Help:Image tutorial

Various Wikipedians have put together graphics tutorials. Some of these are still works in progress. It is preferred to work with open formats (such as PNG or SVG) and free licenses (such as public domain or GFDL) when possible. There are many free software programs available for creating and editing images.

Tutorials

Vector graphics tutorials

Application

• SVG with Inkscape - Fully featured SVG drawing program, also capable of PNG output

• Using Dia - page not maintained - Well suited to technical diagrams & flowsheets - PNG output, limited SVG support
• Using Microsoft Word - page not maintained - Familiar to many users, easy to use - PNG only, no SVG support
• Using OpenOffice Writer - page not maintained - [Similar to MS Word, PNG, buggy SVG import, no SVG output
• Using OpenOffice Draw - page not maintained - As per OpenOffice Writer

Specific tasks

• Commutative diagrams in TeX, in mathematics
• Circuits in Xcircuit, in electronics

3D graphics tutorials

http://www.webdesign.org/web/3d-graphics/tutorials/

Bitmap graphics tutorials

• Using the GIMP
• Wikipedia:Basic bitmap image editing
• Wikipedia:Graphic Lab/Optimizing relief - map-making tutorial using 3DEM or GRASS GIS editors and GIMP bitmap editor (all free programs)

Filesize optimisation programs

Open source programs

• PNGCrush
• OptiPNG
• AdvanceCOMP
• Jhead

Freeware programs

• PNGOUT
• DeflOpt - Licence information for DeflOpt is unclear; Provided as freeware, but possibly non-free
• JPG Cleaner

Non-Free programs

• JPGExtra

Filesize optimisation tutorials

• Wikipedia:Preparing images for upload - Describes how to keep image file sizes as small as possible.
• How to reduce colors for saving a JPEG as PNG (using The GIMP)

Photo editing tutorials

• How to improve image quality
• Photoshop CS tutorial listings
• Adobe Photoshop Tutorials

Combination tutorials

• Keep in mind that images can contain hidden data and that you might want to remove the hidden data before publishing the images.
• Wikipedia:Graphics in two modes (formerly ...complex illustrations with FreeHand and Photoshop) (commercial)

Software used for Wikipedia images

Vector graphics software

• Xara Xtreme (Non-free and Free versions)
• Inkscape (Free)
• Dia (Free)
• Sodipodi (Free)
• MetaPost (Free)
• xfig (Free)
• ConceptDraw (Non-free)
• Adobe Illustrator (Non-free)
• CorelDraw (Non-free)
• DrawPlus (Non-free)
• and many more...

3D software

• Blender (Free)
• OpenFX [1] (Free)
• POV-Ray (Free for non-commercial distribution)
• and many more...

Bitmap software

• GIMP (Free)
• Paint Shop Pro (Non-free)
• Adobe Photoshop (Non-free)
• CodedColor
• and many more...

Word processors with vector-graphics facilities

• OpenOffice.org writer (Free)
• KWord (Free)
• AppleWorks (Non-free)
• Microsoft Word (Non-free)
• and many more...

Panorama software

• Hugin (software) (Open source)
• Autostitch (Non-free; full demo available)
• PTAssembler (Shareware, based on the open source Panorama Tools (software))
• PTGui (Shareware, based on the open source Panorama Tools (software))

Related topics

• Vector graphics, Raster map graphics, 3D graphics, Word processors, Graphics, Computer graphics, Page layout, Image editing
• Images for cleanup: images that need improvements
• Image use policy: general information on using images on Wikipedia
• Picture tutorial: The best way to add your pictures to articles
• Public domain image resources: sources for public domain images, organized topically
• Maps and images for Wikipedia
• Prokudin-Gorskii photographs (scroll down)
• Wikipedia:How to create graphs for Wikipedia articles
• Wikipedia:SVG Help Technical help for problems with uploaded SVGs

External links

• Grokking the GIMP: a comprehensive on-line book covering the GIMP, as well as graphic and digital photo editing in general