Translating graphics with Paint.NET
Published: December 10, 2009
(Page 8 of 8)
Comparison of image editing software
Way back at the beginning of the article I promised to give you a comparison of some image editors. Well, here it is. It may be a bit subjective, so I strongly encourage you to install these programs and see them for yourselves.
| Paint.NET |
Free, Windows |
Rating - 6 |
Benefits:
- Clean, intuitive interface
Drawbacks:
- Text layers are not supported (i.e. you cannot modify text after it has been drawn, and such text overwrites other things in the layer)
- Basic text editor (only some keys may be used to edit text)
- Small Caps, All Caps - not supported
- Individual character formatting is not supported
- Some advanced text formatting features (e.g. kerning) are not supported
Promises:
- Text layers are promised in version 4.0. This will make it possible to modify text at any time
|
| GIMP |
Free, Windows / Linux |
Rating - 5 |
Benefits:
- Free open source application
- Available for almost all known operating systems
- Text objects are independent of their layer
- The Text tool supports line spacing
Drawbacks:
- Text layers are partially supported: they cannot be modified after being drawn, but unlike in Paint.NET they do not overwrite the underlying image in the layer
- Basic text editor (only some keys may be used to edit text)
- Small Caps, All Caps - not supported
- Individual character formatting is not supported
- Some advanced text formatting features (e.g. kerning) are not supported
|
| Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 |
$39.99 USD, Windows, 30-day trial |
Rating - 7 |
Benefits:
- Text may be edited at any time
- Rotate text easily
- Some advanced text formatting features: letter spacing (kerning)
Drawbacks:
- Individual character formatting is not supported
- Rather basic text editor
- Small Caps, All Caps - not supported
- The program is optimized for photo editing, which makes it a bit difficult to use for translation
|
| Adobe Fireworks CS4 |
$299 USD, Windows & Mac OS, 30-day trial |
Rating - 10 |
Benefits:
- Excellent text editor
- Text can be modified at any time
- Individual character formatting
- Easily rotate text
- A number of advanced text formatting features (line spacing, letter spacing, etc.)
Drawbacks: Virtually none |
Verdict: If you need to translate a lot of images frequently, I strongly recommend to spend the money on Adobe Fireworks CS4 for the speed and flexibility it will give you compared to other products. However, if you translate images from time to time, I would recommend Paint.NET.
Congratulations!
You have just learnt how to use Paint.NET to translate graphics.
Although Paint.NET is somewhat different from other graphical editors, the techniques covered in this article work just as well in other programs.
For your practice, use the following links to download Paint.NET and the image used in this tutorial:
Links & resources:
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