Hi,
Thanks to the many replies to my queries about cheap/easy alternatives
to Photoshop and CorelDraw on OS X. In a rare display of unanimity,
the bulletin board spoke with essentially one voice:
ALTERNATIVE TO PHOTOSHOP:
Gimp (not gimpshop)
http://www.gimp.org/
As one sage respondent said, Gimp is "no less intuitive than
Photoshop." I could certainly easily figure out how to do the types
of trivial manipulations for which I previously used Photoshop; power
users may have a different experience.
ALTERNATIVE TO CORELDRAW/ILLUSTRATOR:
Inkscape
http://www.inkscape.org/
Again, straightforward to use, and I sense that I will find it a
completely satisfactory replacement for CorelDraw (if only it could
read .cdr files, sigh).
Notes:
1. At least one of these programs requires updating the version of
X11 that comes with 10.5 (e.g., XQuartz 2.3 something, http://xquartz.macosforge.org/trac/wiki)
. If you are using crystallographic software you've probably already
done this.
2. One kind soul pointed out that I already have GraphicConvertor
installed as part of the OS, and this program can do simple
manipulations (brightness, contrast, cropping, etc.). Hidden in plain
sight.
3. There was one vote (out of dozens total) for ImageMagick, but as
far as I know this is command line only. It also occurs to me that
ImageJ would do at least some of the simple things that I need (e.g.,
getting an image of a gel ready for publication).
4. There was one vote for OmniGraffle (but this is commercial, and
costs a few dollars).
Thanks again. The ccp4bb rules.
Pat
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patrick J. Loll, Ph. D.
Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Director, Biochemistry Graduate Program
Drexel University College of Medicine
Room 10-102 New College Building
245 N. 15th St., Mailstop 497
Philadelphia, PA 19102-1192 USA
(215) 762-7706
pat.l...@drexelmed.edu
