Graphic Artists Rejoice! Top Graphics Programs Available Today

Whether you're already a graphics artist or just looking for a good piece of software to touch up your photos, you're likely looking for the perfect piece of software for your needs. Maybe you've already got an idea about the graphics software you want but need some more info or you have no idea at all and are just starting out as a graphic artist

As you can well imagine there are hundreds of obscure programs out there, some of which are good and some might be complete junk. The fact is, I don't know every piece of graphical software but I will cover the top 5 that I use or have used on a regular basis. I'm going to try to spread this out so that there will be something for everyone at every price point. I could easily just talk about the $1000 and up software but I would be doing a disservice to my readers.

Indulge me if you will but I'd like to start with my personal favorite piece of graphics software. This program just happens to be one of the recognized industry standards. Back in the 1990s, this graphics software was used to do some of the special effects used in the biggest blockbuster of the decade. Of course I'm speaking of the movie 'Terminator 2' and the graphics program in question is none other than Adobe Photoshop.

To this day Adobe Photoshop is considered an industry standard in both the professional and "prosumer" circles. It would take less time to tell you what the software doesn't do then to tell you what it does. Nevertheless let me rattle off a few features that I absolutely love.

If I want to create an image that looks aged the this program makes that a piece of cake. If I want to create a template for a WordPress (popular free blogging software) theme then this graphics software lets me do that. Batch processing is a snap and if I happen to have a picture I really like but someone I really dislike is in that picture then eliminating them is easy as pie. I'm not talking about hiring a hit-man, the program is far superior to any hit-man when it comes to modifying that image.

When you deal with a program with such a pedigree then you can expect it to be fairly expensive and this graphics software retails for $699 for a full version or a very affordable $199 for the upgrade version.

I know this is out of a lot of peoples price range but it is absolutely amazing software.

Zed: Bring out the Gimp.
Maynard: Gimp's sleeping.
Zed: Well, I guess you're gonna have to go wake him up now, won't you?

No, this is not turning into a retelling of 'Pulp Fiction' but you really should look into getting the Gimp graphics software.

It's not quite Photoshop but it is a really nice program that can handle many of the same objectives that Photoshop can. One of the biggest draws that the Gimp graphics program has going for it, aside from a very easy to use GUI, is that it's open source. In other words, it's completely free and that puts it in everybody's price range.

I often use Gimp when I don't need to use excessive processor power with a beast of a program such as Photoshop. In all honesty, for your normal everyday use, Gimp is very useful, quite powerful in it's own right and will likely meet the needs of many up and coming graphic designers. I could say that the Gimp graphics software is fantastic for the price but honestly the Gimp program would be a great value at even $100 and possibly more.