Software options

A collection of software packages I use or find interesting.

Computer aided design (CAD)

Autodesk Inventor
Powerful mechanical design software for your most ambitious ideas.
Blender
The free and open source 3D creation suite.
FreeCAD
Your own 3D parametric modeler.
Solidworks
Desktop 3D CAD.
SolveSpace
A free (GPLv3) parametric 3d CAD tool.

Image and video

FFmpeg
A complete, cross-platform solution to record, convert and stream audio and video.
Fiji
A “batteries-included” distribution of ImageJ2.
ImageJ
Image processing and analysis in Java.
ImageMagick
To create, edit, compose, or convert digital images.
Inkscape
A free and open source vector graphics editor.
OBS Studio
Free and open source software for video recording and live streaming.
OpenShot
Open source video editing software.
PSFj
A convenient tool for analyzing 3D PSF data to estimate microscope resolution.

Microscope control

μManager
Open Source Software for Control and Automation of Microscope Hardware.

Optical design

Code V
The most capable, powerful optical design software on the planet.
Oslo
Optics software for layout and optimization.
WinLens
Free software Winlens Basic.
Zemax
The industry standard for optical design software.

PC setup

7-zip
7-Zip is a file archiver with a high compression ratio.
Chrome
The browser built by Google.
CutePDF
Easiest Free PDF Converter.
Google drive
Easy and secure access to your content.
Libre office
A powerful and free office suite.
Notepad++
A free source code editor.
Sumatra PDF
A free PDF viewer for Windows.
VLC media player
A free and open source cross-platform multimedia player.
Windows
Microscoft operating system.
Zotero
A free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share research.