[LobsterSan]

I know Head-Fi's got a lot of photography nuts on its boards, so I thought I'd try this question here.

I've got Photoshop CS3, but it's a pain in the butt to load each time I want to do a simple crop/resize job.

Microsoft's built-in photo editor is OK -- it loads quick but has no batch functions nor any method of easily cropping.

I've tried Miha's Image Resizer, which is lightweight and handles batch processes, but the interface feels very clunky and it has no other editing features.

What I would like is a very lightweight (ie, fast-loading) photo viewer/editor that can handle batch processes and do the basics like resize, crop, rotate, and web optimize quickly.

Preferably open-source if such a thing exists, though I wouldn't mind paying typical shareware-type prices if the program works really well.

Any recommendations?

 

[azncookiecutter]

GIMP isn't too bad, pretty much a Photoshop clone to me. Open-source too, so you can give it a spin to see if you like it. Definitely not as powerful or easy to use as PS, but for the price, you can't complain.

EDIT: For photo viewing, can't beat Picasa.

 

[Gautama]

The Gimp?

 

[LobsterSan]

"Bring out the Gimp."

I remember trying Gimp a while back, curious about how it has developed in the past few years. Does it load quickly?

I already have Photoshop and can accomplish everything with it, but it's a very resource-intensive application. What I'm looking for is something that can integrate more with the winXP shell and be extremely lightweight -- like loading in less than a second and giving options for some of the most frequently used tools like cropping, resizing, and optimizing with batch capabilities.

 

[krmathis]

I highly recommend Seashore.
Its a free (open-source) basic image editing software, with multiple layers and alpha channel support. In short a lite-GIMP.

 

[Asr]

Paint.NET! Paint.NET - Free Software for Digital Photo Editing

 

[floydenheimer]

For just simple stuff like crop/resize, Irfanview is lightning quick.

 

[AlanY]

Yeah, you want Irfanview. But if you're dealing with digital photos on a regular basis, it's worth considering Adobe Lightroom.

 

[Omega]

Quote:

Originally Posted by floydenheimer /img/forum/go_quote.gif For just simple stuff like crop/resize, Irfanview is lightning quick.

Another vote for Irfanview. Easy batch operations, super fast, super convenient.

Adobe's Lightroom is definitely NOT quick to load and process, especially if you're using a RAW workflow.

 

[Duggeh]

Paint shop pro v7. Lightning fast load and use. Any tools you could want sub-photoshop level and easier and more comprehensive than the gimp. Except that its an obsolete version now and after it JSAC went all photoshop with loading and processing times.

What's the law regarding distribution of obsolete software cos the demo for psp7 is time limited if I remember.

 

[LobsterSan]

Awesome! Great suggestions guys -- after taking a look at all of them, I've settled on Irfanview. It handles everything I need it to and is super lightweight.

And a rundown on the others:

Seashore -- Looks great, but OSX only. Also, a bit too full-featured for my purposes.

Paint.net -- This looks really great, but again a bit too full-featured. This thing looks like it can seriously rival Photoshop with core features!

PSPv7 -- Don't wanna deal with the whole legality issue there. I'm not really sure what the official word is. It's probably illegal, but no one really cares unless the company that produced it is still around and wants to put a stop to it.


I posted this same question to a dedicated photography board, and you guys came through with much better recommendations! The Head-Fi community rocks my world.

 

[Punnisher]

Photofiltre does exactly that. I use it on my USB flash drive.

and it's less than 5mb. Has tons of features for its size.

PhotoFiltre - Download

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LobsterSan /img/forum/go_quote.gif Seashore -- Looks great, but OSX only. Also, a bit too full-featured for my purposes.

You till have not mentioned which OS (Operating System) you run.
That would make it a lot easier to suggest suitable applications.

 

[LobsterSan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif You till have not mentioned which OS (Operating System) you run. That would make it a lot easier to suggest suitable applications.

Whoopsies! I guess reading my mind isn't as easy as my wife makes it out to be!

I'm sure you've figured it out by now, but I'm running winXP. Actually, I am somewhat crossplatform, as I also use OSX and Linux -- but the bulk of my computing is done on an XP machine.

 

[Wildsurfer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Punnisher /img/forum/go_quote.gif Photofiltre does exactly that. I use it on my USB flash drive. and it's less than 5mb. Has tons of features for its size. PhotoFiltre - Download

I second that, Photofiltre is the best photo editor by far imho.