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

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