Thing 10: Generators: priceless. And not in the good way

Adobe Photoshop CS 2: $649.00
Corel Paint Shop Pro: $68.79
Microsoft Photo and Paint: Free for windows users
Seashore, Gimp, and Pixel: Shareware (for Mac users)
Image generators: not really worth that much


Once you have an image editing program on your computer, it'll take a short amount of time to get to the point where you can do so much more than these generator tools. Generators are the mircowave cuisine of computer imagery. Free stuff can beat them; the relatively inexpensive Paint Shop demolishes them.


Look at pretty much any .com website. Bloglines. The White House. The Sri Lanka Tourist Board. The graphics there were created using tools for creating graphics. It's heterodox in the 2.0 context to advocate learning desktop tools over sliding thru using web-based apps, but, um, look for yourself.


My disclaimer is that I'm no Picasso -- but real image editing tools are really not that hard to learn. In a pinch, ask your kids -- they probably know MS Paint backward and forward. They'll tell you -- not only are the real tools more useful, but they're more fun for play, too.