Free Software

Today is free software day. We could all use a little free something once and a while. And, why spend hundreds of dollars on software when you get something equally nice for nothing?

I discovered this company a couple of years ago. One of their programs came as an extra in a book I purchased. I googled them and found a few other programs they offered. Serif is the company. I find their software easy to use, their directions easy to follow, and the price is right up my alley. You might think at first this software is only for business types, but it's not.

PhotoPlus 6 is a great photo editing program. For business people, you can create those little buttons for advertising, banners, and avatars. It's how I made my banner for this blog. On the personal side, you can rotate, add text, or add effects. There is an upgrade to this program for $10. With the upgrade, you can remove backgrounds, resize your photos easily, add 3d effects. This is a nice substitute to Photoshop if you can't afford it or you don't really need to do everything Photoshop does.

Then there is PagePlus. I love this program. I use it to create my business cards, and I'm working on fliers/postcards now. For businesses, I think this is one of those must have programs if you don't have one like this. The business cards it creates are stunning. There are so many templates you can use and alter, and that goes for everything. For the mom, you can create your own greeting cards, birthday party invitations, birthday banners. You can easily import your own pictures to personalize anything you're working on. And, once again, the directions are easy to follow.

Now here are two programs that you might not readily use, but your kids might. In fact, I'm getting ready to install them on my artist daughter's computer. She will love them. The first is DrawPlus. This free program enables you to make animations, room layouts, family trees. With a $10 upgrade, you can trace your own photos and make them editable drawings to transform into art. Then there is 3dplus, an amazing program to make 3d graphics. Kids would love this to enhance their school projects like science fair projects, book reports, or just about anything. If they are into art, they would love it just to play with.

Just so you know, I am not getting paid or anything like that to tell you about these programs. I just think these programs are fabulous. I use mine all the time for one thing or another. With Christmas coming, some of these would make lovely inexpensive gifts or create inexpensive gifts straight from the heart. I hope you enjoy them, and if you download them, let me know what you think or contact me if you have any questions.