Graphics

Update April 13, 2008: I finally managed to get this review back up on the web after thinkmac.net's sudden crash. The original date of publication was October 19, 2007.

Sure, people think the Mac is better than Windows. Are they right? Are they wrong? I don't know. But what I do know is this: Adobe has Mac users under their grasp. Adobe Systems, developer of the popular Photoshop image editing program, has Mac users under their control. Why, and how? I mean, really, don't you think US$999 for the standard version of Photoshop is expensive? The problem is, there aren't too many image editors for Mac OS X out there, meaning you're stuck with Photoshop, right?

Wrong.

Two companies recently released two separate image editors. Pixelmator, made by the founders of Jumsoft and is priced at US$59, is more of a Photoshop clone with a nicer interface attached. The latter, Acorn, by Flying Meat Software, the maker of VoodooPad, is more of a casual user's image editor: only the features necessary for a good image editor, and costs only US$39. READ MORE »

I think I’m beginning to see all my life in web 2.0. I feel like everything should be shining, glowing, reflecting and interactive. There’s all sorts of little programs that can help make life more 2.0; Picturesque is one of them.

The concept is pretty simple. Open Acqualia’s Picturesque. Drag and drop a graphic file (JPG, GIF, PNG) onto the main screen. Wait. Adjust the results to your liking. It’s all live and pretty immediate. It will change your background color, add a reflection, add shadow and glow, add curves and edges and resize your image. READ MORE »

If you create your own website(s) using a lot of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), then you will need this application. If you are trying to learn CSS and want to mess around with the code, then you'll love this application. If you work on large websites with a lot of CSS code, then you'll appreciate this application. If you don't have a Mac, you'll have one more reason to be jealous because of CSSEdit 2 by MacRabbit.

I won't go into the features of CSSEdit 2. Instead I'll suggest you head over to the product site and take a look at it yourself since they've done a terrific job detailing the features with a very attractive website (as any website should be from a company that makes a web development tool). Plus, its free to try. READ MORE »

I love digital. Finding collections of things to archive is a hobby. Add this to having a large amount of digital projects and the hard drives stack up. I'm yearning to buy a new Mac (c'mon June...) then turning my G4 into a media and file server only.
There are problems with having digital files. You have to back them up, move them around, keep track of them, organize them, find them. Of course, Mac OS X can help do this for you. We all look forward to X.5, when it seems Apple has automated some of these tasks. Is Spotlight enough to search my graphics files for that picture, you know the one...? READ MORE »

OK, I admit it. I'm an Adobe girl. When it comes to graphics and illustration, I turn to programs I know, because it's quick and easy. Learning a new graphics program is like crossing the hot sandy beach to get to the ocean. It's painful, sometimes long, but if you want to get there...

So imagine my surprise when I started checking out Art Text from BeLight software. I'm not always a fan of the smaller art programs, since I usually find them lacking in power or plug-in wannabes. Art Text might change my mind. READ MORE »

Now that 2006 is gone, create a life poster to highlight the memories from 2006. Posterino from Zykloid (pronounced like cycloid) is a feature rich life poster & post card creator for the Mac. We've been having fun playing around with it for the last few weeks. Keep reading to see what we thought.

(click to enlarge) READ MORE »

Now that the holidays are behind us, you may have hundreds of pictures from all of the festivities, and you want to share these images with your friends and family. While many people simply use Flickr or other online galleries, some of us want to integrate them into our own websites. Instant Gallery from Thinkmac Software (no affiliation with thinkmac.net) is a nifty little program that can do the job, quickly and easily. This is the program I used to create our Review Gallery, and I have been using it for a couple of months, and finally have had the time to share my thoughts. READ MORE »