Advertise here with BSA

StylePix is a free image editing software, an alternative for Photoshop or Fireworks, with numerous advanced features.

It has an intuitive user interface where all the controls can be selected easily.

The software works with layers & offers multi-layer/group editing support.

Some features of StylePix are:

• various selection types (auto-range, color-range & rectangular, circular, polygonal, lasso area selection)
• batch processing
• 30 different filters
• thumbnail, histogram & waveform view for current image
• & more..

StylePix works on Windows OS & consumes very few system resources, even the installer is ~800kb, which makes it an ideal solution for less-powerful computers or running from portable devices (a portable version exists).

Special Downloads:
Ajaxed Add-To-Basket Scenarios With jQuery And PHP
Free Admin Template For Web Applications
jQuery Dynamic Drag’n Drop
ScheduledTweets

Advertisements:
Professional XHTML Admin Template ($15 Discount With The Code: WRD.)
Psd to Xhtml
SSLmatic – Cheap SSL Certificates (from $19.99/year)

Advertise here with BSA

Online image editors have evolved so much in the last few years & became very mature + functional for designers at every level.

They generally offer a similar interface with the popular image editing softwares which lowers the learning curve so much.

Almost all of them are Flash-based (no extra installations -like plugins- are required) & load/work very fast.

Why To Use Them?

You may be asking yourself why to use a web-based one when there is a powerful image editing software installed on your computer like Photoshop, Fireworks, GIMP, etc.?

Portability

There is no need to have a software other than a browser to run such applications. Also designs created with them can be saved instantly online.

This function is specially handy for anyone working at different locations/computers.

The Price Factor

Most popular image editing softwares, except GIMP, are generally not cheap & every new version requires a new license.

Online image editing platforms are free or come with cheap subscription plans.

Lower System Resources

As such applications would run on browsers & files are remotely hosted, they will be consuming much less system resources.

This makes them a good fit for older & non-strong (like netbooks) computers.

Backup

Every designer/developer, generally, experiences data losses because of hardware failures & no backups.

All the content created can be saved in these platforms which are mostly hosted in the cloud with daily backups. So, this is taken care of.

They have cons too:

As expected, they are not perfect:

• you may not add your custom fonts, brushes, shapes, etc.
• not being able to export designs to formats of popular applications (generally, only PNG, JPG, GIF & TIFF)
• lack of some features
• some of them don't have keyboard shortcuts

Here are 5 amazing applications which offer a similar functionality with your favorite image editing software & have support for creating new images (not editing-only):

Sumo Paint

Sumo Paint is an amazing application which Photoshop users will find it very friendly as the interface & functionality is very similar.

It offers most things Photoshop offers, supports layers, filters & has some awesome geometric shape tools.

There is also a huge community behind the application where you can get inspired.

Aviary Phoenix

Phoenix is the image editor part of the powerful other Aviary applications.

The editor works with layers, has various filters & can be exported to popular file formats or saved online for future editing.

Photoshop.com

Official online Photoshop service of Adobe.

The application has a very different interface compared to Photoshop itself & offers fewer functions. It is mostly focused on editing & optimizing images.

Pixlr

Pixlr is a feature rich online image editor that has several versions to make things easier:

• Editor – all-functions included editor
• Express – more basic version
• Grabber – to right click any image and start editing from Firefox browser + Windows desktop

Splashup

A very Photoshop-like application that can run multiple images.

It integrates well with photo sharing services like Picasa & Flickr.

There is also a light version for simpler functions.

There are also other great applications like:

• flauntR
  
• Picnik
  
• FotoFlexer
  
• & much more

which are totally focused on editing images & don't offer creating a new one from scratch.

Which one do you prefer? Any great ones missing? Share them in the comments.

Special Downloads:
Ajaxed Add-To-Basket Scenarios With jQuery And PHP
Free Admin Template For Web Applications
jQuery Dynamic Drag’n Drop
ScheduledTweets

Advertisements:
Professional XHTML Admin Template ($15 Discount With The Code: WRD.)
Psd to Xhtml
SSLmatic – Cheap SSL Certificates (from $19.99/year)

Advertise here with BSA

Mastering frequently used applications increases the productivity significantly.

Controlling these applications via keyboard is a part of this "mastering process" which helps you use an application with 2 hands = much faster.

Also, knowing the tricks of tools inside these products definitely opens new doors for creating.

Specifically for designers, here is a list of cheat sheets for the most popular applications like Photoshop, Illustrator, Gimp, Fireworks & more..

Photoshop CS4 Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are very well organized, both by menu & alphabetically.

Also, shortcut presets that add lots of extra shortcuts are provided too.

Keyboard shortcuts for previous Photoshop versions:

• Adobe Photoshop CS3
• Adobe Photoshop CS2
• Adobe Photoshop CS
• Adobe Photoshop 7
• Adobe Photoshop 6
• Adobe Photoshop 5

Photoshop Black And White Cheat Sheet

There are many different way & settings for converting images to black and white with Photoshop.

This is a Photoshop file presenting different filters/presets. Just update 1 file & see the various outputs.

Photoshop Brush Tool Cheat Sheet

A compact & helpful guide on Photoshop’s brush tool.

Photoshop Lasso Tool Cheat Sheet

Adobe Illustrator CS4 Shortcuts (Mac – PC)

For the previous versions of Illustrator:

• Adobe Illustrator CS3 Shortcuts (Mac – PC)
• Adobe Illustrator CS2 Shortcuts (Mac – PC)

Adobe InDesign CS4 Keyboard Shortcuts (Mac – PC)

For the previous versions of InDesign:

• Adobe InDesign CS3 Shortcuts (Mac – PC)
• Adobe InDesign CS2 Shortcuts (Mac – PC)

QuarkXPress 8 Keyboard Shortcuts (Mac – PC)

For the previous versions of QuarkXpress:

• Adobe QuarkXPress 7 Shortcuts (Mac – PC)

Adobe Pen Tool Cheat Sheet

The Adobe pen tool works similar in Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. Tips & tricks on using this powerful tool.

Gimp Keyboard Shortcuts (direct link to PDF file)

And more on Gimp:

• Gimp Quick Reference Card (direct link to PDF file)
• Gimp hotkeys on Linux
• Photoshop-ish Keyboard Shortcuts for The Gimp 2.2

Fireworks CS3 Quick Reference (Mac – PC / direct link to PDF file )

Quick references for previous Fireworks versions:

• Fireworks MX quick reference (Mac – PC)
• Fireworks 4 quick reference (Mac – PC)

Freehand MX, 3D Studio Max, Illustrator & More Shortcuts

Computer Arts presents keyboard shortcuts for Freehand MX, 3D Studio Max, Illustrator, InDesign & Photoshop.

3D Studio Max 9 Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts for previous versions of 3D Studio Max:

• 3D Studio Max 7 Keyboard Shortcuts

Adobe Bridge And Camera Raw 3 Shortcuts

Final Cut Pro 5 For Mac Shortcuts

Special Downloads:
Ajaxed Add-To-Basket Scenarios With jQuery And PHP
Free Admin Template For Web Applications
jQuery Dynamic Drag’n Drop
ScheduledTweets

Advertisements:
Professional XHTML Admin Template ($15 Discount With The Code: WRD.)
Psd to Xhtml
SSLmatic – Cheap SSL Certificates (from $19.99/year)

Advertise here with BSA

Designing with grids is very common as it helps creating identical, measured layouts.

960 Grid System is an effort to streamline web development (for rapid prototyping and for production environments) workflow by providing commonly used dimensions , based on a width of 960 pixels. There are two variants: 12 and 16 columns, which can be used separately or in tandem.

Why 960 pixels?

All modern monitors support at least 1024 × 768 pixel resolution. 960 is divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 20, 24, 30, 32, 40, 48, 60, 64, 80, 96, 120, 160, 192, 240, 320 and 480. This makes it a highly flexible base number to work with.

What is in the package?

In the download package, you can find PDF grid paper, templates for Fireworks, OmniGraffle, Photoshop & Visio, and CSS framework with demo HTML .

Special Downloads:
Ajaxed Add-To-Basket Scenarios With jQuery And PHP
Free Admin Template For Web Applications
jQuery Dynamic Drag’n Drop
ScheduledTweets

Advertisements:
Professional XHTML Admin Template ($15 Discount With The Code: WRD.)
Psd to Xhtml
SSLmatic – Cheap SSL Certificates (from $19.99/year)

Advertise here with BSA

Web 2.0 styles, if you like the gradients and shiny looks, simply boost the design process.

Similar to the DezinerFolio Web 2.0 Photoshop gradients, 2EXPERTSDESIGN created a set of Fireworks Web 2.0 Styles which Fireworks users will find handy.

Special Downloads:
Ajaxed Add-To-Basket Scenarios With jQuery And PHP
Free Admin Template For Web Applications
jQuery Dynamic Drag’n Drop
ScheduledTweets

Advertisements:
Professional XHTML Admin Template ($15 Discount With The Code: WRD.)
Psd to Xhtml
SSLmatic – Cheap SSL Certificates (from $19.99/year)