If there is one thing gamers like, its free stuff and the web is full of open source and advertiser supported programs to help out your gamer hobby.
Before those pictures of the new project can be posted online – the pics will need a little clean up. Paint.net is my current favorite editor to crop, size and retouch photos. Picasa can do a lot of the same and can help organize & post your photo collection. For heavy duty work GIMP is the one you want (be warned – the tool bar has enough buttons to launch the space shuttle). Or for light work, check the various online editors.
Getting ready for the weekend game? Write up your roster or track the league play at Zoho or Google Docs. Need a bit of artwork to spice up the list? Inkscape will let you create the vector drawings needed for a new look.
If you’re reading this post, chances are you already have a blog. But if you don’t and want to jump in and start your own, WordPress and Blogger are both self hosted (and nearly idiot proof) platforms. Want to go old school & write your own web site? Kompozer & Coffee Cup have free HTML editors and the web is full of free hosting sites. Don’t forget the forum, us gamers love to talk. Ever wonder why a lot of hobby stores look alike? They are all using the same shopping cart.
This post is just the tip of the iceberg. What software and services do you like to use with your gamer hobby?
Chicago Terrain Factory 
#1 by David on April 4, 2008 - 1:04 pm
Open Office!!
#2 by RonSaikowski on April 4, 2008 - 2:59 pm
Blogger for blogging (free)
and
Photoshop for photo editing (not so free)
and
Picassa for photo hosting.
Thanks for adding all the links to the other places too!
#3 by Vlasta on April 5, 2008 - 8:53 am
You might want to try RealWorld Photos for cropping and retouching. It can do lossless jpeg modifications without any fuss.
#4 by Pete (aka CorpCommander) on April 8, 2008 - 9:48 am
I love blogger but I want to create a site I have a lot more control over. I’ve got the webspace and domain already and I’m trying to decide what to use. For content management Joomla looks good. It is free at least.
For photo editing I really like Photo Impact by ULead. It is not free but it is fairly cheap and very powerful. I’ve used it for years.
For website creation I’ve started to use Microsoft Expression. Very nicely done program but I do wish it automated projects a bit more. However it does produce very clean websites. I’ve use Microsoft Publisher as well for the same task and the sites look great… in firefox but only ok in IE! How weird is that?
#5 by hakoMike on April 10, 2008 - 8:43 am
I’m absolutely in love with Google Docs right now. The collaboration part is great. I’m using osCommerce for my miniatures web store MinisRealm.com, and am impressed what a vibrant community osCommerce has for customizations. I do all image processing in GiMP and Inkscape. Free == good.
#6 by chicagoterrainfactory on April 10, 2008 - 9:03 am
Thanks for the responses everyone.
I thought about adding Open Office to the list, but decided to go with the more portable apps of Zoho and Google. Online documents are so handy when you are moving between multiple computers (home and work).
#7 by morkalg on January 31, 2011 - 11:57 pm
Check out http://portableapps.com/ for a bunch of great free software that can be used for game. Also http://www.battlechronicler.com/ is an awesome addition for recapping a gaming session and for reports to publish on a blog or website.