17 pm »
Or has anyone used Canva?

Offline WhoHe

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Re: Free graphics program?
« Reply #2 on: January 9, 2021, 03:32:09 pm »
Never heard of Canva but to do menus Word would suffice wouldnt it, or the free OpenOffice one that I can't remember now, Writer maybe ?
GIMP is free but I found it tricky so your Mother in law may struggle.

Offline CraigDS

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Re: Free graphics program?
« Reply #3 on: January 9, 2021, 03:36:39 pm »
Never heard of Canva but to do menus Word would suffice wouldnt it, or the free OpenOffice one that I can't remember now, Writer maybe ?
GIMP is free but I found it tricky so your Mother in law may struggle.

She can use word but she wants them to look a bit more fancy than what that really allows for. Almost certainly needs some sort of graphics program.

Canva looks pretty drag and drop and has lots of pre built templates she can start from. Never used it myself though.

Offline Red Raw

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Re: Free graphics program?
« Reply #4 on: January 9, 2021, 03:52:41 pm »
Not used Canva but if you need decent typesetting and scaleable vector graphics for logos etc. then it really is hard to beat Adobe InDesign. It is expensive and has a steep learning curve but older 'CS' versions were released a few years ago and are probably still floating around the internet.  I have used it loads over the years and it still works reasonably well on W7 and W10 with a couple of tweaks.  While it may lack some of the features of the latest version, the core functionality is all there.

GIMP is free but more like Photoshop which I find is poor for graphics/layout and type.  The nearest open source version of InDesign is probably something like Scribus which I haven't used.

Microsoft's typesetting/layout program 'Publisher' is the work of the devil but might be bundled with some versions of MS Office and will be familar to anyone who uses Word/PowerPoint.

Offline CraigDS

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Re: Free graphics program?
« Reply #5 on: January 9, 2021, 04:07:28 pm »
It's mainly for sharing online, she doesn't get them printed up really, so doubt she wants something as complex as InDesign. Plus I'd have to teach her it so...  ;D

Offline WhoHe

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Re: Free graphics program?
« Reply #6 on: January 9, 2021, 04:39:56 pm »
There are loads of free Word templates online for menus etc. Save as pdf then share.

Offline Elmo!

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Re: Free graphics program?
« Reply #7 on: January 9, 2021, 11:47:28 pm »
If she has O365 Office or Office Professional, then she can probably use Publisher. I've never actually used it myself but that is the sort of thing it is designed for.

Offline dimitri

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Re: Free graphics program?
« Reply #8 on: January 10, 2021, 01:15:07 am »
getpaint.net  been around years and gets updated often.

Offline CraigDS

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Re: Free graphics program?
« Reply #9 on: January 10, 2021, 01:36:03 am »
She’s been messing around with Canva since this evening and apparently got the hang of it pretty quick (without even a question to me) so sounds like that might be the answer.

Offline Weescotty

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Re: Free graphics program?
« Reply #10 on: January 12, 2021, 03:47:24 am »
Hope the word filter allows this...GIMP
GNU Image Manipulation Program.
Been around for a long time, supports layers etc.

https://www.gimp.org/

Suprised no one has mentioned it!
[edit] Apologies Red Raw did mention it.

« Last Edit: January 12, 2021, 03:49:04 am by Weescotty »

Offline jillcwhomever

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Re: Free graphics program?
« Reply #11 on: June 15, 2021, 09:46:55 am »
Hope the word filter allows this...GIMP
GNU Image Manipulation Program.
Been around for a long time, supports layers etc.

https://www.gimp.org/

Suprised no one has mentioned it!
[edit] Apologies Red Raw did mention it.

I use Gimp for my graphics its a brilliant programme and free if you cannot afford to keep paying for licences for Photoshop every year.
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