Basic photo editing software?

[BadgerDave]

I'm looking for a software package to do basic photo editing on a PC running Windows Vista. All I really need is the ability to crop and resize and optimize the file size for posting to boards like this, and ebay.

I don't mind paying up to $100, but less is better.

The kicker is, I want something fast and simple. Most of what I've found has so many features that you can't do simple cropping and resizing without navigating through multiple menus or working on a desktop that makes the control panel of 747 look uncluttered.

Any suggestions?

OK, other than buying a mac

[Feynman]

If you have MS Office, you should already have the Microsoft Office Picture Manager. It will let you do those things and a few more easily, and it's free.

[BCR Greg]

www.irfanview.com

Free and very effective.

[JGale]

www.irfanview.com

Free and very effective.

Bingo. Be sure and browse the add-in discount rack!

[backinit]

If that's all your going to do there is no need to purchase software.

[specialk]

JGale:

Good to know that reptile has feets, but what exactly is he/she doing with its hands?

[Jimbilly]

I've been really happy with the "Faststone image view", I think I found it at www.majorgeeks.com, it's quick and easy for cropping, and has a handy 'brightness/contrast/gamma' feature for getting the colors looking better if the lighting wasn't right. It's free too.

[zenmindbeginner]

Just get a free Photobucket account and Photobucket will allow you to do the simplest and most effective edits like cropping, resizing, red eye fixing, and adding text etc. And Photobucket will let you do all that for free and with no software installation required on your computer. Could it get any simpler than that?

[DaveL]

I would go with Photoshop Elements... but, what I would do is go

back an version or two to 5.0 or 6.0 which you can find deeply

discounted. You can find new OEM copies on ebay for something

like $15-$20... I love it and it would handle basic image editing

very well... and believe me, I'm not one for reading tutorials or

any of that stuff...

[BadgerDave]

Great responses, Thanks!

I actually bought the basic version of Corel Paint Shop at OfficeMax last year, put it on the shelf and forgot about it while I was distracted with getting married, moving, etc.

When I got around to installing it last weekend it turns out that it's not compatable with Vista.

Wonder how long that had been sitting on the shelf? My fault for not taking a pair of reading glasses to the store - the system requirements were in font that couldn't be more than 2 point.

Then I uploded GIMP freeware. Holy $&!#!!! I eventually figured out which of the 25 menus and 200 screen icons to use to adjust the resolution and by searching through a few internet boards I briefly understood how to get through the 7 step basic cropping function, then I forgot!

[mathman]

I haven't used this myself but you could try it.

PicNik

its a Firefox add-on.

Picnik Add-on – As you may or may not know, Google recently acquired Picnik. Picnik is the easy (and free) way to fix your photos! From cropping, resizing, rotating, adding special effects, adding fonts, shapes…the sky is the limit! The Firefox add-on for Picnik gives you the ability to “Send to Picnik” or even “Edit image in Picnik” directly from the web page you’re on! Neat!

[specialk]

Great responses, Thanks!

I actually bought the basic version of Corel Paint Shop at OfficeMax last year, put it on the shelf and forgot about it while I was distracted with getting married, moving, etc.

When I got around to installing it last weekend it turns out that it's not compatable with Vista.

Wonder how long that had been sitting on the shelf? My fault for not taking a pair of reading glasses to the store - the system requirements were in font that couldn't be more than 2 point.

Then I uploded GIMP freeware. Holy $&!#!!! I eventually figured out which of the 25 menus and 200 screen icons to use to adjust the resolution and by searching through a few internet boards I briefly understood how to get through the 7 step basic cropping function, then I forgot!

Great post. Gotta love these computers!

And the software they run......

[Armitage]

I use Photoshop Elements... and am really happy with it.