Free Online Resources
There are many places online that offer free resources. A quick Google will often find many. Anything that is online or cloud based is suitable for most computers; Chromebook, Apple and Windows. Most of the “offline” software is for Windows.
In a few cases the resources mentioned are not necessarily free — such as domain registrars — but are mentioned because they are the best value AND provided additional services free — that other domain registrars usually charge extra for. Note: It is highly suggested that your web host and domain registrar are different companies.
Domain Registrars
The domain names are inexpensive, around US$10 / year. Both include owner privacy, free and on site. Other sites can charge more or have a secondary site that administers the privacy. As a rule of thumb, register a .com. Watch out for domains that are first registered for cheap, and then jump up in price for the following years. …read more about websites
Web Site Hosting and Online Web based Builders
There are many paid webhosts that are relatively easy to use and create quite reasonable product. These web-hosts usually provide free hosting and use proprietary website builders, however, it is not that easy to move your site. There are paid upgrades. …read more about websites
Offline Website Builders
The offline builders are installed on your PC. Web builders have tended to fall out of fashion as many now use the online web based software and hosting
Mobirise is a free, modern, responsive, drag & drop web builder using the block concept. Good for a basic site, it is relatively simple, choose a template and then customize it with your details. However, it helps to know your way around the internet when it comes to uploading to your webhost. Mobirise has a paid option for purchasing their Special Blocks. Wait a week or two and they will often send an email with a massive “90 – 93% Off” discount allowing you to “save 1,500+ if purchased separately” and get all the blocks for “ridiculously low price” (usually USD$97 – $149 depending upon promotion) and support for a year. You can choose not to renew, and you can keep using those blocks, but you no longer receive support should a block develop a bug. You’ll need to renew the licence to get that upgrade.
Images – Photos – Clipart – Music
Never, never, never use a image found on the internet with a search engine, such as google!
There is software that specialize in looking for stolen copyright images. And lawyers who will chase you like a rabid dog. By all means pay for an image from company, such as Shutterstock, but remember as well as the initial purchase price, there may also be ongoing royalty payments. Be careful using logos, make sure you check each site for any special terms or conditions. Use free images that are royalty free and donated for any use at all, these are some of the best sites.
Pixabay is probably the best site for free, royalty free images. Nearly all photos on this site come from here and are edited with PhotoFiltre. While not mandatory, avoid ads by uploading 10 of your own images. Suggestion: do not upload pictures of friends or family. Use your smart phone and take a few minutes to walk around take photos for texture images: shoot photos of walls, fences, doorways, trees, hedges. Upload the full size photos, add some tags and you will be ad free when you login. Do make sure they are good quality and in focus or they will be rejected. Tip: If you don’t upload 10 photos, watch out for the Shutterstock images that are strategically placed as they are ads and cannot be used for free.
Royalty Free and Copyright Free Music
This is a massive topic and many similar rules apply for music as for images and is definitely a trap for the unwary. Using music that is copyrighted or has royalty requirements could see you in serious trouble
- Legismusic.com is a website that can assist you to understand more and has recommendations about which sites provide royalty free music.
Opinion: don’t use music in sessions or recordings. For some people music can be a distraction.
Cloud storage & Online Backup
DropBox is probably the most popular cloud storage. If you build a website with WordPress, you can use a back-up plugin and back up your site automatically to DropBox. You can also back up your own files, especially your important files. It is also a great way to share files with friends or family. It has an offline capability, so you can also save files like a copy of your passport or travel documents that might not always be accessible when travelling. Dropbox also has a mobile application that allows you to use the program not only on the computer but also on the iPhone or iPad. Since the program is synchronized, you will definitely be sure that all your files will be in place. To upload a file to Dropbox, I just drag it to the correct folder, it’s easy and fast.
Tech Support Alert — Review Site for Free Software
This review site comes highly recommended if you are looking for reviews and recommendations of free software a.k.a Gizmo’s Freeware
Image / Photo Editing Software
- PhotoFiltre 7 – Easiest
- IrfanView – Intermediate
- GIMP – Advanced
Vector Graphic Software
Inkscape is used for creating vector graphics — scalable graphics that won’t blur when you resize them. It’s a serious alternative to premium tools like Adobe Illustrator. It is a feature-packed open source alternative created by a team of dedicated and talented enthusiasts. It’s hugely adaptable and powerful, and an excellent tool for graphic designers.
Office Software – Word Processor, Spreadsheets etc
There is no need to spend a small fortune on “Office” software.
LibreOffice has everything you could want from an office suite, fully compatible with Microsoft formats and totally free to use – even commercially. The suite contains six programs to cover every common office task: Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Math and Base. The last three are tools you won’t find in many other free office suites, and are designed for vector diagrams, mathematical functions and databases, respectively.
A feature-packed free office suite for Windows, Linux and Android. If you work collaboratively, or switch between a PC and a Mac, Google Docs, Sheets and Slides should be your first port of call. For anyone who’s already deep into the Android/Google ecosystem, this suite will be a natural choice.
Scanning Software
NAPS2 — Not Another PDF Scanner 2 — is a free, open-source utility. Straightforward to use, it doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles but is still very functional. It has a bare-bones interface that lets you set up multiple scanning profiles, each with its own name, resolution, document size, scan source, and so on. When the time comes to scan, you just pick a profile and scan. If you’re doing a lot of scans on a flatbed, you can set it up to automatically scan every at a fixed time interval — say 5 seconds — allowing you to just lift the lid & place the sheet and not have to be continually clicking buttons.
- IrfanView – See Image Editors
