(Free?) photo editing software for Windows 98

Hi all,

At the moment I'm giving a photography course in which I should also give two weeks of photo editing lessons. I planned to use Digital Photo Professional for that, but then the person responsible for the computers in my classroom told me that machines are still running Windows 98... Bye bye DPP.

I've got one copy of Photoshop 7.0, which should run on Windows 98, but no way I can keep up to 8 kids busy with just one copy. So I'm looking for some free (or low-cost when still able to buy) photo editing software which can be installed on the antique Windows 98... No fun software like for instance Picasa, but somewhat serious with the basic curves, levels, stuff like that. Anyone got an idea?

Thanks in advance

Update: Via Twitter I just found a download link for GIMP 2.0.5, which I should be able to install on a Windows 98 machine. Just can't test it here; using a Mac and obviously no Windows 98

Further someone gave me this link: http://www.oldversion.​com/Paint-Shop-Pro.html, which seems interesting, but I'm wondering how legal it is to install free-to-download old PSP versions?

How about GIMP?http://en.utilidades-utiles.com/download-gimp-windows-98.php

Didnt see your post, think we posted at the same time.=D Good Luck.

Windows 98?
Wow.

I would be saying sorry, but the lessons will be done with a presentation on your own computer. The schools computer are simply to old and out dated.

If you do manage to get GIMP running (and its your best bet), make sure you supply sample photos that are very small, 6-800 pixels on the longest side.
If the machines are so old they are still running Windows 98 then anything larger maybe to large for them.

Good point Moppie, thanks. I'm afraid I have to re-do all their editing afterwards on my own computer then... Maybe I should check their budgets first then, 'cause I bet they won't like me writing more hours than agreed

If your going to be taking a group of students through the process of taking photos, then have them edit thier own work, its simply not going to happen on a computer that is over 10 years old.

Anything with more than 2 mega pixels will slow the machines down to a point they become hard to work with and time consuming in a teaching environment, and anything with more than 4 mega pixels is likely to cause them to grind to a halt.


You could instead hand out copies of GIMP to the students, then do a run through on how to use it, and basic editing techniques on your own computer on one of your own images.
Then they go and play with their own photos at home and bring them in for you to view the next week. You can then pick a couple and edit them yourself in front of the class as further demonstrations.

Problem is: it's not a group of students, but a group of children (aged around 9 years old) and a group of ladies in the age of 40-65 years old (mostly starting hobbyists). They will edit their own photos, which they took during the course, yes, but

(in case of the ladies)
1) I can't ask them to buy software (not the case when working with the GIMP, I know), 2) can't ask them to have enough knowledge of computers to install software, and 3) they don't have enough knowledge to be able to do it theirselves at home without my precense.

(in case of the children)
1) I can't ask them to buy software (not the case when working with the GIMP, I know), 2) can't ask their parents to install software just because I want them to, and 3) they don't have enough knowledge to be able to do it theirselves at home without my precense.

....So I'm afraid they indeed will do some editing on 600px photos after which I'll do about the same editing on the (10 mp) hi res files....

Does Picasa run on Win 98? if it does, it might be worth a spin.

patrick

Nouks - You might take a look at Pixia, which runs on Win-98 to Win-7. It's not very advanced, but has layers, drawing tools, paints, edits, etc. Similar to earlier versions of Paintshop Pro, or Krita in Linux. It has its own native format, but can save to TIFF for use in other programs.

Google Tutorials for it, and there are 2 Video Tutorials on YouTube.

Regards, Dave.

Moppie wrote in post #10152811
Windows 98?
Wow.

I would be saying sorry, but the lessons will be done with a presentation on your own computer. The schools computer are simply to old and out dated.

If you do manage to get GIMP running (and its your best bet), make sure you supply sample photos that are very small, 6-800 pixels on the longest side.
If the machines are so old they are still running Windows 98 then anything larger maybe to large for them.

This sounds a little extreme. I ran Windows ME , which was essentially 98 with a different splash screen, until 2005 and I very happily converted and edited 5 MP files from two Minolta cameras, the 7i and the A1. Aside from the Minolta software I used Picture Window Pro which worked entirely in 16 bits and my 128 MB of RAM kept up with it very nicely.

tzalman wrote in post #10169684
This sounds a little extreme. I ran Windows ME , which was essentially 98 with a different splash screen, until 2005 and I very happily converted and edited 5 MP files from two Minolta cameras, the 7i and the A1. Aside from the Minolta software I used Picture Window Pro which worked entirely in 16 bits and my 128 MB of RAM kept up with it very nicely.

Gee, Elie, you must be old as the hills!

tonylong wrote in post #10170116
Gee, Elie, you must be old as the hills!

The Hills (Terry and Teresa) are my next-door neighbors. I'm much older than they are.

Thanks for all your replies, I now see I never replied to the last ones.... Shame on me.

To give you all an update, I handed over an old version of both The Gimp and Paint Shop Pro to the IT specialist and he managed to get The Gimp up and running on those old machines. Lots of blue screens of death, but hey, it (kinda) works.

You might want to see if the system is capable of running win 2k -- a much more stable OS than '98/ME.