Anyone know of a good, solid but easy to use program for creating web graphics? I can’t afford Photoshop for sure, even the upgrade! I need to create graphics for my web page and don’t seem to have anything that will do that effectively. I’m running 10.5.2 on a G4 iBook (1.25 ghz). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I’ve already tried Pixelmator and Gimp crashed (I have X11 installed). I don’t have time to find out why–am on a tight deadline. Help! 
Alexandria
Graphic Converter and Gimp are the only two I know of that can really do web graphics. There are a bunch of image editors out there like Pixelmator and Acorn—but they completely lack sufficient colour indexing and export settings for web file sizing.
ehhh I only use Photoshop so I wouldn’t know what to suggest but if you are in a fix and need some help I can help you if need be until you find a viable solution??
For quick web images I usually use Photoshop Elements. There’s a new version 6 coming out soon, but earlier editions were often included with scanners and such. Might you have a copy around somewhere?
Thanks, Wock, that’s very kind of you! I think I’ll give Graphic Converter a try. It’s been years since I used that program. Also will check into Photoshop Elements. Another program that came with a scanner years ago. So I have no idea at all what it can do now! Thanks for the suggestions!
Alexandria
There’s a cross-platform Shareware app called Pixel which is picking up a lot of good press - it runs on Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows natively. They’re starting to call it the ‘Photoshop of Linux’, and indeed it’s got a very similar interface (and level of power) as Photoshop 7…which is to say, no CS3, but still very, very good.
It’s got a trial, and runs about $40US. Although I think there’s a special price going at the moment…
kanzelsberger.com/pixel/?page_id=12
I use CS3 myself - I have Pixelmator too (bought it in the MacHeist bundle), but sleek as the interface is I just can’t understand why they’ve released an image editor with no rulers! How could you produce any real graphics work without rulers and guides?
If your project is time sensitive maybe you can use the Adobe Photoshop CS3 Trial version?
adobe.com/cfusion/tdrc/inde … =photoshop
They used to give you I think 30 days of full working ability?
I would try Intaglio. Not very expensive, and very good for hand-drawn illustrations. A decent replacement for Illustrator, if you are after vector graphics.
Paolo
I’m not needing it yet, but I may, so this is good thanks! Never heard of Pixel but am off to check it out after finishing this! $40 is a great price! I’ll also check the trial period for Photoshop. Since I know the program, that would be the quickest solution for my time crunch!
Yeah, Pixelmator looks cool but definitely has limitations. Graphic Converter does too. Ugh. It’s hard to replace Photoshop once you are used to it. But the price, no way I can swing that now!
Many thanks!!
Alexandria
Graphic Converter is a bit of a train wreck interface-wise, although it has a fair number of features.
Acorn 1.1 added some decent web export options; it’s my slimmed-down editor of choice, although your mileage may vary.
I will agree that the interface on Graphic Converter is old fashioned Mac-OS 8ish or earlier, as fundamentally it hasn’t changed much since the beginning. I’ve been using it since early in version 2, I think … it’s so long ago I can’t remember … and while yes, if all you’re used to is whizzy OS-X apps with inspectors it might take some getting used to, to describe it as a “train-wreck” is not really fair.
Version 6 has been completely re-written in cocoa – previous versions were carbon – and I can understand Thorsten Lemke not wanting to redo the whole interface at the same time, or to turn it into a clone of the many “me-too” image editors that are coming out.
Maybe it’s just that I’m so used to it. But if Graphic Converter had had layers and a healing brush, I’d have got rid of photoshop years ago … and for two times $35 paid out in well over ten years. After my initial purchase, I didn’t have to pay for an upgrade until 6 came out.
Mark
Give Chocoflop a look too. It’s early days and still a little buggy but sort of like a coreimage accelerated Photoshop which, since it is in beta, is currently free.
I’ve just bought Photoline, pretty much a Photoshop clone with a few slightly different ways of doing things but pretty similar. It has an ‘export to web’ function. £40 and a free 30 day trial. Don’t have the URL to hand but I’m sure Google will do the honours.
Yeah, it crashes every time I close a window without saving it. I get the infinitely spinning beach ball and have to force quit. But I actually found it the most useful in my time crunch. I had to use a combination of Chocoflop and Preview to get exactly what I needed but it worked and I was able to create a pretty nice graphic. But now I’m looking for a more permanent solution. I used to use Fireworks but I guess Adobe stopped development on this one. Haven’t found the perfect one yet. If Chocoflop wasn’t buggy I think I’d settle on that one for now. Though I would like an export or save to web function.
Alexandria
Alex,
I tried Chocoflop many (I presume) iterations ago … while it seemed interesting, I couldn’t take seriously any app that called itself that, and in any case I am a dedicated OmniGraffle fan and have been for a long time.
That said, I’ve just bought another new app on the block, which is much cheaper than OG, seems very interesting and will export to all the web formats, except SVG I think. That is VectorDesigner, by Tweakersoft (another stupid name, but …).
You might like to check it out.
Mark
Amazingly I recently tried Acorn (again) and started to like it. My first try was a no-no. Although less complex than PS or even Pixelmator (that I also have, thanks to MacHeist, but don’t like much) it’s easy to use and quite stable already. Besides Gus Mueller is a sure developer.
Another app worth a look too is DrawIt. Specially now that has a younger sister called DrawIt Lite, freeware.
Good luck with your website, Alexandria.
(On vector, I like Intaglio a lot.)
Thanks!