The Affordable DDS Image Editor Companion

When you are in the market for a DDS image editor, you have many options, features, and price ranges to choose from. While expensive and powerful products like PhotoShop may exist, there are much more affordable options, ranging from free to $30. Most packages offer a free trial version, so if your computer is powerful enough, you may want to load several and compare results and ease of use side by side.

The biggest obstacle to overcome may be the ability for a software to recognize your DDS files without a Paint Shop Pro or similar plug-in. One option is to use another software package to convert DDS files to a file type which is supported by your image editor software. Two free programs to do this include Absee and Photo Pos Lite.

ABsee is a free image viewer which supports over 50 image formats, which you can save as another format. Support file types including all the common ones (bmp, jpg, gif, tif, png) plus psd, pcx, cur, ico, and dwg, among others. View files quickly by thumbnails, icons, or list or in full screen or as slides. Use pics as wallpapers or print them. Manipulate images by changing sizes, rotating, and adjusting contrast, etc. Operates on Windows 9, 98, Me, NT, 2000, 2003, XP and Vista.

Photo Pos Lite Image editing software is an ad-supported free edition of Photo Pos Pro, with many of the same features. You can use this to convert your files into another format. It is a powerful image and computer graphics editor which edits, enhances, and manipulates pics. Draw and paint, ehance with the Paint Brush, Shapes, Clone Brush, or Simple Gradients tools, among others. It supports many file types, including gifs with transparent background and has a password protected file feature. Operates on Windows 98, Me, and XP.

PC Image Editor is a free graphics editor, but has many professional features and has an intuitive,  user-friendly interface. Edit images from several popular formats, and perform the usual file operations, including Posterize, Mosaic, Emboss, Skew, plus us several enhanced brushes and painting, or blur, sharpen, resize, and make into a wallpaper for your desktop. Operates on Windows 98 through Vista.

VCW VicMan's Photo Editor v7.0 is an award-winning, free easy-to-use image editor. Turn snaps into artwork, or draw images. It supports over 20 image formats, and allows you to draw with a pencil or brush. Use and eyedropper or paint gradient colors and add text. Also distort using one of over a dozen tools, or blur, sharpen, or create 3D extensions. Runs on Windows Me, NT, 2000, and XP.

Pos Free Photo Editor v1.36 is a free package from the creators of Photo Pos Pro. It is easy to use and user friendly, designed for newbies and without the usual high learning curve. View and enhance your photos and print several to the same page to save paper. Compatible with Windows XP and several versions of Vista.

SunlitGreen Photo Editor is a free portable photo editor and enhancer. View, resize, apply color, and rotate your pics. Zoom, edit, save, automatically correct color, and preview adjustments. It has advanced channel oriented color corrections and image filter to create special effects. It operates on Windows 2000, XP, and Vista.

When your pics didn't turn out the way you envisioned, you don't have to be rich or a graphic artist to enhance them into a work of art. Just use a DDS image editor to perfect them before sharing.