Buying a new computer for most us means scrimping and saving. And that's only just the beginning. Purchasing licensed software - more often than not - breaks the bank. But if you look hard enough, you might just hit the jackpot. Graphics company Serif has a whole software suite that lets you edit photos, stitch panoramas, create vector graphics, design brochures, print layouts and visiting cards, and even personal web pages...
PhotoPlus starter edition
Instead of paying a hefty price for photo-editing software, you could install PhotoPlus Starter and get pro features at zero cost. Like other advanced image editing tools, it lets you work with "layers".
You can use its built-in filters and effects, adjust brightness and contrast, tweak hue and saturation, straighten and crop pictures, remove red eye and blemishes, and more.
You can save your process as a custom pre set and quickly apply it to other images as well.
PhotoPlus includes a "how to", which is a neat documentation of the software's capabilities. Beginners can use the simple instructions or click "Do this for me" to allow the software to carry out the step automatically.
However, there are a few tools and effects - like line, shape, warp and HDR - that are available only after an upgrade. That said, its Help file has workarounds that help beginners get by without an upgrade.
http:www.serif.comfree-photo-editing-software
Size: 112MB
PanaromaPlus starter edition
PanoramaPlus is meant for the landscape photographs you've wanted to stitch together, but haven't figured out how to.
Well, with this software, simply select the images you want to piece together and let it do all the hard work. Finally, save the newly created panorama, which can have a maximum resolution of 3000x3000px, as a JPEG file. Saving in other formats requires a paid upgrade.
Note: You will need an image editor like PhotoPlus to straighten and crop the panoramic landscapes to remove the empty spaces created by the stitching process.
http:www.serif.comfree-panoramic-photo-stitchingsoftware
Size: 24.3MB
DrawPlus starter edition
DrawPlus Starter is a superb illustration software that caters to budding artists who are keen on learning about - and working with - vector graphics. You can begin by using the Startup Wizard that's packed with tutorial texts and videos. After which, you can explore DrawPlus' exhaustive vector tools to create logos, technical drawings, and even art.
The software can be calibrated to be used with any pressure-sensitive drawing tablet, allowing you to use its brush tool and effects to create professional-quality graphics. You can insert images from your PC to trace over, and you can even drag and drop shapes and cliparts from the software gallery directly into your design.
In this free version, some features like the Connector tool, the Freeform Paint tool, Instant 3D, the Blend tool, Publish as PDF, Preview in Browser, and Export for CADCAM are disabled. What you get, however, is still enough to create detailed illustrations. You can save your files in the proprietary DrawPlus Drawing format (.dpp), or export your work to formats such as GIF, JPG, PNG, TARGA, TIFF, Win Bitmap and SVG.
http:www.serif.comfree-graphic-design-software
Size: 103.29 MB
PagePlus starter edition
PagePlus lets you create professional-looking bro chures, flyers, letterheads, busi ness cards, resumes and more.
You get greater control over the elements in a page than you would in a Word document, making it ideal for students, designers, as well as the office executive.
The learning curve is not steep because of its numerous templates for various page sizes, including CD labels and envelopes. Moreover, PagePlus Starter is accompanied with detailed documentation and walk-throughs that make page-making simple.
We recommend watching the "starting from scratch" video before moving on to the Tutorials section. The software also includes an exhaustive list of "assets" like clipart, badges, backgrounds, logos, themes, stock photographs and symbols that can be selected and dragged on to the page whenever required. While you are doing all this, PagePlus will continue to help you along the way with tips and tricks.
All projects are saved as a PP Publication file and exporting to a PDF file requires a paid upgrade. However, you can work around this by printing your work to an XPS Document (.xps), which is a PDF-like open document format.
http:www.serif.comdesktop-publishing-software
Size: 226MB
WebPlus starter edition
This free offering is ideal for folk who want to create a small personal website, or even an online presence for a small business. The best part: you don't even need to know how to program for the web.
When you open WebPlus Starter, you are greeted with the Startup Assistant. From here, advanced users can build a new website from scratch, while beginners can view the latest learning tutorials that provide step-by-step instructions, and start work with professionally-designed templates. To complete the whole circle, you can even set up web hosting from the assistant, which you will need to get your website online and with minimum hassles.
The free Starter Edition gives you four desktop and an equal number of mobile website templates. After choosing any of these, you are prompted to select the number of pages you want, and a colour theme. You can add images from your PC, drag and drop graphics to your web page layout and even insert YouTube videos and Google Maps.
Some of the features in the free WebPlus Starter are disabled, but what you get is still enough to setup a basic site on the
internet.
http:www.serif.comweb-design-software
Size: 170.70MB
PhotoPlus starter edition
Instead of paying a hefty price for photo-editing software, you could install PhotoPlus Starter and get pro features at zero cost. Like other advanced image editing tools, it lets you work with "layers".
You can use its built-in filters and effects, adjust brightness and contrast, tweak hue and saturation, straighten and crop pictures, remove red eye and blemishes, and more.
You can save your process as a custom pre set and quickly apply it to other images as well.
PhotoPlus includes a "how to", which is a neat documentation of the software's capabilities. Beginners can use the simple instructions or click "Do this for me" to allow the software to carry out the step automatically.
However, there are a few tools and effects - like line, shape, warp and HDR - that are available only after an upgrade. That said, its Help file has workarounds that help beginners get by without an upgrade.
http:www.serif.comfree-photo-editing-software
Size: 112MB
PanaromaPlus starter edition
PanoramaPlus is meant for the landscape photographs you've wanted to stitch together, but haven't figured out how to.
Well, with this software, simply select the images you want to piece together and let it do all the hard work. Finally, save the newly created panorama, which can have a maximum resolution of 3000x3000px, as a JPEG file. Saving in other formats requires a paid upgrade.
Note: You will need an image editor like PhotoPlus to straighten and crop the panoramic landscapes to remove the empty spaces created by the stitching process.
http:www.serif.comfree-panoramic-photo-stitchingsoftware
Size: 24.3MB
DrawPlus starter edition
DrawPlus Starter is a superb illustration software that caters to budding artists who are keen on learning about - and working with - vector graphics. You can begin by using the Startup Wizard that's packed with tutorial texts and videos. After which, you can explore DrawPlus' exhaustive vector tools to create logos, technical drawings, and even art.
The software can be calibrated to be used with any pressure-sensitive drawing tablet, allowing you to use its brush tool and effects to create professional-quality graphics. You can insert images from your PC to trace over, and you can even drag and drop shapes and cliparts from the software gallery directly into your design.
In this free version, some features like the Connector tool, the Freeform Paint tool, Instant 3D, the Blend tool, Publish as PDF, Preview in Browser, and Export for CADCAM are disabled. What you get, however, is still enough to create detailed illustrations. You can save your files in the proprietary DrawPlus Drawing format (.dpp), or export your work to formats such as GIF, JPG, PNG, TARGA, TIFF, Win Bitmap and SVG.
http:www.serif.comfree-graphic-design-software
Size: 103.29 MB
PagePlus starter edition
PagePlus lets you create professional-looking bro chures, flyers, letterheads, busi ness cards, resumes and more.
You get greater control over the elements in a page than you would in a Word document, making it ideal for students, designers, as well as the office executive.
The learning curve is not steep because of its numerous templates for various page sizes, including CD labels and envelopes. Moreover, PagePlus Starter is accompanied with detailed documentation and walk-throughs that make page-making simple.
We recommend watching the "starting from scratch" video before moving on to the Tutorials section. The software also includes an exhaustive list of "assets" like clipart, badges, backgrounds, logos, themes, stock photographs and symbols that can be selected and dragged on to the page whenever required. While you are doing all this, PagePlus will continue to help you along the way with tips and tricks.
All projects are saved as a PP Publication file and exporting to a PDF file requires a paid upgrade. However, you can work around this by printing your work to an XPS Document (.xps), which is a PDF-like open document format.
http:www.serif.comdesktop-publishing-software
Size: 226MB
WebPlus starter edition
This free offering is ideal for folk who want to create a small personal website, or even an online presence for a small business. The best part: you don't even need to know how to program for the web.
When you open WebPlus Starter, you are greeted with the Startup Assistant. From here, advanced users can build a new website from scratch, while beginners can view the latest learning tutorials that provide step-by-step instructions, and start work with professionally-designed templates. To complete the whole circle, you can even set up web hosting from the assistant, which you will need to get your website online and with minimum hassles.
The free Starter Edition gives you four desktop and an equal number of mobile website templates. After choosing any of these, you are prompted to select the number of pages you want, and a colour theme. You can add images from your PC, drag and drop graphics to your web page layout and even insert YouTube videos and Google Maps.
Some of the features in the free WebPlus Starter are disabled, but what you get is still enough to setup a basic site on the
internet.
http:www.serif.comweb-design-software
Size: 170.70MB
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