[OT] graphics

I've just about mastered MS Paint, and I'm looking for the next step
(_small_ step) up in graphics programs.  The ideal candidate will be
easy to
use, free, capable of creating jpeg or gif (or both), and--most
importantly--simple.  Suggestions?

> On Sat, 24 Apr 1999, Laserlight wrote:

> I've just about mastered MS Paint, and I'm looking for the next step

Paint Shop Pro. It's shareware (but it comes fully enabled so you don't
_have_ to pay the shareware fee....**cough cough**) and quite like MS
Paint, only on a higher level.

It can handle nearly any type of graphics file type, and it has a number
of nifty utility-type things - easy dropshadows, buttonizing, lots of
other special effects. The basic paint and draw functions are basically
identical to Paint.

I'm not sure where to download it, exactly, (can't recall where I grabbed my
copy) but search "Paint Shop Pro" on any good search engine, and you'll
find it. Zipped, it's just under 3Mb. The filename is psp412.zip - you
might have better luck searching for that.

For some idea of what can be done w/ PSP, check out my website (URL in
my sig), esp. the large group of navigation buttons on the Games page, and
most of the small graphics around the site. Most of them are my own work, with
free webclipart thrown in now and then.

I also use an old version of Corel Draw (v.4), but that's not shareware.
Good, though. Very different from PSP - they complement each other
nicely, although my computer sometimes objects to running them both at the
same
time...

> Laserlight wrote:

I use:

Paint Shop Pro for image processing Alchemy Minwork's Graphics Workshop for
format conversion

Both are available as "try before you buy".

For a bloody-difficult-to-use-but-very-flexible system, get an old
version of Corel Draw, second hand. I got Corel Draw 3 for $5

> Laserlight wrote:

> A. Brain wrote:

Paint Shop Pro has too many bells and whistles for me to cope with. I
actually just found Net Sketch, available from C-Net as a shareware
download, which can export to a bitmap (includes jpeg & gif) file. Took about
5 minutes to download and looks pretty simple.

> On Sat, 24 Apr 1999, Laserlight wrote:

> I've just about mastered MS Paint, and I'm looking for the next step

You can try paint shop pro. That's one of the best shareware paint programs
out there.