Graphic Design Programs

[thirdstreettito]

Does anyone know of any good *free* graphic design programs so that I can make things like...well look at some peoples sig pics? And thing like this but with a background and such:
Any help would be much appreciated!

[NiTRoX]

GIMP
Inkscape
Paint.NET
Sodipodi
XaraXtreme
Art Weaver

There are teh lots u just need to use teh friggin googul.

[thirdstreettito]

Any links please? And thank you.

[Rocinante]

Any links please? And thank you.

Gimp
Inkscape
Paint.NET
Sodipodi
XaraXtreme
Art Weaver

[laspace]

[thirdstreettito]

I did "Google" it and I didnt find what I wanted.

[techhead]

Try getting bootleg versions of CS3 off of BitTorrent.
All the shiny you ever want, and totally free. (Except from litigation)

[thirdstreettito]

Why would I want illegal bootlegged stuff?

[Caveman]

It the start of a conspiracy to get you off them intarnets.

[pettman]

I'd go with the GIMP. Inkscape, Sodipodi and XaraXtreme are vector-graphics programs, which isn't a bad thing in itself but they don't seem to be what you want at the moment. Artweaver and paint.net both look like watered down photoshop clones so I wouldn't go with either of them (and I strongly dislike closed-source). For really flashy 3d effects you could try downloading Blender3d, but then you would have to learn how to model which takes quite some time.
Should you decide to try out GIMP I'd recommend Gimptalk for forum and tutorials.

Why would I want illegal bootlegged stuff?

Because it's cool to be a software-pirate and you can get expensive progs for free.</joke>

[thirdstreettito]

I have an Ubuntu computer with GIMP but I dont have any idea how to use it on Linux, but I'll try it on my Windows...

[Caveman]

Don't bother, if you can't understand it on Linux there is no chance you'd be able to grasp it on Windows.

Remember? You only change the OS and not the Program. It is the same, no matter the OS.

[Basilisco]

Official gimp tutorials: http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/

Lots of easy tutorials to follow: http://gimpology.com/

Tutorial on how to make fractals (with gimp): http://gentoo-wiki.com/TIP_GIMP_Fractal_Backgrounds

Good luck

[thirdstreettito]

Thank you Basil and what are "fractals"?

[Knowitall66]

'A fractal is generally "a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be subdivided in parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole,"[1] a property called self-similarity.' - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal
Take a look there pretty sweet. (You can use aprogram called ChaosScope to make 'em)

@Tito: I personally recommend Paint.NET, but thats just my opinion (You may want to DL a couple of plugins with it).