Graphic Tools
Here you will find some useful tools and graphics. All of which I have put into use personally. If they will help you then you should go ahead and grab them. Some are FREE, some will require a small investment and others a small monthly subscription.
1. Tool No 1 – AVG Virus Protection
4. Tool No 4 – Instant Banner Creator
5. Tool No 5 – Serif – Desk Top Publisher
6. Tool No 6 – GIMP Graphics pack
Tool No 1 – AVG Virus Protection
Protection is both a basic and fundamental need – if you do not have any I would encourage you as an absolute minimum to download this FREE ‘Anti-Virus & Anti-Spyware’ package. I personally used this very successfully for a couple of years before ending up with the latest Norton version which came as a part of a package when recently buying a new lap top. I STRESS however, this should be a minimum level of protection that you should have. Security of YOUR information is imperative. Blocking virus’s and spyware is a MUST DO!
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NOW – here is a very useful tool that is ALSO FREE to download. It has many uses but the most frequent one for me is to be able to literally ‘capture’ ANY image I want to from wherever I want to – convert it into a ‘jpg’ image and upload it. I used this programme to upload the image you see to the left. Amongst the other things you can achieve with this programme is the ‘resizing’ of images without distorting the image (within reason of course). Great Tool – it comes with another attachment called ‘Thumbs’ which you may also find useful – takes a little bit of figuring out how to use this one but can be very useful – you can use it to show a small image but when clicked on transfers to a full size picture. Great little FREE package. |
Tool No 3- Snagit
This is a step up from ‘Irfanview’ and at the time of going to print will cost you $49.95 but it is well worth it, especially if you are involved in ‘presenting’ images etc., in ebooks, power point presentations etc., – great tool. You CAN take out a 30 day FREE TRIAL – which I would recommend you do.
Tool No 4 – Instant Banner Creator
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With Instant Banner Creator you can create a series of Graphics for FREE – just ’sign up’ and see for yourself. There ARE a couple of the graphics supplied that you CANNOT use unless you upgrade – but that is up to you, whether you ‘want’ the extra graphics or not. You will see an example of one of them in the top right hand corner of this blog !! Another word of warning too – there is a heap of other ‘attractions’ on this site – remember – IF you need them TODAY then use them, but PLEASE do NOT get hooked into downloading ANYTHING ‘unless’ you are going to use it. Try this FREE Banner Creator as well ! This is the one I ’started’ with. |
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GIMP – is a FREE downloadable Graphics package created along similar lines as Adobe Photoshop (not as comprehensive but the software is FREE to download!). Download link is supplied with this package. This set of tutorials is designed to help the beginner learn how to use it. Follow the videos through step by step, along with the other instructions provided, and you should be creating your own simple graphics in next to no time. Worthy of a look. |
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ADOBE – if you have Adobe and don’t know how to use it then this is for you. Without a doubt, Adobe is amongst, if not the best, graphics package. It is NOT difficult to master the basics such as creating web headers, footers, ebook covers, dvd covers, disc covers etc., – all the the Newby needs to create a ‘professional’ image of their graphics. Highly recommended, however, if you do not have Adobe it is NOT a cheap package. There is an alternative called “Elements” which will do the job. |
