What is your #1 choice for freeware editing of images, audio & video?

Here are mine with a single reason for each as to why.
The only restriction is it must be Windows freeware.

View images <=> Irfanview (it's fast)
View photos <=> Irfanview (it's fast)
Edit images <=> Krita (it's functional)
Draw images <=> ArtsWeaver (it's functional)
Edit photos <=> The GIMP (it's functional, although complex)
Play movies <=> VLC (it's functional)
Edit movies <=> ShotCut (it's well supported & updated)
Play audio <=> MPC-BE (it's fast)
Edit audio <=> Audacity (it's functional)
Convert formats <=> Handbrake (it's comprehensive)
Draw vector graphics <=> Inkscape (it's functional)
Draw 3D graphics <=> Blender (it's well supported & updated)
Play epub <=> Calibre (it's dedicated to the task)
Edit EXIF <=> AnalogExif (it's dedicated to the task)
Record screen <=> CuteScreenRec (it's dedicated to the task)

"Thomas" <canope234@gmail.com> wrote

| What is your #1 choice for freeware editing of images, audio & video?
|

Paint Shop Pro 5, Audacity and Avidemux. I paid $100 for
PSP5, but it can be had for free now. There's also a surprisingly
good program called Photo Demon.

I use Media Player Classic on XP for videos because VLC
acts up. But I use VLC on 7/10.

On Fri, 8 Jul 2022 16:17:13 -0700, Thomas wrote:
> What is your #1 choice for freeware editing of images, audio & video?
>
> Here are mine with a single reason for each as to why.
> The only restriction is it must be Windows freeware.

Mine... excluding the obvious ones such as GIMP, Audacity, Avidemux...

Image: Photo Filtre

Audio: Wave Shop, Wavosaur

Video: Olive, Open Shot, Shotcut, VirtualDub

On Fri, 8 Jul 2022 22:23:46 -0400, Mayayana wrote:
>
> I paid $100 for PSP5, but it can be had for free now.

AFAIK ever since Win3 era, PSP is always a shareware.

On 2022/07/08 9:36 pm, JJ wrote:

> On Fri, 8 Jul 2022 22:23:46 -0400, Mayayana wrote:
>>
>> I paid $100 for PSP5, but it can be had for free now.
>
> AFAIK ever since Win3 era, PSP is always a shareware.

I looked for that paint shop pro version 5 in google.

Is this where you got psp version 5 from?
http://www.oldversion.com/windows/paint-shop-pro/

When I try that page I get an error
This page isn't working
www.oldversion.com is currently unable to handle this request.
HTTP ERROR 503

I just now got 5.03 from here but I don't know if it's the right version.
https://winworldpc.com/product/paint-shop-pro/5x
Name: JASC Paint Shop Pro 5.03 Update.7z
Size: 4135963 bytes (4039 KiB)
SHA256: 9BCE9AC19B2608B947A7F01B012398EEEF8E96D36F7686B4E024738A315AB842

That unzips to
Name: psp503up.exe
Size: 4113688 bytes (4017 KiB)
SHA256: A8511907E9748F1F2D882D991430E459157100A055A1DC04A7C9236F20DB4BD9

But that's just an update to the 5.00 or 5.01 version which has to already
be installed for this update to bump either of them to version 5.03.

--
(Please post followups or tech inquiries to the USENET newsgroup)
John's Jukes Ltd.
MOVED to #7 - 3979 Marine Way, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5J 5E3
(604)872-5757 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games)
www.flippers.com
"Old pinballers never die, they just flip out."

On 7/9/2022 4:53 AM, John Robertson wrote:
> On 2022/07/08 9:36 pm, JJ wrote:
>
>
>> On Fri, 8 Jul 2022 22:23:46 -0400, Mayayana wrote:
>>>
>>> I paid $100 for PSP5, but it can be had for free now.
>>
>> AFAIK ever since Win3 era, PSP is always a shareware.
>
> I looked for that paint shop pro version 5 in google.
>
> Is this where you got psp version 5 from?
> http://www.oldversion.com/windows/paint-shop-pro/
>
> When I try that page I get an error
> This page isn't working www.oldversion.com is currently unable to handle this request.
> HTTP ERROR 503
>
> I just now got 5.03 from here but I don't know if it's the right version.
> https://winworldpc.com/product/paint-shop-pro/5x
> Name: JASC Paint Shop Pro 5.03 Update.7z
> Size: 4135963 bytes (4039 KiB)
> SHA256: 9BCE9AC19B2608B947A7F01B012398EEEF8E96D36F7686B4E024738A315AB842
>
> That unzips to
> Name: psp503up.exe
> Size: 4113688 bytes (4017 KiB)
> SHA256: A8511907E9748F1F2D882D991430E459157100A055A1DC04A7C9236F20DB4BD9
>
> But that's just an update to the 5.00 or 5.01 version which has to already be installed for this update to bump either of them to version 5.03.
>

They have quite a few versions listed here, but I don't know which
versions are useful ones.

https://web.archive.org/web/20220205033721/http://www.oldversion.com/windows/paint-shop-pro/

Paul

On Jul 09, 2022, JJ wrote
(in article<news:lt3jqhech5ar.108g63kixyq0t.dlg@40tude.net>):

> Audio: Wave Shop, Wavosaur

How do they compare with Audacity?

> Video: Olive, Open Shot, Shotcut

Are they all general purpose video editors?
How do they compare?

Ron, the humblest guy in town.

"John Robertson" <spam@flippers.com> wrote

| I just now got 5.03 from here but I don't know if it's the right version.
| https://winworldpc.com/product/paint-shop-pro/5x
| Name: JASC Paint Shop Pro 5.03 Update.7z
| Size: 4135963 bytes (4039 KiB)
| SHA256: 9BCE9AC19B2608B947A7F01B012398EEEF8E96D36F7686B4E024738A315AB842
| | That unzips to
| Name: psp503up.exe
| Size: 4113688 bytes (4017 KiB)
| SHA256: A8511907E9748F1F2D882D991430E459157100A055A1DC04A7C9236F20DB4BD9
| | But that's just an update to the 5.00 or 5.01 version which has to already
| be installed for this update to bump either of them to version 5.03.
|

That looks like a valid update. There was such an update. But yes, it's
just an update. This looks like it might be the right thing:

https://archive.org/details/jasc-paint-shop-pro-5.0

I can't be sure. It's packaged in floppy-size install files. My install
CD has a different layout. The original PSP5 had no "secret activation
code". It just installed. So if that's the right thing then it should work.

There seems to have been some kind of big change recently.
Oldversion.com seems to be a blank website. As is 321download
AKA Last Free Version. This site used to list a top 10 old
versions sites:
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-websites-download-older-versions-software/

Now it's a different list of mostly just download sites.
Majorgeeks lists PSP5 but with no download. Pricelessware.org
now shows a 404 page. I wonder if this is connected with some
kind of new liability law. Or maybe a lawsuit threat.

I bought PSP5 in '99 for $100. (At the time, PSP4 was being
given away with modems.) I then bought PSP7, but it
was bloated and hard to use. The "toolbox" was full of crap,
like silly GIFs for pasting. So I stuck with 5.

Awhile back I
bought PSP16 and Aftershot Pro for RAW work. Corel now
owns it and they've made a mess of it. It's incredibly bloated,
taking a long time to load. The window frame choices are
dk gray or lt gray with burnt orange highlights! Whenever it loads
it wants me to download quicktime. It doesn't respect
Windows GUI defaults. It's got bloated nonsense like an
"asset manager". (Like I need an extra Explorer treeview clogging
the RAM!) Then it's got an "Adjust" tab, which seems to be
editing for dummies. All of that crap loads and can't be turned
off. The customizing settings are extremely limited.

I sometimes use it to try updated sharpening
or some such, but it doesn't seem any better in general, and
the general functionality is simply not intuitive. I've never got
used to it. I doubt I'd ever get another Corel product. They just
don't seem to know what they're doing. (What sort of person in
their right mind would force me to use a silly flat-themed window
in gray and burnt orange? It's as though Corel let the 10 year old
son of the CEO design the program.)

It would be nice to see Irfan Skildjan come out with an
MDI version of IrfanView. (Multiple document interface.) His
program does most things well but it's just not set up for
layers, pasting, etc. I especially like that he's actually written
clean code for the functionality. He's not bloating it up with
wrappers around QT, ImageMagick and various other OSS
libraries. So many programs now are Python wrappers around
OSS DLL wrappers. Lots of bloat and little expertise on the
part of the programmers.

Anyway, I'm sorry it didn't work out. The PSP5 download was
out there until recently. Those old version sites were working
fine until recently.

I still do almost everything with PSP5. It has all the basics and
it's very lean. I've never had anything from Adobe, since trying PS5.
Their prices are crazy, their software is bloated, and I don't have
an ex-wife that I need to convincingly replace with a tree in my
old photos. So I don't need any of
their commercial pizzazz tools. I suppose I wouldn't mind a tool
to shrink my potbelly and extend my hairline, but not for Adobe
prices, bloat and spyware.

Awhile back I downloaded Photo Demon because I program
in VB6 and that's a VB6 program with source code. So I thought
of it as a grpahics operations code snippet library. I haven't looked
at it much, but I was surprised at how functional it is.

I tried GIMP a few times over the years but finally gave up.
They just couldn't be bothered to make a real MDI window. Then
it wouldn't save except for their own formats, insisting on calling
any standard format an "export". GIMP is over 25 years old
now and it's still a geek project with an attitude.

I haven't actually tried installing PSP5 to Win10, but it's basic
Win32 software, so it should work OK. MS are working hard
to break old Windows for new software, but they've always been
good about supporting old software on new Windows. They don't
have much choice. Their bread and butther is corporate customers
who write a lot of in-house software. If their software doesn't
work, they won't buy new Windows. So the VB6 runtime library,
from '98, is still pre-installed. I'm guessing all versions of .Net also
work on Win10.

On 9 Jul 2022 at 00:17:13 BST, Thomas wrote:

> What is your #1 choice for freeware editing of images, audio & video?
>
> Here are mine with a single reason for each as to why.
> The only restriction is it must be Windows freeware.
>

Which is a limitation all of its own - a Mac has some pretty decent viewing
and editing tools built in. Not to mention hardware well suited to image and
video handling throughout the current range.

--
Cheers, Rob

"JJ" <jj4public@outlook.com> wrote

| >
| > I paid $100 for PSP5, but it can be had for free now.
| | AFAIK ever since Win3 era, PSP is always a shareware.

Like I said, I paid $100 for the commercial boxed software.
(At the time, PS5 was a ridiculous $500.)

All later versions have also been available boxed. I bought
PSP 16 and Aftershot Pro at Staples. When I bought v.5, v.4
was being given away free with modems.

For many years now, older PSP
versions have been available online. I don't know about the
legality. Corel bought the rights from JASC at some point but may
not have bought rights to the old products. I suppose that made
sense. No one suspected back then that people might be trying to
avoid software updates. So Corel probably saw no threat from
the likes of PSP5.

PSP today is very much commercial. In fact, Wikipedia says
it's been spyware for years now with a licensing service that
cripples the program if it's disabled, named psiservice.exe. I
don't know about that. I have no such service. It did try to
call home but I block it at the firewall and it still works fine.
I do have psiclient.dll. Maybe it was supposed to download the
main spyware/cripple module. Current versions may be rentalware,
like PS. I don't know.

"JJ" <jj4public@outlook.com> wrote

| > What is your #1 choice for freeware editing of images, audio & video?

| Mine... excluding the obvious ones such as GIMP, Audacity, Avidemux...
| | Image: Photo Filtre
| | Audio: Wave Shop, Wavosaur
| | Video: Olive, Open Shot, Shotcut, VirtualDub

I've never understood this kind of list. If you're listing
multiple programs in one category then it seems you
have no preference as to the best. I always look around
at all the options I can find and then choose one.

Photofiltre is described as a 30-day trial. So that's
not actually free. It's unenforced? If I used something like
that and found it the best I'd just buy it. It looks like it's
only about $30. My only hesitation with that is that I avoid
using credit cards online.

On 2022-07-09 4:31 a.m., Paul wrote:
> On 7/9/2022 4:53 AM, John Robertson wrote:
>> On 2022/07/08 9:36 pm, JJ wrote:
>>
>>
>>> On Fri, 8 Jul 2022 22:23:46 -0400, Mayayana wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I paid $100 for PSP5, but it can be had for free now.
>>>
>>> AFAIK ever since Win3 era, PSP is always a shareware.
>>
>> I looked for that paint shop pro version 5 in google.
>>
>> Is this where you got psp version 5 from?
>> http://www.oldversion.com/windows/paint-shop-pro/
>>
>> When I try that page I get an error
>> This page isn't working www.oldversion.com is currently unable to
>> handle this request.
>> HTTP ERROR 503
>>
>> I just now got 5.03 from here but I don't know if it's the right version.
>> https://winworldpc.com/product/paint-shop-pro/5x
>> Name: JASC Paint Shop Pro 5.03 Update.7z
>> Size: 4135963 bytes (4039 KiB)
>> SHA256: 9BCE9AC19B2608B947A7F01B012398EEEF8E96D36F7686B4E024738A315AB842
>>
>> That unzips to
>> Name: psp503up.exe
>> Size: 4113688 bytes (4017 KiB)
>> SHA256: A8511907E9748F1F2D882D991430E459157100A055A1DC04A7C9236F20DB4BD9
>>
>> But that's just an update to the 5.00 or 5.01 version which has to
>> already be installed for this update to bump either of them to version
>> 5.03.
>>
>
> They have quite a few versions listed here, but I don't know which
> versions are useful ones.
>
> https://web.archive.org/web/20220205033721/http://www.oldversion.com/windows/paint-shop-pro/
>
>
>    Paul
>

I have been using PSP 7.0 since the year 2000 and it still works fine in
Windows 11 :-)

Rene

On Jul 9, 2022, Mayayana wrote
(in article <tac19h$123f6$1@dont-email.me>):

> "JJ" <jj4public@outlook.com> wrote
>
> > > What is your #1 choice for freeware editing of images, audio& video?
>
> > Mine... excluding the obvious ones such as GIMP, Audacity, Avidemux...
> >
> > Image: Photo Filtre
> >
> > Audio: Wave Shop, Wavosaur
> >
> > Video: Olive, Open Shot, Shotcut, VirtualDub
>
> I've never understood this kind of list. If you're listing
> multiple programs in one category then it seems you
> have no preference as to the best. I always look around
> at all the options I can find and then choose one.
>
> Photofiltre is described as a 30-day trial. So that's
> not actually free. It's unenforced? If I used something like
> that and found it the best I'd just buy it. It looks like it's
> only about $30. My only hesitation with that is that I avoid
> using credit cards online.

Use a virtual credit card number, or PayPal. And why not Photoshop Elements?
It can be found pretty cheap, and everyone uses it, and has used it for a
very long time. It is no longer bloated, there is support and help everywhere
you look. And you don’t have to worry about it disappearing. And there are
other legit editors out there for less than $100.

In article <tac19h$123f6$1@dont-email.me>, Mayayana
<mayayana@invalid.nospam> wrote:

> My only hesitation with that is that I avoid
> using credit cards online.

use virtual card numbers, each unique per merchant, then either lock or
discard after use, depending whether you expect to transact with the
same merchant in the future.

On Saturday, July 9, 2022 at 5:53:32 AM, Mayayana wrote:

> I've never understood this kind of list. If you're listing
> multiple programs in one category then it seems you
> have no preference as to the best. I always look around
> at all the options I can find and then choose one.

This EFFICIENCY concept is EXACTLY why I asked the original question.

The labor in LEARNING a new program, particularly for a CAD editor, or for
a VIDEO editor, is prodigiously expensive. Nobody has the time to learn
more than one or two at best so knowing which is better minimizes learning.

Better to have many others concur BEFORE you start a quest to edit, so that
you don't have to learn EVERY program just to choose the BEST one for you.

> Photofiltre is described as a 30-day trial. So that's
> not actually free. It's unenforced?

To that end, I noticed PSP5 "shareware" discussed, where when I said
"freeware" I had meant merely not expiry ware and not payware in so much as
the software was arguably free to use for non-commercial use (which covers
shareware, in my book). I do realize others are more persnickety.

> If I used something like
> that and found it the best I'd just buy it. It looks like it's
> only about $30. My only hesitation with that is that I avoid
> using credit cards online.

I feel freeware is possible even in heavy duty tasks, and to that end I
probably should list all the offline downloaders so that confusion with
similar sounding payware or fleeceware or scamware can be avoided.

Irfanview for viewing images
https://www.fosshub.com/IrfanView.html

Krita for editing images
https://krita.org/en/download/krita-desktop/

ArtsWeaver for drawing images
https://www.artweaver.de/en/download/artweaverfree

The GIMP for editing photos
https://download.gimp.org/pub/gimp/

VLC for playing movies
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html

ShotCut for editing movies
Edit movies <=> ShotCut (it's well supported & updated)

MPC-BE for playing movies (are they equivalent?)
https://sourceforge.net/projects/mpcbe/

Audacity for editing audio
https://www.audacityteam.org/download/

Handbrake for converting formats
https://handbrake.fr/

Inkscape for drawing vector graphics
https://inkscape.org/de/release/1.2/windows/

Blender for 3D graphics
https://www.blender.org/download/

Calibre for listening to epub
https://calibre-ebook.com/download_windows

AnalogExif for editing EXIF tags
https://sourceforge.net/projects/analogexif/files/latest/download

MP3tag for editing audio tags
https://www.mp3tag.de/en/download.html

CuteScreenRec to record the screen
http://www.videotool.net/screen-recorder-free-version.htm

Other people suggested PaintShopPro5 for editing images
https://winworldpc.com/product/paint-shop-pro/5x

AVIdemux for editing video
https://sourceforge.net/projects/avidemux/

Media Player Classic Home Cinema for playing audio & video
https://sourceforge.net/projects/mpc-hc/

Photo Filtre for editing images
http://www.photofiltre.com/download-en.htm

Wave Shop for editing audio
http://waveshop.sourceforge.net/download.html

Wavosaur for editing audio
https://www.wavosaur.com/download.php

Olive for editing video
https://olivevideoeditor.org/download.php

Open Shot for editing video
https://www.openshot.org/download/
VirtualDub for editing video
https://www.virtualdub.org/download.html

RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:

>> The only restriction is it must be Windows freeware.
>>
>
> Which is a limitation all of its own - a Mac has some pretty decent viewing
> and editing tools built in. Not to mention hardware well suited to image and
> video handling throughout the current range.

It's classic to complain without adding anything to the mix that you
complained about.

Almost all the free open source tools also work with Mac and Linux too.

Which ones on the list are you complaining don't work with a Mac?
Of those, what's the closest Mac copy that you would suggest?

Or do the Mac users only want to complain nobody cares about them?

On 9 Jul 2022 at 17:21:58 BST, Peter wrote:

> RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
>
>>> The only restriction is it must be Windows freeware.
>>>
>>
>> Which is a limitation all of its own - a Mac has some pretty decent viewing
>> and editing tools built in. Not to mention hardware well suited to image and
>> video handling throughout the current range.
>
> It's classic to complain without adding anything to the mix that you
> complained about.
>
I'm not complaining - simply pointing out that the poll can be approached from
a different angle.

> Almost all the free open source tools also work with Mac and Linux too.
>

Indeed - for most Mac users, though, not needed.

> Which ones on the list are you complaining don't work with a Mac?

None.

> Of those, what's the closest Mac copy that you would suggest?
>

On the list, I use Handbrake every so often - astonishingly quick on the right
Mac (and PC too?). Audacity too. For drawing I use Draw.io over Inkscape.

> Or do the Mac users only want to complain nobody cares about them?

Some might. Unlike Windows users ;-)

--
Cheers, Rob

"Bill W" <nothing@nowhere.com> wrote

| Use a virtual credit card number, or PayPal. And why not Photoshop
Elements?
| It can be found pretty cheap, and everyone uses it, and has used it for a
| very long time. It is no longer bloated, there is support and help
everywhere
| you look. And you don’t have to worry about it disappearing. And there
are
| other legit editors out there for less than $100.
|

I pretty much have what I need with PSP5. And PSP16
if I need it. I don't want to give Adobe any business.

"Thomas" <canope234@gmail.com> wrote

| To that end, I noticed PSP5 "shareware" discussed, where when I said
| "freeware" I had meant merely not expiry ware and not payware in so much
as
| the software was arguably free to use for non-commercial use

If PSP was ever shareware it was a very long time ago.
V. 3, maybe? I'd guess it's abandonware. It was available online
for a very long time. The original came on a CD but had no
activation code. (Only things like MS Office and PS were doing
that back then. And it was pointless anyway. People passed
around CDs with the code. I always put the code on the CD with
marker. Why keep the CD and code in different places?)

| Calibre for listening to epub
| https://calibre-ebook.com/download_windows

I recently got Calibre to convert ePub to something I
can use, like PDF. It's a bit funky, but it seems to work.

On Sat, 9 Jul 2022 17:21:58 +0100, Peter wrote:
> Or do the Mac users only want to complain nobody cares about them?
>

And in a Windows 10 newsgroup, n'est-ce pas?

--
Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA https://BrownMath.com/
Shikata ga nai...

On Saturday, July 9, 2022 at 2:48:20 PM, Mayayana wrote:

>| Calibre for listening to epub
>| https://calibre-ebook.com/download_windows
>
> I recently got Calibre to convert ePub to something I
> can use, like PDF. It's a bit funky, but it seems to work.

I use Calibre but there are a few epubs readers that are similar

Calibre https://calibre-ebook.com/download_windows
Hamster http://www.hamstersoft.com/free-ebook-converter/
Lucidor http://lucidor.org/lucidor/
Okular https://okular.kde.org/download.php
Pdflite http://www.pdflite.com/epub-to-pdf/
Stdu http://www.stdutility.com/stduviewer.html

This is where it's nice to know what the others use most.

Mayayana <mayayana@invalid.nospam> wrote:
>
> My only hesitation with that is that I avoid
> using credit cards online.

It's a funny attitude given that pre the web we'd happily give our credit
card details over the phone to complete strangers. Completely on trust with
no encryption or any security.

On 2022-07-09, nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> wrote:
> In article <tac19h$123f6$1@dont-email.me>, Mayayana
><mayayana@invalid.nospam> wrote:
>
>> My only hesitation with that is that I avoid
>> using credit cards online.
>
> use virtual card numbers, each unique per merchant, then either lock or
> discard after use, depending whether you expect to transact with the
> same merchant in the future.

I used them outside the UK several years ago. Sadly none of my current
card providers offer this service. Time to look elsewhere, I guess.

--
Cheers, Alan

In article <tae5ls$1beu8$1@dont-email.me>, Chris <ithinkiam@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Mayayana <mayayana@invalid.nospam> wrote:
> > My only hesitation with that is that I avoid
> > using credit cards online.
>
> It's a funny attitude given that pre the web we'd happily give our credit
> card details over the phone to complete strangers. Completely on trust with
> no encryption or any security.

many paper bills have the option to write down a credit card number on
the payment stub and then send it back, to be processed some days later
whenever it arrives, hopefully for the correct amount.

also, in most american restaurants, patrons give the physical card to
an underpaid server, who walks away with it to run the transaction on a
terminal that is not visible to the patron, then brings back the
receipt to be signed along with the card.

apple/google pay and virtual card numbers completely eliminates those
risks.

In article <tae97l$1boi7$1@alanrichardbarker.eternal-september.org>,
Alan B <alanrichardbarker@nospamgmail.com.invalid> wrote:

> >> My only hesitation with that is that I avoid
> >> using credit cards online.
> >
> > use virtual card numbers, each unique per merchant, then either lock or
> > discard after use, depending whether you expect to transact with the
> > same merchant in the future.
>
> I used them outside the UK several years ago. Sadly none of my current
> card providers offer this service. Time to look elsewhere, I guess.

there are third party services that offer virtual card numbers.