Splashup
You thought I had given up on blogging, didn't you? Well, you're wrong...there's just nothing to write about right now.
The latest free program I've run across is a web app called Splashup. It's in Beta right now, but it looks promising. The interface is almost identical to Gimp or Photoshop but the main difference is that it runs in a flash window, so there's nothing to install. You've got some of the normal features you'd expect to find in a photo editing program such as the ability to do layers, apply filters and change the canvas or image size. The toolbar is familiar-looking with tools like the pencil, paintbrush, gradient, lasso, smudge, crop, text, etc. You're limited in the number of filters and effects available, but for some basic editing, I could see this being handy when I don't even have the PortableApps version of Gimp available.
There seems to be some quirkiness with Splashup at least with Firefox 3.0. I am unable to click on the Edit, View and Help Menus when using Firefox. But in Internet Explorer 7.0, the menus work fine. Also, it's difficult to tell which tool you have selected when using Firefox. I wasn't even sure that I had selected a tool because 1, the cursor doesn't change and 2, the tool button on the toolbar doesn't change. But, in Internet Explorer, the tool button gets highlighted to let you know which tool you have selected. The cursor still stays the same, but at least you know which one you have selected. Another problem is that you don't get tool options such as brush type, rounded corners, etc., when using Firefox. IE, on the other hand, does show these options across the top of the screen just under the menu bar. The options are of course different depending on which tool you are using. Keyboard shortcuts are absent from both. I'm a keyboard-driven user, so it would take some getting used to.
So, if you strictly use Firefox, you should probably stay away from this web app. But, if you don't mind using Internet Explorer, then you might find Splashup handy. It doesn't look they have changed much since October 2007, but they do plan to add more features.
Splashup
The latest free program I've run across is a web app called Splashup. It's in Beta right now, but it looks promising. The interface is almost identical to Gimp or Photoshop but the main difference is that it runs in a flash window, so there's nothing to install. You've got some of the normal features you'd expect to find in a photo editing program such as the ability to do layers, apply filters and change the canvas or image size. The toolbar is familiar-looking with tools like the pencil, paintbrush, gradient, lasso, smudge, crop, text, etc. You're limited in the number of filters and effects available, but for some basic editing, I could see this being handy when I don't even have the PortableApps version of Gimp available.
There seems to be some quirkiness with Splashup at least with Firefox 3.0. I am unable to click on the Edit, View and Help Menus when using Firefox. But in Internet Explorer 7.0, the menus work fine. Also, it's difficult to tell which tool you have selected when using Firefox. I wasn't even sure that I had selected a tool because 1, the cursor doesn't change and 2, the tool button on the toolbar doesn't change. But, in Internet Explorer, the tool button gets highlighted to let you know which tool you have selected. The cursor still stays the same, but at least you know which one you have selected. Another problem is that you don't get tool options such as brush type, rounded corners, etc., when using Firefox. IE, on the other hand, does show these options across the top of the screen just under the menu bar. The options are of course different depending on which tool you are using. Keyboard shortcuts are absent from both. I'm a keyboard-driven user, so it would take some getting used to.
So, if you strictly use Firefox, you should probably stay away from this web app. But, if you don't mind using Internet Explorer, then you might find Splashup handy. It doesn't look they have changed much since October 2007, but they do plan to add more features.
Splashup
Labels:
graphic/desktop design,
Web App
I have also experienced the troubles with Firefox 3. Opened up IE, et voila (on a side note, FF 3 seems a bit incomplete, with irritating caching issues, which bug the heck out of us web developers).
I'm pretty sure this project has to be dead. I haven't seen any activity in a while now. It seems odd to me, as I could see myself paying $10 / month or more for this little gem.
Peder M Rice