Links to free multimedia related programs 

Note: The following programs are free of spyware and advertising to the best of our knowledge. Some were featured at club meetings. Others have been recommended by members, computer mags or Tech TV. Explore, enjoy, and check back frequently as we are continually updating this list.

 

Audacity

If you are interested in getting your feet wet with audio editing but aren't ready to take the plunge and buy a software package, you're in luck. Audacity is a free, open source audio editor that has earned rave reviews from Tech TV. It works on Windows, Linux and Mac platforms.

CD-Burner XP Pro

A CD burner that Tech TV says rivals Nero. It works with Win98 through XP. The only feature lacking is the ability to burn MP3 compilations to audio CDs.

 

Easy Thumbnails

Create thumbnails for web pages or desktop use with this handy utility. It can scale images up or down with high quality results.

(1.167 MB)

GIMP for Windows

This is a powerful opensource image editing program that supports layers and filters. Like all open source programs, it is a work-in-progress.

Image Burn 2.1

Easy image burning software for iso's. Rightclick on the iso file and select "burn." Doesn't get much easier than that.

Irfanview

One of the greatest little graphics viewers made. Includes slide shows and much, much more for free! You can convert, optimize, batch process and even play movies and sounds.

JPEGtrim

A handy utility that can batch process your photos to quickly crop them to standard print sizes using a lossless technology.

MPtrim

A quick way to trim MP3 files so you can just use a portion of it and has the ability to add fades at the beginning and end. It can also remove spaces without sound between tracks and error correct headers.

PhotoPlus 5.5

This is a great little image editing program by Serif. It supports layers and boasts other sophisticated features making it a good starter program for image editing.

Pixia

This is a Japanese image editing program. It is feature rich, but not intuitive to use. Be sure to download the help file.

 

Print Screen

Print Screen by Gadwin Technologies allows you to save or print any screen. It's a full featured screen capture program that simplifies the process. 960 KB)

Quick Time Alternative

QuickTime Alternative will allow you to play QuickTime files (.mov, .qt, .3gp and other extensions) without having to install the official QuickTime Player. It also supports QuickTime content that is embedded in webpages.

 

Real Alternative

RealNetworks' RealPlayer pushes the line between software and spyware, installing all sorts of unwanted stuff onto your PC. Unfortunately, other media players can't play back RealVideo and RealAudio files, forcing millions to bite the bullet and load the RealPlayer application. Real Alternative ends the tough choice by letting users play back Real-format files inside a specially modified version of the "classic" Windows Media Player. Users can play both downloaded and streaming tracks, without worrying about the software reporting back on their viewing or listening preferences to Real's servers.

VLC Media Player

If you've ever felt like tearing your hair out in frustration when you get video with no audio or audio with no video or the dratted file just won't play at all, VLC may well be your solution. VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, ...) as well as DVD s, VCD s, and various streaming protocols.