Think there's no such thing as a free lunch? I beg to differ: There's a lot of free software, or freeware, available on the web and quite an amazing selection is specifically related to digital imaging. And a lot of it is very good indeed. Herewith is my selection (by no means exhaustive) of free software for photography and digital imaging. (Most of is is Windows only, but Mac users will still find a couple of gems in here, like Photoshop plug-ins.) Beginning with my four favorites...

Top Picks: Free applications I use most:

• FastStone - FastStone Image Viewer is amazing. It's not just one of the best freeware imaging software apps, it's one of the best freeware apps of any kind. It will display almost any image format, including JPEG, TIFF, GIF, PSD and over a dozen more, most of which you've never heard of... and digital camera raw files. It will convert images into other formats. Resize, resample (change color depth), rotate and do other basic adjustments like red-eye reduction, contrast adjustment, sharpening and more. It will apply changes images in batches, turning hours of work into a few clicks of effort. It'll run automatic slide shows. It will let you browse with its powerful thumbnail viewer — similar to Adobe Bridge but (cough) more stable. There's really too much to list. Get it now if you don't already have it.

• Web Album Generator - Whenever I need to put up a web page of photos quickly, Web Album Generator is the software I reach for. It creates pages with a clean design, valid HTML code (please pay attention, Adobe Photoshop/Lightroom!) and lets you easily insert titles, captions and descriptions of each image. My only quibble is that it has only one directory structure for the sites it builds: Putting the HTML pages, thumbnails and large images all in one directory. This certainly makes things quick and easy, but if prevents you from using a robots.txt file to keep search engines oway from your large images (while allowing them to index your HTML pages). It's a small point and probably insignificant to most users. For a basic photo page generator that's FREE, this rocks.

• CK Rename - Versatile, configurable, batch renaming of files. Any kind of files. If you maintain your own file naming system for your digital images, this little application can be a huge time saver. Yes, I have several other applications with batch renaming functionality built in (Adobe Lightroom being just one), but they're all clunky and difficult to use in comparison to CK Rename.

• EaseUS Todo Backup - If you don't have your hard drive backed up... stop reading this now and do it before reading another word. Imagine losing every single photo you have saved. Yeah. That's bad.

Despite its name, this is much more than backup software. It includes the best, easiest disk partitioning and formating I've ever used — and that includes software I paid good money for.

More free software applications:

Image Editing:

• Andrea Mosaic - Create your own photographic mosaics made with your own pictures. This is the software I used to make the cover image on the PDML Photo Annual. I have a blog entry with tips on using this software here.

• Kigo Image Converter - Add watermarks to your digital photos — in batches, too! Also crop, rotate and resize images and convert file formats. into black & white.

• B/Works - B/Works is a standalone application, rather than a Photoshop plug-in (like BWPlus), for turning color images into black & white.

• Dry Creek Photo Profile Converter - Convert digital images from one profile (ICC colorspace) to another..

• FilterSim - Software that simulates color correction filters in digital images.

• Pseudo-IR - Photoshop plug-in that emulates the look of infrared film but is useful for general color-to-B&W conversion, too.

• Paint.NET - Image and photo manipulation software for Windows. Supports layers, special effects, and a wide variety of powerful tools.

• VirtualPhotographer - Photoshop plug-in for film grain, color modification, B/W, soft focus, high contrast and many artistic effects.

• Image Analyzer - Advanced image editing, enhancement and analysis software.

• Gamma Tweek - Batch processing color correction for jpeg images.

• CleanSkinFX - Smoothes the skin of the subject while preserving all the details and crispness of hair, eyes and background.

Non-Imaging Utilities:

• CapsUnlock - Everyone should have this! It stops accidental use of the Caps Lock key. Brilliant! ...when it works. It works most of the time but very occasionally stops working for no discernable reason. A quick stab at the Caps Lock key gets it working but it's still a minor annoyance. But no matter: It's very useful. It's free. And as far as I can tell there's no competing product at any price.

• PTFB: Push the Freakin' Button - Highly valuable with Photoshop and other Windows applications: It automatically clicks on annoying "OK" dialog boxes for you. Essential. The more recent "Pro" version is not freeware, but after trying the early freeware version, you'll want to pay $30.00 to buy PTFB Pro.

• Ephemeris - Calculates sunrise, sunset, moonrise and moonset for a given date and location (with compass bearing).

Digital Camera Utilities:

• PhotoMe - A freeware tool for showing and editing the meta data of image files. You can analyze and modify Exif and IPTC-NAA data as well view ICC profiles. Reads JPEG, GIF, TIFF and PNG files as well as most Raw formats, including DNG. Supports Maker Notes of all major camera manufacturers.

• RawTherapee - A freeware Raw converter. Highly configurable, with many useful options.

• PC Inspector Smart Recovery - Recovers deleted files from memory cards and hard disks. This one can be a life-saver!

• Dead Pixel Test - Free utility to test your digital camera for dead and hot pixels.

• EXIFeditor - Edit all EXIF data in image files.

• EXIF Pilot - Edit all EXIF data in image files.

• Cam2PC - Digital camera software for transferring, browsing, filing, enhancing and printing your photos.

Image File Viewers & Organizers:

• XnView - (Win/Mac) Image viewer that supports 400 different file formats! Available in 36 different languages!

• Pixort - Digital image file management and viewing, sorting & editing.

• Dupe Detector - Finds duplicate or very similar images on your hard drive.

Print & Web Publishing:

• My Album - Simple image cataloger and slide show.

• PagePlus SE - Versatile and simple desktop publishing software.

• Easy Thumbnails - Batch creation of thumbnail images with various filters and adjustments.

Miscellaneous:

• SIPC: Scanner ICC Profile Creator - A freeware application to create color ICC profiles for scanners using popular IT 8.7 (ISO 12641) targets.

• DOFMaster - Depth of Field Calculator for Windows, IOS and Android.

• Screen Grab Pro - Much more versatile than the screen grab utility that comes with Windows.

• Meazure - Measure objects on your computer screen such as images, windows and icons. Displays rulers and grids and shows measurements in various units.