Average user rating    (0 vote)

Reviewed by: CVC Circuit Riders Date: August 2008

Software company Serif has a novel approach for attracting new customers to its latest applications: Give away the old versions. You can download 1999's PhotoPlus 6 for free. So, while PhotoPlus 6 clearly isn't the latest and greatest, it is hands-down the best free basic image editor around.

Address: http://www.freeserifsoftware.com

Ease of Use: 3 out of 5
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5

Software with Imagination... for FREE!

That's right, 100% completely free software. No gimmicks. It's yours for free. Download today and start using the most user friendly software around.

PhotoPlus's interface resembles a stripped-down version of Adobe Photoshop. All of Photoshop's most vital features are here, starting with a layers palette that supports masks, opacity, and editable text layers. The toolbox contains lasso, wand, and shape-selection tools, paint and airbrushes, a clone tool, and tools for drawing simple bitmap shapes. The shape-drawing and selection tools share a unique and powerful feature: Drag to draw the shape, and one or more sliders appear flanking the shape, so you can make adjustments before finalizing it.

Pros:  If you want a free and simple image editor for touching up photos and creating original art, PhotoPlus 6 is the best choice

Cons: Only one PhotoPlus feature proves to be a complete dud: Because of a known bug with the free version, the Navigator palette remains blank at all times, and it crashes the entire program if moved. The easiest workaround is to close it and forget it.

Our View: Serif is a well known brand and here is a good way to get professional software for the normal user.  We only looked at the PhotoPlus, other Serif software is available from the same site.