There are several capable, low cost images editors available for Mac OS X. Acorn, Naked Light, Pixen, Seashore, and soon Iris. I’ve tried all of them, and use/prefer PixelMator. Why? Because the PixelMator team understands that Photoshop is the interface that just about every graphic artist already knows. When they created their UI, they use Photoshop as a starting point. Sure, you can fault them for lacking the originality to come up with something new (like Gus did with Acorn). But I think it was a stroke of genius.
If you were designing a car, which would make more sense – to completely redo the cockpit and the steering wheel position, even if you could make it more efficient for the driver, or to keep the basic instrumentation exactly where the driver would expect it to be? If you picked the first option, you should be designing space craft or airplanes, not cars. If you picked the second option, you understand that there are times when rethinking a UI makes sense, and there are other times where emulating what your target audience is already familiar with makes more sense.
Category: Software
Love Coda? Love TextMate? Wish that you could get Coda’s syntax coloring for HTML in TextMate? Well, here’s my first quick stab at replicating Coda’s syntax coloring in TextMate. Download the CodaHTML.tmTheme file, unzip, double click, and enjoy.
Category: Software,Web Development
NetNewsWire, which is arguably the best desktop news reading client available, just changed the game by reducing the cost of the application to zero. You heard me – NetNewsWire is free. Brett Simmons, the developer, has a full run down of what prompted the decision to release NNW as freeware.
The change of status accompanies version 3.1, which includes numerous enhancements and bug fixes. For those who aren’t aware, NetNewsWire can sync your feeds with NewsGator’s online service, allowing you to keep up with your feeds on your mobile device (say, an iPhone).
I’ve long loved NNW, but always felt the price was too high. Especially considering that I had multiple licenses of NewsFire. However, since I’ve had an iPhone, I’ve been loving Google Reader. Being able to have all my feeds in Google Reader and keep up with them through the day on my desktop, and then in the evening on my iPhone during my bus ride home has been wonderful. Sure, Google Reader isn’t as slick as NetNewsWire, but I think this is definitely an instance where the cloud app’s convenience factor outweigh’s the slickness of the desktop client.
(Via Inessential.)
Category: News,Software
The MacHeist Bundle is back! This year, the bundle promo runs for 15 days, and features the following applications:
- 1password
- CoverSutra
- Cha-Ching
- iStopMotion
- Awaken
- AppZapper
- TaskPaper
and when sales reach 5000 units, the following three apps will be unlocked:
- CSSEdit
- Snapz Pro X
- PixelMator
Like last year, 25% of sales go to charity.
Let the nay sayers complaints begin! Personally, I find this post by Scott Stevenson to sum it up best.
MacHeist » Bundle
Category: Software
New vector based drawing application from TweakerSoft. Initial impressions are very positive. It looks to give LineForm some good competition. Among the features unique to VectorDesigner are integration with Flickr (allowing for quick search and retrieval of Flickr images inside VectorDesigner), and a conversion between raster and vector formats. VectorDesigner 1.0 is $49.95 until after Macworld, at which point it will be bumped up to the normal price of $69.95
Category: Software
When you install Adobe Creative Suite 3, the installer insists you quit Safari so it can install the necessary plug-ins. Which plug-ins are they? You’ve got me, because the Installer doesn’t mention it, nor does it give you the ability to cancel the plug-ins install. So you quit Safari, let the software install itself, and go on your merry way.
Until you are surfing the web and come across a PDF file. Safari handles PDF files with amazing speed and flexibility out of the box, so it is a major annoyance to see a Open File dialog box pop-up with a message:
“AdobePDFViewer.plugin can’t find Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat”.
What the fuck is going on here? Has Adobe just stopped caring about their customer’s experience, or did they move Windows engineers (who do this shit all the time) to the Mac team. Any self respecting Mac developer would never allow an application to hijack a built-in service, and then when that service is called upon, present the user with a necessary (and confusing) setup step. It’s beyond bad form, it’s down right insulting.
Attention Windows Switchers: When you get your first Mac, you will probably try to set it up as you did your PC, and install Adobe Reader for PDF viewing. You don’t have to. Mac OS X has an amazing PDF reader built in, called Preview. In addition, PDF is a system level file format, and Safari can view them out of the box with more speed and grace than Adobe’s own Reader application.
Category: Software
The brothers Dailide have shipped their much anticipated photo editing application, PixelMator. Yes, Gruber can no longer cry “vaporware!”. PixelMator 1.0 includes much of the feature set of Photoshop (version 3, maybe 4). Still, there is a definite market for a simple, easy to use image editor on the Mac. Along with a robust set of features, PixelMator also features a gorgeous UI, eschewing traditional OS X panels for a total HUD (heads up display) look.
I was one of the lucky ones to beta test this app, and can tell you that it is rock solid. If you’ve been looking for an image editing application and don’t want to mortgage the house on Photoshop, PixelMator may be the way to go for you. Of course, you could also give Acorn a try.
Wow. Two weeks ago there were no simple, functional, easy to use image editors on the Mac under $100. Now there are two. Viva lé Core Image!
PixelMator 1.0 is $59.
Category: Software
Apple has updated the Apple Store with new versions of Logic Studio and Express. Dubbed “Logic Studio 8″ and “Logic Express 8″, the new versions include a revamped interface, a price reduction and many new features.
Logic Studio brings a new single window interface, a simpler setup, quick swipe comping, new audio editing tools, surround sound mixing/processing, and the retirement of the Dongle. Additionally, Apple has added a new component, MainStage, which lets keyboardists, guitarists, and other musicians perform with software instruments and effects through a full-screen interface designed specifically for the stage.
Apple dropped the price of Logic Studio from $999 to $499.
Logic Express features many of the same interface improvements as Studio, and new features such as Guitar Amp Pro, Ringshifter, and full-featured Pitch Correction. The price of Logic Express drops from $299 to $199. Both are available now from the Apple Store.
Category: Apple,Software
Gus Mueller from Flying Meat software has released his new app, Acorn. It is billed as a lightweight, layers based, bitmap image editor. Additional features include iSight integration, Tablet support, Vector shape/text layers, extensibility through plug-ins, and more. Acorn is $39.95, and available for download as trial.
Category: Software
A new beta of Eudora 8, code named “Penelope” has been released. Eudora 8 scrapped its previous code base and was rewritten using Thunderbird as a starting point. In my first look, Eudora 8 basically looks like Thunderbird with really crappy icons.
Category: Software
