Student Hub guide to free software

“Free stuff” is a sought-after phrase in college. Cheap travel deals, nightclub offers and questionable deli meals are all well and good, but fade away when stacked against the bill for a simple word processor.

The truth is, in the vast majority of courses, you don’t need the well-known, costly programmes to complete college work. Here is a run-through of some free software programmes, apps and websites that you should check out.

[ https://www.google.com/drive/ ]

If you do not have a Google account, it is time you fixed that. Aside from having a gmail address, which employers tend to prefer (there’s a reason Microsoft migrated to “@outlook.com” and abandoned “hotmail”), you have a word processor, spreadsheet editor and presentation package all in one, with storage space for all file types to boot.

Collaboration is the best part about Google Drive: multiple users writing on the same page at the same time, which is very handy for group work. Drive also has an offline function, so you do not necessarily need to be online to edit documents.

Your college’s own email system could well be powered by Google Apps, in which case you’re already good to go.

[ https://www.libreoffice.org/ ]

If you prefer to keep your eggs in separate baskets, try Libre Office. It is more-or-less a clone of the more familiar Microsoft Office suite, but without the cost. You will inevitably run into some minor display and presentation glitches when you open a document between programmes, but for the straight up-and-down essay, it will do the job.

[ https://pixlr.com/ ]

Pixlr is used in media courses, newsrooms, advertising agencies and even some design studios for low-end photo and image work. It is essentially a browser-based programme that bears a close resemblance to photoshop. Just go to www.pixlr.com, hit "editor" for the basic drawing and photo jobs and you are set. You can also select "express", which offers a slightly different set of functions and is particularly useful for collages.

[ http://www.gimp.org/ ]

A step up from Pixlr in the photo editing game, Gimp is essentially a photoshop clone, but is a bigger, downloadable open software package as opposed to a web-browser editor.

[ https://www.blender.org/ ]

Staying with the visual theme, in terms of graphics and photorealistic rendering, Blender is another step up. Like Gimp, it is an open software suite and is used for 3D image rendering, modelling, animation, motion tracking, video editing and creating games. This ise a more advanced tool, but a seriously good find for art students or those in animation or graphics-based courses.

[ http://audacityteam.org/download/ ]

Audacity is a sound editing package that gives you all the basic functions of the likes of ProTools. It is free to download and can record, edit and layer multiple tracks. In terms of quality, it can take care of short news reports, podcasts, voice-overs and rough music tracks with relative ease. Obviously, as a free programme, it does not have the same functionality as the more expensive names, but it is hard to go too far wrong.

[ https://slack.com/ ]

Slack is the mother of all groupwork helpers. Think WhatsApp, but with better browser functionality, different group chats for different projects, easier file sharing and the ability to oust the slackers (get it?) in the group. For the likes of a big presentation or project involving three or more people, this will make your life easier.

[ https://www.celtx.com/ ]

CeltX is free script-writing software. For the artsy people; if you’re tackling a movie script, TV show or play, this is the ticket. It functions, essentially, as another word processor, but takes care of the standard script-writing format.

[ https://www.dropbox.com/ ]

If you cannot bring yourself to sign your soul over to Google and create an account to access Google Drive (you should), then Dropbox can at least take care of your file storage. The basic starter account will get you 2GB of space, but you can earn more through a number of ways, including inviting friends to join.

[ https://www.avast.com/en-eu/index ]

[ http://free.avg.com/ie-en/homepage ]

The best free antivirus software is going to be a matter of opinion, but if you trawl through tech reviews, the two programmes that pop up again and again are Avast and AVG. They both have Mac and Windows versions, so take your pick.

[ http://getcoldturkey.com/ ]

This is an oldie, but goodie. Cold Turkey is a programme that blocks desktop apps and any number of websites (across different browsers), for a chosen period or length of time. Highly useful if the likes of Facebook is your vice. Unfortunately, it is not available for smartphones.

But fear not. For that, Cold Turkey have an even better high-tech fix on their website: “A simple solution is to turn your phone off or give it to a friend”. Yeah, cheers for that!

[ https://www.google.com/keep/ ]

Google keep is a note-taker. General reminders are its main strength and it is free, quick and easy to use. Evernote (https://evernote.com/?var=1) is a similar but more expansive service for more detailed note-taking; the basic plan is free, but you will have to pay for the "plus" or "premium" options.

Do you have any more free programs to add to the list? Get in touch and tell us what you think @ITstudenthub