Foto: M.Lanznaster / pixelio.de

Es war mir neu, das es Office Anwendungen online gibt. Ich habe google docs getestet. Die vertrauten Symbole machen das  Arbeiten leicht.  Zu hohe Ansprüche sollte man allerdings nicht haben, aber um einfache Dokumente, Tabellen und Präsentationen zu erstellen reicht es aus.  Der größte Vorteil der Online Anwendungen ist, das ich von jedem PC auf meine Dokumente zugreifen kann (vorausgesetzt der Dienst ist verfügbar), diese auch mit mehreren Personen bearbeiten kann und die Änderungen nachvollziehen kann. Problematisch  empfinde ich allerdings den Datenschutz und die Datensicherheit.

Interessant fand ich bei den Bildbearbeitungsprogrammen Photoshop express. Für einfache Bearbeitungen, schnell ein Bild beschneiden oder gerade rücken reicht es aus. Für umfangreichere Bearbeitungen muß man doch auf die Vollversion zurückgreifen. Die Bildbearbeitung mit Picnik hatte ich schon bei flickr entdeckt.

Momentan ziehe ich noch die auf meinem PC installierten Programme vor, weil die Bearbeitung einfach schneller geht (hängt sicher mit der Internetverbindung zusammen), sie mir viel größere Möglichkeiten bieten und ich selbst für die Sicherheit meiner Daten verantwortlich bin.

Aber das kann sich ja in Zukunft noch ändern.

Tel l’aigle majestueux qui survole la plaine, l’oeil aussi aiguisé que ses serres, j’ai repéré, observé et fondu sur des sites internets que je vous ramène entre mes serres. Nul doute que l’un ou l’autre vous sera utile, un jour.

Premièrement : Alternativeto, un site en version beta (essai), qui permet de trouver des alternatives gratuites et performantes aux programmes commerciaux. Exemple bien connu : cherchez sur Alternativeto des alternatives à Adobe Photoshop, et vous trouverez dans les résutats The Gimp, par exemple. Windows Media Player vous énerve ? jetez un oeil sur Alternativeto et testez VLC ou Songbird… Ce que je trouve très bien, c’est qu’on voit le nombre d’utilisateurs qui en sont satisfaits.  Chercher les logiciels qui ont un grand nombre de “like”, ca permet de voir lesquels sont déjà connus, et on peut en déduire qu’ils ne sont pas mauvais. Sinon ils n’auraient pas une telle popularité.

Deux bémols : c’est tout en anglais (mais on se débrouille très bien sans), et il faut faire attention, certains logiciels proposés sont commerciaux. Pour les logiciels gratuits, cherchez les “open source” ou les “freewares” !

Ensuite : Adobe Photoshop Express est une version extremement simplifié de Photoshop, gratuite, et en ligne. Je viens de l’essayer, et franchement je suis agréablement surprise. Les outils de bases sont là, et même quelques effets à appliquer. Il y a même l’outil tampon ! Vous pourrez ensuite partager vos photos sur le net ou bien sur votre télephone, ou encore bénéficier les 2 Gb de stockages offerts.

Bémol : nécessite une bonne connection internet, Adobe ne serait pas Adobe s’ils ne mettaient pas le paquet sur le graphisme ! et encore en anglais… mais en tripatouillant les boutons, ca marche aussi très bien et certains outils ne sont pas super intuitif. Ou alors c’est parce qu’on est vendredi matin et que mon cerveau est tombé du vélo ce matin.

Last but not least, un site en francais sur Inkscape (alternative gratuite à Adobe Illustrator, le logiciel de dessin vectoriel), Inkscape.fr, avec des tutoriels sympas. Pas grand chose à raconter, mieux vaut se balader sur le site… pour une fois qu’on comprend tout, hein !

Dit is een beetje een rare opdracht voor mij omdat ik al veel ervaring heb met desktop editors. Sinds 1996 heb ik thuis een computer met daarop Photoshop, ik had toen versie 2.5 en vlak daarna versie 3. Versie 3 introduceerde lagen om in te werken, wat een luxe!
Als ik het goed heb bracht versie 4 de mogelijkheid acties op te nemen en opnieuw af te spelen, handig als je een zelfde bewerking meerdere keren op diverse afbeeldingen wilde toepassen. Versie 5 bracht de mogelijkheid door de historie van je bewerkingen heen te bladeren zodat je niet meer twintig keer op Undo hoefde te klikken, je kon nog veel meer zoals “verven” met vorige versies van je document. Nooit veel gebruikt. Inmiddels zitten op versie 10 miljoen ofzo en heel veel nuttige zaken zijn er in de tussentijd niet bijgekomen. Probleem voor een editor als Photoshop is dat er maar een beperkt aantal paradigma’s is dat zinvol is, kleurcorrecties toepassen, tekst toevoegen, afbeeldingen bijsnijden, resoluties veranderen, wat effecten toepassen, eventueel op gedeeltes van je afbeelding door middel van selecties en je bent er wel. Alles daaromheen is franje en vaak niet meer dan een checkbox op een doos om te laten zien dat de 600 euro voor de volledige versie geen weggegooid geld is.

Wat dat betreft zou een online editor aardig kunnen zijn. Ik probeerde voor deze opdracht Photoshop Express uit, ik heb helaas geen tijd om anderen uit te proberen, maar ik verwacht een hoop van Adobe. Helaas ben ik teleurgesteld, Adobe laat hier een behoorlijk steek vallen en dat is triest gezien de status van de merknaam Photoshop.
Ik zie geen mogelijkheid selecties te maken, en de tekst tools in “Decorate” zijn wel heel erg rudimentair en werken bovendien niet erg lekker in Firefox. De site is traag en regelmatig kom ik blanco zwarte pagina’s tegen zonder content. Geen idee wat hier mis gaat maar Adobe heeft duidelijk een hoop werk te doen voordat dit een serieuze concurrent zal zijn voor Microsoft Paint (gruwel).

Wat zit er wel in: de red-eye removal tool en bijsnijd mogelijkheden zijn erg handig, de mogelijkheid simpele kleurcorrecties toe te passen is behoorlijk goed. Deze dingen zijn voor een blogpost vaak al genoeg is.

Concluderend: een aardige tool met een absoluut minimum aan mogelijkheden. Buggy interface en trage server maken gebruik echter problematisch. Uiterst gelimiteerde tools voor teksten, daar zou ik overheen kunnen komen, maar de onmogelijkheid selecties te maken maken dit het links laten liggen van deze tool voor mij een no-brainer.

Misschien wil ik wel teveel. Misschien zijn er andere online tools die dit alles wel kunnen, ik hou me aanbevolen, maar heb op dit moment geen tijd om 50 verschillende online tools na te pluizen. Niet als ik Photoshop op de desktop heb staan en binnen een paar seconden heb opgestart.

Photoshop are o varianta online (Adobe Photoshop Express) in care puteti edita imagini.
Printre operatiile suportate regasim: Crop&Rotate, Resize, Auto Correct, Exposure, Red-Eye, Saturation, White Balance, Sharpen, Black&White.

Programul este realizat in Flash si se comporta decent daca aveti internet cu rata de transfer rezonabila.

Photoshop express este simplu si usor de utilizat, recomandat pentru procesari usoare de imagini, pentru operatii mai complexe se recomanda Photoshop CS.

Puteti incerca online acest program: test drive.

Search for “free image editor” in your favorite search engine and you will find a bundle of links: Picnik, FotoFlexer, Aviary (tip o’ the cap to @ssandys), and Sumopaint among them. Several of these are full-featured, robust image editors with the ability to crop, resize, layer, and mask images in much the way as traditional tools such as Photoshop, Fireworks, or free tools such as the GIMP or Paint.NET. With these competitors nipping at their heels, how can the leaders like Adobe compete?

I see three primary ways that traditional vendors can compete with the cloud upstarts. First, if you can’t beat ‘em, join em by creating your own online version. Second, build better features or some other competitive advantage and market to the power users who will pay for this better product. Third, Ignore ‘em. You’ve got the power, so why bother?

I think we’ve seen the results of option three over time. IBM didn’t pay enough attention to Microsoft. Microsoft didn’t pay enough attention to Google. Is Google paying enough attention to Apple? Lest my friends brand me an Apple fanboy, the point here is that standing pat is not a good option when the alternative, almost-better option is free.

So that leaves option 1 and option 2. Adobe has launched an online version of the flagship Photoshop tool in direct response to some of these online newcomers. For the casual user, this is probably no more than simple competitive marketing. Use Photoshop.com or Sumopaint? The average user might flip a coin. The user who has some experience with Adobe might pick the incumbent, especially when given the option of transforming their free files into freemium files stored online or loaded locally to use in the version of Photoshop they already have on their work or home computers.

Option 2 — building a competitive advantage through a better product — might involve some combination of local and cloud computing over time. I believe that Adobe’s best market for non-print designers and other folks who don’t need very very large files is the large contingent of us who occasionally need tools like Photoshop but aren’t likely to spend $700 for a full license. I realize there is Photoshop Elements, but I’d rather spend some amount of subscription money for an Adobe partnership with a stock photo house so that I can have my basic photoshop program and access to the images that I’d like to manipulate and build.

If you’re a traditional vendor seeking to extend your brand online or a disruptive newcomer trying to attack the incumbent brand, the message is clear: find the 20% of the activities your users love that occupy 80% of their needs. Build your application so that those core things can be done online, and build either a subscription-based product to capture the rest of the base or an installed application that stores at least some of its information online. Add some value through bundling your services with an adjacent service (yes, I’m aware that the Adobe stock photo service didn’t go so well, but I think it’s worth another look) and make at least some of the features and files available to users where they are. If you are building online image editing, build an auto-preview that can be accessed from a mobile browser. You get the idea. Now start finding those ways to build great apps online.

It’s true, Adobe has introduced an online version of their powerful photo editing software.

Photoshop Express – online photo sharing, hosting and editing!

While not as powerful as the offline version, it does offer many easy and useful photo editing tools. Not to mention 2 GB of free online photo storage! Go on – give it a test drive at Photoshop.com! I’d love to hear what you think. Does it live up to what you would expect from a company like Adobe, or were you disappointed. What other online photo editing programs do you use?

I’m not much of a software geek, but I do LOVE to learn new stuff.  I love to play around till I figure things out and am comfortable with it.  THEN I tend to head out and find tutorials to teach me the extras.  

Well, I’ve been looking for an upgrade for my photo editing software.  I’m using Microsoft Digital Image  (suite 2006).  Microsoft doesn’t make the software anymore.  I loved how easy it was to learn, and navigate through.  I have tried the free trial version of Photoshop, but ultimately didn’t use it enough during the month to really appreciate it.  In all honesty, it seems to be the only thing out there (the elements version) that would be able to replace and also be an upgrade from my Microsoft software.  

Photoshop elements 7 is on my wish list for Christmas, so we’ll see if I can figure it out after Christmas!  ;)

Now, onto my NEWS…

HAVE YOU HEARD about the Photoshop Express?   I was told about it yesterday as I was browsing at the local Staples store.  The kind sales man showed told me about it.  He explained it to be an on-line version that allowed you to edit your photo’s on-line…  honestly, I’m not sure what happens after that, but I’m going to find out!

I’ve uploaded a few pictures, pictures that need some major help due to bad lighting situations.  I’ll be back to give you MY review (sorry, i don’t have it all done and ready for you yet!)  But, don’t let that stop you from going over there and trying it yourself!  Or, had you ALREADY heard?  Be sure to come back here and let me know what you think!  Please?  LOL.  Thanks!

All right.  I’m off to PLAY!  :)

UPDATE:  ok, so I played a little.  here’s a picture before and after I did online.  I also found out once you’ve logged in, you can download the pictures back to any computer, which would be kind of a nice option.  I’m still figuring it out, but i’m sort of impressed with it’s capabilities.  It doesn’t have huge options, but for basics, it’s good!

The title pretty much speaks for itself. Photoshop Express is a free online tool that is great for anyone who doesn’t need the power of the full photoshop, or just needs something on the go. Sign up for your free account and you can sign on anywhere you go. You can also create public galleries, slideshows, and more. The interface is like no other, simple to use, good looking, and powerful. Its free, so go ahead and give it a shot.

https://www.photoshop.com/express

Photoshop Express is a nifty site where you can do basic photo editing, share your photos. This site goes hand-in-hand with Photoshop.com. It’s great for an alternative space to house your photos and, if you can’t kick out the Benjamin’s for the real thing, it’s a good alternative for basic and fun editing techniques.

Episode 6 – 11/02/08
Hosted by Jordan Drake and Jake Brown

Listen to this episode and past episodes online right now!

In this episode:

Tech News – Windows 7

Windows 7, or Vista Second Edition?
A Look At Windows 7’s User Interface

Windows 7 Security

Caller - David: Question about a particular Samsung HDTV LCD display – worth the extra price? Our verdict: If you  want to combine not only your computer monitor with your game console and blue ray player – this 22inch -  HDMI equipped display is a great choice at under $400.

Tech Topic – Watch TV without a TV signal?: Is Television becoming old school? Our hosts talk about all the ways you can catch your favorite TV content online. The benefits? Watch when you want to – and with only a few short ads to pay for it. Some of our favorite websites and services:

Watch all your favorite TV shows with Hulu

If you can’t find it on Hulu – try the major network Sites (NBC, FOX, Comedy Central…)

Everything else can be found on YouTube

If you want to download your TV shows for your iPod or other mobile device, you can purchase many TV shows on iTunes or use Amazon’s unbox service

Netflix has an interesting movie streaming service

Tech Topic – Storing, Editing, and Sharing Photos Online: Jake gives us a list and description of his favorite ways to store, edit, and display photos online:

Great places to store your photos:
• Picasa
• Flickr

Edit your photos online with Picnik or Photoshop Express

Share your photos:
• Picasa or Flickr Web Albums
• Flickr Photo Streaming
• Any social network (Myspace, Facebook, etc…)

Tech Review – Asus Eee PC: Jordan is impressed with this small – cheap – and useful netbook computer. The cons? The keyboard is cramped and has a bit of a learning curve and the dimensions are somewhat awkward. Listen to the episode for the full review.

Eee PC 1000H quick facts:

10″ LCD display

1.6ghz Intel Atom CPU

1gb Ram

160gb hard drive

Built in bluetooth – wifi

3.2lbs

Price: $480

Photoshop Express: Kostenlose Bildbearbeitung

Adobe hat die Online-Bildbearbeitungstool Photoshop Express gestartet. Neben der Bildbearbeitung gibt es zwei Gigabyte Speicherplatz für Fotoalben, Fotos können der ganzen Welt zugänglich gemacht werden. Photoshop Express soll in jedem Windows-, Mac- und Linux-Browser mit Flash-9-Plugin laufen. Anmeldung / LogIn >

Ziemlich neu ist auch eine Lösung für Handys namens
Adobe Photoshop.com Mobile Beta

Photoshop Express Loading...

Although I must say that Adobe Express´ interface is sleek and an allround success, it raises the question if desktop software is ready to go online. Try editing an image and wait…..

Currently working on SaaS applications you try to get the direct interaction of a desktop in a browser (or outside if Adobe Air gets some proper foothold) environment I bump into the loading issue the whole time.

But well, we are on our way… Lets wait until web connection are that fast that no “waiting/loading” messages are needed.

Today I was playing around with Photoshop Express in Firefox (v. 2.0.0.17).
At first look: nicely looking user interface written in Adobe Flex (oh, yeh, that’s for sure!). This “black glass” theme looks more appealing than the standard Flex theme (“dirty green”). Ok, let’s stress test its UI a bit; I will start with simply resizing browser window. Ta-da! It immediately shows 3 UI failures:

Just 1 page: Booo 3 times

UI bugs overview

1. Horizontal and Vertical sliders should never appear in the top navigation area. Period. Check out W3C’s CSS definitions for min-width/max-width to get a clue what are they used for.

2. Left extended menu looks like “Accordion” UI widget however it is non-clickable and non-collapsible. There is some stuff hidden off-screen below, which cannot be seen on a standard laptop screen with 1440×900 resolution. Vertical Slider for the menu will be useful in this case.

3. Browser Vertical slider never appears when the user resizes browser window which looks pretty lame:

UI implementation sucks

Conclusion: Close, but no cigar, folks. Design Fail Factor: 5 (out of 10)

Pôr-da-Lua Vila Olímpia (Pôr-do-Sol editado no Photoshop Express)

Transformando um belo pôr-do-sol em uma lua cheia, usando o Photoshop Express (www.photoshop.com/express), a ferramenta de edição de fotos online da Adobe. Além de permitir que você crie e armazene álbuns, tem ligação com o Flickr para você subir suas fotos no álbum do Flickr, ou editar fotos que estão lá.

A ferramenta é bem bacana, experimente: www.photoshop.com/express