Fractal images look so colorful and complex. They are amazingly interesting, and the secret is, they can also be very easy to make!

Fractal generator programs may be confusing when you start using them, but they are also fun. The only drawback is your patience. Getting a good image can take some trial and error - okay, a lot of trial and error. It comes from the almost infinite possibilities of all the fractal formulae built into these programs, and what they do. But the effort does pay off.

The good news is, most of the work is nothing more than point and click!

Here are links to two FREE fractal generator programs for making some stunning images with very little effort! They are called: Tierazon and Fractal Explorer.

You don't have to be a technical wizard of math genius to use them. The people who created the programs are the math geniuses who have taken care of all that for you!

These programs are really easy to use.

Basically, you launch either program, and a "starter image" is generated for you instantly, or you pick "new" from the file menu and the program generates a fractal image. From there, you just click on different formulae and filters. These alter the image, and that's where the "magic" comes in. You'll be amazed at what happens with just one click!

You don't have to know what the formuale and filters do, you just have to click on them. How hard could that possibly be?

If you can point and click, that's all there is to it!

Fractal Explorer has a tutorial that helps you understand what happens when you use the formulae and filters by clicking on them.

Tierazon doesn't have a tutorial, but it has other features that are lots of fun to use.

Really, if you can use a browser and search engine, you can use these programs to make some stunning images! You'll be amazed if you give either one -- or both -- a try.

A gather.com member suggested this great free fractal generator program that works on Windows. MAC users who have the Intel MACs or virtual PC can probably use the program when running in PC emulation.

It looks like Tierazon was created some time ago (2002?) and it comes with zero help -- so it's a journey of discovery. You just have to dive in and play with every control you can find.

If you like to fool around with image programs, this one is a blast. In less than two minutes, you can be making some amazingly colorful and intriguing fractal images.

You can adjust the size of your fractals (the larger the size, the longer it takes the computer to generate it) and then save your fractal image as a BMP image. When you save your fractal as a BMP, the program will also save your fractal as a .zar file, which you can re-load any time and modify it further.

Cool Features:

The program has a "color cycle" feature which will push your image through a number of fascinating color cycles, like an animation. This beautiful display can't be captured as a movie from within the program (sigh), but it is beautiful to watch!

The program does have some "movie maker controls" which do something or other-- they make movies, but it is hard to figure out what they are doing or how they work. The movies are saved out as .avi files.

There are a great many fractal formulas you can apply to the basic "mandlebrot" set, and the "Julia" function is also available. Again, because there is no tutorial or help file, you're on your own figuring out what all this means or does.

That said, if you want to play with fractals and make some fascinating images -- to learn -- or just for fun, download this gem of a program. It'll will give you something to play with for hours!

You can find a link to download the program at the bottom of this article.

Download Advice:

One thing, Tierazon comes as a .zip file. When you unzip the file, do it into a folder you made called "fractal" or something like that. The components of the program are not their own folder, so they will otherwise be scattered all over the place!

Try it, you may find a great source of wonderful inspiration!

This program is a lot more powerful and thorough than Tierazon.

It works on Windows. MAC users who have the Intel MACs or virtual PC can probably use the program when running in PC emulation.

It is also free, and it makes some stunning fractal images. The nice thing about this one is that it is popular and has some tutorials so you can get going with it and not be tremendously confused.

This program is so thorough however, that you may get frustrated by all the options. As with all fractal generators, changing the slightest thing results in huge changes in the final image.

You can, of course, save out your images as BMP or other files (jpg, gif, etc.) and you can save your fractals as "spot" files. These are special files the program keeps to re-load the data if you want to modify the fractals.

Cool Features:

This program has so many features, it would be impossible to list them all. It's amazingly powerful and rich. DO download the on-line tutorial (you can download it as a PDF file). It will get you going in no time at all and is very helpful.

The program has some "post processing" image editing features built right in, so you can make some interesting image effects, including relief and emboss and color gradient control.

It also has some pretty extensive color controls, but not the cool "color cycle" that Tierazon has.

You can make movies with this program. The help file isn't terribly clear on this, so you will be working in trial and error. However, the program is very fast when it renders images, so you won't loose a lot of time.

You may find this an excellent companion to Tierazon, or just want to try it out and see what you can come up with. It's fun to use (yes, you can spend hours playing with it) and can produce some very impressive results. It has an enormous number of features. And, of course, the mysterious "Julia" is included. (Apparently, she is popular and gets around!)

A link to download this program is posted at the end of this artticle.

When you download the program, it will come with a .exe installer, so everything will be created for you. How cool is that?

These two fractal programs are a lot of fun to play with, and educational. If you flunked math or simply don't like it, you may be stymied by seeing the formulas they use (you don't need to know math, just pick any formula and apply it), but you may also develop a new found respect for the power of mathematics!

Both programs help you create amazing images if you have the patience to work with their many, many features. It does help to take notes of what you are doing, as it is possible to crash either program and lose everything!

If you are into digital images, try one or both of these gems. You won't be sorry.