Feb
Snipshot: for all of your basic image editing needs
I’ve been telling all of my Mac friends about Imagewell and how I feel this is a must download for any Mac user who has to do quick image editing. It’s small and it’s free (with a paid option available to activate some additional features) and can generally reduce the need for the full blown image applications such as Gimp or Photoshop. However, this kind of left my Windows and Linux friends out of the fun. See Imagewell excels at allowing you to do the simple image manipulation tasks most folks need such as resizing, cropping, changing file formats, etc.
Well now I have a solution for anyone using a modern browser (you know, Firefox 2.0, Safari 2.0 and *ugh* IE6 or 7) and it’s called Snipshot. Snipshot is available at http://www.snipshot.com and uses some modern web technologies to allow you to upload a photo to the Snipshot site, manipulate the image and then download the image to be used as you need or send to a popular online image site, such as Flickr. Simply put, it rocks and would make a worthy addition to your bookmarks, favorites, post-it note or mind note. Of course if you are in need and can’t remember, you can always visit GUOM and select the Web Tools category or do a search (yet another shameless plug for GUOM). Let’s take a quick look at Snipshot through a series of still images.
Upon visiting Snipshot you will be presented with information about the Snipshot features as well as two ways to upload your image to the site. Remember, this is not software you download to your computer, you are actually going to upload your image to the Snipshot server. Now this may concern the conspiracy theorist out there. After all, what happens to the images after you have manipulated them is anyone’s guess. My guess is that they are immediately deleted, but I’m just making that up. But if they really want my GUOM logo image or an image of Uncle Billy dressed in a flowered print tank top, spandex shorts, black socks and beach thongs (the kind that go on your feet), they can have ‘em.
The first way to upload an image is by providing the URL (or address) to the image. The second way is to simply upload your image from your computer. Depending on the size of the image and your Internet connection this could take only a few seconds or you may need to run out to the kitchen and get a quick snack.
After you have uploaded the file, Snipshot presents the uploaded image and four simple understandable buttons on the left-hand side of the top menu. Each button represents the functions you can perform on the uploaded image; Undo any changes you’ve made using the other tools, Resize the image, Crop the Image, or Enhance the image. Each function works as expected and while not up to Photoshop or Gimp levels of functionality, they each work nicely for the beginning image editor.
Once the modifications have been made you can then Save the file. As shown in the image below, you can export your file to either an online service such as Webshots or Flickr or you can save it to your computer in several popular formats such as GIF, JPG, or my personal favorite PNG. An interesting option is PDF feature.
As you can see from the images above, Snipshot may not be for everyone, but for basic beginning bloggers, webmasters and/or digital photographers requiring few image manipulation tools very infrequently, this would be the perfect site to bookmark and/or remember in a crunch. I would imaging that over time, the feature set will increase and eventually, as with most really good web tools, the site will be purchased by a Google or a Yahoo! and integrated into their own online services. That seems to be the trend.
Why it’s worth a minute:
- FREE!
- Very easy to use
- Uncluttered interface
- Cross-platform compatible and works on most new modern browsers
- Great selection of basic tools
Why it may not be worth a minute:
- May not have the tools you need
- Web-based, so you have to be online to manipulate images
- Can only manipulate existing images, cannot create new images
What do you think about the Snipshot? Have an interesting use or story to tell? Leave a comment and let us know.
Technorati Tags: Snipshot, Image Manipulation, Online Tools, Photography, Blog Tools
