Low Cost Tools for eLearning

Often we need to be able to edit photos and images to insert into our eLearning content. We get an image from a digital camera, marketing, or our production team, and it is just too big to be placed into content, or it’s too dark, or it really could use a call out.

Unfortunately, some popular image editing software and run several hundred dollars per seat, so getting enough licensees can be really expensive. Add to this, how weak a tool like Window’s Paint is, and you have a serious problem.

However, to the rescue comes Paint.Net.

The Pros

Paint.Net is a tool with much of the needed functionality of a full image editing software, while still being completely free. In addition, it is fairly fast, easy to use, and allows you to have multiple files open at once, so you can copy and past between images.

Some of it’s basic features include:

• using a paint brush, or pencil for drawing,
• erasing parts of an image,
• typing in text,
• changing color balance,
• adjusting the brightness and contrast,
• multi-layer support,
• support for multiple image formats (png, gif, jpg, etc.),
• resizing an image, and
• cropping an image.

You will also find that it is regularly updated. This is good as the community which is developing it works on improving its performance, fixing bugs, and adding new features. So something that was missing last week, may be in there this week.

The Cons

Unfortunately, there are a couple of drawbacks.  Paint.Net gets its name in part by requiring the Windows .Net framework to run. This is a separate download to install, and it obviously makes it so it will run on Microsoft Windows computers only.

The second drawback is that the text support is fairly weak. While you can add text, and modify it’s size and font, you cannot edit text once you enter it. So catching an error the next day can be tough. (Tip: Keep the text in a separate layer so it won’t damage your underlining image.)

The final drawback is there is currently no support for lay effects. Those used to Photoshop, are familiar with using effects like the drop shadow, emboss, glow, and more. Those effects are absent. You can manually create some of these effects with just a little effort, while others are more difficult to recreate. This is a mixed blessing as too many people use effects simply because they can, it also does make things more difficult when you do need the effect.

Overall

Overall I like Paint.Net.  It has been installed on work and personal machines and performs it’s duty well. While it doesn’t have all of the features of some other software, it is free, and easy to use.

If you need help learning it, you can go to their website http://www.getpaint.net/ and they also have tutorials on how to use the software.