Submitted by drew on

All of this stuff is freeware.

Graphics Projects

IrfanView

For image viewing and very simple editing (such as cropping, scaling, rotating, etc)



GIMP

For raster artwork/editing. Like Microsoft Paint on super steroids.

It does have some vector editing tools.



Illustrator (ok, this one's not free)

For vector artwork.

This is also usually my main workspace for a new project, where I add all the different pieces into the final layout.

A freeware alternative would be Inkscape



LibreOffice

This is an office suite similar to Microsoft Office. It has equivalents to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. It also has a vector drawing program which I have not really used on its own, but it can draw boxes and things within PowerPoint and the other programs in the suite.

Slideshow Projects

Here's various free software that can be used to make slideshows. The Microsoft ones are probably easiest to use. DVD Slideshow GUI is a bit more complex, but the most configurable.



Microsoft Live Movie Maker

Create a WMV video file from images.

   Download: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/features/movie-maker

   Tutorial: http://voices.yahoo.com/create-slideshow-microsoft-movie-maker-tutorial-2724966.html



Microsoft Photo Story

Create a WMV video file from images. This is an older product, but some people find it better in some ways than Movie Maker.

   Download: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx

   Tutorial: http://millie.furman.edu/mll/tutorials/photostory3/index.htm



IrfanView

Create either a script that reads images out of a folder or create a single executable file containing all of the images. If you just want to read a bunch of files out of a folder without an intermediate output, this is probably the way to go.

   Download: http://www.irfanview.com/

   Tutorial: http://www.butterscotch.com/tutorial/Creating-A-Slideshow



LibreOffice Impress with PhotoAlbum plugin

Create a PowerPoint presentation from images.

   Download (LibreOffice): http://www.libreoffice.org/download/

   Download (plugin): http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/en/project/PhotoAlbum

   Tutorial (old): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-DMrYi0yvs



DVD Slideshow GUI

Has a whole bunch of different output options, including video file, upload to YouTube, or burn to DVD.

(Note: Durations are in number of frames, not seconds. Using one of the NTSC options, one second is 30 frames.)

   Download: http://download.videohelp.com/tin2tin/

   Tutorial: http://download.videohelp.com/tin2tin/tutorials.html



Flash Slide Show Maker

   Download: http://www.flash-slideshow-maker.com/myspace-slideshow-free/

Tags
Software

Timer

The timer can count up from a time in the past or count down towards a time in the future.

The timer's appearance and the format of the time (and text) is very configurable. You can hide it's border, it's background, set the color and glow effects.

Sound Recorder

This is a simple recorder that records directly to an MP3 file. Recording can be paused and resumed.

The recording window has a compact mode and can be set to stay on top of other windows, so it can be out of the way, yet still visible.

When done recording, you can playback the recording or upload the file to an FTP site.

Download

RocketDock with multiple bars\docks

Submitted by drew on

It seems there is plenty of interest about how to make RocketDock work with two or more docks or bars. Most answers say to use additional docking programs--one for each dock you want. Or use a commercial program that offers multiple docks. I think RocketDock is excellent except I want more than one. I finally figured out how to do it!

Let's first point out that RD is licensed under the Creative Commons license and it explicitly says "You are free... to Remix--to adapt the work." And also to redistribute.