Open Source and Image Processing Software

You may have heard about Open Source late last week, following the developments of Google’s invites regarding the upcoming annual conference of the Free Software Foundation (FSF). Whether this will mark the usher of a new way to look at how we manage our source code and other intellectual property remains to be seen. One thing is certain, we can expect this model to grow more popular as FSF stands to gain more influence in Washington, DC.

In order to combat this growing problem on the Office of the budget, the Office of Budget and Policy Development (OBPD) has made open-source software a requirement in their latest iteration of the sequester. Given the legal implications of profit-seeking from the use of software such as Open-Source, any government scientist wishing to use these programs must first answer three simple questions:

  1. Does the program interfere with my existing software?
  2. Is it free of any bugs?
  3. Is it from a reputable source that I can trust?

If you have answered yes to one or more of these questions, it would be a wise decision to look into downloading free, open-source software. This software is becoming extremely popular, and could soon, one day, make up for the costs of the sequester to government agencies. The government already consumes enormous amounts of dollars via the sequester and is looking for ways to reduce it without eliminating programs that people clearly need.

It permits organizations to create digital visual effects without using post-creation graphics software.

Comparison of image processing tools. 

Photoshop & Quark

This software is both free and open-source. Photoshop is simply not capable of producing the same level of depth and richness achieved by good post-production software. However, digital cameras do enable a user to produce near-professional level results while employing a lot fewer resources. This makes this software totally useless for digital nature print work.

Macromedia Dreamweaver

Dreamweaver is just one of many web development programs available that are free to download. It is the most popular free program in the industry for quality web & graphic design.

InDesign by Macromedia

InDesign is Macromedia’s answer to Adobe’s suite. It combines exceptional editing abilities with an intuitive user interface. This software program features a professional word-processing module as well as document formatting tools that rival those of leading industry players. InDesign is used for the creation of print layouts, such as brochures, leaflets, magazines, etc.

QATPress

QATPress is an alternative media creation tool that employs user-friendly features such as drag and drops GUI for creating digital documents. As the package contains a good number of tools (about 30) to create professional-quality documents, it is considered to be one of the more popular choices when it comes to commercial applications. This program often is regarded as one of the best packages for creating web blogs.

If you are on a Mac, these five computer software programs may be all that is left for you to discover. After all, the rest of the world is surely sampling the wonders created by these open source wonders.