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There are a number of mammoth picture editors that can do just about anything with an image. Then there are a few very effective smaller-scale apps that have a lot of power while remaining simpler to use – a personal favourite is Acorn. But if you’re someone with only needs to work with images now and then – a blogger looking for attractive embellishments for your texts, or someone maintaining a personal website – even Acorn might seem complicated.
That’s where Acqualia software’s Picturesque comes in: it’s super-simple to use, and delivers excellent results without requiring much knowledge about design, or prior experience of working with graphics.
Photoshop is the undisputed king of image editing, but it also has a huge price tag and an even bigger learning curve. If you don’t make a living as a designer, the time and money necessary for professional photo editing software is hard to justify. Further, some free options like GIMP are much more than many users will ever need.
So what should a Mac owner use for casual graphics editing? One option is Seashore, a free image editor that’s easy and fun to use. Below I’ll walk you through the basic functionality and tell you what I thought of the application.
In my last software review, I covered Blast, an application that shows you the recent files you’ve open or modified. In a similar spirit – but with more of a creative, professional spin – I’d like to introduce you to GridIron Software’s Flow.
Flow’s main goal is to help you stay sane and organized with all of the different files and projects you have cluttered around your Mac or Window’s box. Instead of creating a large ‘collection bucket’ for your files or automatically sort them as you create them, Flow takes a different approach, more on that after the break.
We’ve taken a look at the various different screenshot apps for OS X previously, but I’d like to focus on one in particular today. Skitch is a combination of a desktop application and web service that makes capturing and sharing screenshots fun.
As well as all the functionality you’d expect from a traditional screenshot app (or OS X itself), you can annotate your captured image, easily drag out the result, or publish it to your Skitch.com page in a few simple steps. Read on to find out how the application works, and whether it’s for you!
Over the past few months, I have become more and more interested in photography, and more specifically, organizing the hundreds and hundreds of photos I’ve taken. However, each time I head out for a Digital SLR filled adventure, I find myself feeling more and more disorganized. Dozens of pictures for a family birthday party and night out with friends still sit on my SD card, waiting to be imported. Why, you ask, have I neglected to do this? I don’t know where to put them!
Sure, many Mac users love and live for iPhoto. However, for me, it feels like a step back. This is why I’ve looked at moving upwards to a prosumer piece of software, like Aperture or Lightroom. In this screencast review, we’ll take a look at the latest features added to these photography library apps.
Let me say right at the outset that I’m not an obvious choice for reviewing this application. I’m not a designer, and I don’t currently work on maintaining any websites; I have little use of software for working out effective color schemes in my day-to-day life and work. These facts might make me either entirely the wrong person to assess ColorSchemer Studio 2, or just the right guy.
I used to be involved in running the website of a big local authority, and I have seen first-hand the damage that can be done by untrained eyes when the thought arises “Wouldn’t it be nice just to add a little splash of color to this page?” With ColorSchemer, this needn’t be such a big problem any more.
This is a really clever app that simplifies the work of coming up with effective and attractive color combinations for websites or any screen design work. You don’t need to be a professional designer to appreciate its great features or to find it useful whenever you do need to work with colors.
Have you ever needed to do some simple photo editing or creation, but didn’t want the hassle of opening up Photoshop, or are too afraid to learn it? Then Acorn is for you! It’s a lightweight image editor that allows you to do many of the functions of more advanced programs (such as Photoshop), but doesn’t have quite the same learning curve or price.
Developed by Flying Meat, Acorn is an image editor that allows you do paint, draw and crop photos. It is also jam-packed with other features and a range of useful filters.
We reviewed an earlier version of Acorn last year, but will be covering new features and exploring the basics in greater depth today.
There comes a time in the life of a designer where they seek methods to make their already beautiful design magnificent. The grid system is one of these such alternate methods, with many application developers, both online and offline, creating their own for a specific purpose. Two popular examples in the web field are the 960 grid system and the blueprint framework. Slammer takes this to a whole new level, adding in powerful tools to manipulate your grid system framework across all platforms.
Slammer, developed by Ringce, is an advanced layout tool that allows web and interface designers alike to create and tweak their layouts to align with a grid system, golden sections, harmonious sections and the fibonacci series.
Loren Brichter of atebits has become a highly acclaimed OS X/iPhone developer in recent years as the man behind Tweetie, but that’s not all he’s worked on in the past. Today we’re going to delve into another atebits application – Scribbles.
Put simply, Scribbles is a lightweight tool for drawing on your Mac. It reminds me of Microsoft Paint, but with all the power and flair you’d expect from an OS X application. Deceptively simple at the outset, the power behind what you can do with Scribbles is remarkable.
3D modeling applications are notoriously complex and can take years to learn. Complicated modeling tools, infinite material setting variables, lighting radiance adjustments, multiple cameras, UVs, etc., it can all be quite daunting and frankly unnecessary for someone looking to create a quick mockup. Enter Google SketchUp, an amazing free application for creating professional (non photo-realistic) 3D models on the fly.
Though SketchUp is relatively simple compared to more robust 3D applications, it still has a ton of features… too many too enumerate here. This review will briefly cover some of the principal features and tools in SketchUp and offer a little insight into how you can create complex geometry in a jiffy.
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