Two Free Software Sites

I have always been a fan of free software. I recently have come across two excellent sites for free or almost free software. The first site is Shareware On Sale This site offers a new piece of free software almost everyday. A good many of the titles are of interest to photographers. I have downloaded resizers, pdf editors, image editors, and other interesting software. Usually, you have to download and complete the installation in the 24 hrs that the software is available. You get a valid license. Most does not come with support or upgrades. You can pay a little more to get that if you want. All that is required is that you create an account.

The second site is Bits du Jour. Again, there are many free giveaways, almost everyday. This site seems to have a broader range of titles of interest to a bigger audience. However, there are still many titles available of interest to the photographer. All that is required is that you create an account and like Bits du Jour and the software maker on Facebook. You can always change that later.

I frequently get useful software from both of these sites without issues.

Engraving Effect for Images

I recently bout a book called PETER MILTON: Complete Prints 1960-1996 full of engravings made by Peter Milton. Wonderful book. I wanted to apply an engraving effect to some of my images. I search on google and found a few tutorials and plugins, but didn't find anything I really liked or could afford. Deeper down in the search results I found a website that does a pretty good job. The website is http://anymaking.com/fun-engrave-photo-maker-effects. This website allows you to upload an image an apply the engraving effect. There are a few options. You can choose your background: old paper, white, original image. You can also choose the type of effect: vertical lines, horizontal lines, and dots. Lastly, you can choose the wave length: No waves, Small, Medium, and Big. I really like the effect. Below you can see some images with the settings I used. You can save the image as .jpg file. Some experimentation might be needed on how to process the original image to get the best effect on this site. I even tried reloading an image that had already been processed. It's free - why not give it a try?

Original

Engraving Effect Applied

Engraving Effect Applied - Zoom in

Engraving Effect on Old Paper Background