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Lightweight Image Editor Software: StylePix

Umut M. — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 12:20:18 +0000

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).

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Tags: Fireworks, GIMP, Photoshop, Windows

Online Image Editors – Why To Use Them And 5 Amazing Ones For Designers

Umut M. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:01:13 +0000

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
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Tags: Fireworks, GIMP, Photoshop

20+ Cheat Sheets Handy For Designers

Umut M. — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 06:02:12 +0000

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..