Five Free Graphics Tools

Dianne Reuby Graphics often need a bit of a tweak before you add them to
your pages. Cropping, making the background transparent,
resizing, or just finding that picture that you **know**
you've got somewhere on your hard drive! Irfan View can
carry out all these tasks, and includes a great browser
which loads at the click of a key, and displays thumbnails
for you to choose from. It will also do screen captures.
Available from many freeware sites (see below), you can also
download from http://softwarecenter.net/irfanview/

GIF files can be "optimized" - have all the unnecessary
information cut out of them. This makes them quicker to load
on a web site, without affecting their quality. GifClean32
from http://members.tripod.com/~mharing/GifClean32.html will
do this, and is very easy to use. JpgCleaner from
http://rnbw.tsx.org does the same for JPG files.

NOTE: Some clipart creators ask you not to use these tools
on their graphics, as the programs can remove the copyright
info from the file. So check first!

Do you want an icon for your web site? Having a "favicon"
which displays in Internet Explorer address bar and
favorites list can make your site stand out. GoldIcon will
let you create 32x32 BMP icons. Get it from
http://www.goldshell.com To find out more about favicons and
how to use them, go to http://www.favicon.com/

Harm's Tile from http://www.users.uswest.net/~sharman1/ will
allow you to create seamless tiles for backgrounds, buttons,
etc. It has several effects that can be used alone or
combined together, such as ripple, fish-eye, buttonise and
more. It's fun to use, too!

UFX (Ultimate Effects) - http://www.ultimatepaint.com/ufx/
can apply special effects to your pictures. It's prime
purpose is for scanning and manipulating photos, but it can
be used on other graphics too. You can also use Adobe
Photoshop plug-ins with it. Use it for screen capture,
transparent gifs, special effects and other tasks too.

Some of my favourite freeware sites:
http://www.completelyfreesoftware.com/
http://www.webattack.com/
http://www.jumbo.com/
http://www.moochers.com/

Some of my favourite free graphics sites:
http://www.iconarchive.com
http://www.clipartcastle.com
http://www.clipart.com
http://www.free-backgrounds.com/

About the Author

Dianne Reuby is co-author of the e-book "First Website
Builder", http://newbieclub.com/builder/?pramclub
Dianne created and runs the Free Site Builder web site and
ezine, dedicated to helping newbies create web sites with
free tools, services and resources.
Visit FSB at http://freesitebuilder.co.uk/
Send for a complete list of free articles and lessons by e-
mail : mailto:fsb-lessons@getresponse.com