Photo touch-up software

[originaljohn]

Hi folks:

Can anyone some photo-touch-up alternatives to Adobe Photoshop. I just want to be able to do some basic touch up and color balancing on simple photos taken with a point-and-shoot camera, before I send them to a service to be printed. I have seen GIMP, but I prefer not to install all the X-Windows stuff if I can avoid it. Freeware is preferable, of course, but I'm interested in learning about any light-weight commercial packages as well.

Thanks for your help!!

John

[edX]

i'm partial to GIF Converter myself. yes it costs about $35 or so, but it has everything in one. there are several freeware apps that do part of the job and between them you can get pretty good results. but it's not really worth it to me.

[genghiscohen]

Try PixelNhance. It's freeware, very easy to use, and should handle just about anything you want to do.
Ed, are you perchance referring to GraphicConverter? That's what your description sounds like. To me, it was definitely worth the $35, but you can also use it for free if you can endure an annoying "countdown" when you launch it.

[edX]

uh, yea. the os 9 version was called GIF Converter. you're absolutly right genghis I personally prefer it over Pixel Enhance for a variety of reasons. Like i said, it's just a more complete package at a reasonable price. and yea, you can use it for free. and a tip - it doesn't load that much faster after you register it. But i think the developer deserves my money anyway!!

[gibbs]

I recommend photoretouch pro by binuscan.

www.binuscan.com

Their automatic retouch/color algorythm is really good.

[originaljohn]

Thanks for advice!

I have tried Graphic Converter, but i couldn't figure out how to do the histogram balance.

John

[originaljohn]

Ah! I found the histogram balancing under Auto-Leveling in Graphic Converter. Also tried out PixelNhance...nice little piece of software! Thanks again for the suggestions.

John