Freeware or off-the-shelf equivalents to Illustrator/Fireworks?

Question

Could anyone recommend good freeware or off-the-shelf equivalents to Illustrator/Fireworks?

I'm obviously not looking for something with all the features of Illustrator/Fireworks, but something with the basics, plus a few extras would be great.

Thanks

I need the software so I can design logos, produce illustrations etc.

Thanks!

Answer 1

http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net/ -Paint.net Paint with layers.
http://www.download.com/Deep-Paint/3000-2191_4-10398243.html - Deep Paint
http://www.gimp.org - Like Photoshop 7
http://www.inkscape.org - vector image tool

Inkscape is surprisingly good, read the manual first. (Its in the Help section.) The Gimp is also pro software. Check out all the plug ins. It doesn't support printing though, and the default installation is for smaller web images rather than photo size. You change that in the preferences.
Deep paint has vector tools and some great effects but flattening the images to save them degrades the image and I haven't found a way round that. You can customise your brushes.
And another great freeware program used to be Project Dogwaffle. It was given away free on some magazine disc covers. You can customise the brushes and add behaviours to get amazing effects like fur. Its out of Beta now and I don't know if its still available as freeware.
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=project+dogwaffle&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

Answer 2

For the Fireworks side of things, ie the photo editor, consider The Gimp which is a full-featured open source application - http://www.gimp.org

Don't know of any freeware Illustrator clones though. A google brought up Inkscape (http://www.inkscape.org) but I've never used it.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

I would recommend a program called deep paint for something that can do painting and images such as illustrator can do,

http://www.download.com/Deep-Paint/3000-2191_4-10398243.html

And as mentioned gimp is a good piece of software but is really meant just for messing around with photos.

So really it depends on what you are wanting to do to which one is better for you

Answer 5

Might want to look at Inkscape (http://www.inkscape.org/) and GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/)