"Big Al" wrote

| Have you tried either GIMP or Photoshop CS2? The latter is free now,
|
| cs2 is *not* free.
|
| it's available for those with existing licenses.
|
| So much the better then since I've stopped using it. I say 'so much
| the better' meaning I'm not violating anything.
|

That's an interesting situation. They posted all of their
v. C2 programs with keys and a notice that use of them
was only valid if they were obtained from Adobe. Check.

But apparently they didn't expect that a lot of people
would be content to use an old version rather than buy
new. (I'm guessing it was originally intended as a way to
dump support for their old customers while also releasing
a teaser demo to get new customers. It backfired.)

So later they posted a notice that the software and
keys were only for people with existing licenses and I think
they required personal info. Why would they offer a
download if the keys were only for people who already
had the software? Their patch-up on the situation made
no sense.

So... If you downloaded it from an unrestricted link
then it's perfectly legal. On the other hand, Adobe has
a lot more money and lawyers than you do... So your
legal rights don't mean much.

I was tempted to use Acrobat, but found PDF Xchange
Viewer free version, which does what I need in terms of PDFs.
I prefer not to have any involvement with anything from
Adobe. Much of it is bloated malware magnets, anyway.
(I've never installed Flash and haven't had the monstrously
bloated Adobe Reader since probably the 90s. Nor would
I ever touch AIR. That's 3 products they've tried to use
to take over the Web with proprietary software.)

And I never had much interest in Photoshop or their web
design stuff. Too bloated and with absurdly high prices.
(They bought out Dreamweaver at one point, but that's
just another overpriced, bloated mess for web designer
who don't know how to write HTML/CSS.)

I've tried GIMP over the years, but never been satisfied.
It's been over 20 years in production and they still can't
even create a proper MDI (multiple document interface)
window. Then they decided to call any file format but their
own an "export" rather than a save. With one version
the menus didn't even work. Like so many OSS projects,
they have lots of talent but not much in the way of adults
involved. No one seems to care about a usable end product.

Personally I use PSP, v. 5 and 16, and Aftershot Pro
for RAW. I don't need something else. But people periodically
ask for something fairly easy to use and free. I think
Photo Demon is a good contender. It's pretty much got
all the gimmick filters, undo, layers, and color adjustments,
presented in a small, free program with a clear GUI.

Often the answer people give is IrfanView, but while I
consider IV to be arguably the best-written program I've
ever seen, you just can't edit photos without a UI workspace,
layers, and multiple undo. IV just isn't designed for that use.
Though I use it for everything else. For basic image viewing
and resaving as a different format I use IV. But once
I need to crop, paste, or even just add a little text, IS
is too much trouble. Much of that is possible in IV. It's just
not convenient. So it's nice to have a real editor as well.