Free software for the digital darkroom
Some of the best things in life are free, including these nifty programs and utilities to help you in the digital darkroom. Programs include those to edit and enhance digital images, to view and organize them, and even to help recover digital files you may have deleted. All programs were free and available at the time of posting.*
Free photo editing, organizing and viewing software
- ePassportPhotos – create passport photos online
- Fastone Photo resizer – Batch convert, rename and resize images, including converting images to PDF files.
- FotoSketcher – automatically converts digital photos into art; or improve them with simple tools.
FrameFun – add mats, frames and drop shadows to digital images.
Gimp – (Windows, Mac, Linux) – open source photo retouching software that has many robust features and supports layers. The learning curve may be higher for some than other editing programs listed here.
Irfanview – image viewer and converter; reads exif data.
PhotoFiltre – image editing and filter program (go to the downloads page).
PhotoPlus – image editing software offering layers.
- Photoscape – photo editing software to fix and enhance photos.
Photo Story – add motion, effects, music and more to digital photos. Windows XP only.
- Picturennaut HDR – combine multiple photos of a scene for High Dynamic Range. [What's HDR?]
- Seashore – open source image editor for Mac OS X; supports multiple layers.
- TwistedBrush Open Studio – create original digital paintings and all forms of digital art. Photo editing too. Layers and Transparency; Masks; Tracing Paper.
Free photo-related software and utilities
- Bulk Rename Utility – easily rename files and entire folders based on extremely flexible criteria.
- Exposure Plot - analyzes usage of focal length, ISO, aperture and shutter speed.
- iTag – utility that embeds title, description and keywords in photos and videos.
- Photo Dater - add date and other information to photo.
- PIXresizer – image resizer.
- SD Formatter – considered the best utility to format SD/SDHC/SDXC cards.
- uMark Lite - image watermarking software.
Free photo & data recovery software
Free EXIF readers/viewers
- EXIF Image Viewer – view available EXIF information in photos posted online.
- Opanda IExif - browse available Exif / GPS / IPTC data in digital images posted online.
- PhotoMe – analyze and modify Exif and IPTC-NAA data ; analyze ICC profiles.
Free video editing software
- DVD Flick – simple but powerful DVD authoring tool.
- MP4Cam2AVI – quickly converts .mp4/.MOV files to .AVI files (lossless).
- Mpeg Streamclip – a powerful video converter, player, editor for Mac and Windows.
- SMPlayer – basic features for playing videos, DVDs, and VCDs; advanced features for MPlayer filters and more
- VirtualDub – video capture and processing utility.
Free monitor calibration software