photo-editing posts

At long last, GIMP v2.8 to finally implement single-window interface

by Lee Mathews Sep 20th 2009

The GIMP is one of those applications that people either seem to love or hate. While it's always been a powerful and capable alternative to big commercial apps like Photoshop, GIMP's multiple floating window interface has been hard for some users to adapt to.

Good news to those of you who love the program but just couldn't adapt to the UI: version 2.8 will feature a selectable single window mode. As you can see in the mock-up above, it's a much more Photoshop-like experience. Hardcore GIMP fans, don't despair. If you've been convinced that multi-window mode is a superior way to work, you won't have to change.

GIMP developers have also been looking at ways of better handling multiple images in the editor. Tabs, of course, were added in Photoshop CS4. Don't expect to see them in GIMP 2.8, however. Peter Sikking offers three reasons in his blogs post that they have decided not to use tabs, instead opting for a movable thumbnail tray (image after the break).

Tags: gimp-2.8, graphic-design, image editing, image-editor, ImageEditing, photo-editing, photoshop, single-window, the-gimp

Filed under: Design, Windows, Freeware, Windows x64

Fotografix is a simple, free Photoshop alternative in under 1MB

by Lee Mathews Apr 15th 2009

While graphic design professionals probably wouldn't be able to substitute Fotografix for Photoshop, it's certainly a capable free alternative for the average Joe.

In addition to being totally portable, Fotografix has a ridiculously small footprint. It's a 370Kb download and about 700Kb once extracted. Despite its size, most of the features I rely on in Photoshop are available. Fotografix supports layers, masks, and scripting, comes with a few key blur and stylization filters, and type layers are editable (unlike some other editors where text is a one-shot deal).

The usual editing tools are also provided, like rectangular and elliptical marquees, magic wand, rubber stamp, eyedropper, and gradient tool. For me, the only glaring omission was the lack of grid and ruler options. Regardless, I didn't have any trouble accomplishing my daily blog-editing tasks with Fotografix.

No, Fotografix isn't a replacement for Photoshop, but its good range of features, small size, and portability make it an excellent option for quick edits on the go. The price is hard to argue with, too.

Since the author's site is hosted by GeoCities and he allows redistribution, I took the liberty of mirroring the app with RapidSpread - just in case he hits his traffic limit before you get a chance to download.

Tags: graphics, photo-editing, photoshop, portable

Filed under: Design, Photo, Windows, Freeware

ArtWeaver: a Viable, Free Photoshop Alternative?

by Lee Mathews Sep 14th 2008

Before the shouting begins, no, ArtWeaver is not a Photoshop "clone."

You won't find the same multitude of tools Photoshop offers, but ArtWeaver is a promising option for people wanting a slimmed-down alternative that offers the functions that beginning and intermediate users want.

Artweaver's interface is uncomplicated and should be comfortable for anyone who's used Photoshop before. The included help file is very detailed, and provides tons of information and useful tips to get you started.

So, what kind of tools does Artweaver offer?

Selection tools: Rectangular and eliptical selection, freehand and polygonal lasso, magic wand
Brushes: standard, airbrush, cloning, and a ton of "artist" brushes (like charcoal, chalk, felt pen, pencil, impasto)
Shapes tool: rectangle, rounded rectangle, ellipse, polygon, and custom shapes
Eraser, paint bucket, stamp, crop, and move tools
A nice set of color palettes (Windows, Mac, Web, etc.)
Filters
Grid and perspective grid overlays

Tablet input is supported, and Artweaver provides an easy calibration tool. Pressure settings can be tied to effects like opacity, grain, jitter, angle, and flow on your brush tool's advanced palette. It's also much less resource-intensive than Photoshop and runs very well on my Intel Atom-powered netbook.

Couple Artweaver's core functionality with the fact that it can be extended by plugins, it certainly has the potential to be a very competent Photoshop alternative.

Tags: alternatives, photo-editing, photoshop

Filed under: Design, Internet, Utilities, Web services, web 2.0

FotoFlexer: Another free, high quality online photo editor

by Brad Linder Feb 15th 2008

If there's one thing we love more than an image editing application with a ton of features, it's an image editing application with a ton of features that are incredibly easy to use. And FotoFlexer seriously fits the bill. Much like Picnik, Splashup, and PikiFX, FotoFlexer is an online image editor.

You can either create an account or simply upload an image to start using FotoFlexer. You can also edit live images from your webcam or import an image from Photobucket, Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, or Picasa.

The editing application is incredibly easy to use. You can perform a ton of advanced transformations with a simple mouse click. For example, we clicked the "cartoon" button to make the image above. You can also turn any image into a blueprint, Andy Warhol-like pop art image, or make your picture look like an old black and white photo.

There are also more practical tools for eliminating red-eye, reducing blemishes or wrinkles, cropping, resizing, rotating, cutting and pasting your images. If you know what you're doing, you can also add layers to your images, much as you would with PhotoShop or GIMP.

[via Mashable]

Tags: fotoflexer, images, photo-editing, photos

Filed under: Design, Developer, Fun, Internet, Productivity, Web services

Flickr gets Picnik photo editing power

by Chris Gilmer Dec 4th 2007

Sure, Flickr is a great place to find and share images. But wouldn't it be nice if you could also edit those images online? Now you can. OK, you've been able to for a long time, using online photo editing sites like Picnik and SnipShot. But now Flickr and Picnik have added an "edit photo" button to that makes the process pretty darn easy.

We first heard that Flickr was partnering with Picnik back in October. At the time, we half suspected that all you'd see is an "edit with Picnik" button on each photo that would let you load up an image on Picnik's site. But the service that launched today is far cooler than that. You can access Picnik's powerful photo imaging interface without leaving Flickr at all.

That means you can crop, resize, adjust exposure, contract, color saturation and other aspects of your images with just a few clicks. You can also apply effects like converting color images to black and white. if you have a Picnik Premium account, you can access some additional effects like Infrared, Night Vision, Tint, and Invert.

In order to edit a photo, you'll need to login to your account and select an image you've uploaded. You'll should see an "edit photo" button in the toolbar above your picture. For now it doesn't look like there's any way to edit images uploaded by other users.

Tags: effects, flickr, photo-editing, photos, photoshop, picnik, pictures

Filed under: Design, Internet, Web services

Flickr to let you edit photos using Picnik

by Brad Linder Oct 21st 2007

A few months ago we got a chance to talk with Picnik co-founder Mike Harrington (with an H) about the online photo editing application. He mentioned that the company was working out deals to place an "edit this picture with Picnik" button to online image websites. Now Techcrunch's Mike Arrington (without an H) reports that Picnik has landed one heck of a deal: Flickr will be adding Picnik integration soon.

Picnik already lets users import pictures from Flickr. But Flickr currently has a much, much larger user base than Picnik. The deal will give Flickr users the ability to do some advanced photo editing, while it will give Picnik a huge publicity boost.

Picnik comes in two flavors. There's a free version with a limited feature set (although you can still do all the basics like cropping, resizing, and applying many digital effects), and a subscription version that will set you back $25 a year.

Tags: flickr, image-editing, photo-editing, photo-editor, photos, picnik

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