Free Graphic Editors

Graphic editors are used to do a number of things. From touching up family photos, to editing video, making slide shows, etc. Most free graphic editors share the same functions as the commercial editors, making them a very versatile edition to any software arsenal.

A graphic editor will let you add custom effects to your photos in ways that standard graphic editors, such as Microsoft Paint, will not. Perhaps the most feature rich Free Graphic Editor is GIMP, the GNU Image Manipulation Program. With a feature pallet that rivals that of Photoshop, GIMP is a cross-platform application that can be used to do something as small as change a background color on an image, to adding  custom effects to images though the use of filters and multiple image layers. GIMP is very much an image manipulation software, but that's where its functionality ends. Other Free Graphic Editors will have less advanced feature sets, but will allow you to make custom photo albums, slide shows, or flash movies with your images.

While Graphic Editors can be very useful, they are a few risks that come with these applications:

Risks:

1. When you edit an image, and save the changes, your image alterations are not reversible. Please ensure you have a proper backup.
2. Be sure you know which image format you need to work with. In some cases, you can end up tripling the size of your image by adding even the smallest amount of changes.
3. Be sure that when working with Graphic Editors, you do not use a pre-defined workspace within the software. Always store your images outside of the installation directory for the software. That way, if you need to uninstall the graphic editor, you do not risk removing all your images as well.

You can get any or all of the free Graphic Editors here

NOTE 1: Most free graphic editor products are not as comprehensive as you may need. To get the full range of graphic editor protection, you may need to buy a full featured commercial graphic editor product.