Charles,

Anytime I want to find an alternative piece of software, the first place I check is https://alternativeto.net.  There, you can filter by free/commercial and see what other folks think of each item.  I've been using it for years and haven't noticed that it is biased by paid interests at all.  Super useful!

That said, Publisher is designed for page layout and not specialized for image editing.  If you have just a jpg you want to edit, my recommended, free, go-to is Paint.NET (https://www.getpaint.net/).  It's easier to use than GIMP and powerful enough for 99% of users' needs.

MS Paint is like MS Notepad:  functional for basic things in a pinch, but it's not really anybody's first choice.

Libre Draw is fine for "drawings" (i.e. lines you control, e.g. svg), but I don't recommend it for "paintings/photos" (i.e. areas you manipulate, e.g. jpg).

Using MS Word for image editing is like commuting to work on a lawn tractor; Maybe it can get the job done, but there is a reason nobody does it that way.

Hope that helps,
Erich


On Saturday, June 11, 2022 at 09:47, Charles Meyer eloquently inscribed:

> My esteemed listmaters,
> 
> I understand few, if any, use MS Publisher but are there any other simple,
> free or built in  applications you do use?
> 
> MS Paint? MS Word? Libre Draw?
> 
> I have a free .jpg from a free site but it has a checked background I want
> to replace with white.
> 
> Any  Apub users?
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> Charles.